OK...

So I picked up my NB M/T on Saturday (it had about 20 miles on it), then drove it about 110 miles home.

Then I drove it around the San Francisco Bay area a bunch the next day, winding up with 320 miles on it a day and a half after I picked it up.

Now I just broke 400 miles last night. It's got bugs and stuff on it, naturally.

I didn't go for the paint-sealant/ToyotaGuard/whatever thing that they offered at the dealership. I cleaned the windshield with the stuff at the gas station, and the water totally didn't bead or sheet off the body panels, so I've got silly water spots there now.

So then I read up on all the stuff you can go crazy with in taking care of your paint: washing, cleaning, clay-barring, polishing, waxing, sealing....

...Now, with my head spinning, I'm thinking my car doesn't have a wax coating on it *or* this sealant dealio...

But, minimally, I figure I should get the bugs off and a wax coating (so water beads and rolls off, for one thing). What about a sealant?

Am I right about that? Is that good enough to start? Is it overkill for a car that's only 5 days old?

And I sooooo want to be able to have someone else do it, and not be sitting there wondering if their towels are the right material (microfiber etc.)/weave with the right stitching/hemming material so as not to put micro-scratches on my clearcoat.

Augh, frozen with too much info!

 

Dammit!

There's still a faintly visible bug splat on the bumper...but since I got the wash/wax/seal deal, doesn't that mean that those guts are buried under the wax and seal? and that if I were get it off-a there, I'd have to wash off the wax and seal in that spot, before I get to the bug guts, right?

Can anyone recommend a way to do that?

 

claybar before u wax

 

thanks for the reply, REal.

Er... I actually got it washed/waxed/etc today at a touchless + hand wash place, and the bug splat that I mentioned is there left over after the they were done with their work.

This is what I had them do:
Guaranteed Touchless in and out, Rainbow Wax (Three kinds of polymer silicone wax that shines and protects), Poly Foam (foam polymer that shines and protects), Clear Coat (clear wax that seals and protects clear coat and paint), Sealer Wax (Pure Carnuba Wax that seals and protects the car), Under Carriage Blast, Wheel Treatment, White Wall Treatment, Tire Dressing and Armor All outside.

Now, after all that, should I claybar that spot, thus digging through their layers of wax and foam and sealant, etc (maybe use insect remover? for cars?), then do just a spot wax job? with whatever good quality spray wax I can find? what about those quick detailing sprays?