​If you’ve recently purchased – or are considering purchasing a new vehicle, there are a few things you may want to consider doing once you drive off the dealer lot. We’ve put together a Top 5 “New Car Owner” recommendation list so that your new car stays looking new.
 
 
1. Paint Protection Film (Clear Bra) 
While some people like to build suspense by “saving the best for last”, I figured I’d start out with one of the most important things first. In Arizona, where rock chips are life, you should strongly consider PPF (paint protection film) before you go on any road trips or freeway drives.

   Whether you track it, show it or drive it daily – paint protection film will help prevent damage from rocks, road debris and other blunt force hits. Combined with a self healing top coat and a 10 year warranty (in the case of Suntek Ultra and Xpel Ultimate) – it is the best way to make sure your finish is protected from the damage it faces everyday.

A quality repaint of just your front bumper can range between $650-1,000+ (ask me how I know!) Combine that with the fact you’ll be without your car for several days, your car will enter a body shop environment (where often times overspray and body shop dust can end up covering your car inside and out) and you will no longer have a factory paint job – having paint protection film applied from the very beginning really is a no brainer.
 
Over the last several years, PPF has become more durable and less visible, which allows you to enjoy the satisfaction of having your baby protected without having to compromise the look of your new car.
When hunting for a quality film installer – remember the Three R’s:
Research, Reviews and Referrals.

At the very least, be sure to find out the type of film they’re using , ask if they will be hand cutting or plot cutting the material (tight areas like bumpers are best cut by a plotter due to their intricacy) and how many years of experience the installer has.

2. Nano-Ceramic Paint Coating

Nano what…? 
When protecting your vehicle – the question is often asked – “What exactly am I protecting my vehicle from, it’s new!” The answer to this question comes in two parts; the first we covered above (protecting from rock chips and other blunt force hits), the second is environmental damage. Things such as UV rays (especially in Arizona), bird droppings, bug etchings and chemicals from cleaning will etch, stain and fade your paint, eventually causing it to fail.​

​   While in the past, the only solution was to regularly wax your paint, there are now better options available. Just like technology in vehicles has progressed, so has the technology to protect your vehicle. High-end Nano-Ceramic paint coatings (such as CQuartz Finest) can protect your vehicles paint for years, not months. Additionally, it will also make it glossier, allow it to stay cleaner longer and make washing it much easier with better results. 
   

​Like PPF, many “coatings” have hit the market in the past few years – and like PPF – I always encourage owners to follow the Three R’s prior to trusting your new ride with someone.
 
Things to consider when choosing a paint coating (and potentially a coating installer) include:

1. Reviews and history of the coating (has it been tried and tested or did it just come out last week?)

2. What the coating manufacturer says it will protect against? Remember, a nano-ceramic coating is meant to provide protection from environmental threats. Some companies list unrealistic promises (such as protection against things like screwdrivers, fire and comparable blunt force hit protection that clear bra provides). Ceramic coatings were not designed to protect from these types of things – but they can provide excellent protection from things that you will encounter, like the sun.
 
3. What is the history of the detailer you’re hiring to apply the coating? Just like the history of the product is important, the history of the company installing the product is equally (if not more so) important.  Also keep in mind that a true detailer will make sure your paint is in excellent condition prior to any coating application. You don’t want to lock in a sub-par finish with a semi-permanent coating. Proper paint prep is the key prior to the installation of a coating.

3. Window Tinting

We all know that a sweet tint job to your new ride can really make a huge difference in how it looks. However, there are three key practical functions achieved from window tinting aside from a super sleek look.


1. First and foremost, protection from UVA/UVB rays. In Arizona especially, skin cancer is a major concern. A quality tint will filter out over 99% of these at least help keep you safe while you’re stuck in your car during a hot July day. In my opinion, this is a must if you have children riding in the back seat. This won’t make rush hour any less agonizing to drive in, but it will help protect you from harmful UV rays.
 
2. Privacy. If you don’t like the idea of just anybody seeing what’s on the inside of your car when left unattended (phone, laptop, purse etc), then you’ll likely not want to leave your windows un-tinted and 100% transparent. 

3. Last but not least, comfort! Tinting your windows will keep the inside of your vehicle much cooler and more comfortable. This isn’t just good for you, its also good for your electronics and interior upholstery such as leather seats.

4. Proper Exterior Maintenance

What does it mean exactly to “properly” maintain your vehicles exterior? Well, the most common type of damage we run into is usually from the owner actually trying to take care of their car. Quite the paradox isn’t it?
Unfortunately, things such as automatic car washes, improperly trained employees at hand washes or even owners who take the DIY route but haven’t learned the correct way to wash their car, do often times cause harm to their vehicles finish. 

