One2infiniti

This is my first post, so go easy on me

So this is two threads merged into one I suppose. Out of curiosity, how many miles does everyone drive their vert per year? I am trying to be conscious about the miles I put on it, but still want to enjoy the car. I am thinking about putting 20,000 per year. Being a new vert owner, it would ease my mind if I know I am not the only person driving their vert that much lol.

Second question.. This is my first time owning a vert. I used to love putting my old car through the drive thru car wash, however, the owners manual advises against that. Do most of you wash it yourself? or what I have been doing is having it hand washed at the car wash place.

zweetz32

drive thru car wash leave swirls and are bad for the paintjob. I take my car to the hand car wash. Nothing beats the 2 bucket system that you do yourself at home. It's a car, have fun with it don't worry about the miles. No point in having a nice car that just sits in the garage collecting dust.

Redfire32

iTrader: (12)

I put 9,000 miles on my vert the first year, but I think that's just bc my wife and I were so excited to get the new vert. We've slowed down a bit now....not in driving spreed obviously but in mileage. If I had to guess I would put us in the 5-7k mile range per year now. It's MY daily driver, but I trade stocks from home so I never have a work commute or anything like that. But any long trip/drive I make my wife take the family SUV....I even take it sometimes to keep mileage low on my baby.

There is one particular car wash that does a great job that I use once or twice a month. I also hand detail the car as well. But driving thru he wash is a nice way to make the car sparkle before I pick up the wife for a date night or if I'm just cruising over to a buddies house to hang. Quick and easy plus it does a great job. Fine one that is superior to the other washes in your area with your other vehicle and then you can take your very there. I haven't noticed any swirls or paint job damage as of yet n I've prolly gotten 15 washes done. Just my opinion tho.

blnewt

iTrader: (13)

Ideally making time to hand wash is best and the 2 bucket method mentioned above works great.

Stay away from any washes that use any brushes or those flapping cloth strips that touch your car. If you just don't have the time use a touchless wash with just the basic option selected, no need for those instant waxes, clearcoat sealant and those other gimmicks, just more harsh chemicals that won't help your car.

Also, I'd consider investing in a Porter cable buffer setup and have a little Zen time w/ your car a few times a year. Here's a good set

Porter Cable Dual Action Random Orbit Polisher Complete Paint Polishing Kit With Quick Connect Adapter, Compounding Dual Sided Foam Pad, Polishing Foam Dual Sided Pad, Waxing Dual Sided Foam Pad

Pnrymmf

My vert is my daily driver. My commute is almost 60 miles a day becuz i live in a subburb of Atl but i use to travel 2-3 weeks a month so didnt put too many miles on my cars. As soon as i got the vert i stopped having to travel (my kind of luck) so doing the math ive put about 30K miles on it in 1.5 years. Because i never lived in the city i always had a decent commute and have had nice cars. My thought was why be in a beater so much and not enjoy your car. Probably why i use to trade cars every 2 or so years. But enjoy you cars if you are going to own a nice one.

I usually just wash the car at home or go to a place i can just hose it off until i can get home to wash it. Mine is white and i hate to have it too dirty so i rince it a lot.

Redfire32

iTrader: (12)

anybody got a pic or a link to a car with these swirls on the paint? I have everything I need to wash the car at home (except for that bada$$ buffer tool...thanks Brad) but I didn't realize the wash could f up my paint job.

Flakman

What happens is this. When you go through a car wash, the dirt and grime is removed from your car by the brushes and big curtain pads. If those items are not cleaned and rinsed before each car, much of that dirt is trapped in the fibers. When the brushes or curtains run over your car, they grind that dirt into your clear coat. This is why people use the two bucket method. You rinse the dirt off of the wash mitt before putting it back on the paint. If you go to a car wash, use touchless.

By the way...the porter cable 7424XP is a monster buffer for the price. I don't think you could find a better value on a RO buffer.

