Waxing Your 997--Do You Do It Yourself?
 

I see a lot of you are talking about the products you use
to wax and fully detail your 997's.

Do you wax your cars yourself or are you hiring someone
else with a lot more skill than I have to do this job?

I prefer to do it myself. It's like bonding time with the car and gives me a chance to spot problems. For routine waxing it doesn't take any special skills, I probably do a more thorough job than someone else would.

For restorative waxing or paint finish repair I'd go to a pro in a heartbeat, though.

Yes but not when it is 97° outside like it was here today.

To be perfectly honest, a Porsche is not the car to learn waxing on. I hope you've done it before.

It's best that everyone does their own if time permits because you can discover things about your car as you do this.

Suggest you tackle one or two panels per session. Don't ever try to wax the entire car in one shot--you will get lousy and lazy and skimp near the end! There is no rush, take your time.

These cars wash much better when a good coat of wax is on them. Don't neglect that.

You can always use a professional the first time and then watch them. It is very easy to screw up the car. The clear coat is thin--you can burn through it with a machine if you're not careful. Save that exercise for after you are well acquainted with waxing by hand.

Myself, by hand, did it yesterday in fact. Waxing your 997 is EASY, if you can wash and dry a car, you have the skill. Dan, I don't know what you are saying that a Porsche is not the car to learn on? This isn't rocket science.

Go to the local auto store and get a clay bar kit and a high quality wax. Sure, it takes time, maybe a few hours to wash, dry, clay bar, clean up with quick detailer, wax, buff wax, and stand in awe while feeling the silky paint, but you'll probably do a better job than a pro and the satisfaction is priceless.
I used Meguiar’s NXT GENERATION TECH WAX yesterday, came out really nice. I'm sure some here spend all kinds of money buying whatever, but I get fabulous results using a clay bar with Meguiar’s Quik Detailer and a high quality Meguiar's wax.

I quite agree that it's not complex, but some owners may want to polish the cars before waxing and that is where they can possibly bite off more than they can chew. Polishing is another thing entirely.

Completely agree, polishing gets tricky, and might be worth getting a pro detailer involved. Although, I've seen Detailer's go crazy with polish, overuse it. I keep my paint nice, and try to avoid polishing. Of course, that's easier the newer the car is.

I wash and wax myself. Never paid a detailer to wax a car. I have always hand waxed. I have ordered a flex tool but My plan to use it on my truck and my daughters cars and get very familiar with tool before it ever touches a Porsche.

I could always wax the wife's Suburban after that aircraft carrier is finished I will be a expert.;)

See my posts in the thread Caring for your 911.

Deanski

Wash extremely carefully. Use approved and accepted "non-destructive" :D methods. Detest grit: absolutely do not "wet sand" car while washing it.

Once clean and dry I wax the whole thing in fifteen minutes with the Griot's liquid wax (called "Best in Show" liquid carnauba). Remove excess wax in probably twenty to thirty minutes.

Done.

The Griot's goes on fast and comes off fast and has good durability: If it's good enough for the Griot's crowd it's good enough for me. I tried some of the other boutique waxes (P21, Zymol etc) and they now just sit in a drawer in the garage.

Wheels? Use RejeX but that's another story. Prep and application requirements are more fussy.

If you want to spend a day detailing the car you can do that too. No big deal.

Use a machine? Yes, but IMO use it ONCE to buff out the clear coat swirls and scratches on the day before you sell the car. :D

Carcareonline has essays:

http://store.carcareonline.com/howto_articles.aspx

I found a place that made my black 03 996 look brand new, and I'm a picky bastard. It took them an entire day and wasn't that expensive. I'm calling them tomorrow for the 997. I'll wash the car by hand myself, but I'll let the pros work the clay bar and power tools.

I've never paid anyone to wash or wax a car. Occasionally, I will let a dealer wash one of the family "utility" vehicles if it's in for service, but not one of "my" cars. It would take a very thorough (and expensive) detailer to give my car the same attention I do. It's a sickness, I know.....

Regarding the comments about using a machine polisher/applicator, if you use a random orbital unit like the Porter Cable model sold by Meguiars, it's virtually impossible to burn the finish or screw anything up. The Porter Cable, for example, has variable speeds and the low settings are perfect for even application of a quality wax with minimal effort and great results.

DIY! :cheers:

Bah, it's easy and inexpensive to do it yourself. Just pick the right day and time and don't worry so much about products. I only recently started using clay bar and yes, it takes things up a notch, but only on a car that's outside a lot. If your car is inside and doesn't sit in the sun and / or under trees, you may never notice a difference.

For many years I used inexpensive off-the-shelf products available at the local auto stores. Zymol cleaner wax in the spring as it has a very mild polish, then something else in the fall to prepare the car for winter (this applied to when I drove whatever year-round in New England).

I discovered P21S after trying so many products and really like it still to this day. Goes on without any trouble, wipes right off without leaving a haze or marking up rubber. No problem waxing the whole car in the garage on a cool to warm dry day.

I'm lazier these days and have a Griot's kit with the orbital, polishes, and their buttery wax. It does a nice job and is very quick.

Bottom line is I think you can do a very nice job with very little effort with off-the-shelf products. Wash and dry the car (I still use a California water blade to help shed the water before wiping with old cotton towels). Then use a cleaner wax (like the Zymol light blue stuff you can buy anywhere), hand applied, and buffed off with old towels. You'll get great results. Then keep it up with something like P21S, which is probably the easiest and most fool-proof wax-only product I've found.

Yes, it's a Porsche, but it's still just a car. I don't really treat it any differently than any of our other cars; Boxster S, BMW 330i, Volvo Wagon, or the kids' Jetta.

I'm the exception; I never wash or wax the car myself....never. I have no interest in doing this job and I know a great hand wash place and they are wonderful....they're professionals in every sense of the word.

Why would I do something to this beautiful automobile that I know someone else (a professional) can do way better. My philosophy with anything is to hire a professional if you want the best results whether it's doing something around the house or washing/waxing my car.

Besides if I have time I want to spend that time doing what I'm good at so I can continue to own these wonderful cars ;)!

Bottom line....do what you want but I've learned that there are very few things in life that I can do better than a professional.

Best,

Tom