I just bought my RRed E this past weekend. I wanted to wash her (Meguires Gold Class) and wax her (with Black Magic Liquid) this weekend but since the car was just detailed last weekend is this not wise? Should I just wash her and wait to do the wax job next month? I also bought Mothers Back To Black for the plastic panels which I want to try and Black Magic semi-gloss wipes for the dash area. But wasn't sure if waxing her so soon is wise. I must admit I love the RR color but am paranoid of its properties. I want to keep the finish as protected as possible since that type of red if not cared for will fade, etc...

When my wife and I bought our 06 Acura TL the salesguy told me not to wax the car until 3 months later at least. Something about the car was so new from the factory (built three weeks before getting to them?) and the paint needed to settle? I don't remember but I took his advice and waited. That color is Anthracite Metallic so its not as risky as the RR on the E i assume... anyway what do you think? does it matter?

I hadn't heard anything about this when we bought our E in December. We actually washed and waxed the E in 40 degree weather the week after getting it and it still looks just like new, didn't do any damage for us.

When my wife and I bought our 06 Acura TL the salesguy told me not to wax the car until 3 months later at least. Something about the car was so new from the factory (built three weeks before getting to them?) and the paint needed to settle? I don't remember but I took his advice and waited. That color is Anthracite Metallic so its not as risky as the RR on the E i assume... anyway what do you think? does it matter?

That's probably just a bunch of salesman doublespeak to make you feel good about your purchase. Truth be told (and it's been discussed in the posts), your car has probably been on the lot for a few months, so the paint has had plenty of time to cure.

In fact, I wouldn't trust the dealer to detail my new E (and I've learned the hard way). It's best you W&W immediately on your own (again, plenty of posts re: products and techniques here as well). Congrats on your purchase and remember, no ordinary rags or cellulose sponges! :-P

Edit: Sorry, don't use ordinary sponges to wash or crappy t-shirt rags to dry, use plenty of suds and don't agitate too much; otherwise, you'll induce swirling and those aren't fun to deal with once they're in the clearcoat... :twisted:

What a bunch of bull! Auto paint dries in hours, especially from the factory, where they use ovens to make sure the paint is dry. Wax the Element to your hears content.

The salesman was clueless or most likely full of B.S.

i guess i'll W&W this weekend then! I have all the materials to wash and wax correctly. But yeah the dealer detailed the car and put the good ol swirls on there for me, ah thanks :mad: oh well. at Acura they did the same thing and when I brought it back for its first oil change I told them DO NOT WASH THE CAR! And they were shocked I would do a W&W myself.

Just FYI.. I dunno how credible this is as I'm no paint expert...

But when my mom got into an accident with her CR-V the guy at the shop that did her repair told her not to wax her entire back side of the CR-V for I think 2-3 months because it was brand new (they replaced it). I'm not sure of the reasons why, but I do know that my mom did wait at least 2 months.

Just FYI.. I dunno how credible this is as I'm no paint expert...

But when my mom got into an accident with her CR-V the guy at the shop that did her repair told her not to wax her entire back side of the CR-V for I think 2-3 months because it was brand new (they replaced it). I'm not sure of the reasons why, but I do know that my mom did wait at least 2 months.

In this case, it's probably true because my guess is the vast majority of small body&fender shops may have spray booths, but don't have the equipment to speed the drying process, namely a kiln or oven.

If they replaced the entire panel or tailgate, chances are they acquired a primered factory or OE compatible part and had to color-match. So in this case, it would explain why they told her to refrain from waxing for 2-3 months.

hmm.. thanks k-dogg. that's actually very interesting. my mom's CR-V is actually in the shop again. she just got hit again. i swear.. her car is like a magnet. it's that red color.. i forgot what they call it.. i call it lipstick red. it's very similar to my e's rallye red. some guy just hit her while she was at the gas station, and did $3,000 worth of damage.

so now the shop is prolly gonna tell her not to wax it again for another couple of months... and now we'll know that's prolly a good idea!

thanks again!

well i W&W and it took me a good 3hrs. And then. It starts raining :rolleyes: just my luck. But I used Black Magic Liquid Wax for the first time and it was hard to buff out. I usually use NXT (on the TL) and its easy to buff and seems to last long but got caught up in the hype and got Black Magic. It looks real good and clean but the amount of time to buff was just not worth it! Maybe BM will last even longer than NXT. I also used Back to Black (per this forum and Honda parts dept) on the plastic parts and rubber trim and the stuff works. On the roof I noticed the dealer waxed all the plastic as there were white blotches everywhere up there. I guess they figure no one can see that part so why clean it :mad: and I noticed white blotches all on the front near the hood. Back to Black took it all out and well made the black trim look like it was just taken off the assembly line. I highly suggest it for the plastic panels and the rubber trim and well anything that is plastic and needs to be cleaned.

A word of advice, when you get your car for the first time from the dealer ask them not to prep it. I found a good amount of dealer installed swirl marks. I also found 2 rock chips :???: on the roof. Need touch up for that.

I drove around town and notice quite a few people looking at my E. I guess the RR really stands out or they are just staring at it saying, "What the hell is that!" :razz: