Advice on Cleaning Products/methods for new 2017 Cali T

I am brand new to Ferrari (Porsche guy previously). Do you all have any recommendations for cleaning products? I really want to keep it washed and waxed. Any advice on shampoos, waxes, spray buff, etc.?

What about for wheels or tail pipes? any experiences?

Also, how about under the hood? Do you all spray that down and wipe the engine parts that are visible?

Any advice on leather care?

What about windows and mirrors?

Basically I am looking for the best options and more importantly, I want to avoid any mistakes! thanks!

I love this car!
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Ferrari leather responds very well to the 2-product Leatherique system for conditioning/cleaning.

 

I'm a former 911 owner using the same products on my California T. Dig through the detailing forum for more ideas. For me Meguiars products are usually fine. Use a non ammonia glass cleaner - not windex. P21 polish cleans up my stainless exhaust tips. Not sure what to use on black ones

 

1. Wrap it all over with PPF.
2. Drive the s**t out of it.
3. Let the fine people at the dealership clean it when you have it in for service.
4. From time to time, when you go out of town, pay a little extra and get an inside/outside detailing.
5. Go to Step # 2

That's my process. More time cleaning = less time driving!

T

 

I'm eagerly awaiting Dan's (whattheheck) report on whether his trick of using Scrubbing Bubbles on an F430 engine bay translates well to the California.

Many people have the entire car wrapped in paint protection film (PPF), which protects it from scratches, minor rock chips, etc. It's not cheap, and you should have the paint professionally corrected before having the film applied so there are no swirls and so forth. Once the film is on, the car is very easy to clean.

Others are believers in having the ceramic protection applied to either the paint itself or the film. At that point, hardly anything sticks to the car and it will pretty much just rinse clean. The carbon ceramic brakes are terrific because they produce no brake dust and the rims always look clean. However, you should be careful what products you apply to the wheels as a result, as the rotors and pads are very expensive and certain products may damage them. As a matter of course, I only use water on my rims.

In fact, I usually wash the car using Ammo's Frothe waterless wash system, it works great. I do it right in the garage with a bunch of microfiber towels.

Getting back to the rims, my 2013 Cali 30 would sometimes develop some brake squeal ... I found it was just an accumulation of what dust the carbon rotors do produce, and rinsing the (cool) rims with water would alleviate it. I have had no problems with my Cali T in that area.

I will echo that the Leatherique system works great, I just used it on my car. It's counter-intuitive -- you use the conditioner first, then the cleaner to remove the conditioner.

Be very wary of using any cleaning products at all on the interior, especially the soft-touch buttons and switches, they are prone to getting sticky and certain cleaners may damage the finish or accelerate that process.

 

rinseless washing all the way. just use carpro ech2o and reload.

everything shiny and nice.

 

I use the foam cannon to wash off the car when a deeper cleaning is needed or when I am washing the Porsche or the motorbike. Most of the time I use Griot's Garage spray on indoor car wash. Comes out superb!

 

I don't understand why Ferrari uses that "felt" like fabric in the wheel wells. It attracts leaves and dirt and is very hard to clean. You have to manually pick stuff out of it sometimes.