Which polish/wax do you Ferrari owners use?

http://ferrarichat.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2620

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Sunny

P.S. I will put the smack down on any F-car finish you'll come across and my car goes through 25k miles/year.

 

While i don't go through all the steps in JAGXJ6'S excellent write-up,the basics of washing,drying ,polishing & waxing are the same for every car you want to take good care of.
I will spend a good 3 hrs on my car and it seems there's no short cut to achieving that perfect shine.Put some elbow grease into it !
Tony

 

An uneducated opinion. Ferrari uses enamel, Mitsubishi Motors uses clearcoat. The Evolution is a clearcoat. The pearl colored white and yellow Mitsubishi 3000GT Twin Turbo series utilized a three phase paint proccess where a panel was painted, heated over 300 degrees F, then final paint phase which gave it a unique color. Obviously, that application process goes above the Ferrari enamel step. Does that make it a superior paint? Not neccessarily. I've seen a higher quality paint job on a production Mitsubishi than the 'orange peel' rear deck and side panel of a Corvette. Both paint jobs, clearcoat.

There is nothing simple toward working to a high gloss finish. I will be the first to tell you this.

Ferrarichat has the best resources of products and actual detailers input. Short of a detailer's forum, I don't believe you will find information as well documented as found on this site.

 

Heck, I have had my 550 for 2 years and 17,000 miles. I just wash it between oil changes.

 

Durability is definitely something you notice the most. My finish is not particularly special. Its a 2 base coat primer and 2 coat paint with a third and final clear in the same oven process most volume manufacturers use.

Painting fiberglass is not the same as painting metal, your not going to place an F-car side by side next to a production car with a relatively good paint job and expect to come out on top. The Vette's for example are not as lucky, but then again, they are not the same cost and go through the same prep as the F-cars do. 5000/yr vs 15,000/yr...

Why its so expensive is the materials and the prep that goes into it.

I have a metallic black so it takes at least an extra day of labor in sanding and blending to do the whole car. $5,000 factory extra you keep paying for if you ever need body work done, like I did recently.

 

Its all in the prep work. Unless your showing, your not going to need to do everything in painful detail as I put in my doc. If you were local I'd be happy to help. Wash it throughly, find a product you like to use, get a few tricks on how to put it on and remove it the best, and find some good quality cloths to use and the finish will improve. I go to such lengths because I like little trophys and prizes in competition, not to mention, bragging rights amongst my peers.

Sunny

 

Phillip,

Evo and C inside, and 911 outside? Hmm weird priorities

 

You might be asking the wrong group of guys. Not many of us have time to wax and polish the cars ourselves but that doesn't mean it doesn't get done. You might have to ask our detailers

I wash my car myself but I have a detailer who works for one of my companies wax and polish the car every few weeks. He is as nutty as Sunny when it comes to this stuff and the car always looks great.

 

ZAINO ZAINO ZAINO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That is waht I was going to say. Most F car owners probably don't do it themselves. Wish I will be able to afford that someday

 

If it were $200 or whatever other people pay you can bet your ass that I would be doing it myself. I pay him his usual work rate: $10/hr. The whole thing usually costs me $70. I love cleaning my car but it's hard to beat the job he does and when it only costs me $10/hr it's hard to pass up.

EVO8: He has tried lots of different things but I have a pro detail shop supplier come by the office to supply him with the goods. He has tried it all really loves the professional grade 3M stuff. The supplier explained to me how the formula is a little different than the retail shops carry but it was pretty much lost on me. Peter really likes it though.

In between I wash the car and use Mequiar's Quick Detailer to shine it up. It works great.

 

70BUCKS??? Man nothing is that cheap in the bay area or los angeles

 

By the way, don't call me a slave driver. I know that $70 for the job he does is a total steal but he washes lots of vehicle for me and gets paid well compared to what the people mover dealerships are paying.

 

If you look at almost any other car on the road today, you will see a glossy coating on top of serious orange peel. With modern paint technology, the only way to get rid of orange peel is to sand (1500 grit to 2000 grit) down the top of the paint after it has dried (typically 3 days) and then buff the sanded surface back to a glossy state. The cost structure of a Ferrari allows this cost, the cost structure of a Vette or below simply does not.

 

Really? I have been using the quick detailer for years on cars I keep under cover. I have found it to be a great product!

 

Are you using it properly? On a well polished car, if you wipe with a damp micro fiber, it's the best that I have found.

 

The Z word has been mentioned.. Someone get me my gun.