Maintenance Tips for the new Car

[caesarprime]

Hello all,

With all the suggestions I have moved myself with a Mazda 6. But currently I have some doubts over the maintenance as I am very new to the wheel. So please bear with my I am very basic. I do have a few questions which I would love to get answered.

1. The person which I bought this from told me that it is not ideal to wash them with soap or any shampoo, but only with water. is that true? If not what are the ideal alternatives which I can use and where can  find them in SL?
2. I would like to do polishing myself, is there any suggested recommendations for the materials to use?
   1. What are the ones to do polishing on chassis Paint
   2. What are the ones to work on the Tyres
   3. Any Recommendations to polish the interior (Dashboard, Gear panel lines, etc)?
   4. I do have beige interior, what is the recommended way of cleaning them up and polishing them up?
3. With Castrol oil, is it worthy to have services done once every10000Kms or should I stick to the same routing of 5000Kms?
4. Is it recommended to use the pressure gun (At an angle) while washing the car? At least should
5. I bought some Microfibril clothes as suggestions from one of the previous threads (Yeah I did some homework too, haha). Is there a frequency which these should be changed?
6. There are a few minor scratches, any way which I can overcome these?
7. Saw some glass cleaning tablets for the vipers which I ordered for cleaning, is it safe to use them with water?
8. Any other car caring tips which you would like to guide me (Any mechanical guidelines, etc)

Thanks for being an awesome forum, really do appreciate any kind help

 

[iRage]

If you do not knwo what you are doing, I would recommend you give the car to a proper detailer to get the scractches off and restore the paint and give the interior a detail. If you polish too hard you will just be removing the paint and thinking it out.

So my advice would be to give the car to a detailer (a good place that does comprehensive work like TUDD or ODG). After that...just start off by geting used to washing and waxing along with cleaning up trim.

To answer your questions.

1. True but not true...you arenot supposed to use normal sopa or dish washing liquid or anything. You can use a GOOD car shampoo (there are some cheap ones in SL that are worst that dish washing detergent...don't go for that...you get decent ones from SONIC to 3M to TUrtle Way to Meguairs).

2. Regarding polishing...see recommendation above. Just get a professional to do a full detail job (interior/exterior). Then you can just maintain it by waxing. The question you are asking by itself shows that you are not fully ready to polish a car as to polish the body you need to wash the car, remove any contaminents, then polish, then wax/seal (but there are all in one products which is not ideal but gets the job done...barely).

But to answer your question:

2-1: You need a polish with very little abression (Meguiar, AutoGlym, Chemical Bros. and even Turtle Wax have DIY products that are soft that newbies cannot mess up the car too much...most of them will go as some sort of color restorer or something).

After the above you do need a good wax or sealant (preferebaly with Canuba or  Fusso Oil, although the latter is a bit contreversial). Again, Meguiar, AUtoGLym, Checmical Guys, Turtle Wax and Soft99 have some good products (I wold not go for the cheap Soft 99...Soft99's Mirror Shine is one of the best out there).

You should polish very very rarely 1-2 years at the very most....but you can wax every 3,6 or 9 months depending on the type of wax you use Inbetween that you can use a quick detailer/spray wax.

2-2 : There are plenty of tire detailers out there (basically black polish). Soft99 has some of the nicer ones. try to get a non-oily one (i.e. non-glossy ones).

2-3/2-4: Interior..depends on what the dashboard material is...for the most part a general interior cleaner will work. Again...stay away from an oily one (ones that leave the surface shiny). They have too much petorleum and burns the plastics over time and also the oilyness attracts dust. 

My favorites are Meguiars Natural Shine or Chemical Bros. Interior Detailer (Coconut scented one). ArmorAll also has a gloss finish cleaner which is one of the cheaper ones.

If you have leather or vinyl seats you need to get a leather conditioner and cleaner (you will need to put the conditioner three or four times a year).

If you have a fabric interior...get a fabric cleaner (Soft99 has one that I have seen around).

A trim restorer would be nice to keep the black rubber seals, and other trim bits clean (also to remoe any wax residue). Sometimes these products work on the tires as well).

