Forgive me for elementary questions.
I’ve done basic to enthusiast car care for some time, but my cars are dated and likely are the products I use. I used Zaino on my cars since new (2001/2003) and it has worked well, especially as the process got less time intensive. Moved to some Chemical Guys stuff for daily drivers and ease of application, but there are better (and much more pricey) options now it seems.
I assume PPF goes on the car first before anything like CQuartz. What would one expect the detailer to do prior to PPF? Wash at minimum. Clay bar? What could I do ahead of time to prepare the car for PPF?
If something like CQuartz is skipped (expensive), what products can be applied on top of PPF that would not compromise the film? Standard wax? Resins? Polishes? Is there a noticeable difference on panels that are covered in PPF vs. ones that are not? I’ve never seen these things up close or if I have, not knowingly.
What about wheels? Wheels are the worst to clean, shine, etc. I’ve put on clear protectants but you still need to get out a brush and clean them. I suspect this may be less of an issue with the M3 due to less braking compared to a car w/o regen.
I do enjoy shining and polishing my cars so paying someone else to apply coatings/polishes seems wasteful to me as I’d rather do it myself. Seems the nicer stuff is limited to detail shops only, but looking for input from those that prefer to do some of these car care things themselves.
I was thinking PPF on the front bumper at minimum, but am open to the whole front end and perhaps rocker panels if I can make it work.
I’ve done basic to enthusiast car care for some time, but my cars are dated and likely are the products I use. I used Zaino on my cars since new (2001/2003) and it has worked well, especially as the process got less time intensive. Moved to some Chemical Guys stuff for daily drivers and ease of application, but there are better (and much more pricey) options now it seems.
I assume PPF goes on the car first before anything like CQuartz. What would one expect the detailer to do prior to PPF? Wash at minimum. Clay bar? What could I do ahead of time to prepare the car for PPF?
If something like CQuartz is skipped (expensive), what products can be applied on top of PPF that would not compromise the film? Standard wax? Resins? Polishes? Is there a noticeable difference on panels that are covered in PPF vs. ones that are not? I’ve never seen these things up close or if I have, not knowingly.
What about wheels? Wheels are the worst to clean, shine, etc. I’ve put on clear protectants but you still need to get out a brush and clean them. I suspect this may be less of an issue with the M3 due to less braking compared to a car w/o regen.
I do enjoy shining and polishing my cars so paying someone else to apply coatings/polishes seems wasteful to me as I’d rather do it myself. Seems the nicer stuff is limited to detail shops only, but looking for input from those that prefer to do some of these car care things themselves.
I was thinking PPF on the front bumper at minimum, but am open to the whole front end and perhaps rocker panels if I can make it work.
