cte430

although i'm a newbie to the detailing forum, I know that car wash is probably considered to be a dirty word around here. I am awaiting delivery of a E500 and have deen doing some reading here about zaino. since my car is silver, i'm wondering if it is worth the effort though. I could see black, red, etc. If I do decide to go the Zaino route, i am wondering what folks do who live in a similiar climate to mine (Long Island NY). I'm sure I wont be into detailing the car when it's 10 degrees with a howling wind in February. conversely when it's 95 with 100% humidity (I gotta move to San Diego). Basically, would taking the car to a "touchless" car wash for the times I can't detail properly due to weather "ruin" the initial effort to "zaino-ise". Anyone happen to know a good detailer on Long Island? Thanks for your patience, chris

Lynn

Zaino will stand up to the harsh detergents used at touchless car washes better than regular waxes.

avlis

I live in NH and I only plan on applying Zaino twice a year at most. People say it will last and I hope they're right.

bmms8

i applied 3 coats of Z on sunday, although the car looks....ok...the protection is really good..the car is silver, so thats why it doesnt look that good...but it was raining yesterday, so there were water beads on the car....this morning, there was nothing on the car.....no water no nothing.....no water spots either, my dad was very veryimpressed with it....buy Z though.....it isnt bad, but it would look better on darker colors, like our e500 is going to be obs blk....it looks very good too

JustinTRW

The key to Zaino is in the surface prep. I just saw BMMS8's silver car today. The Zaino would have looked much better if the car had been cleaned with a chemical cleaner first.

Unless you are prepared to go all the way, don't bother imo. A new however, requires less initial work.

saintvir

Dumb question: what chemical cleaner would you recommend? I also have a new car and am wondering how to start if I decide to use Zaino.

thanks.

bmms8

dawn will strip all the old wax, and clean the paint well, then clay the car, that will get everything out of the paint

saintvir

Thanks ... sounds simple enough. I'm still waiting for the delivery of the clay bar I ordered (clay magic & clay lube). When it arrives, I will try it on my old car!