I don't want to mess up by brand new 2001 Maxima SE. Should I apply the wax by hand or buffer. And I am willing to take recommendations for what type of wax to use. I have read all the posts I can possibly find on what type of wax to use.

 

Use your hands to apply.......

 

how long should I concentrate on one area of the car? And how many coats of wax should I apply?

 

i work at a detail shop and i say wax it by hand...you don't need to buff unless you are getting scuff marks or swirl marks or something a little deeper that needs to be removed...it sounds to me like you just want to protect it...at work we use a professional wax that you can't buy anywhere, so i can't really reccomend that to you...at home i normally use meguirs (sp?) liquid wax...i have tried paste wax and liquid and liquid is a lot easier and looks a lot better in a shorter period of time...today i bought some meguirs show car wax that says it is the shiniest wax out or something like that (don't have the bottle in front of me)...i'll let everyone know in a week or two whenever i use that (i just waxed my car last night w/ normal meguirs)

 

My 2-cents for what it's worth (wait a sec, let me check... yup, 2-cents)...

I bought an orbital buffer last year and have used it twice, once on my '98 SE and the hood on my '01 SE/AE. Haven't used it since. It's a pain in the butt 'cause of all the curves on the car's body. Not to mention, I'm not a professional like MrBurner so I'd probably burn through the clearcoat anyway so it's collecting dust on my rack out in the garage. Also, you'd probably wind up using twice as much, if not more, wax than you would by hand.

I'd recommend doing it the old fashioned way: by hand.

As for wax, I'm a "Zainy" Zaino convert. I applied my first application earlier this week (haven't had time to do more but will do another tomorrow) and it's still as smooth as glass even after being on the road for a couple of days.

If you want more testimonials on Zaino, go to www.edmunds.com , go to the town hall area and do a search on "Zaino". There's a huge thread on the subject. People seem to love it and now I know why.

Oh, and DO NOT make the same mistake I did. I went and picked up a bag of (supposedly) 100% cotton towels from the automotive section at Walmart. I wound up putting fine scratch marks all over my clearcoat thanks to those. This was before I knew about Zaino and their recommendation for made-in-the-USA 100% cotton Cannon or Fieldcrest towels.

When I switched to the Cannon and Fieldcrest after I got my Zaino, I couldn't believe the difference. Make the investment and get only those brands.

Good luck!