I detailed my car just over a month ago. I've put about 500 miles on it since then. I purchased some 845 and was planning to put a coat on it before the winter gets really intense. I was slated to do it this past weekend, but this got in my way: Do I need to prep the paint or would it be pretty safe to lay a coat down without doing such a thing as claybaring? I know it probably won't adhere quite as well, but is it absolutely necessary? I'm asking because do to the quick change of weather, I'll need to do this at a local wash bay and the sooner I can do it the better (so I don't piss anyone off that needs the bay). Otherwise, I'll have to do plan B (not preferred).
i would think that with just 500 miles on it and assuming that u clayed it the last time u did a detail on it, that you would not need to clay it this time. also last detail u most likley put on a good coat of wax with will hlep keep dirt off of it also. i would think now that with a good clean, you should have no problem putting another coat of wax on and it working just fine. you could always do the plastic bag trick to see how the paint feels. also if time permits you could stirp the paint with some kind of apc, than mabey a alcohol wipe down to make sure the new coat of wax bonds well. hope this helps.
If it wasnt long ago strip your old LSP off with CWC, TAW, or Dawn just take a bucket with you to the wash bay and fill it up with water then put your wash in it and get to stripping off that old LSP. Then go ahead and apply 845 not sure how applying it in the cold will make it react but I guess you will find out.
I just stripped off the LSP on our 2010 Black ML 350 today and applied a new coat of Blackfire Wet Diamond (I has been since the 1st of July since it was applied so it lasted a while). I put 1 oz of Members Mark Eco Citrus Wash ( the Sam's dish wash detergent that equivalent to Dawn) in my foam gun with it set to the max and foamed it up and let it sit for about 3 minutes then I rinsed it off and noticed it BFWD was still on there. So I put about 1 1/2 oz in the foam gun again and let it it sit for another 3 minutes then rinsed and saw that it was off. Then I washed with Chemical Guys Glossworkz. I know you just asked about dilution but I had to throw in what I did today haha.
As others have said, I would just use a pre-wax cleaner and top with a LSP. Make sure you leave each step proper time to bond or else your LSP durability may be compromised.
