Waxing over existing dealer protection

Good afternoon fellas,

I just bought a new white Tundra that the dealership told me comes with a product called Zurich shield already installed on it. It’s some sort of paint protection. After I wash it, Can I just go ahead and apply griots 3 in 1 wax right over it?. I would appreciate any feedback.

 

No. You could do a test spot and see if you get any smearing or streaks. If all seems good you can apply if you want BUT 3 in 1 won’t properly bond to the paint surface on top of another product therefore you won’t get the full effect and protection from 3 in 1. Best to apply 3 in 1 first then after 12-24 hours top with a wax for some extra pop. Not all products jive with each other. If you use 3 in 1 best to top it with another griots product such as best in show wax

I hope you didn’t pay for the dealer “wax”. Waste of money and it’s junk.

 

Appreciate the response. I definitely did not pay anything for it. It came free with the car. I made sure the price was right and I wasn’t charged for it.

I’ll try a test spot, and if there is no streaming or marring, then it’s ok to apply?. Then another coat 24 hours later?. Thanks again!!!

 

*should* be ok, but like I said the zurich won’t let the 3 in 1 properly bond to the paint so you won’t get the 6-12 month protection 3 in 1 advertises.

 

Oh ok I see. It might be better just to get rid of it first to be safe as long as it’s not too time consuming. I’m just not too familiar with all this stuff as I’m new to it. I appreciate your help.

 

Are you not happy with look Zurich gives? I’ve never heard of Zurich

 

Never heard of it either until now . It looks ok but I have a feeling it’s junk and Griots would be much better.

 

Couple things from a detailer here (who uses a bunch of griots products and sold griots for a couple years)... does it bead up water now? Can you tell it actually has this zurich on it? If you can tell, try a small test spot and wash with purple power or another highly alkaline dergeaser. Then see if it beads water after the pp wash. If it doesnt, just wash the whole truck with pp and the zurich will be gone and you will have a clean slate for the 3-1. Now on to the 3-1... Im guessing you are talking about the ceramic 3-1 spray? If so, you use a tiny amount or else it will streak. Apply over the whole truck, let it sit 24 hours and apply a second coat. DO NOT, apply a traditional wax on top or else you will lose the hydrophobic properties of the ceramic spray. If you use a ceramic spray, stick with that. If you use a traditional wax, stick with that.

 

I’m not familiar with this particular product, but if it’s anything like other dealer coatings just wait a week or two. It will be gone and you can put whatever you want on it.

 

Thank you for your input. Right now, it does bead up so I’m guessing it does have it on it. Do you know anything about Zurich?. I’ve never heard of it.

I’ll definitely wax it twice but can you please tell me the name of the degreaser or send me a link. I’ll just degrease it until it doesn’t bead up and then apply 2 layers of wax 24 hours apart. Yes the 3 in 1 ceramic spray...the green one. It seems to be a favorite on here. You sold them..is there anything better?. Thanks again for your help!

 

I am guessing you don't have a pressure washer and foam cannon... I'd use griots surface prep wash if you do instead of this, as that's what I use, but realize most people don't have all that. Anyways... dilute PP 50/50 with water in a spray bottle. Spray it on, let it sit a minute, then use a wash mit and wash it off and rinse it. I would only do a panel or two at a time. You don't want it drying on there. Anyway, that should remove the zurich. If its still beading, I'd do it again. I don't know anything about that one in particular, but any dealer applied sealant is a joke. I used to sell Subaru and always explained to customers, you're buying a warranty on your paint, not a miracle product that never needs washed. LOL. I use the griots 3-1 alot and I also use Technicians Choice 582, but a gallon of that is like $40, so its more economical for me doing a lot of vehicles. Almost all of the griots products are great (I'm not a fan of the rubber cleaner).

