Last month I bought a 1999 Nissan Frontier 4X4. And it has black paint. For a long time I have admired new black paint on certain vehicles. But never desired them because I thougth it would be difficult to maintain the paint. I hate the site of a swirls and scratches on an ebony Mercedes or Lexus.
Although it is a 99', it may have been garaged. The black paint on the Frontier has minimal scratches and swirls.
Q: Does anyone have any suggestion on how to maintain a black painted vehicle. Any techniques or products on the market that will prevent fading.
I'm not sure the electric buffer/polisher is the way to go (you could really eff up the clear coat/paint), but the clay bar will remove all contaminates down to the clear coat. I prefer Finish First polish
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. It will prevent swirl marks from ever appearing. As far as the wax is concerned, I like the S100 for shine, but the durability is lacking. I've heard the NXT wax is good also. This is how my paint looked after washing, clay barring, washing again, polishing, then waxing:
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If that makes my white paint look that good, you can imagine how your black paint would look.
I have a black Maxima and it can be a real PITA to keep clean, mainly because I don't have a garage to keep it in. Anyway its a 97 and the body and paint still look great, there's only 1 door ding on the passenger side, and even that's barely noticeable.
Most of the wax companies sell in some form of a system, as cleaner/polish/wax, each serves a purpose. I used Klasse, they sell the cleaner/polish in one bottle and the polymer sealant (wax) in another. I chose the synthetic wax over carnauba because it typically lasts a while longer and is easier to apply, but some people prefer the look of the latter.
The clay bar is used to smooth out the surface and remove contaminants. Probably a good idea for a 5 year old car, I tried it once, the putty grabbed all kinds of particles. Some people recommend microfiber towels to wax on/off, I used cotton towels. I would stay away from the orbital on a black car unless you have some experience...see the pics below (notice they chose black cars). Also check out "the absorber" to help dry after washing.
I also have a 97' Maxima SE Beiage. Since I'm in the process of getting car care products for the 99 Frontier I'll try to restore the Max too. Last week I "detailed" the carpets and seats.
Actually, contrary to what the other poster said, it is _very_ easy to put swirl marks in the clear coat and they will be visible any time the sun is out with a black car. The old single stage paints were actually easier to repair in this regard since you could buff the color coat itself. However, they did oxidize easily and require more work to keep up. Clear coat finishes don't have the oxidation problem but can be harder to repair since you have a limited amount of clear coat to buff when it gets scratched (and I bet yours is).
Most everything you need to learn can be found here:
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They have plenty of FAQ's and alsosell everything you need at discount prices. Their advice is very goodand matches the advice you will get from professional detailers (not what they do in the shop for $50, but what they do to their own cars and to show cars.) Since you bought a used black car, you need to do some restoration. Step 1 would be to decide how bad any existing damage to the clear coat is. It's very likely that you have some spider webbing (light CC scratches) already. There is always some spider webbing on a black car due to refraction but most of it comes from CC issues. I'd start by using 3M Swirl Mark Remover. Again, see the FAQ's. The idea is to do it with straight strokes, back and forth, down the length of the car. Plan to spend some hours doing it right. Once you have it polished, apply Klasse All-in-1. It's a polymer finish. These finishes are way beyond wax. So, forget about wax, get the Klasse. I'd suggest two coats of the Klasse the first time out. You can also apply the Klasse glaze if you really want a top notch shine. The glaze takes a few hours for the polymers to crosslink so if you want multiple coats of the glaze you need to wait 24 hours or so. That's less that convenient for those of use who have to drive our cars.
If you do the SMR right and Klasse it, it will look better than the day it rolled out of the factory.
Once you have it restored, you can keep it scratch free fairly easily. Use two buckets when you wash, one with soap that stays fairly clean and one to rinse the wash mitt. You want to avoid dragging anything across the paint as you wash. Wash the upper part of the car first, then go back and wash the lower half. Some guys use two mitts, one upper one lower. Wash the wheels and tires last with something other than your wash mitt. Dry with long straight stokes.
The Klasse will be good for 6 months. It will keep stuff out of your paint and most everything will wash off. I like to redo it in 3 months as it will remove any tar and such that gets stuck. You won't need to clay the car if you use Klasse AIO regularly. You won't need to polish it again if you don't scratch it.
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