3. Depends on your usage pattern....a good mineral (non-synthetic) oil is always better than a cheap and crappy synthetic oil..so remember that. Synthetics usually have a 7500-10000km (10-12 months) life span...mineral oils have 5000-7500km ish (6-7 months) life span. You need to change it by the time period or the mileage, whichever comes first. So..look at how much you use the car and how you use it and then decide what the oil and service cycle should be. For example....if you do only 300-400km a month, it might be sensible to use Synthetic and change just once a year, or if you do a lot of high mileage running with long hgihway runs, etc.., you might want to use a synthetic oil and change every 6-7 months. For an average car...there is nothing wrong iwth a good mineral oils and change every 6-7 months (which is what the car seems to have had all this time). So..only you can answr this question after looking at how you use the car and what you can afford.

4. Yes...a pressure washer is okay. But do not hold it at maximum pressure on parts you know might break off or is flimsy. When washing wash from top to bottom and hold the gun in anyway you need to hold it to "brush" off the dirt/dust off the body top to bottom..inwards to outwards...Don't hold the gun too close to the body either...leave some space..usually 1.5-2 feet ? depending on the pressure of your machine. Also, if possible try to get an undercarriage washing attachment to your washer. Then you can clean the bottom of you car and it is easier to wash the wheel wells.

When washing...try to use the 2 bucket method..and also try to use different sponges for the bottom and top of the car.

5.  Depends on the quality of your microfibre towels...it depends on how badly and when your towels get worn out. What is important is that you wash and clean them properly. You should also get soft/small and medium grain/feel towels and maybe even a fluffy one. Wash them seperately. You might even want to use a soft fabric softner to keep the towels soft.

You should get a wash mitt or cloth as well (a few).

6. Minor scratches may or may not come off with the polishes/restorers I mentioned before. But usually results of these will be temporary (as they have filler to cover up the scratches which with time goes off). For a long lasting result you need a compound. Again, if you are a newbie...do not try to attempt this yourself...(first get used to waxing and stuff for the car..then after a year or so you will get the hang of doing it yourself)

7. No idea what those tablets are...but...you get glass compound/polish which can be used to remove acid rain marks/stains. Most of the DIY ones also has chemicals that put a light layer of wax like thing on it. If not you can get a glass sealant to prevent water stains, etc... After you clean the glass you can just use simple glass cleaner to keep it clean.  Also, some of the quick detailers can be used on glass, mirors, etc..which keeps it clean.

8. When you take it in for a professional detail job...get the engine bay clean as well After that...just wipe the engine bay now and then with a damp cloth. Never ever try to pressure wash or put water in your engine bay, you will mess it up if you do not know what you are doing. After sometime you will know where you can wash and where you should stay away from.

On a periodic basis, get in to the habit of checking air pressure, fluid levels, etc...
 

 

[caesarprime]

Thanks a lot @iRage , great to have knowledge sharing with you on this. Any recommended places to buy these shampoos and wax's in Sri Lanka?

[iRage]

8 hours ago, caesarprime said:

Thanks a lot @iRage , great to have knowledge sharing with you on this. Any recommended places to buy these shampoos and wax's in Sri Lanka?

Well Meguairs has an agent/distributor. There used to be a detailing shop on top of the road where Asiri Cardio Hospital or something was on. @Octanehead has Soft99 products. There is also a dealer for Chemical Guy stuff. If you check the usual FB groups you will see various detailing shops advertising them for sale. I have seen 3m Turtle Wax and low end Soft99 products for sale at the typical paint/parts/accessories shops as well (but no idea if they are legit).
Then things like 3M, SONIC (which are more entry level stuff) might also be available at supermarkets.

[RWD]

On 5/18/2021 at 9:06 AM, caesarprime said:

Hello all,

With all the suggestions I have moved myself with a Mazda 6. But currently I have some doubts over the maintenance as I am very new to the wheel. So please bear with my I am very basic. I do have a few questions which I would love to get answered.

