I did the wash ... dry ... then started 2 polish ... I didn't have the patience 4 it ... it takes fricken 4 ever! & ever!

& the **** Nissan gave me ... I wiped it on with a soft cloth ... left it 4 about 30 seconds ... & tried to buff it off ... but it doesn't come off? It's loox like there's an oily substance/streak all over my hood?

n e ideas?

What do u guys use? & really .. how long does it take?

ALSO!!! my car is a DUST magnet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Is there n e thing that repels it?

 

There's sticky thread in the 5th Gen forum that says what everyone uses. It takes me about 2 hours to wash, dry, polish/wax. Way too long! But in the end....it's all worth it.

 

I think it takes me about 3 hrs to do all of that stuff.

 

It takes me atleast 6 hours. I usually do one piece at a time, like one day I will do the hood and bumper, the next day I will do the doors etc.

 

it should take half an hour to wash the car and clean the inside. Another half hour to dry, dress the tires, and touch up your interior. Take a break, and an hour to polish the car with an orbital buffer.

 

You let other people touch your car?

 

Takes me about 4-5 hours to do all of the above.

Neal

 

Does anyone polish their Max by hand? Can you let the polish sit while doing other parts of the body and then buff by hand later or is that a bad thing to do? What is an easy hand polish to work with? Thanks in advance.

 

Back in the day when I worked at a car dealership, I could wash, dry and wax in under 45 minutes. Sometimes I would wash, dry, and vac 50 cars a day. If you have shade you can do a good "maintenance" wax in under an hour, easy. It's all about learning how much to put on so you don't spend hours trying to get it off.

 

I polish by hand. It's fine to leave it on and to buff off later as long as you're not in the sun. Just stay in the shade and you should be okay.

 

a looooonnnnng time... but throw on a good CD or two, or three... and the time just flies by.. plus, the result puts a HUGE smile on my face, plus...then it's time to cruise...

 

two or three hours for me...

 

this sounds retarded, but what if you do wash and polish and wax in the sun?
what is the negative after effects of that?
I don't do it...I usualyl wait until the evening or early on in the morning...but what exactly is with this "in the sun" business??

 

If you wash your car in the sun, there are three drawbacks:

1.) Water droplets can act as magnifiers of sunlight and each one can help prematurely deteriorate your paint.
2.) The water evaporates faster, making it more difficult to dry the car before water spots appear.
3.) Also because the water evaporates faster, you can do damage to the paint by accidently trying to clean a dry patch; you may scratch the paint.

As for waxing in the sun, I've never heard why it's bad, but I assume it has to do with the wax drying out and losing its usefulness.

 

Takes me a long time to do a full total wash and wax -- but sooo worth it. Looks awesome!

I do wish I had a deeper color though, white is great, but doesn't have the richness or depth some of the other colors do..

stay cool,
/aac

 

4-5 hours I clean and wax every part possible. Waxxing in the sun leaves swirls and scratchy look I think!

 

It is usually an all day process if I am doing everything and doing it right.

 

wash: 30 min
dry: 30 min
vacumm: 30 min
polish: 1.5 hrs
wax: 1.5 hrs
touch ups: 30 min (door jams, rims, under hood)

clean up engine bay: 2-3 hrs

 

I just did that last week: 3 hours.

Here is the sequence:

1. wash and dry with a big bath towel
2. While waiting to air dry, I wipe clean the interior with wet cloth
3. Apply Meguiar's Step 2 Polish. I do one section a time, first the hood and top, then left side, then back/trunk, then right side.
4. Apply Meguiar's wax (forgot which one), one section at a time (i.e. wax and buff, then next section).
5. Apply a coat of Meguiar's rubber protectant on dash, all rubber seals (including the one around sunroof), tires... pretty much all rubber area.
6. Apply a coat of Lexol leather conditioner on all leather area.

I used to use an applicator to polish/wax but I was very tired aftereward. This time I use terry cloths and it was a lot easier.