Do New Cars Need Detailing?

Car detailing is the process of deep cleaning, restoring and protecting the exterior and interior of a vehicle in order to achieve the best possible finish. But is this really necessary on a brand-new car, or is it over the top? In this article, we’ll explain how the detailing process applies to a new car, the advantages, and whether it’s actually worth it.

The Quick Answer

New cars benefit from car detailing services in a range of ways:

• New vehicles accumulate embedded contamination (e.g. iron fallout, tree sap, and mineral deposits) on the journey from the factory to the dealership. This contamination cannot be removed with regular washing. Part of the detailing process involves deep cleaning and decontaminating the surface to leave it feeling smooth.
• New cars typically have some clear coat scratches and marks which are inflicted at the factory and dealership. These can be removed by the machine polishing aspect of the detailing process. The result, is a glossier and defect-free finish that actually looks brand-new.
• It’s also the best time to protect the paintwork and other surfaces (e.g. trim, glass and alloys) using a high quality ceramic coating to preserve the finish and make it easier to maintain.

New Cars Aren’t Completely Clean

After a brand-new vehicle has been built at the factory, it will often need to travel thousands of miles before it reaches the dealership. During this period, the vehicle’s freshly painted and unprotected surfaces will be exposed to numerous contaminants. These include bird droppings, water spots, and iron fallout which become embedded and etch into the finish.

Unfortunately, most of this contamination cannot be removed by a basic wash, which is all the vehicle is likely to receive when it is prepped for collection. The result, is rough-feeling, and dull-looking paintwork which doesn’t really look brand-new.

In order to properly remove this contamination, the car needs to be chemically and physically decontaminated using the following processes:

• Iron fallout removal: a chemical containing the active ingredient, sodium thioglycolate, is sprayed onto the paintwork. This solubilises the embedded iron contamination so it can be easily rinsed away. Iron contamination is often accumulated on vehicles which travel via railway to reach their destination.
• Mineral deposit removal: during its journey from the factory to the dealership, the car is often sat for weeks on a car park. During this time, any rain droplets will evaporate on the surface leaving behind mineral deposits. These often have a chalky appearance and need to be removed using a specialist acidic detailing shampoos and sprays.
• Clay bar treatment: in order to remove any remaining bonded contamination or paint overspray, a clay bar is also used. This pulls contaminants out of the paintwork leaving it feeling completely smooth before the machine polishing stage.

New Cars Don’t Have Perfect Paint

You’d be easily forgiven for thinking that brand-new cars have flawless paintwork, but unfortunately this is very rarely the case. Clear coat defects can be inflicted either at the factory or dealership on a new car before you come to collect it. Some examples of common defects on new cars include:

• Swirl marks – inflicted by poor wash techniques used at the dealership to prepare the vehicle prior to collection.
• Sanding marks – often created at the factory after the painting process.
• Random deeper scratches – these can be caused by poor handling or washing during the vehicle’s journey.
• Chemical etching – caused by bird droppings and water spots sitting on the unprotected finish.

In order to remove these defects, the paint must be machine polished. This is a treatment that dealerships generally do not offer, and a process that is best left to professional detailers to avoid further damage due to poor technique.

Machine polishing involves the controlled use of abrasion to cut away defects and refine the finish to achieve maximum levels of gloss. Most new vehicles typically only require a single-stage of machine polishing to remove any light defects, however if the car has been washed improperly at the dealership, then it may require more attention.

New Cars Need Protecting

The final step of the detailing process is crucial in order to preserve that “newness”. Protecting the paintwork offers many advantages including:

• Dirt and water repellence – to make the car easier to clean and keep it cleaner between washes.
• Chemical resistance – to help shield the delicate clear coat from chemical etching.
• UV resistance – to preserve the depth of colour and gloss.
• Enhanced gloss – a good protective product can improve the overall shine and reflections.

The most popular paint protection choices are waxes, sealants and ceramic coatings.

• Waxes & sealants: these are more old-school forms of paint protection that are easy to apply on a driveway, and usually last a few months. They don’t offer much protection against chemicals and UV, and instead simply make the car easier to clean.
• Ceramic coatings: these offer years (instead of months) of protection. The harder finish also makes them more chemically resistant.

It’s Not Just About the Paint

In order to really maintain that new-car look, it’s also a very good idea to have other surfaces protected besides just the paintwork. We offer a range of options for brand-new cars including:

• Glass coatings which provide a hydrophobic finish that helps to improve visibility when driving in inclement conditions.
• Wheel coatings which help to reduce brake dust build-up and make the surface easier to clean.
• Trim coatings which protect the surface from fading and staining.

What’s Involved in a New Car Detailing Service

Most new car detailing packages will typically include the following stages:

• Thorough wash using safe techniques e.g. pre-washing and using the two-bucket wash method.
• Chemical decontamination using iron fallout remover. Tar remover may also be used but this is less common on brand-new cars as they won’t usually have collected tar spots yet.
• Clay bar treatment to remove embedded contamination and prepare the paintwork for machine polishing.
• Single-stage enhancement polish to remove minor clear coat defects and enhance gloss.
• The use of a panel wipe solution to remove polishing oils and prepare the surface for coating.
• Ceramic coating application to the paintwork (this can also be applied to the glass, wheels and trim if desired).

Here at Paddock Ten in Scarborough, we are Gtechniq accredited ceramic coating installers with packages starting from £695 (+VAT). We offer the choice of three ceramic coatings:

• Gtechniq EXOv5 (18-24 months of protection)
• Gtechniq Crystal Serum Light (5-years of protection)
• Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra (9-years of protection)

Please visit our ceramic coating service page for more information.

Professional Detailers vs Dealership Protection

When you order a brand-new vehicle, the dealership will also usually try to sell you a ceramic coating or protection package. Whilst this may seem tempting, unfortunately this isn’t usually the best option.

Speaking generally, most dealership valeters have a very limited amount of time to prepare a car for collection – regardless of whether or not you’ve purchased a protection package. This often means that the application process is rushed, and important stages (such as decontamination and machine polishing) are skipped. This leads to a poor-quality finish, and limited durability. Without the proper prep, even the best ceramic coating on the market will fail after a matter of months.

Dealerships also usually do not use safe wash techniques to clean the car. This can lead to scratches and swirl marks which dull the overall finish and look very unsightly in the sun.

The quality of the protection applied at a dealership is also very mixed. Often these products fall more under the spray sealant category, and rarely resemble the performance or durability of a true ceramic coating.

Choosing a professional detailer with a proven track record and good customer reviews is a better option to go for instead. A professional with accreditation, training and experience, will be able to properly prepare the surface and apply the highest quality protection available in the detailing industry.

What to Do When Your Order a New Car

As we discussed, many of the paint defects that are typically found on new cars are actually inflicted when the car is washed using improper techniques and tools at the dealership. That’s why we’d recommend asking the salesperson NOT to wash the car before you collect it.

This will often be met with a bit of resistance (especially if they have tried to sell you one of their protection packages), but if you stand firm then they should respect your decision. The safest way to ensure that the car hasn’t been washed, is to also ask that the protective film is left on the vehicle for you to remove yourself.

The car will still need to be detailed in order to remove paint defects which may be been inflicted at the factory, but the overall condition of the paint will be much better if it’s first washed by a professional detailer, instead of the dealership.

New Car Detailing in Scarborough

Here at Paddock Ten, we offer a range of car detailing services suitable for brand-new vehicles. We are Gtechniq accredited ceramic coating installers and operate from a fully-equipped detailing studio in Scarborough, North Yorkshire. Please get in touch if you’re looking to get your brand-new vehicle protected with a premium ceramic coating.