The dealer advises me to NOT use clay or wax on my new 08 Element SC. I know there is a coating on the paint etc but would you suggest using clay and wax?

The dealer advises me to NOT use clay or wax on my new 08 Element SC. I know there is a coating on the paint etc but would you suggest using clay and wax?

You can use clay and wax on a new car. Typically, the rule of thumb is you want to give fresh paint 60-90 days before you wax it. Clay lifts surface contaminates out of the paint - or stuff that is struck to the paint that normal washing will not remove. On a new car, these surface contaminates can be fallout from the manufacturing plant where the car sat while waiting to be shipped, exhaust from the ship or truck or rail dust from the train while it was in transit.

Clay also removes wax, so anytime you clay, you need to follow up with wax.

Thanks man. I wanted to be sure that the clay or wax would not remove the coatings on the paint or anything like that.

By the way...Everyone should keep this in mind; your car was made a long time ago! For instance, I bought mine in the end of april, but i know it was made last December! Wow! I'm pretty sure my 90 days are clear.

Think of your paint as an oreo cookie. the bottom part is the primer, the middle is the paint, and the top is the clear coat. There are no other "coatings" beyond the top, clear coat. On Hondas, the clear is on the softer side, but it would take a heck of a lot more than a clay bar to remove the clear - You can machine polish clear coat many, many times before you work your way through it.

Remember, these car care companies have to consider the "lowest denominator" when they bring products to the market. They wouldn't put a clay bar out that could damage your paint.

My dealer attempted to sell me a "paint treatment" that had a 5-year warranty. It was some type of coating over the paint. Of course, they really can't guanantee the paint won't have a problem within 5 years, but few people will probably enter a claim, so it's much less money to paint the odd panel here and there compared to the amount of money they take in initially with the number of customers who actually purchase the warranty.

I opted not to purchase it since I take good care of my vehicles. Is it possible that your vehicle had this or a similar treatment?

No, I didnt buy anything extra.