I recently bought my black '04 Crossfire and love it. Now I'm wondering what is the best way to make sure this beauty is still a beauty years from now. I know there are other posts/threads on this subject, however, I thought we could gather all that information into one place. If we can come to a concerted enough opinion, I'd be willing to write up a howto on the subject. Swirl removal, if needed, first waxing/washing, then ongoing care. That kind of thing. I'm mainly looking for responses from people who own black Crossfires. Of course any information is welcome. Thanks in advance.

 

Probably get better response in the "Detail" section of our forum...

 

You are probably right. I hate cross posts, can you move it?

 

I will address this, no problem! The thing with black is ALWAYS hand washing it or using a touch free car wash, period. This way, there's NO chance of scratching up the paint. Secondly your going to want to use a California waterblade to remove the water and with what's left over, use a microfiber towel. Now that your car is all clean you want to prep the paint, check this out...

1. clay barring...This is used to remove embedded contaminants from your paints surface. The next time you wash your car, rub fingers over the paint and notice all the little "grit" you feel, thats what the clay bar removes.

2. Klasse "All in One" (aka AIO) This acrylic product not only cleans the paint below the surface, but polishes it as well. Apply this from side to side, NO CIRCULAR MOTIONS! That helps keep the swirls out of the finish. Its easy on and easy off and should take you no longer than 30 minutes to apply/remove.

3. Klasse Sealant Glaze (aka SG) This is another acrylic product but what this does is seal in the finish you've just gotten with the above 2 steps. It will make the paint "pop" and needs to be applied from side to side and NOT in swirls. This product will give you about 6 months of protection! Once your done here you could stop and be done, BUT, if you want to add more protection and add some depth, check out step #4.

4. Carnauba "topper" Carnauba adds depth to your paint and has always had longevity on its side. Today's carnaubas are very easy to apply and remove. I prefer hard paste versions because of the amount of wax jobs you get out of a bottle and the small amount you need to use. Anyone of the following carnaubas make a great "topper" for steps 1-3, but the best one for black is Pinnacle "Souveran" as its engineered for black, red and dark colors. This product is NOT cheap (anywhere from $50-70.00 a can) but it will last you a while when buying it in hard paste form. So here's a couple of my favorites to be used as "toppers" or could be used right after step #2...

-S100
-Pinnacle "Signature series"
-Pinnacle "Souveran"
-Mequiars NXT (a synthetic, but can be used as a "topper")

If you or anyone has any further questions, feel free as I detail cars on the side and love doing it!

 

Nice write-up, Aero Blue... I would of suggested the same things...HaHaHa!!!
-After washing the car, take off the nozzle of the hose, and place the hose on top of the car. Let the water CASCADE (no spraying, no pressure, just let the water run down the body). This will remove about 80% of the water remaining on the vehicle.
-get HIGH QUALITY detailing towels from autopia-carcare.com, premiumautocare.com, etc... The ones you find at Wal-Mart will leave a whole lot of lint behind (all of the other products mentioned in the above post can also be found on these websites).
-when using the water blade, for every single pass along the paint surface (ensuring the paint is absolutely clean and particle-free), make sure you wipe the blade with a CLEAN towel. This reduces the risk of scratching the paint surface (a rock got caught inbetween the blade and the paint surface on my buddies honda).

 

Hi,
When I got the new '05 (BLACK) X-Fire home - straight from the dealer... the first thing I did was to thoroughly hand wash it, carefully dry it and then apply McGuires "wet-look" polymer sealant to the paint surfaces. Yes you need both McGuires microfibre chamois (to dry it) and microfibre towels to polish-up the sealant. Does a very quick and efficient job.

Then ... I applied McGuires (new) NXT next Generation Tech Wax... which is also polymer based and far superior to carnauba and other regular Wax. Never have I seen such a wonderful lustre and deep tone from dark paint work.
This NTX stuff is really MAGIC!

 

hmmm...have you tried Pinnacle Souveran or P21S??? Many have said that NXT is good, but it does not offer the depth of shine. My friend used NXT, and he mentioned that it was difficult to buff-off. He used P21S before, and he stuck to it despite double the price tag because of it's ease of use (it applies and comes off like butter!!!). LCGI, what other wax have you used?

 

Hi Golfdude,
Please bear in mind that here in Australia.... car care products are marketed differently... and in some instances alternate product names are used.
So... the specifc product you mention (Pinnacle Souveran or P21S) may be here ..... but I have not seen or tried it.... and it may carry little commercial weight..... to influence anyone to depart from their tried and tested brand names or products.

I have not found NXT to be in anyway difficult to apply or remove ...... unless too much is applied. (analogeous to bread & butter) If NXT liquid is applied sparingly (as directed) using the provided foam pad - it goes a long way.... and after drying to a haze - that residual wipes away cleanly with a single stroke of your microfibre cloth. It takes only 15-20 mins to do the entire X-Fire.

 

On the subject of waxes, paste or liquid? Do the pastes last significantly longer? Or are they just generally more of a pain in the rear? Also, does anyone ever strip their wax on purpose?

We washed and waxed my Crossfire the other day using Meguiars Paste Wax for the wax and the Mr. Clean system for the wash. We first stripped the crappy dealer wax with a Dawn wash, and then hand waxed the car. It looks quiet nice. However, I am wondering if there is something more to be done. Also, the bumper has some rough spots of undetermined origin. I wonder if the clay bar would take this off.

The paste wax did take forever to put on and take off. The idea of doing the whole car 15 minutes or so is a pleasing thought. I presume you guys are putting the liquid waxes on by hand, vice an orbital buffer. Would I be correct to say that no one would recommend such a buffer for this car?

If I decided to try one of the suggestions in this thread, would it be sufficient to strip the current wax with Dawn again?

