New paint

[RM686]

I JUST HAD MY 15 YR Grand Prix GT painted. base coat clear coat. The body shop said not to apply any thing to the paint for 90 days. I live in Florida and the bug season just started. A drive at night will coat your car with bugs. Also during the day time with love bugs. I cant wash the car after every trip because of water restrictions and its also not practical. I washed the front of the car off with mild car wash but now have water stains on the rest of the car which got water over spray.
This is starting to make me nuts. Is there any waterless product I can use which is safe for new paint. I don't want bugs eating my clear coat. A lot of manufactures claim their quick detailers are but I don't know whether to believe them. 3 months seems like a long time to me but the paint job was not the best in the world and don't know if they used cheap paint.

 

[Fivefingerdeathpunch]

90 days is alot, I'd say 2-4 weeks is a better guess at time, or atleast how long I'd wait to wax the vehicle.

I know a few guys on here do body work, perhaps they will chime in with a better response.

 

[idrivejunk]

I am a career bodyshop guy. You are OK to wax your trouble spots (front end, etc) now, just wait a few weeks before you go all out with the waxing. If the car had a lot of sanding and buffing done, that kind of accelerates the time window in my opinion. I would wax right after buffing and I don't like to wait long to cut and buff new paint.

Quick detailers are something I haven't used much myself, but the Meguiar's "pink stuff" (??? lol) is popular and effective in protecting a delicate finish. Those love bugs are hard to combat ... maybe keep a spray bottle of water and some soft wipes handy for the paint attack nights. Wax is better than stains, I'm with you, go for it.

 

[The Guz]

That sounds right. It's pretty common for body shops to recommend 30-90 days before waxing so that the paint can't out gas and cure. You cloud use a basic car wash soap like meguiar's gold class soap. If you are looking for a rinseless wash that has no wax in it meguiar's D114 from their detailer line is what I recommend. You could also use a glaze like meguiar's M7 or 3M imperial glaze. They don't offer any protection so they don't last long(a couple washes) but they will make your car look good until you can wax it.

 

[Dadillac]

I just had a hood painted and the body shop owner told me to wait two weeks. I had a car color changed by a top notch shop using Spies Hecker paints about 2 years ago. He told me to wait two months. I waited exactly 12 days before applying a synthetic paint sealant and never had an issue with out gassing. So do as you wish but there is no way I would wait 3 months

Don

 

[RM686]

To day washed the car. Its been about 3 weeks. Noticed 4 inch x 3 inch crazing arrears on the right and left side of the rear bumper. Will take the car back Monday to shop and see what they are going to do about it. Glad I did not use anything as the shop owner cant blame me for the paint failure. I am sure this is going to spread and the whole bumper will have to be sanded down and repainted. I guess the answer to my question is cover your ass since if the shop screws up they have no reason to blame you.
Really disappointed since this is the second shop the car has been to. The first one ripped me off for $1600 and just sanded the car to the bare metal and left it that way for 4 weeks. Had to call the cops to get my car back. This shop so far left a bug in the paint, a clear coat run on the front bumper and now the paint is failing on the rear bumper. The car is garage kept.
Should have just used a freaking paint brush and run the car into the ground. Should have never started this project. This is why I do all my own mechanical work. The auto repair business just sucks. Unfortunately I cant do body work or painting. These guys are worse than the mechanics.