White sure gets dirty!

[WalterG]

My Taycan is metallic white and gets so dirty so fast in bad weather - which we have a lot of in Boston. What do others think of ceramic vs wax? I wasn't originally considering ceramic but am now. I don't have any experience with ceramic - does it really allow just a rinse to take off road grime after rain/snow/slush? During the winter it isn't really realistic to wash the car at home and I'm not going to detail it weekly. So thinking about using the rinse at a car wash bay. Any advise is appreciated

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[RCorsa]

I had (991.1) and have an incoming 992 CWM 911 turbo S. I live in seattle and it does get dirty quickly in the rain. I had my old car ceramic coated. Didn’t do anything to keep it clean but made it easier to wash.

 

[Dave T]

I’m in your area too, in Manchester on the North Shore. I also have a white car. This is my first white car, and it does get dirty but nothing like a dark colored car. A silver car is best for the dirt but white looks great in the Taycan. I have ceramic coating and it’s definitely nice. The dirt rinses off very easily. I just wash it when the temperature gets warm, with a pressure washer. I recommend the ceramic.

 

[jimithing]

My Taycan is metallic white and gets so dirty so fast in bad weather - which we have a lot of in Boston. What do others think of ceramic vs wax? I wasn't originally considering ceramic but am now. I don't have any experience with ceramic - does it really allow just a rinse to take off road grime after rain/snow/slush? During the winter it isn't really realistic to wash the car at home and I'm not going to detail it weekly. So thinking about using the rinse at a car wash bay. Any advise is appreciated

Definitely do ceramic. It won't get any less dirty but it makes the dirt come off way easier.

 

[bootsie]

I don't have my Taycan yet, but my Mercedes is metallic white and has been ceramic coated. It does stay a little cleaner with the ceramic, but I wouldn't say that a quick rinse will just make all the dirt and general muck fall off, only perhaps if you do it very regularly.
What does work better is a pre-spray of some Snow Foam solution. I'm using Bilt-Hamber Auto Foam diluted into a pump sprayer so I don't even use it with the pressure washer. A 5 minute soak of that will loosen most of the dirt and then a quick blast with the pressure washer will get it probably 80% clean. But even then I find it's not "properly" clean - if you run a cloth over some panels you'll still find dirt on there. But it's good enough to look ok if you're in a rush.
However, our water here is really hard so if I pressure-wash the car I still need to dry it to prevent water marks. I hate using drying cloths on a car that isn't perfectly clean as you're just dragging the dirt over the surface, so I personally don't just pressure wash and walk away.
I do find that using Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) works really well in the winter if you are going to clean it, because at least you don't have to rinse the panel after you've washed it, which cuts right down on the time taken. I still pre-wash even though Optimum say you don't have to.
You might get away with using ONR as a pre-wash soak in a sprayer to loosen the dirt, then pressure washing, then using the ONR spray bottle again as a Quick Detailer to wipe the car down with.
You should be able to get hold ONR pretty easily since the company is US-based.

 

[robborover]

I don't have my Taycan yet, but my Mercedes is metallic white and has been ceramic coated. It does stay a little cleaner with the ceramic, but I wouldn't say that a quick rinse will just make all the dirt and general muck fall off, only perhaps if you do it very regularly.
What does work better is a pre-spray of some Snow Foam solution. I'm using Bilt-Hamber Auto Foam diluted into a pump sprayer so I don't even use it with the pressure washer. A 5 minute soak of that will loosen most of the dirt and then a quick blast with the pressure washer will get it probably 80% clean. But even then I find it's not "properly" clean - if you run a cloth over some panels you'll still find dirt on there. But it's good enough to look ok if you're in a rush.
However, our water here is really hard so if I pressure-wash the car I still need to dry it to prevent water marks. I hate using drying cloths on a car that isn't perfectly clean as you're just dragging the dirt over the surface, so I personally don't just pressure wash and walk away.
I do find that using Optimum No-Rinse (ONR) works really well in the winter if you are going to clean it, because at least you don't have to rinse the panel after you've washed it, which cuts right down on the time taken. I still pre-wash even though Optimum say you don't have to.
You might get away with using ONR as a pre-wash soak in a sprayer to loosen the dirt, then pressure washing, then using the ONR spray bottle again as a Quick Detailer to wipe the car down with.
You should be able to get hold ONR pretty easily since the company is US-based.