    Brushes, harsh chemicals, hard water and poor technique all attribute to a vehicle becoming more “aged” in appearance as well as causing irreversible damage in extreme cases (such as stained wheels or paint and eventually thinned out or failing clear coat). Doing hand washes with proper technique and quality produces really does make a night and day difference as to how your vehicle will look down the road. While the paint swirls in the above photo were repairable - it is still better to prevent them as much as possible from the beginning.

     
5. The Right Car Care Provider

   Before you bought your new car, you likely did some sort of research on it. While some of us take pre-purchase research to a different extreme than others, the point still stands that simply because your car came with wheels, an engine and a steering wheel – you never believed all cars were created equal (I think most of us remember the Daewoo!)
The same holds true for a professional Detailer. Just because Bob has a bucket, and a sponge and a flyer that says “Detailer”…. it doesn’t mean he is in fact qualified to touch your car.
 
Things to consider:

1. Are they licensed (yes, detailers are required to have a business license).
2. Are they insured (accidents do happen and chances are the guy charging $75 on craigslist can’t afford to fix your new Mercedes if something were to happen.)
3. Are they experienced? Once again we go back to the 3 R’s (no not reading, writing and arithmetic) - reviews, research and referrals. 
 
   I tell all of my potential clients that I can speak highly of myself all day (ok that sounds a little egotistical but just go with me here!) However, you’re more likely to trust the feedback of several people who have a completely unbiased opinion and have paid their hard earned money for a company’s service.  We not only welcome, but also encourage questions from anyone who walks through our door. This not only gives piece of mind to anyone willing to trust us with their car – it also greatly increases the likelihood that an individual will be able to enjoy the work we performed on their car for a longer period of time.

   I hope that these Top 5 New Car Owner Recommendations helped and hopefully sparked a bit of thought as to some things to consider for your vehicle. I’ve always loved the quote “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” Basically, it’s a lot easier to take care of something from the beginning rather than neglect it and have to fix it later on down the road.

If you enjoyed this – please share it with a fellow car lover in your life and feel free to contact us or comment with any feedback or questions you may have.


Wills Amstutz
Owner - Windows and Wheels Auto Detailing
​Gilbert,Az

A couple of months back we had the pleasure of doing a full paint correction and apply the CQuartz Finest treatment to this beautiful black Hellcat. This would be the 6th Hellcat in Arizona receiving this treatment.Being a few months old, it already had some signs of wear, but we’ll get to that shortly. First up was the prep wash!For those who haven’t seen, this is the wash area of our new shop! Here is where we clean the tires, rims, wheel wells and all the other nasty stuff prior to pulling it into the garage. As always, spotless water making life easier when having to wash in full sun out in Gilbert, Arizona.Once pulled in, we clayed the paint to remove any remaining bonded contaminates. Then, Dani did her taping magic to protect all the plastic trim pieces on this baby. The red and black looked pretty cool.
Next it was time to inspect the paint under some high-powered LED lights. While the overhead lighting in our shop is great, it still falls well short of being able to spot the defects we’ll be going after.While this paint was metallic black,  as usual black is quite easy to see defects on. Once we spotted our enemy, it was time to figure out our attack plan. This is where we go about doing a “test spot”…which lets us know what combo of pads, product, pressure and machine will best work for this specific car.
Once we’d cracked the code, it was time to get on the grind and make this beast look the way it should.The paint started showing its true colors …The metal flake really started to pop…Make no mistake, there is a LOT of paint to polish on these big boys. But, that doesn’t mean you forget about all the small areas..Ouch !A nice improvement! A little clean up needed around the badging, but the paint cleaned up nicely.Slowly but surely these….Turned into this,Paint selfie:
Once the paint had be polished to its glossiest state, it was time to do an Eraser wipe down, prepping the paint for CQuartz Finest. This step insures there is no polish residue, finger print oil or anything else that could interfere with Finest bonding to the paint.
Once prepped it was time to apply the most exclusive, best looking and best protecting paint coating available.
Id say thats glossing up nicely Not to be forgotten…the wheels too were prepped to receive Finest. This helps a lot with clean up of brake dust during maintenance washes.
Tires were dressed with Carpro’s PERL
Once two coats had been applied and allowed to cure…it was time for some beauty shots. Gloss like this doesn’t come from your over the counter wax or corner car wash….gloss like this comes from taking hours to pamper every inch…in prep, polish and protection. The end results say it all…Id say you could shave in thatThe owner of this car was none other than the 2010-2011 NCAA 125 lbs weight class wrestling championship (an ASU home town hero!) The license plate was very appropriate….when we asked him about it…he said it was a quote from one of his favorite movies, “Tombstone”.
Anyone who’s watched this movie would agree Val played the best Doc Holliday ever…just saying.
End of the day, we made the ugly paint “say when” and left this baby looking the way it should.