New [to me] white car, inquiring about advice with paint protection.

[keepcalm]

I so not have a garage, and I live in the northeast. Due to the winter right now temps during the day are high 30's low 40's usually.

I picked the car up 2 days ago, it is a 2017 with 23k on it. No idea if the paint has any protection on it or not.

Is my best avenue of approach just leaving the car until the spring when it warms up and then clay/polish/wax it, or should I try to at least do something to get me by the next 2-3 months?

I am worried about what will bond correctly to the clear coat with the temps as low as they are.

My option for doing something right now was to just wash it well, clay bar it, and use a polymer spray wax like Meguire's quick wax and apply it after every weekly wash. I figured

What would you do? and is there a way to clay without marring the paint? because I don't want to polish it after..just wax.

[will13k7]

take it to a detailer with an indoor workspace or if you want a quick DIY, wash with a good decon soap (like obsessedgarage's), treat with a tar and iron remover (carpro, geyon, etc...), then use a sio2-based spray coating, like carpro reload, nanolex sifinish, or hydrosilex recharge, then do a full detail later.

[keepcalm]

take it to a detailer with an indoor workspace or if you want a quick DIY, wash with a good decon soap (like obsessedgarage's), treat with a tar and iron remover (carpro, geyon, etc...), then use a sio2-based spray coating, like carpro reload, nanolex sifinish, or hydrosilex recharge, then do a full detail later.

I got it in a garage now. All washed. So it’s too late to treat with a tar and iron remover since it’s inside. Can I just give it a clay instead and be just as good?

[will13k7]

it's very easy to mar the paint with clay, most recommend not to clay unless you are going to polish afterwards, depends on the clay type and your ability to consistently not use pressure (something I failed at!). If it were me, I would just coat it at this point, wait for spring.

[keepcalm]

it's very easy to mar the paint with clay, most recommend not to clay unless you are going to polish afterwards, depends on the clay type and your ability to consistently not use pressure (something I failed at!). If it were me, I would just coat it at this point, wait for spring.

Just ended up doing a thorough wash. Going to wait until weather breaks to do anything more.

[XPEL]

I so not have a garage, and I live in the northeast. Due to the winter right now temps during the day are high 30's low 40's usually.

I picked the car up 2 days ago, it is a 2017 with 23k on it. No idea if the paint has any protection on it or not.

Is my best avenue of approach just leaving the car until the spring when it warms up and then clay/polish/wax it, or should I try to at least do something to get me by the next 2-3 months?

I am worried about what will bond correctly to the clear coat with the temps as low as they are.

My option for doing something right now was to just wash it well, clay bar it, and use a polymer spray wax like Meguire's quick wax and apply it after every weekly wash. I figured

What would you do? and is there a way to clay without marring the paint? because I don't want to polish it after..just wax.

Congrats on the new to you S4. We would like to send you some of our brand new XPEL Ceramic Boost Spray (https://www.xpel.com/Ceramic-boost-spray) for you to try out and let the thread know what you think. This should hold you over until spring time and you can get the car to a paint protection installation center to get real protection applied to your paint. If you're interested, email us at [email protected] with your T-shirt size and shipping information.


take it to a detailer with an indoor workspace or if you want a quick DIY, wash with a good decon soap (like obsessedgarage's), treat with a tar and iron remover (carpro, geyon, etc...), then use a sio2-based spray coating, like carpro reload, nanolex sifinish, or hydrosilex recharge, then do a full detail later.

We would like to offer you the same deal as you seem like a true car care enthusiast. If you're interested, email us at [email protected] with your t-shirt size and shipping information.

https://www.xpel.com/product-images/R1390_00.jpg?resizeid=5&resizeh=1200&resizew=1200

[henri12]

Using a clay bar in cold weather can cause marring.

[RLwantsS5]

I would suggest a clay, polish and then a good wax or cerami coat. Dont use a spray wax after a polish. Use a good paste wax or a good cerami coat. Be careful though, i dont suggest a clay bar unless its 70° or higher with low humidity and in shade. I have same issue. No garage. My paint is almost perfect and i have an Ibis white a4

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[BeerBrent]

It's that time of year. [up] Looking forward to getting my avant all smooth, slick, and shiny soon.