 

I'm a nut when it comes to waxes and polishes. I have, and this is no lie, 23 bottles and cans of different type of waxes sitting in the garage. Some are better than others and some are just disgusting. The Tech wax works beyond anything I have ever used on darker color paints. I have found that if the paint is old or fading the Tech wax is a little harder to get off but on the XF and the Vette it's #1 in my book.

 

LCGI, P21S and Souveran are both good waxes that are known only to a select few. I have never seen advertisements for any of theses products unless I am looking at a detailing forum. In the spring I will try NXT myself.
Atrius, if you are going to polish the paint surface, there is no need to strip the wax w/Dawn as the polish itself will remove the wax. A claybar before polish will also remove the old wax. Polish is the key to maintaining a beautiful paint finish, so look into polishes if you want more detailing supplies.

 

Aero Blue,

Could you tell me a good wax to use, that's not too expensive, that easy on easy off. I hate having to rub hard when trying to remove a wax.

Thanks

 

if i may interject...

~ the key to easy of remove is a microfiber towel.
~ also... to easy removal... wax a panel/fender at time and removal while the wax is still wet.
~ another secret is to slightly dampen the "foam" wax applicator in order to apply a thinner coat and even coverage... more wax is not necessarily better.

a decent paste wax (longer lasting than a liquid) would be a meguiar's "mirror glaze" professional paste wax #16. its about $20 a can.

i had owned a highline detailing business for over 10 years... my past experiences may be beneficial.

hope this helps.

 

P21S can't be beat for ease of application, regardless of price. If you can handle the $31 price take, jump on it! S100 is also good, and costs about $15. Just some tips when waxing to make application easier:

-make sure you are waxing under the shade
-make sure the surface is cool, as most waxes will dry-up real quickly on hot surfaces
-if wax is difficult to remove, lightly mist the dried wax with quick detailer

 

I have a black Crossfire and I've used a few different mass market waxes and then I tried Zaino after a friend’s recommendation. It by far is the longest lasting wax out there. I've read a few tests that verify that statement as well. Since I only wax my car about 4-5 times a year, it's definitely worth it. The stuff that's supposed to take out the swirl marks works ok. I never used more than 2 coats, so that may be the issue there. I have a few before and after pictures on my web site to show the difference between a freshly washed (with Dawn) car with all the wax stripped off and what it looks like after Zaino. There may be other waxes that give a "wetter" look or look more desirable to you, but I can guarantee you that they will wash or wear off in less than a month.

 

Andrew gave some great advice on the subject, as did alot of other guys here, but here's my .02 cents worth. The Mequiars NXT is VERY easy to apply/remove and is readily available everywhere. The one thing about NXT is that it doesn't last that long, but, because its so easy to apply/remove, I suggest using it about once a month or every 2 months. I prefer the liquid for NXT, but should try the paste seeing that most of my other products are paste.



Now, the previous guy who's "down under", just get onto a website and order the stuff, I'm sure they'll ship it to you down there. Hands down, Pinnacle "Souveran" is one of the best waxes for black (dark and red cars as well). I'd stay away from P21S only because S100 is exactly the same thing and is half the price. The S100 goes on easy and comes off easier. It even says in the directions to NOT let it haze, just do a section at a time and remove right away, easy as hell! Both Pinnacle products ("signature series and Souveran") have the same directions. Another easy to use product is Klasse All in One and Sealant Glaze or AIO and SG as they're commonly known as. These products are acrylic and VERY, VERY easy to apply/remove. The AIO is only to be used as a paint cleaner/polish and offers a little protection if you don't want to go past that, but for those who really care about their car, those people will apply at least two coats of SG afterwards (waiting 8-12 hrs inbetween coats of SG) This will make your paint "pop" and will last up to 6 months. To take it a step further, apply a quality carnauba to "top" the Klasse twins. This will not only add additional protection, but more importantly add depth, something you black paint owners will really appreciate.


Another thing that someone mentioned earlier that I couldn't disagree with more...DO NOT USE DAWN TO STRIP YOUR PAINT OF OLD WAX! That stuff will not only do that, but weaken the clearcoat due to its grease cutting qualities. If you wanna use something that not only does the job but is easy to use, check out Griots garage as they offer something called "paint prep". its sprays on, gets rubbed in and rinsed off, very easy to use. The other thing to keep in mind here is to use the clay bar about every 3 months to keep the paint smooth. Every clay barring should be followed with something, whether its acrylic like Klasse or carnaubas. Here's a list of my favorites...

-Griots Garage Paint Sealant and Best of Show, their clay bar
-Mequiars NXT
-Klasse AIO and SG
-Pinnacle Signature Series and Souveran
-S100 (found at your local Harley-Davison dealer)



BTW, we need a separate forum for car care products!

 

atrius - just wondering if you got my pm? You ask about washing with Dawn again. My suggestion is to simply follow the directions on the wax that you use. You have a plethora of suggestions here plus what I sent you about what I do. Zaino does say to strip the existing wax with Dawn and I'd do that if you go the Zaino route. What you have to decide is how much money and time you want to put into this. The Zaino is pretty inexpensive compared to some of the stuff I see mentioned here but I put a coat on at least once a month and that can take several hours. There are no bad suggestions here, just pick one and run with it. I like Zaino because its easy to use and it probably costs me about $30-40 a year in products if my son doesn't get into it.

Pat

 

I did, sorry I didn't reply. And I want to thank everyone for their suggestions. I think you may be the first person to give an estimate on what the Zaino costs over time. That is good to know. Thanks again.

 

Zaino takes a couple hours to apply, darn! I can apply a coat of Klasse SG and remove it in about 34-45 minutes, or if need be, clay, apply/remove AIO and apply/remove SG in about an hour and a half, but I only clay about twice a year though.