Long Term Car "Waxes"

[Marc A. Ries]

[LE]

I have recently purchased a new car and wish to keep the
shine/paint in primo condition. It would seem the average car
"wax" (i.e., Turtle, Simonize, etc.) only lasts about a month to
six weeks before the effects (e.g., water repellency) wear off.
So:

1) Has anybody had any experiences with long-term coatings. For
example, locally in Southern California there is a company
called Ming with advertises a process that lasts for 3 years
(subject to paint conditions). Is this a ripoff?

2) What's the best over-the-counter car "wax" for the "do-it-
yourselfer"?

-- Marc Ries
{sdcrdcf,ihnp4,aero}!trwrb!trwrba!ries

[Mark Horton]

You can buy the same long-term protection that company wants to
sell you over the counter. Look for a wax with a "poly" or
"polymer" formula. The labels will have the same kinds of claims
about how it will protect your car for years because it bonds into
the paint.

I'd still recommend you wax your car every so often anyway, but
running it through a gas station car wash and getting the hot wax
is probably sufficient. Here in the salt belt, I put a coat of
wax on in the fall, in addition to going through the car wash a
few times through the winter. But in LA, just keep the smog washed
off your car, and keep it out of the sun, and you should be fine.

What I wonder is: do the poly waxes still work if there is another
coat of wax underneath them? Or do you have to strip it off first,
or wait a couple months of non-waxing before applying a poly wax?

Mark

[Floyd Hydrozoan]

In article <19...@trwrba.UUCP> ri...@trwrba.UUCP (Marc A. Ries) writes:
>2) What's the best over-the-counter car "wax" for the "do-it-
> yourselfer"?

In Chicago, home of acid-rain, I've found that Rain Dance liquid
takes a long time to deteriorate - typically six months between
waxes. It's pretty easy to use too.