1. The person which I bought this from told me that it is not ideal to wash them with soap or any shampoo, but only with water. is that true? If not what are the ideal alternatives which I can use and where can  find them in SL?
2. I would like to do polishing myself, is there any suggested recommendations for the materials to use?
   1. What are the ones to do polishing on chassis Paint
   2. What are the ones to work on the Tyres
   3. Any Recommendations to polish the interior (Dashboard, Gear panel lines, etc)?
   4. I do have beige interior, what is the recommended way of cleaning them up and polishing them up?
3. With Castrol oil, is it worthy to have services done once every10000Kms or should I stick to the same routing of 5000Kms?
4. Is it recommended to use the pressure gun (At an angle) while washing the car? At least should
5. I bought some Microfibril clothes as suggestions from one of the previous threads (Yeah I did some homework too, haha). Is there a frequency which these should be changed?
6. There are a few minor scratches, any way which I can overcome these?
7. Saw some glass cleaning tablets for the vipers which I ordered for cleaning, is it safe to use them with water?
8. Any other car caring tips which you would like to guide me (Any mechanical guidelines, etc)

Thanks for being an awesome forum, really do appreciate any kind help

 

1. Plenty of great car washes available from imported brands. The ones I have used meguires gold class, Eagle one nanowax as you wash and armor all. You can buy these from local online sites. Do not wash your car with only water. It doesn't remove dirt and dust properly. 

2. Plenty of brands available at supermarkets. 

3. Since you have a mazda6 and if its serviced at C#lonial M#tors they generally recommend fully synthetic oil and 10,000 kms intervals. Best to double check the service manual if it came with the car and when the last service was done. 

4. Stick to a garden hose as much as possible. You are not doing hard core offroading in a mazda6! 

5. Depends on how you use them. Once they start showing signs of wear you can discard. 

6. As IRaje has said get it done by a professional detailer. 

7. Don't know about this. 

8. Follow the user manual. Get on mazda forums online. It's a great car and should give you lots of driving pleasure. 

 

[caesarprime]

Thanks Guys Really do appreciate it

[iRage]

On 5/19/2021 at 4:28 PM, caesarprime said:

Thanks Guys Really do appreciate it

I hope you realise that all this advice comes at a cost. You need to open up a seperate thread for the car and fill it up with pictures

EDIT : Pictures of your car...in case you missed it 🤣

Edited May 21, 2021 by iRage

[caesarprime]

16 hours ago, iRage said:

I hope you realise that all this advice comes at a cost. You need to open up a seperate thread for the car and fill it up with pictures

EDIT : Pictures of your car...in case you missed it 🤣

Ha ha sure mate. Will share some pictures there 😉

[K.o.N.o.S]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:28 AM, iRage said:

You need to open up a seperate thread for the car and fill it up with pictures

Riling this up. Eagerly waiting to see a Mazda 6 thread..🙂

[Octanehead]

Easy way out, leave the detailing to Professionals. Ive seen a lot of bodge jobs and errors by people not knowing what they are doing and ending up ruining paint and since preserving your factory paint is of utmost value dont do it if you dont have the tools and chemicals and most importantly the experience to do it right. Contact me if you want detailing done, I run The Ultimate Detail Bay in Borella. 

[caesarprime]

2 hours ago, Octanehead said:

Easy way out, leave the detailing to Professionals. Ive seen a lot of bodge jobs and errors by people not knowing what they are doing and ending up ruining paint and since preserving your factory paint is of utmost value dont do it if you dont have the tools and chemicals and most importantly the experience to do it right. Contact me if you want detailing done, I run The Ultimate Detail Bay in Borella. 

Thanks bro, surely will do

[caesarprime]

On 5/22/2021 at 8:39 AM, K.o.N.o.S said:

Riling this up. Eagerly waiting to see a Mazda 6 thread..🙂

Ha ha, I am a terrible photographer, but will update some photos later in the evening 😉

[caesarprime]

On 5/21/2021 at 6:28 AM, iRage said:

I hope you realise that all this advice comes at a cost. You need to open up a seperate thread for the car and fill it up with pictures

EDIT : Pictures of your car...in case you missed it 🤣

 

On 5/22/2021 at 8:39 AM, K.o.N.o.S said:

Riling this up. Eagerly waiting to see a Mazda 6 thread..🙂

Hola mates, just opened up

 

[Dhaham]

On 5/18/2021 at 1:27 PM, iRage said:

You can use a GOOD car shampoo (there are some cheap ones in SL that are worst that dish washing detergent...don't go for that...

1) What about D**h car wash and B*i*ol car wash?

2) What about S*R Wash & Wax?

[RWD]

11 hours ago, Dhaham said:

1) What about D**h car wash and B*i*ol car wash?

2) What about S*R Wash & Wax?

Don't even bother with those brands. Armor all is freely available in many A grade supermarkets so get that. Good value for money. Or else get Eagle one, meguires or 3M which are available online