[Wazazell]

So to follow up from the other Rejex thread
Rejex paint beautification & protectant: EXPLAINED

here's my story:

My car is brand new, I took delivery my 2006 on Aug. 20th with 4 miles on the odo. Sitting in the lot the car was beautiful. So I drove home and in the following 2 weeks ordered about $150 worth of cleaning supplies for it. I got Meguires Gold Class wash, Blackfire claybar kit, 3m polishing glaze, Rejex, microfiber drying towels, microfiber wash mits, microfiber applicator sponges, and a special 2 sided "german" applicator sponge... So after 2 weeks of ownership, I went to work on my car.

I first gave it a good wash with Dawn for the first clean and to remove any wax from the factory or prep. I then inspected every surface of the car and removed any residue from the protective film that the dealership removed, making sure to wash the goo-gone off with Dawn right away.

(protective film adhesive residue)

[Wazazell]

I then pulled the car into my garage and began clay barring. I started with a small section on the roof and sprayed it down with the lubricant that came with the clay bar. I did a small section, then wiped it clean and used the plastic bag trick to check my progress. That section of the car was much smoother than the rest of the roof, so I started to do a larger section. That's when I noticed something. There were still water spots on the car, even after I had thoroughly dried it with the microfiber drying towel. But I noticed that the water spots were more apparent in the area that I was clay barring. So, I tried another area of the roof and sure enough, the spots showed up there too. I realized that the clay bar was making the spots "show", but I didn't know if it was "causing" them. So I took a look at the other passenger side of the roof, and thats when saw that the entire roof was covered in the spots. Under the fluorescent lights they are very obvious. I got a magnifying glass and took a closer look and the spots looked like craters in the clearcoat. I was pretty pissed, so I abandoned the clay bar and broke out the 3m polish to see if it would take out the spots. Unfortunately it didn't.

Luckily, in the sunlight, the spots aren't visible. But if it's overcast and cloudy, they can be seen if you look at the reflection of the sun behind the clouds in the roof. I then checked the whole car over again and noticed that the spots are mostly on the roof, but there are also some on the hood, but NONE on the hood scoop or on the trunk or wing.

(spots under garage lights)

[Wazazell]

There was nothing I could do about the spots, so I broke out the 3m polish and started buffing. It was a lot of work, I didn't use an electric buffer, but the car was smooth as silk. I could easily tell where I had and hadn't done by wiping a rag over the paint. It would skim over the car like an air hockey puck and then stick to the spots I missed.

Once I was satisfied with the polish job, I blew the car down with compressed air to remove all the polishing dust, washed again with the Meguires Gold Class, dried with the microfiber towels, blew the car dry with a leaf blower, and pulled back into the garage to start the Rejex.

[Wazazell]

Now, the Rejex review...

THE STUFF IS AWESOME!!!

I've waxed cars with carnuba before, and I'm never using wax again. I always hated wax because you could only do small sections, if you let it dry too long it was a PITA to take off. And with wax, you had to be super careful around black trim because it would stain the black plastics etc.

I soon found out, that I could apply the Rejex to a whole facet of the car (roof, hood, driver side, pass. side, etc) move on to the next facet while the first cured for about 20-30 min, then come back to the first and buff the stuff off with ease!! As long as you have a clean section of buffing cloth, the stuff just wipes off with barely any pressure. And you can apply it on the black trim as well and it just wiped right off. I actually purposely applied it to the black plastic in the lower grill openings. And if you get it on glass, it just wipes off.

Anyway, I did 2 coats on the paint, last week I went back and did a coat on each wheel and the Brembos. My wheels are pretty dirty now, but judging by the way the dust wipes off, leaving perfectly clean paint underneath, I'm pretty sure it won't be hard to wash the wheels again. I can't yet confirm if they'll just hose clean.

I wish I had better photo skills, or had a better place to take pics, but here's what the car looked like the first time out of the garage after finishing the wheels.

[Wazazell]

And here are some pics after my cars first rain shower. Look how the water beads up compared to my sister's Honda. She had just washed her car 2 days before the rain, but I don't think she's ever waxed it, though the hood and paint are only about a year old.

[gixxer6]

car looks great man, i've got to do my car in rejex before winter gets here

[BoostJunkie]

looks awesome, nice job! I use klasse now and although I'm really happy with it maybe I should give rejex a try...

[Wazazell]

Summary:

*Rejex is awesome, highly recommended
*I'm not happy with the factory paint job
*Clay barring bad paint makes it look worse

I got my RockBlocker in last week and I'm gonna have it installed in October, so hopefully when that's done I can start spending my money on non-cosmetic upgrades...

Oh yeah, if anybody has seen spots in their paint like I have, please let me know I'm not the only one. If anybody knows what it might be, let me know. I'm going to have a paint pro look at it and give me advise, and my dealer said that the paint is not really covered under warranty, however since the car is brand new, if I can get an expert to explain what it is and if it was from the factory or happened at the dealership, they will try to make me happy.

Ok, I'm finished.

[evilSTi7]

those are some CLEAN bbs's. nice job

[shftat6]

Great work!! I am also a fan of Rejex.

[turbosmitty]

Nice work! I just bought the Mother's three step cleaner wax, polish, and carnuba wax. I was going to clay bar the car again and try out the new stuff I bought....but now I would rather try out this Rejex stuff. I just waxed my wheels and calipers last night too....I'll probably re-wax them again with Rejex.

[F4yoshi]

I was on the fence on whether or not to try ot Rejex. But after your "review", I'll go ahead and order it tomorrow. I picked up my black '06 STi two weeks ago. Had a clear bra put on one week ago. And did a thorough wash/polish/wax this past weekend. I just ordered a set of wheel/tires for my winter setup, so I guess I'll apply Rejex to the new wheels when I get them and then apply Rejex to the BBSs when I swap them out for the winter setup.

Any updates on the compatibility of Rejex with a clear bra?

[Wazazell]

not really any specific updates about the clear bra. but I posted a conversation I had with Chad @ RockBlocker on the other Rejex thread:
Rejex paint beautification & protectant: EXPLAINED

I forgot to mention, that while doing the paint I was getting some Rejex on my headlight and tail light lenses. I was a little timid about it, so I wiped it up quickly, but then I did a little test spot on the tail light and let it dry. When I buffed it off I could tell that part of the lens was 'slippery-er' than the rest of the lens. So I went ahead and applied a full coat to the headlight and tail light lenses. I'm not sure if the Rejex is really capable of 'bonding' with the plastic like it is supposed to do with the paint, but it made the surface slick and look great, no clouding or anything, so I figured it might help to keep the bugs from sticking on my lights! That said, and combined with the advice from RockBlocker, I have no doubt that the Rejex will work fine applied on top of a clear bra. I just don't know yet if it'll have to be removed from beneath before installing the film...

[Wazazell]

just a reminder, the instructions strongly recommend that Rejex be applied to bare paint. So if you have already waxed your car, you'll want to do a Dawn wash to remove the old wax.

[ORSTi]

I just finished a total car Rejex the other day. I'm not a fan of waxing, so I did it in stages. Rejex recommends that you keep the car "out of the elements" for 12 hours while it cures. To clarify, by "curing" I mean apply, let dry and then wipe off to a shine, and then keep dry and out of the sun. I tended to think this was BS until I did the car in sections over a few days. After letting the Rejex "cure" it was noticeably smoother and slipperier than the sections I had just done. It was like it had hardened overnight. The cat can't even get enough traction to sit on the hood, little bastard. Now it doesn't even try.