Nice process, are you going to coat the Taycan? I have been thinking of PPS which appears to be a halfway house between Ceramic and PPF. Any thoughts?

 

[bootsie]

Nice process, are you going to coat the Taycan? I have been thinking of PPS which appears to be a halfway house between Ceramic and PPF. Any thoughts?

I'll have mine Ceramic coated, yes. It's on finance for 3 years so I don't see the point of PPF (though I'm considering just the front splitter since that's painted on a Turbo and likely to get battered). Don't know anything about PPS to offer any advice I'm afraid, other than it still seems to be quite a specialist thing to get which normally means ££££ !

I'm pretty lazy in the winter to be honest, I do have to admit to a sneaky [automatic] Car Wash now and again but the Ceramic coating seems to survive that ok - at least with those Arc ones which don't seem quite as vicious as some of the others. Not sure if I'll dare to do that in the Taycan. But, this is a daily driver though so I'm not as anal about it as I would be if it were a keeper.
I bought a water filter last year which is really useful during the summer - just rinse and walk away with no water marks. But ONR in the winter means you can have a warm bucket of water to wash, make it look shiny and avoid rinsing all in one go.

 

[RCorsa]

If you want the absolute best way (albeit the most expensive) to keep your car clean all the time. Is to wrap the entire car in PPF and do a ceramic on top. This allows you to take the car in automatic car washed. The ppf prevents from swirl marks as its self healing. I’ve done this two times. I did it in a black Tesla p100 (the ultimate test) and my 488 Spider which was a triple layer white metallic (30k paint). Worked perfectly both times, but you are talking about an 8-10k option.

 

[robborover]

I'll have mine Ceramic coated, yes. It's on finance for 3 years so I don't see the point of PPF (though I'm considering just the front splitter since that's painted on a Turbo and likely to get battered). Don't know anything about PPS to offer any advice I'm afraid, other than it still seems to be quite a specialist thing to get which normally means ££££ !

I'm pretty lazy in the winter to be honest, I do have to admit to a sneaky [automatic] Car Wash now and again but the Ceramic coating seems to survive that ok - at least with those Arc ones which don't seem quite as vicious as some of the others. Not sure if I'll dare to do that in the Taycan. But, this is a daily driver though so I'm not as anal about it as I would be if it were a keeper.
I bought a water filter last year which is really useful during the summer - just rinse and walk away with no water marks. But ONR in the winter means you can have a warm bucket of water to wash, make it look shiny and avoid rinsing all in one go.

Yeah - mines a co car on a similar basis so probably ceramic at best - if it was a Turbo S with all the trimmings it might be a different matter. Will have a look at the ONR though.

Cheers!

 

[robborover]

If you want the absolute best way (albeit the most expensive) to keep your car clean all the time. Is to wrap the entire car in PPF and do a ceramic on top. This allows you to take the car in automatic car washed. The ppf prevents from swirl marks as its self healing. I’ve done this two times. I did it in a black Tesla p100 (the ultimate test) and my 488 Spider which was a triple layer white metallic (30k paint). Worked perfectly both times, but you are talking about an 8-10k option.

Nice car!

Yes - if it was a keeper I would consider it (I paid around £4k for a full ppf on a McLaren) - PPS is an interesting option, fascinated to know if it would keep up as well as ppf

 

[Vim Schrotnock]

Definitely an Xpel full wrap and ceramic coating does the trick for my Carrera White. It's actually amazing how little I need to do to keep the car clean, even in the rain/snow. I just wet a rag and wipe off the dirt behind the wheels and in the rear, and if I want it to look really sharp, I'll wipe the whole car then apply detail spray after. It just looks amazing - the dirt just falls away and as a previous poster said, there are absolutely no swirl marks.

 

[XLR82XS]

If you want the absolute best way (albeit the most expensive) to keep your car clean all the time. Is to wrap the entire car in PPF and do a ceramic on top. The ppf prevents from swirl marks as its self healing.

This is absolutely the best solution for protection - period.

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