I wanted to share a little of the knowledge that I have picked up, since owning my new '05 GT. I knew a little about care care, but when I bought my new Mustang, I wanted to do a lot of research on excellent car care, because I wanted to preserve it for a long time. I thought I knew a lot before, and after a year of study, and test-trials, I thought I knew all I needed to know. So, let me share a little about regular mechanical care, and then I'll talk about paint care. So, here goes
I.
ENGINE/MECHANICAL CARE.
There are a great deal of things that one could write about, so I am not going to write them all down, just some basics, that might help some people. Some of these are common sense, but a few are not. I'm going to cover 4 basic things that cause premature wear and tear on an engine.
A. Start-Up. You may have heard this before, so if you have, just skip it. Starting your car up will, over time, cause wear and tear, and about the only thing you can do to protect against this, is to use full synthetic oil, and hopefully some of the teflon will coat the cylinder walls to keep as little as possible from wearing down.
B. Idling. When your car idles for periods of time, it causes premature wear and tear also. I am not mechanically inclined, but I have been told my experienced mecahnics, that are considered 'experts' in their field, that idling is VERY bad for the engine. When you start your car up, to go somewhere, if the engine is cold, let it idle for about a minute, then drive it until is warms up. DO NOT let the engine idle until it warms up. I used to think this was the best way to warm a car up, but I know now, it is the worst way. It if it really cold outside, 20 degrees or so, let it idle for about a minute, but then drive away.
C. Driving the car too hard while the engine cold. After you have let your engine run for a minute, or two, drive the car gently until the engine is completely warm. I don't take my Mustang over 2500 rpms, until the temperature needle is at the mid way mark, indicating it is fully warmed up. Then if you want to gun it, you can.
D. Not changing the oil often enough, especially in a new engine. When an engine is new, despite what some may say, the piston rings and the cylinder walls are going to grind a little metal away, and if the oil is not changed VERY frequently, within the first 200 miles or so, these tiny particles will NOT BE caught by the oil pick-up screen. Many areas of the engine aren't within the oil filtration system. The oil that is splashed around will circulate metal debris to the lubricated bearing surfaces, such as the transmission gears, and their ball bearings. These areas are not protected by the filtration system.
There are other things that will help deteriorate your car too, like popping the clutch one to many times, and slamming through the gears, or smashing your car into a telephone pole while drag racing, but that's a whole other story.
II.
PAINT CARE. Soon after I bought my Mustang, I researched the "best" wax, and care products, and it led me to a top car care and detailing business, that promoted the car care products made by 'Mothers.' He almost exclusively used 'Mothers cleaner carnauba wax.' I have been using this for the last year, until I discovered something else.
I started doing some research on paint chip repair, because I recently had two, very small chips, on the bottom of the front bumper. In my quest for the Holy paint chip repair kit, I came across a product called P21S. P21S is not a paint chip repair system, it is products that clean, and wax your car like no other on the market.
Larry Reynolds, of Car Care Specialties, has won the Concours Car Show, for the last 16 years, using this companies products. Concours is a car show/judging that judges a car based on the condition of the cars paint, interior, etc., and matches it to what the car looked like when it rolled of the showroom floor. If the cars paint, or interior, is too warn, scratched, faded, unpolished, etc, then the car looses points. It is the top car show where the best of the best are judged. The P21S 'Paintwork Cleanser,' and the P21S 'Concours-Look Carnauba Wax,' is considered, by the real pros, to be the best wax that is made. Zymol makes good stuff, but supposedly, P21S creates more depth of shine, than Zymol, and it lasts longer than Zymol. Reynolds says that if your clearcoat/paint has scratches, that you cannot feel, but can see when the light hits it, then first use 3M Imperial Hand Glaze, then use the P21S Paintwork Cleanser, and then use the P21S Carnauba Wax. This will create the ultimate shine, for your car. After the first coat of wax, wait a couple of days and then put on a another coat of wax. You can layer up to 4-5 layers. Anything more than this, it becomes superflous.
Cleaner Carnauba Waxes are not very productive. How can a cleaner clean your paint, while putting down a coat of wax at the same time? How can you put a coat of wax on your car, if it contains cleaning agents at the same time? Waxes come in all kinds of grades and qualities, and the carnauba content, in a 'Cleaner Carnauba Wax' is very little. I had never thought about this before, but it makes sense. Yes, a cleaner carnauba wax will clean a little bit, and it will lay down SOME wax, but it won't be much. Also the P21S wax, doesn't leave dusty, powdery residue when you buff it off, and it won't stain the black plastic parts of our cars if you get it on them. For more info. on P21S, go to
www.carcareonline.com.
Mustang Care 
