rb23lb

Who is waxing their new C right away??

If not waxing it immediately when you get it, is your paint at risk?

Does the dealer usually wax it when they prep it when it arrives?

chilledbenz

Rule of thumb I've always been taught is not to wax it right away. Have to wait for the paint to set in good. That may have changed with all the new technology they are using now such as the nano particle paint. Might just be an old wives tale as they say, but its still a water based paint, and that takes awhile to cure. I'm sticking with waiting a few months, hasn't hurt me yet.

430752

I waxed my new c as soon as I learned how. Oh, the car. Yeah, what he said, above.

(sorry couldn't resist)

Qest

I'm no expert, but I can tell you that when I worked in a car dealership, every car was waxed before delivery.

Have you ever seen a car that the paint ran or was damaged because someone waxed too early? I haven't.

e1000

tru.... tru. These things are baked at the factory. Wax on, wax off, Daniel-san!

chilledbenz

Yeah they usually buff them during prep, usually cause there is shipping crap all over them. I don't know, I've always went with the old saying to not do it, but do what you want, for every person that waxes it there's another one that says not to.

Chaz00Blue

Chilled,

Your logic makes some sense if you assume that the dealer has already waxed it, why do it again right away. I also don't see the need to strip it right away and rewax it.

oblu

I don't know if MB does it, I've found a bit of evidence when cleaning my door jambs to suggest they might, but BMW ships their cars on the boat coated with cosmoline. So you car's been steam cleaned a couple of times at port and then detailed by the dealer before you even get it.

My C had already been waxed when I got it.

I'd never heard the "curing" wives tale applied to new cars, just autobody repair jobs ... they don't have a curing process like the factory does, so it's more applicable.

Also, don't forget, if you're on the west coast your car's been in transit for two months already anyway.

Kieffer

Aaah, good old cosmoline. I had a 92 BMW 850i where the dealer didn't take the cosmoline off of the beautiful V12 engine. All that nice metal turned to dirty-looking gold. Hate that stuff.... But I digress.

I'm anxious to see if this new "nano particle" paint process really does what MB says it will - prevents wax swirling.

oblu

Was it nano particle or was it then new ceramic flake that PPG came up with?

alexyanglaw

I tried to pick up my car as soon as it arrived to the dealer from the port, but I had to waited for another 2 day for the dealer to inspect the car and detail it, so when I pick up the car, I know for sure they waxed it, and I don't plan to wax the car anymore after another 6-10 weeks, just to make sure for the paint to set in good.

jldaddy

I waxed the car right after I picked it up with Zymol wax. It is my understanding that new cars do not come waxed. Anyway if they did, it wouldn't hurt to wax it again.

peabers

It's ceramic flakes on the C-class... supposed to help resist scratching.

chilledbenz

Brochure says the new nano particle paint is applied to the w204 C this year. In years past it was reserved for S and GL class but has now trickled its way down to the newer models. It is said to resist light scratches and swirl marks but won't resist crazy x girlfriends or pissed off wives with sharp keys.

Jorg

I look at the paint and as long as the water spot beat up I leave it alone. Once the water goes very flat on the painted surfaces it is time to wax it. That is what I am doing.

Jorg

wase4711

I can say from experience that as long as its a pure wax with NO CLEANERS OR ABRASIVES, you can wax a new car as soon as you want..I was in the automotive industry for many years, sold lots of wax and polishes, both retail and professional, and have owned over 30 new cars in my lifetime, so I have a pretty good idea about this...

e1000

the later W203 C-classes had the nano paint too

oblu

The week I got my car, somebody at work scraped along the passenger door and left a nice scratch in the clear coat. It was beautiful work, dead on you couldn't see it, but at normal standing height it was plain as day.

Luckily a detailing shop was able to polish it out ... and yeah, I know they had to use some abrasive *** crap to polish out a scratch like that. But it's better than having to see it every time I walked up to the car.

Sorry, point is, it doesn't appear to be much of a miracle surface.

aowhaus

I've asked a well respected detailing shop and according to them curing is not really an issue, since the paint coming out of the factory is different than paint coming out of a body shop and even many domestic cars, and the month or so it takes for the car to get here the paint should be pretty well cured and safe to wax.
Due to all of the pollutants, dust and residue from transport they recommend a good washing, then clay bar to get the microscopic contaminants, and a waxing is enough for a new car. Polishing and multicoats of waxing is not necessary.

RLE

This is MB's third production year for nano particle clear coat. It does not prevent wax swirls (what's that?) but is 75% less likely to scratch than the former clear coat, according to MB. Their words.

As to waxing, the paint is baked at the factory and can be waxed immediately. The day after delivery, I applied my usual stuff, Griot's SpeedShine to remove any light noseprints and so on, Menzerna paint sealer followed by Griot's spray wax which seems to last as long as Zymol Carbon with much less effort.

Looks splendid.

These 18" AMG wheels are an absolute SOB to keep clean, what with all the edges and corners. And it's true, the rear brakes produce more dust than the fronts. My P21S wheel cleaner usage rate has increased.

rb23lb

you reccomend changing out the break pads to ones that produce less dust on the rear after the first set wears out?