Is it true you have to wait about 2-3 months after you paint your car to wax it?

Evan B
97 GS
Stamford CT
EvMan2345@aol.com

Well for a complete paint job, it's best to wait at least 1 week, and the color sand and buff it, then you can wax it. The paint actually takes about a month to fully cure, so I would wait at least a month. I think 2-3 months is overkill though.

I changed my front bumper and fender due to an accident, so painted. The paint job was not that good, so it looks dull (my car is black).
Would you enlighten me how to do color sand?
And what's difference between polishing and buffing?
Please let me know detail steps of waxing.
Thanks in advance.

You should not have to color sand it at all, the shop is supposed to do that when it is about 1-2 weeks old. Shows a little pride in their work. I would ask them about it.

The shop is supposed to do color sand after 1-2 weeks? What do you mean by that? My car came out just 5 days after dropping it. For a previous collision I have never took my car to the body shop again after painting to do color sanding, but the paint looked OK at that time.

Thank you for your response.

Most body shops will color sand and buff it the day after they painted it. It's a good idea to wait a week at least, but most don't want the hassle of you having to bring the car back. I waited over a month on mine. Also, the cheaper shops will not include color sand and buff in the price - they only paint it.

The minimum you NEED to wait to wax a new paint job is 60 days, and up to 90. Colorsanding should be done at the paint shop by someone who has been trained, I wouldn't recommend doing it yourself or you could wind up messing up the paint job you just spent all your money on! x(
It IS okay to put a polish on your paint but not wax until after the paint has cured... check out www.teammeguiars.com too they have lots of good FAQ about paint and new paint jobs.

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Ya you definitely should not do it yourself. I color sanded it myself, but did it very lightly so the shop could finish up the parts I missed. Most shops will not wait 60 days to color sand and buff it though because they just want your car out of there. But if you want the best look, the longer you wait the better. And now that I think about it, I waited 3 months, not 30 days, just because I was too busy to go back and do it.