For many it's auto-therapy. I spend about 30 minutes washing and drying my car whenever it needs it, which gives me a chance to unwind. When I wax it's more like an hour - twice a year. You would be surprised at just how good a job you can do yourself - as good if not better than a professional.

 

I suppose. I have both kinds (RO and rotary for the boat hull) and never had the urge to use them on my cars. I'm irrationally thinking just a few gritty particles and the car's clear coat is wrecked. It's just me. Fiberglass "clear coat" is very thick (called gel coat) and white so I'm not too worried about wrecking it.

Plus my P-car paint seems so SOFT I almost get pissed at Porsche and "The Environmental Regulations" which resulted in that seemingly freakishly soft paint every time I get a glance at the millions of tiny scratches on the clearcoat. I'm extremely careful about grit too! Anyway, that's why I'm thinking I'll machine polish "once" on the day before getting rid of it, selling or trading in or whatever.

Close-minded as I am I also think the car should look shiny but not concours shiny. The minute you drive it off the lot on delivery day it becomes an old car. hahaha. Nah. Three years old and my car is still dingless, scratchless. It's also been parked in direct sunlight for about 40 hours total. I just don't want to treat it like and have it look like a museum piece: too much other stuff to fuss over.

Nah..., I'm just talkin.' Machine polish all you guys want! ENJOY YOUR CARS!

 

I pay to have the interior done. I do the outside...always. Using the best wax and polish on the planet. Malms ultra-fine polish occasionaly and Malms Extreme wax every time.

 

another benefit of a Cab, less paint to wax!!!
BTW, I use "light" wax 3x/yr and "hard" 1x/yr.

 

I do it all myself. As others have said it's bonding time and time to know where I may have taken on any new damage to the paint or structurally.

As for waxing I used to hand wax but that crap took forever so now I use a Porter Cable and a Lake Country waxing pad and wax the whole car at once with P21S and then buff out with microfiber buffing towels.

I did polish my car out as well since my paint was ruined by cheap government shipping contractors and didn't have a worry about using a random orbital. My paint was near flawless with just normal road chips in the paint for 3 years prior to that. As long as you aren't an idiot and can spare some patience polishing your own vehicle it isn't something that should be looked at in any negative light. Results were near perfect (not concours)

 

I love the time I spend washing, polishing and waxing my cars. My advice spend several hours on websites like autogeek or autopia learning good technique. Practice on other cars before your 911. My minivan has immensely benefited from my practice sessions. Use the least abrasive polish for light swirls. Do not use more aggressive polishes unless your paint thickness is measured with a meter. If the paint needs quite a bit of correction you are better of taking it to a good detail shop. Always wash thoroughly and clay bar the paint before waxing. Otherwise the wax just won't stick to the paint well if there are bonded surface contaminants that you may not see (but can feel). The paint when well prepped prior to polish/wax should feel smooth like glass. Always use painters masking tape (the 3M blue has less adhesive so comes off easier). Each DIY'er eventually develops his or own taste for a products. DO not skimp on the quality (that does not mean you have to spend $300 for a tub of wax) of the wax on a $100K car. Most of the consumer products (as opposed to the prosumer products) are not durable and may not last after a few washes but if you like to wax your car every two months then yes it does not really matter much. Zymol, Griot's, swissvax. They are all good products. You will eventually develop your own favorite product. Good wash technique will preserve all the hard work done with your paint correction/protection using polishes/waxes.

 

I know what you mean.
The wife and I always rely on a trained specialist.
It's dirty work.... best left to a professional.

 

This is surprisingly true. I was shocked at how much of a mental adjustment washing and waxing it was when I swapped my cab for the coupe last year. It's not that much more work, but it sure seems like it when your brain is calibrated for the cab's amount of effort.

 

I'm actually not advocating machine "polishing" as most quality car finishes that have been well cared for need polishing only rarely. (Maybe a little clay bar and detail spray OIAW) My RO machine uses large diameter, thick, fine cell foam pads at a low speed to apply wax evenly and smoothly. The pads are as grit free as any hand applicator and the pressure on the paint, given the large surface area of the pad, is very light. Occasionally I will do the Porsche by hand and save the RO for the other vehicles, but honestly, the results are the same and the machine makes for quick and easy work.

 

Ya know what? You convinced me. Will get some new pads and use them only for waxing cars.

Hey! I'm excited. Thanks

 

Using a RO polisher to apply wax doesn't save much work because applying wax by hand is easy. The part that takes the most effort is buffing it off. I do both by hand.

I do use my PC 7424 to apply polish, but I polish infrequently and wax often.

 

I'd gladly buy you a beer if you could apply wax to your car quicker (and better) by hand than I can with a good RO buffer. Too bad we can't arrange a friendly competition!

 

waxing is the easy part.
polishing correctly is the challenge.

if you want your head to explode, spend some time here,

http://www.autogeekonline.net/

Craig

 

I've enjoyed the comments about waxing. I've always waxed my own cars. Since I purchased my Porsche, I've tried several types. The Zaino brothers wax works great and is easy to apply but do it in the shade and NOT in a closed garage. The last wax job I did was with Malms. Jay advertizes in the PCA Panorama magazine. The product is very good and really holds up. Maybe I have it easy as my roof is all glass and dosn't need wax..

Steve in Saratoga Springs, NY

 

not only that, but a porter cable will get you such a better result, especially when working on removing swirls, water spots and other minor blemishes. It's very paint friendly - you'll love finish