As some of you know my wife and I purchased a new caw this week.
Everyone here was very helpful with their experiences with Mazda, they answered a lot of questions we had, thank you.

It has been a long time since we purchased a new car so my questions are, what are we using for paint protection to keep it from fading over time.
Between the UV rays in Florida, an Oak tree in the front yard that sometimes gives off sap and my wife works in a industrial area near an asphalt plant that creates a lot of dust, other than washing and waxing it what kind of coatings might help.

Next, we have never had a car with leather seats. Our last car we bought good custom seat covers however I don't want to cover the nice leather seats in the new car.
What would be a geed conditioner/cleaner/protestant.I know what to use on good leather dress shoes but what about leather car seats.

Again thanks everyone for your help.

I use Leather Honey cleaner and conditioner on my leather car interiors as well as my sofas. https://www.leatherhoney.com/collections/all-products

They even have a how-to guide for cleaning and conditioning leather car seats:
https://www.leatherhoney.com/p...ur-leather-car-seats

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
I use Leather Honey cleaner and conditioner on my leather car interiors as well as my sofas. https://www.leatherhoney.com/collections/all-products

They even have a how-to guide for cleaning and conditioning leather car seats:
https://www.leatherhoney.com/p...ur-leather-car-seats

Does the Leather Honey leave a gloss or matte finish?

I'm using Lexol, and it leaves a matte finish (which is my preference), but I've been interested in Leather Honey because it makes water repellency claims.

I would call it matte. It definitely isn't noticeably glossy like ArmorAll or similar.

It goes on wet/shiny at first, but that goes away once the conditioner dries/absorbs sufficiently and you wipe off any excess that wasn't absorbed.

A little goes a long way.

IMO the best thing you can get for your car’s interior is one of these and to use it religiously.

They will custom make one that fits your make and model:

The Heat Shield

Ceramic coating for the exterior would be optimum, you can buy DIY kits if that's your bag, or get a professional to do it, which is more money

Contact The Crew Detailing for a quote

https://thecrewauto.com/ceramic-coating/

Otherwise a really good paint protectant like 303 Graphene Nano Spray Coating.

Link



Window Tint with UV protection is a good idea to help as well a good reflective shade for the front windshield.

I second the ceramic coating.

You could also do a PPF- Paint protection film.

I had the ceramic done professionally.

Here’s my Mach after I got it coated.

Ceramic coating is good stuff! Last at least a couple years and really protects imo. Lexol leather is my favorite for leather.

Long term vehicle, PPF. I bought a vehicle for my 50th 2 months ago, a performance vehicle and I went track spec on the ppf. Whole front end, rockers, wheel arches, roof, door cups, parcel shelf, behind all 4 wheels. Elaborate but it’s driven on country rural twisty roads that have loads of pebbles. It’s either PPF or a peppered front end with paint chips everywhere.

Then I did ceramic over the PPF and entire car. As was said above, ceramic coating is the cheaper route as PPF costs real money. And I agree you can have a pro put the ceramic on or DIY via some YouTube videos and elbow grease. Ceramic coating is a God send in maintenance. It makes cleaning the car 10X easier (or more).

Leather? Lexol. 2 bottles. 1 is cleaner. The other conditioner. Pretty simple, just follow the instructions on the bottles. Use microfiber towels for application.

Most car manufacturers do not use real leather these days. Be careful about using some of those leather conditioner on faux type leather. (There is a few types of faux leathers). Some conditioners may do more harm than good.



As for paint protections not all ceramic coatings are the same. Some last longer than others but most offer longer protection than old school waxes. I use a lot of Hybrid solutions ceramic spray coating and their ceramic wet wax these days.



Good luck and enjoy your new ride.

quote:

Originally posted by Jelly:
Most car manufacturers do not use real leather these days. Be careful about using some of those leather conditioner on faux type leather.

True.

My CX-5 Signature is real nappa leather. But I'm not sure about the OP's CX-5 Carbon.

This is the best leather conditioner money can buy.I have been using Leatherique for 15 years or more and is hands down the best stuff I have ever used and I have owned many leather interior vehicles over the years. No, I do not have any stake in this other than a first hand review.
http://www.leatherique.com/

I just purchased Adams Graphene Advanced Coating for my 430i, I’ve already done the glass now waiting to do the body after Christmas. This stuff is supposed to last for years.

I re-coated my Highlander with Maguires Ceramic after 2 years. Walk, Dry, Claybar, Ceramic prep, Ceramic Wax. 3 hours total.

I couldn’t let PR64 get away with being the only EV out there so here’s my new YLR just after having a professional ceramic coating. The professionals use products that are not available to the general public and result in a better and longer lasting finish…

Thank you everyone for the help, we appreciate it.

quote:

Originally posted by Prefontaine:
Long term vehicle, PPF. I bought a vehicle for my 50th 2 months ago, a performance vehicle and I went track spec on the ppf. Whole front end, rockers, wheel arches, roof, door cups, parcel shelf, behind all 4 wheels. Elaborate but it’s driven on country rural twisty roads that have loads of pebbles. It’s either PPF or a peppered front end with paint chips everywhere.

