New vehicle delivery steps: Suggestions on paint protection

[kindofblue]

Hi all,
We'll be taking delivery of our Mach e Premium around the end of October and I'm planning on doing the initial cleanup of the exterior rather than having the dealership do it. Here are the steps I'm planning and I also have a question about the need to use "iron fallout remover" before clay bar treatment.

1. Wash car w/ph neutral soap
2. Clay bar the paint
3. Have a pro install paint protection film (PPF) on the frontal surfaces of the car.
4. Applying ceramic sealant on the paint surfaces.

I'll be using Griot's products for this process and doing all of this myself except the ppf. (I enjoy the process.) We have ppf on both our current cars and ceramic pro on the Tesla. I recently did the clay bar routine/then ceramic spray on Volt recently and it's retained its glassy smooth finish.

Reading about "iron fallout removal" I'm wondering what's been your experience with using it on a new vehicle that's just come off the railroad car. It involves a lot of steps. Have you seen much iron come off during a first time detailing? Has it been worth the effort? Thanks in advance for your thoughts and experiences.

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[MyLittlePony2022]

I was thinking the same but I talked to my installer. He recommended that you tell the dealer to not do anything but just take off the plastic. Do not remove the glue or wash the car. This prevents them from ruining the paint with chemicals or putting swirl marks in the paint. He also told me not do anything myself. When they looked at the car, he told me it was in great shape and that nothing else was required before putting on the PPF. If there had been issues, I would have paid them to do some minor paint correction. However, that was not needed. Talk to your installer, perhaps you do not need to do anything. Saves you time.

I drove the car home, parked it and did nothing to it until I took it to him. They put PPF on the full front end, the rocker panels, all the pillars, the door sills and the top part of the rear bumper. I also had them put on ceramic coating on the entire car.

The PPF and ceramic coating are the best decision I have every made on modifying a car. The PPF does a great job providing some level of protection. The ceramic coating is the best. I do not wash my car. I use washless spray and wipe the car down. It looks amazing and the dirt wipes off on my microfiber towel. I love that I do not have to, unless really dirty, wash my car again. I will take the car in once a year to them to check on the coating and do any tune-up required.

 

[kindofblue]

I was thinking the same but I talked to my installer. He recommended that you tell the dealer to not do anything but just take off the plastic. Do not remove the glue or wash the car. This prevents them from ruining the paint with chemicals or putting swirl marks in the paint. He also told me not do anything myself. When they looked at the car, he told me it was in great shape and that nothing else was required before putting on the PPF. If there had been issues, I would have paid them to do some minor paint correction. However, that was not needed. Talk to your installer, perhaps you do not need to do anything. Saves you time.

I drove the car home, parked it and did nothing to it until I took it to him. They put PPF on the full front end, the rocker panels, all the pillars, the door sills and the top part of the rear bumper. I also had them put on ceramic coating on the entire car.

The PPF and ceramic coating are the best decision I have every made on modifying a car. The PPF does a great job providing some level of protection. The ceramic coating is the best. I do not wash my car. I use washless spray and wipe the car down. It looks amazing and the dirt wipes off on my microfiber towel. I love that I do not have to, unless really dirty, wash my car again. I will take the car in once a year to them to check on the coating and do any tune-up required.

Yes I was going to tell the dealer just that.

Good suggestion about having the ppf installer check out the car first. Thanks.

 

[joebruin77]

1. Wash car w/ph neutral soap
2. Clay bar the paint
3. Have a pro install paint protection film (PPF) on the frontal surfaces of the car.
4. Applying ceramic sealant on the paint surfaces.

I'll be using Griot's products for this process and doing all of this myself except the ppf. (I enjoy the process.) We have ppf on both our current cars and ceramic pro on the Tesla. I recently did the clay bar routine/then ceramic spray on Volt recently and it's retained its glassy smooth finish.

Reading about "iron fallout removal" I'm wondering what's been your experience with using it on a new vehicle that's just come off the railroad car. It involves a lot of steps. Have you seen much iron come off during a first time detailing? Has it been worth the effort? Thanks in advance for your thoughts and experiences

When I took delivery of my MME a couple months ago, I also told the dealer not to wash the car and that I would take care of the initial wash myself.

I would recommend adding an iron remover to your wash process. Since the car is transported via rail, it will likely pick up some iron contaminants. I recommend this iron remover from Turtle Wax:

https://www.turtlewax.com/products/hs-pro-all-wheel-cleaner-iron-remover

Using an iron remover is actually pretty easy. Just spray it onto the freshly washed car. Let it dwell for 2-4 minutes (in the shade on cool paint so it doesn't dry), then rinse it off. I personally did not find that agitating the iron remover with a wash mitt was necessary.

Since you are washing and decontaminating the car in preparation for PPF and a ceramic coating, I would also recommend you use a soap with a bit more "umph". Ph neutral soaps are good for maintenance washes as they don't degrade sealants or waxes. But they don't clean quite as thoroughly as a higher pH soap.

Since you mentioned you like Griots Garage products, here is a higher pH soap that Griots designed for paint protection prep:

https://www.griotsgarage.com/foaming-surface-prep/

Another option would be to use your normal soap but add an "All Purpose Cleaner" prewash. Right before you wash your car, you spray it down with an All Purpose Cleaner that is safe for paint, let it dwell for 2-3 minutes in the shade, then rinse it off. This will knock off and loosen traffic film and other gunk.

My favorite APC for this type of purpose is Optimum's Power Clean. When diluted 3 to 1, it is safe to use on paint:

https://optimumcarcare.com/product/optimum-power-clean

 

[kindofblue]

Thanks Joe. Griot's high ph cleaner seems to need to be applied with a foam cannon and I'm trying to avoid going down that rabbit hole of compulsiveness ;-) so I'll try the Optum cleaner diluted then Griot's then proceed with their iron removal spray.

 

[joebruin77]

Thanks Joe. Griot's high ph cleaner seems to need to be applied with a foam cannon and I'm trying to avoid going down that rabbit hole of compulsiveness ;-) so I'll try the Optum cleaner diluted then Griot's then proceed with their iron removal spray.

Like you, I don't like using a foam cannon. In fact, nearly all of my washes are rinseless.

If you want a more aggressive, higher pH traditional car soap for paint protection preparation, I suggest Mckees37 Coating Prep Auto Wash:

https://mckees37.com/products/coating-prep-auto-wash

If you prefer to do a rinseless wash, Mckees37 N-914 can be used at a "paint prep" strength when diluted 8 to 1 with water.

https://mckees37.com/products/n-914-rinseless-wash-32-oz?_pos=2&_sid=51f36784b&_ss=r

 

[kindofblue]

Like you, I don't like using a foam cannon. In fact, nearly all of my washes are rinseless.

If you want a more aggressive, higher pH traditional car soap for paint protection preparation, I suggest Mckees37 Coating Prep Auto Wash:

https://mckees37.com/products/coating-prep-auto-wash

If you prefer to do a rinseless wash, Mckees37 N-914 can be used at a "paint prep" strength when diluted 8 to 1 with water.

https://mckees37.com/products/n-914-rinseless-wash-32-oz?_pos=2&_sid=51f36784b&_ss=r

Thanks again for the suggestion.

 

[DaveP]

when I told the dealer I didn't want them to wash the car they told me that they would then not be responsible for any damage during delivery or imperfections found later. So letting them wash car..

 

[kindofblue]

Not responsible for damage? Then I'd visually inspect it carefully before taking delivery and have them fix it before taking delivery or noting that the damage will be repaired when you bring it in.

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