Talk to your friend about his experience with the Ferrari and, if possilbe, inspect it under harsh direct sunlight. You're looking for swirl marks - very fine little scratches that appear to be in rings around the center point of a light source, in this case the sun. If the paint is uniformly smooth and glossy then any of these defects have been removed. You should also be able to talk with the detailer, tell him what you're looking for, have him evaluate your car and give you a firm price.

First off, wash and dry the car thoroughly. The clay kit should have a bottle of Quik Detailer and a microfiber towel as well as a box with two pieces of clay. Open only one piece of clay and knead it into a flat disk that just fits in the palm of your hand. Spray some of the QD onto an area of the car covering roughly a 2' x 2' section then just start lightly rubbing the clay over the paint. It doesn't take a lot of pressure, hardly any at all in fact. You'll feel the clay start to slide very easily as bonded contaminants are removed. You can actually move the clay over the surface fairly quickly and should be able to do the entire car in under 30 minutes. As you finish claying an area wipe off the excess QD spay with the microfiber towel and move on to the next section. Continue this process over the entire painted surface of the car. From time to time inspect the clay - it should be getting dirty as it picks up contaminants so you'll need to fold it over a couple of times and continue on. DO NOT DROP THE CLAY ON THE GROUND. IF YOU DO THROW IT AWAY IMMEDIATELY AND NEVER LET IT TOUCH YOUR CAR AGAIN. I CAN NOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH, AND IT'S THE REASON MEGUIAR'S GIVES TWO SMALL BARS IN THE KIT.

As for waxing, you want to apply thin coats. If you think you're putting it on too thick I guarantee you are. This is the single most common mistake people make. A black car should not look white when the wax hazes over - that's a sure sign you probably used enough wax to cover half a dozen cars. On light colored cars you should have a hard time telling where you put the wax and where you didn't. The preferred applicator when doing this by hand is a small foam applicator pad. These are usually available at auto parts stores, etc. If you bought Meguair's NXT Tech Wax it comes with one. Use it. Allow the wax to fully haze (usually 15 - 20 minutes depending on ambient conditions) then remove it with a clean microfiber towel. No need to keep wiping or "buffing" to achieve a higher gloss. All you'll do is remove more of what you just applied.

You won't hurt anything by washing the whole car with the vinegar water mix but there isn't a real need to. I would give the whole car a proper wash first then go over the water spotted areas with the vinegar water mix. Dry the car and proceed with the claying as mentioned above.

A paint cleaner is basically a polish - there aren't any hard and fast definitions in the auto detailing world unfortunately. Meguiar's makes a three step system that includes a paint cleaner, polish and wax. This is the Deep Crystal System sold at auto parts stores, Target, Wal Mart, etc and is great stuff for hand application purposes. You don't have to use all three of them, and you can substitute any wax for the 3rd step in the system.

Always wash before doing this, and clay only as needed. The first two steps, paint cleaner and polish, need to be handled differently than the wax though. Meguiar's paint cleaners and polishes should never be allowed to dry on the paint like you do with a wax - they'll just be a pain to remove.

The Step 1 paint cleaner (what Meguiar's calls a cleaner polish) needs to be worked quite vigorously against the paint using the same sort of foam pad I mentioned above. This is very tiring to do by hand but it will remove light swirl marks and dirt embedded in the paint. paint. You work a 2' x 2' section going back and forth then up and down a couple of times over the paint, then wipe off the remaining product and move on.

The Step 2 polish is what Meguiar's refers to as a pure polish. It has no abrasives whatsoever and is merely designed as a beauty treatment. It adds depth and gloss but offers no protection at all and must be covered with a wax or sealant. This is applied using the same 2' x 2' work area and the same sort of pad, but this time you work it against the paint much more gently and wipe off wihile still "wet". This is a purely optional step and quite honestly won't reveal much on a very new, light colored vehicle.

Meguiar's has versions of all these items in their professiional line of products and that's all I use any more. Then again I polish paint using a rotary or DA buffer, depending on what needs to be accomplished. Oh, and if you couldn't tell, I could talk about this stuff all day long!!! Sorry.