Then I did ceramic over the PPF and entire car. As was said above, ceramic coating is the cheaper route as PPF costs real money. And I agree you can have a pro put the ceramic on or DIY via some YouTube videos and elbow grease. Ceramic coating is a God send in maintenance. It makes cleaning the car 10X easier (or more).

Leather? Lexol. 2 bottles. 1 is cleaner. The other conditioner. Pretty simple, just follow the instructions on the bottles. Use microfiber towels for application.

100%. Ceramic has made it so much easier to maintain. I was skeptical but is true.

I enjoy detailing my truck. It gets handwashed 2 to 4 times per month, I machine polished it 2.5 years ago, applied a spray on ceramic sealant, and then top it monthly with the wax designed to go with the ceramic sealant.

Thanksgiving, I did a deep clean, machine polished, applied a ceramic coating, and applied cerakote's ceramic trim restorer. It took 10 hours. Even after driving in the rain looks much cleaner. It is so much easier to wash now too.

I plan to maintain by handwashing 2 to 4 times per month, and quarterly doing a chemical decon and applying the ceramic company's spray topper. Between that and being garage kept, I'm anticipating 3 to 5 years out of the ceramic coating.

In other words, I'm enthusiastic about ceramic coating and recommend to the OP.

You guys make me feel like a vehicle abuser! I bought my 2004 Chevy Silverado brand new. I don't recall it EVER having a wax job and the wash jobs have been on a "need to do" basis. It is now pushing 200,000 miles and keeps on going.

I commented to my wife about how pretty it was, considering its past. She said, "you two match - pretty much ugly and pretty much apt to stay that way with the mileage you both have and the lack of upkeep in the past!"

I told her that sarcasm didn't flatter her, but she didn't seem to mind.

quote:

Originally posted by Southern Rebel:
You guys make me feel like a vehicle abuser! I bought my 2004 Chevy Silverado brand new. I don't recall it EVER having a wax job and the wash jobs have been on a "need to do" basis. It is now pushing 200,000 miles and keeps on going.

Whether a vehicle is garage kept makes a big difference and applying a wax, sealant, or ceramic coating with ultraviolet (UV) protection makes a big difference as well. Here is why:

Modern clear coat paint systems are 3 layers - primer, color coat, and clear coat.

The UV protection is in the clear coat layer, and the clear coat's UV protection is in the outer layer (i.e. as the clear coat cures at the factory the UV protection rises to the surface).

Modern clear coat's UV protection has a half-life of roughly 5 years (i.e half of its protection is gone after 5 years).

Modern clear coat is about the thickness of a post-it note so not a lot extra for UV degradation.

You can extend the clear coat's UV half-life by garage keeping it (i.e. reducing the exposure time to sun's UV) and/or applying a wax, sealant, or coating with UV protection (not all have UV protection so pick one that does).

The vehicles you see around town with failed clear coat are most likely from UV damage. Most likely kept outdoors and been years and years since a UV protection was applied.

My neighbor cost himself thousands in trade-in recently on his Tundra by leaving it outdoors and never applying UV protection. He bought it brand new and in his 11 years of ownership had complete clear coat failure on roof, hood, and skyward facing panels. The sad thing is he hand washed it monthly and could've applied a UV protection. The modern stuff is so easy to apply as it's a spray (literally spray on and easy wipe off). Heck, the stuff I was previously using you sprayed on a wet car after washing and "buffed" it as you dried the car so it was so easy that it only added 2 minutes to a handwash (i.e. in my neighbor's case 24 minutes a year). He had to trade it in at a place with a bodyshop as it had to be repainted to resell, and definitely didn't get a premium that a low mileage tundra should have received.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Bottom line up front: I also endorse Ceramic coating, but get it done by a professional.

Story: In 2017, my son bought a new 2017 Toyota Tundra. He told me about the Ceramic Coating, and that he was spending about $1400 to get it done. I laughed at him, tried to talk him out of it, and explained $1400 would buy an awful lot of wax that he could do himself.

I went with him to pick up his Tundra, both new from the dealership, and after the ceramic coating had been applied by an independent professional detailer (not affiliated to the dealer in any way). I was shocked. The detailer performed "Paint correction", which involved polishing the finish to correct defects in the paint and prepare for the coating. This despite the fact the vehicle was new. He just sold this truck a few months ago, and the finish still looked like new.

As for me, I took delivery of a new 2017 Lexus GS350 after my son had his truck coated. I had been so impressed by the coating on his Tundra that I had the same detailer do the exact same treatment on my lexus. Now, over 6 years later, my lexus still looks new, and many people comment on it. It has never been waxed.

Then in 2019, I bought a Tundra, and had the same detailer coat it as well, although he used a different vendor's product. Again, over 4 years later, that vehicle still looks great as well, even though it's treated much worse than the lexus (Once the Tundra went an entire year without being washed!

If you have the budget, I would definitely ceramic coat any new vehicle. I am not sure it would be worth it to coat a used vehicle, although I suspect it could be done, but would require much more surface prep.