My New Vibe..

[tatooine315]

Hello All, I am finally a full fleged Vibe owner in Houston, Texas!!! I just got Vibe Salsa Red, Pre-owened with only 29000 miles factory warrenty....and I am obsessed with it! When I saw it I wanted one...Still have the new car buyer jitters but hey 9 days later I love it even more!!!!! Well heres the question...In nine short days I have tried three waxes! Yes..THREE, and I finally shelled out 9.99 to get the Maguires, but once I waxwd my car it seemed to highlight the chips and small (minor) scratches..(THIN PAINT YES MY ONLY COMPLAINT!) but what am I doing wrong? I seem to have had better luck with plain old Turtle Wax...Well I also bout some BACK TO BLACK by yall's suggestion and I am looking foward to using that! Ill be waiting for some tips on I guess (The formal question) HOW DO YOU WASH A VIBE?) I want that showroom shine...Oh by the way I traded in my 7 year old Huyndai ...which after 120000 miles never broke down...I hope I made the right decision...So far I think I did..Thanks and any help or advise would be great... Oh and how do you get a pic of your car on the page Ive tried everything..Thanks and VIBES RULE!!!!!

[ragingfish]

Wow so many questions! Let's get started:Quote, originally posted by tatooine315 »Hello All, I am finally a full fleged Vibe owner in Houston, Texas!!! I just got Vibe Salsa Red, Pre-owened with only 29000 miles factory warrenty....and I am obsessed with it! When I saw it I wanted one...Still have the new car buyer jitters but hey 9 days later I love it even more!!!!! Congratulations! I've had mine for well over a year and love her just as much now as I did the day I bought it!Quote »Well heres the question...In nine short days I have tried three waxes! Yes..THREE, and I finally shelled out 9.99 to get the Maguires, but once I waxwd my car it seemed to highlight the chips and small (minor) scratches..(THIN PAINT YES MY ONLY COMPLAINT!) but what am I doing wrong? I seem to have had better luck with plain old Turtle Wax...I was never impressed with the durability of Turtle Wax. It's cheap, yes, and it doesn't highlight scratches and chips, but I think that's because it doesn't bond so well to the paint. Personally, I bought and used Meguiar's Gold Class Wax. Use the three step system: Step 1: Clay Bar. Step 2: Sealer/Glaze. Step 3: Wax. The three step will remove fine contaminants from your paint, and give her amazing color depth and vibrance. An intricate process, yes, but worth it! As for scratches, well, all you can really do is buff them out, whether it be yourself (only if you kno what you're doing!) or by a pro. Might be a worthy investment to get some body work done, followed by a professional detailing, and good strong wax. Up to you though! As for scratch removes, I've yet to find one that actually works. Quote »Well I also bout some BACK TO BLACK by yall's suggestion and I am looking foward to using that!Fantastic stuff! Not sure if you have a two-tone or monotone vibe, but if you only have a monotone, you really only need B2B on the front LP bracket, maybe the mirrors, that's about it. Don't use it on painted surfaces. Won't do much for apperances, and I don't know if it's harmful to paints or not. If you have a two-tone, use it on your lower cladding, door handles, and the rear "pontiac" trim plate above the hatch handle...Quote »Ill be waiting for some tips on I guess (The formal question) HOW DO YOU WASH A VIBE?) I want that showroom shine...Well, rather than beat a dead horse, just browse through the Washing, Waxing, Cleaning forum. You'll find many posts that'll cover that for you. At the bottom of the screen, make sure to set "Show active threads from last" setting to "ALL" so you see all past threads, as well as recent ones.Quote »Oh by the way I traded in my 7 year old Huyndai ...which after 120000 miles never broke down...I hope I made the right decision...So far I think I did..Thanks and any help or advise would be great... You've got a Toyota under the hood. You're good for at least 120k, if not many more beyond! Quote »Oh and how do you get a pic of your car on the page Ive tried everything..Thanks and VIBES RULE!!!!! If you have it on your computer, click "browse" at the bottom of the post screen, and attach the file. if it won't attach, make sure it's a JPG or GIF file. If it is, it may be too large. Your best bet is to host it on a remote server and link to it. If you need a place to host it, send me an IM, I'll be glad to host a few pics for you. I've got more server space than I know what to do with! Welcome to GVC my friend!

[MrRich]

Congrats on your Vibe,and welcome on GenVibe!Yes you made the best decision,the Vibe is a great car.I have mine 17 Months now and 0 problem.What is the best carwax?Well!I say Zaino is the best(my 2 cents),but is very,very expensive.Back to black is very good if you have a two tone Vibe.It is great on the cladding.And if you have a two tone,never forget:NEVER,I MEAN NEVER WAX THE CLADDING!!!!!

[ragingfish]

Quote, originally posted by MrRich »And if you have a two tone,never forget:NEVER,I MEAN NEVER WAX THE CLADDING!!!!! I can attest to that!

[MrRich]

Quote, originally posted by ragingfish »I can attest to that! And if somebody knows what I am talking about is deffenetly Rangingfish!

[Stang2Vibe]

Congrats on the purchase and I welcome you as well! I'd like to add that if you have some minor/fine scratches, they can usually be buffed out by hand with polishing compound. (Not rubbing compound--polishing compound is much finer and won't harm the clearcoat.) You can find it in most auto parts stores or probably even at WalMart near the waxes and auto cleaners. Use that then wax. Also, the step 2 in a 3 step detailing system is a sealer/glaze that will help conceal minor blemishes. You would rather remove the marks with the polishing compound, but if they don't come out, the glaze should help. Mother's and Meguiar's both make very good 3 step systems, I am a faithful Mother's user. I would also recommend substituting a clay bar for the liquid bottle that is step 1 in the systems. The clay bar is MUCH easier to use and does a better job than rubbing the whole car out with the liquid cleaner. Good luck!

[vibecrxsi240sx]

Hey fellow Houstonian!! I live in Katy and got my Shadow vibe on Halloween. Hope I see you out on the road. The wife and I bought ours at Ernie Guzman Pontiac/GMC on Katy frwy. Welcome