Here's an extreme example of swirls in the paint
http://s96.photobucket.com/user/Caff..._0317.jpg.html

Here's a lesser example with before and after
http://s165.photobucket.com/user/che...o5666.jpg.html

Some good resources:
http://www.chemicalguys.com/HOW_TO_ARTICLES_s/338.htm

http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

https://www.youtube.com/user/AMMONYCdotcom

zweetz32

I had my car detailed less then a year ago. During winter I went through the car wash maybe 5 times. There are swirls everywhere now. I need to get it detailed again. You can see it if you put a light to the paint

Flakman

Even if you don't go through the car wash you'll get them eventually. I don't use car washes, but will have to do at least some clay bar, mild compounding, polishing, and sealant every 6 months or so. Black cars are more of an issue of course.

_tjp_

I drive about 10K/yr.

As for washing, well while it's raining just about every where else in the country we are in a drought in California. I alternate between using the "do it yourself" carwashs and using a waterless spray from Griots. The do it yourself system works fine when the car is a littlw dirty. You just have to be careful with the pressure spray and keep it far enough away when spraying the roof. Then I use the waterless spray when the car isn't too dirty. I bought it from Griots and it comes with these super plush micro-fiber cloths. It works pretty well.

Flakman

I hear you about the CA water issues. We are on minimal restrictions where I am, but there's so much dust in Central California that it needs a wash every week. I try, but there's so much else on the honey-do list that it's easier to QD or ONR it now and then.

jbosey

I just bought our 2009 G37S a couple of months ago, so the black paint is not pristine and it has some scuff marks here and their already. I have no idea how the person that owned the car washed this car. From a distance, the paint looks super great...very deep. Up close you can see some abuse. I work from 6:45AM until 7:00PM or so every weekday (counting travel time)and one Saturday out of the month. I am just not into hand washing my cars. I already have to hand wash our motorcycles. I signed up at the local automatic wash for unlimited washes and pay a flat rate each month for our G and our 2013 Flex which is Kodiak Brown. This system does spray the car pretty good before dumping loads of colorful soap all over the car. It does use the brushes on the side and long slat looking felt slapper on the hood, roof and trunk (not good). I simply like the convenience of anytime I want a clean vehicle running them through the wash. I am sure I am making the paint worse but guess Im willing to sacrifice this for the convenience. I do plan on waxing it soon and often.


As for driving the miles in the convertible...it is our weekend car when the wife and I are spending time with each other. We will leave on a Saturday or Sunday, put the top down and drive to interesting places. The sun just feels so good while driving with the radio playing, I have to watch out for getting too much sun. I suspect we will be driving this fun toy between 15K and 20K a year here in the South.

Flakman

How you choose to wash is up to you and what you feel is worth your time, and I can understand using the car wash instead of hand washing. Regardless of choosing to go through the car wash, I would recommend doing a minimum regimen of clay bar and sealant every 6 months or so. The clay bar will remove the contaminants that are embedded in the paint which is an easy way to make the paint smoother and help water and dirt to bead off better. The sealant will give you long lasting protection. Wax will make it shine, but offers very little in the way of protecting the paint.

Redfire32

iTrader: (12)

What brand of clay bar and sealant do you recommend Flakman?

Your bi-yearly regiment seems to be a very sound plan for our cars paint care. I'm in.

Flakman

There are many to choose from. I am a Meguires guy, but for the most part, all of the major players have awesome products.

I started with the Meguires Smooth Surface clay bar kit (got it at Walmart for about $18). Comes with 2 clay bars (can usually cut in half and use half at a time), quick detailer spray, and a microfiber towel. I use Meguires NXT Next Gen Tech Wax 2.0 for the sealant, and then Meguires Ultimate for the wax (I tend to go with the synthetics, though carnuba will give a deeper shine).

My 6-8 month regimen also has M105 to correct and M205 to polish between claying and sealant. But that's more time of course and not something you want to do by hand.