 

A good wash with dawn dish soap will strip conventional waxes. I doubt Zurich is anything special. I feel better using dish soap than a degreaser on my paint but that’s just me. You don’t want to routinely use dish soap as a wash detergent as repeated use may dry up weather stripping and such but once or twice a year to degrease and strip wax is just fine. If after washing with dawn you still see decent water beading up on the paint then try a degreaser.

 

I have a foam gun but no pressure washer. I have an attachment I use on the water hose that makes the water come out with decent pressure. It has like 3 settings, jet, sprayer and angled. The jet one comes out pretty hard so a weaker version of a pressure washer.

From my research about the Zurich, it seems like it’s a joke. I will do what you said exactly and report back. I’ll stick with Griots...if you say it’s good, it must be. You sold them after all. Thanks again!!!. Much appreciated.

 

Thanks for the input!. Thats what I was going to use originally but read online that dawn is rough on paint. I guess it’s ok if only done once?.

 

Just like using a degreaser, once and awhile is ok, but I wouldn’t do it often.

 

So how long should I leave the dawn dish soap before washing it off?.

 

you’ll be fine. Repeated use as your go to car wash is not recommend

 

no wait time. Squirt some in your bucket as you would any other car wash soap and wash and rinse as normal.

 

Thank you guys!!!!!

 

After a quick search on Zurich it appears to be called Zurich shield and it’s your typical dealer sham to sell you a product your vehicle does not need. Did you buy used? And maybe it was already applied previously? Regardless it’s junk and has lots of claims against them. Just another way for a dealer to milk someone out of several hundred bucks. Like selling someone scotch guard for the interior when you can buy a can and do it yourself

 

I agree...just a way to rip people off. I bought the truck new. They said they add it to many of the vehicles they sell. I told him to take it off the price as I am not interested. I got a good deal on it. I saved a decent chunk off msrp so I was definitely not charged extra for it. Honestly I can’t wait to get it off.

 

A popular product to strip off existing coatings is Purple Power Vehicle and Boat Wash. It's the first thing I did to my truck when I brought it home.

 

I refuse to buy a Toyota with the paint protection or whatever they call it. I was buying a Tacoma once and the sales manager was on vacation. Her backup, a sales dude, told me that people actually ask for it. I said they are fools for paying almost $400 for a bottle of wax. Things went downhill from there.

 

Plenty of good responses.....so no harm in throwing in my .02. Zurich Shield is described, in their own paperwork, as a sealant. I took a few minutes to read their warranty, as well as their process to file a claim. There are a couple of caveats in there which will make it easy for them to deny a claim. My guess is that you'll see about 3 months of hydrophobicity. At that point in time, I'd do a full decontamination of the paint, and any correction if necessary or desired, and apply Griots 3 in 1 if that ends up being your LSP of choice. Unless you're bent on putting 3 in 1 on it right now, I wouldn't bother trying to strip the Zurich Shield off.

If you choose to wait, the Zurich Shield should be sufficiently degraded that the decontamination steps will get rid of the rest of it. While Dawn is a popular choice for stripping waxes, sealants are quite another animal. There is a huge difference between a natural, carnuba product and a polymer based or SIO2 enhanced sealant. For proper bonding, you want the surface as clean as possible. I perform a panel wipe, even if I've not corrected/polished, to ensure a bare clearcoat surface.

Not trying to ruffle anyone's feathers....just sharing what has worked well for me and what hasn't

 

Spot on brother, I agree. Not knowing the “durability” of Zurich, figured a dawn wash is harmless as a first basic step in seeing if it removed the Zurich. I figured it was a sealant of some sort, but my money is on that it isn’t a superior product and it is degraded easily.

 

One thing I found comical.....if you have a warranty claim with Zurich, you have to provide them the steps you performed to 'remedy the problem'.....at that point, they simply tell you that you should not have done that, whatever that is, and that your warranty has now been voided. I agree that it is not likely a top quality product, which is why I estimated 3 months of hydrophobicity, not necessarily protection. Griots 3 in 1 is probably one of the best locally available products I've ever seen, and it's very reasonably priced.