I washed and waxed up my 2003 Xterra today. See pictures attached. I used turtle brand rub-on wax and it seemed to work great, what do all of you use and how often? any suggestions for waxing products/techniques to get the best results? thanks CX have a good week.
Mine get waxed once every 2-3 years whether it needs it or not.
On a truck that see's a lot of trail time it's just going to get scratched all to hell and back so once it gets to where I can no longer stand it I do the following.
Wash it thoroughly to remove all the dirt/contaminants from the paints surface.
Clay Bar all the painted surfaces to further remove dirt/contaminants. If you've never done this it takes a lot of time but you will not believe the results.
Get out the Porter Cable 7424 XP and some Meguiars Ultimate Compound and buff/polish all the paint surfaces. I'm cheating a bit here combining two steps with one compound but the paint will never come all the way back from that many scratches so a complete paint correction is a waste of time for me.
Put on a coat of Meguiars Ultimate Paste Wax.
The entire process listed above will take me 12 hours to complete but even as beat as the paint on my truck is I can still manage to get it looking decent in the end just takes a lot of work.
i think most people use the mud and dirt look on their trucks
I honestly don't do a lot of waxing...mostly just drive through car washes and power washers...I'm lazy, and i live in an apartment without a place to wash the car by hand.
It is nice having a freshly waxed car though...makes me want to cry when I have to drive it around outside again
I waxed my whole xterra once. it was about 2 years ago. only thing i really keep waxed on it now is the hood and front fenders. I have a walnut tree at the end up my driveway that drips sap year round and will turn the paint brown if I dont keep it waxed. It took me about 5 hours with a buffer to get the front of the truck back to silver last time I did it.
at some point I realized all the buffing and waxing in the world wasnt going to get rid of the scratches from tree branches scrubbing down the side.
When I do details for my customers I usually use meguiars ultimate everything lol from the rubbing compound down to the wax I wish I had some pics to show the end results but I'm always so tired by the time I get done lol. It normally takes me about 4hrs to do a vehicle but that's just because my wife gets out there and helps scrub and wax and stuff plus I have a friend that's helps also so... We're pretty quick about stuff.
hmm great work... the Xterra's looking very nice and shining in the sunlight.. I guess guys you are pretty expert in detailing and waxing because mostly people skip many steps when they are waxing and then they complain that they don't get the good results.. But this work is very good and complete..
A good coat of wax goes a long way in preventing scratching, letting the branches and brush glide off the surface more easily. You're not going to not get pinstripes, but every little bit helps! Also helps the mud come off!
Just keep it lubed up! Buy an extra bottle of quick detailer. Some plan on only using what comes in the kit (if you get a kit)... sometime it just isn't enough.
Also knead it a lot - do a panel or half-a-panel then knead it into itself for fresh clay.
If you drop it, it's over. You can save it for use on glass or maybe wheels if you like, but most kits come with 2 bars just in case!
I don't wax mine [the rust would show more]. But on my Honda Civic I use Mother's three step. It looks great when done and takes about 3 hours for the whole process. Also it feels really smooth.
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