duston831

well.. im halfway through waxing my car.. and someone just told me that you're not suppose to wash a new car right when u get it. I got it 2 days ago. It leaves spots and crap when i wash it, and its pretty rough compared to the places i waxed. So should i just finish it off? or am i in trouble???

FrankenScion

Just finish it off, you're not going to hurt anything. Hell, they're supposed to wash it before they give it to you.

sciontc_mich

well the reason people tell you that is because it's a rule of 90 days before waxing.. that's what a body shop will tell you because a body shop's paint is NOT baked on.. the factory has put your tC's body into an oven! baked three times..

you've got nothing to worry about.. finsh it up.. then come on over to do mine.. lol

dgHotLava

just finish it off...

the paiint is weeks to months old by the time you got it...
it is fairly well cured and will be fine...
if the paint was days old i would not do it...


oh, moved to car care and maint....

rollotomassi

I was a technician and am now a parts manager at a body shop.
We DEFINETELY bake the paint on.

Maybe the little hole-in-the-wall bodyshops, that mask your car off w/newspaper, roll your car out in the sun and pray for the best don't bake, but any professional shop has a paint booth w/baking capabilities.

Our shop does not recommend waxing for 2 weeks to allow for any possible solvent pop. However, I think that by the time we take delivery of our xBs, we're in the clear.

Just wanted to clear that up.

duston831

well i finished it and everything is ok as of now lol..... ne wayz.. yea when the guy told me i shouldnt be waxing it because its new, i thought to myself.... yea i got the car 2 days ago, but it wasnt made 2 days ago. ne wayz.... thanks for the help

sciontc_mich

hey glad it looks good.. what wax did you use? like what brand name? curious..

UnFocused

Yes its true that "good" aftermarket paint jobs are baked on. But an aftermarket paint job will never be as good as a factory because you only can bake the paint up to about 175 degrees. Factory paint jobs are generally baked at 300 degrees. the reason why a body shops cannot bake the paint so high is because the car has materals on it that will melt/warp ect... when the car was brand new, it was painted before those materials were installed...

rollotomassi

That is definetely true that a body shop can not bake a vehicle past a certain temperature for fear of damaging the vehicles components. Good Point!

However, the factory can bake it at 300 degrees or even 500 degrees, but if they fail to use quality materials and/or an adequate thickness of those materials, the temperature at which it is baked is a fairly mute point. "Good as factory." Factory paint jobs aren't always so great. These days, automotive manufacturers are doing a much better job protecting vehicles from corrosion than they had done in the past, but finished paint job- not necessarily.

Using the correct materials and processes, a skilled individual could indeed produce a higher quality paint job than the factory threw down. That includes the use of the proper corrosion inhibitors.

Higher baking temperature does not mean higher quality.

Somnambulated

You can wax it at the dealership 15 minutes after you buy it.

I asked. I'm paranoid about my car too.

Wash it, wax it!