Any truth to this? I've always heard about how fresh paint needs to cure before anything can be applied to the paint.
"Brand new cars, don't get waxed!"
- Thread starter Drive XR7
- Start date
Depends on the dealership. Most do.
Car paint from production lines are baked at 300-400 degrees and are fully cured by the time they arrive at the dealership. It is perfectly safe to wax them. Some dealers will apply a spray wax when they deliver the car to the customer. At the dealership I worked for, they just sprayed something called nano paint protection and ran it through the car wash. Then they charged the customer $500. Not a traditional wax, that would take up too much time. (Time = money)
Car paint from body shop should not be waxed for a minimum of 60 days. They speed up the curing process by baking at around 130 - 140 degrees. They only do this so that the fresh paint will not be destroyed by bird shit and rain upon leaving the shop.
It actually is safe to wax after around 7 - 10 days. This is when the solvents stop out gassing. But because of conditions, most painters will just tell the customer 60 days to avoid confusion. 7-10 days would be if the car sits out in the sun every single day. It could be much longer if its winter.
Could you imagine telling a customer it depends on conditions vs telling them 60 days. They would have to stand there and talk with the customer all day long lol.
Car paint from body shop should not be waxed for a minimum of 60 days. They speed up the curing process by baking at around 130 - 140 degrees. They only do this so that the fresh paint will not be destroyed by bird shit and rain upon leaving the shop.
It actually is safe to wax after around 7 - 10 days. This is when the solvents stop out gassing. But because of conditions, most painters will just tell the customer 60 days to avoid confusion. 7-10 days would be if the car sits out in the sun every single day. It could be much longer if its winter.
Could you imagine telling a customer it depends on conditions vs telling them 60 days. They would have to stand there and talk with the customer all day long lol.
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^ Hit the nail on the head.
buy the time the car is produced and you actually purchase it and get it from the dealer I am sure it will be fine for you to wax it.
while i do make customers of mine aware of this when they pick their cars up from the body shop im at, ive never personally seen any issues with paint being waxed after its been baked in a booth and had a day or two to cure (8 years here).
i wouldnt advise to go out and wax every fresh paint job, im just stating what ive seen :beer:
My painter told me one week on our Freshly-painted used car, but Im in S. FLORIDA, and this was in the summer. He wasnt adamant about it or said anything about NO wax. Guess it does depend on the curing process.
RC
RC
Agreed, but not every body shop practices the same painting method, so the solvents in some waxes can hurt an uncured fresh paint job.
Me too.
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