Care care tips for college student on a budget

[740lover]

My nephew is a college student on a budget (my budget), who lives in a dorm. He just got his first car and wants me to send him some wax. I use Zaino, but he isn't ready for that yet, or a Porter Cable buffer.

Can anyone recommend a list of good products (can't afford great) to wash, dry and wax his car. He has no detailing experience, so I'll have to take my PC with me when I visit him at the University of Hawaii.

Thanks

[steve]

I've been playing with the new lines of Mothers products, and the Relfections stuff is awesome. It works great by hand, is super easy to use, is inexpensive, and looks like a million bucks. So far, durability is good - I used their new Reflections Car Wax and Reflections Top Coat with wonderful results. It rained heavily for 4-5 days immediately after I applied them, and I'm happy to report full, quality beading after a follow-up wash.

I've always been a big fan of their products, and it's my hope that with them sponsoring this board that they'll become a household name in the higher-end car market. The stuff is good enough to compete with some of the most expensive and "exotic" products out there. Mothers is just too humble to say it. :-)

Seriously, though - check the stuff out, give it a try, and prepare to be pleasantly surprised. Mothers stuff is high quality, readily available and very reasonable in price.

I'm working on a full write-up of it, and hope to have something in the next issue of Roadfly magazine.


-Steve

GURU REPORTS: Unbiased, independent, practical testing and evaluation of car care products.



And now, banned from Autopia... Thank God!!

[GKGreen]

I'll concur with what Steve said. I picked up some of the new Mothers stuff at the car parts store the other day. That new packaging is hot, and I applied the Reflections to my daily driver and it looked awesome! I had never really given Mothers any thought, but it was a lot easier to use than NXT or other locally available waxes I've tried.

[740lover]

[JV]

my 500 ml lasted for about two years and that's for my jet black that's waxed every two weeks even during the winter months. pretty damn good for $22 a bottle. it wipes on and wipes off. no drying time needed - perfect for someone who's also pressed for time but don't want to sacrifice quality.

add to that half a dozen of the green microfibers and one purple waffle weave from detailersparadise.com should be enough.

roughly $80 worth of supplies and it should last for two years or more.

[Jon '92 325ic]

You can get their products at most auto parts stores. The products are very affordable and the quality of the products is excellent. Their wax is also easily applied/buffed off by hand. I've tried some other products that were comparable to Mother's but significantly more difficult to wipe off.

[bschmiduk]

I hate to disagree with the experts here, but I have some firsthand experience. My daughter is in college with her Black 2002 Saab 9-5 - very hard to care for.

(1) College kids don't have time to 'waste' (heresy) waxing their car.
(2) College kids don't have proper facilities to wax their car.
(3) college kids still want their ride to look nice.

My Solution?
the daughter usually makes it home twice a year. I fully detail the car (dawn, clay, polish, Z7 wash, then Zaino) and layer on 4-5 coats of Zaino. Takes me about a day, and she helps me (good time together, too).

Then, I send her off with a handful of microfiber towels and a big waffle-weave. Every other week or so, she takes the car to a touchless car wash and wipes it down with microfiber and Z6.

Works a treat. Here's a snap from last year, when I was using BLACKFIRE in teh same "daughter support plan"

[740lover]

bschmiduk,
I would go the whole detail route with my nephew and show him how to clay his car, use the PC, and maybe Zaino it, but he's in Hawaii and I'm in California. Like you say, he doesn't have the time or money to do an extensive job, so I have to agree with the experts on this one.

I was thinking of detailing it for him when I visit, but on second thought, I'm going to tell him what a great job he did on his car, and then have him drop me off at the beach :-)
Thanks again.

[lawrenceA]

Hey Steve, have you tried Mothers FX line yet?

[steve]

Just a personal thing. The FX line is good - super easy to use, and gives a great final appearance - brilliant and slick. I think the Reflections offers a touch more depth and has a bit more "carnuaba look" to it.
-Steve

GURU REPORTS: Unbiased, independent, practical testing and evaluation of car care products.



And now, banned from Autopia... Thank God!!

[dbauer78544]

Available at any Harley Dealership (in-store or online). If he needs a more aggressive polish, check out 3M SMR or whatever Mothers or Meguiar's has along the same lines.

[SnakeEyes325is]

I just did my fathers 325ic again for him. it's a 1987 with original paint. the paint is in excellent shape, but a bumper trim piece and one mirror shell needs to be repainted. at one gas station yesterday, he had two spereate people comment on the car within 3 minutes.-------------
1987 BMW 325is - 5-speed - Alpine White - not quite stock
1987 325iC - auto - delphin metallic - stock(not my car)
1969 Camaro RS, 350(now 383 .030 over), TH-400, LOTS of mods(my other car)

Car Pics
AIM: SnakeEyes M3