The Official Washed and Waxed Thread!

[JustinG]

My thoughts are new caliper. If it's corroding like that after 6 months, just imagine the issues you may run into down the road whenever you're messing with that corner.

[Sijray21]

Is be tempted to just wire-brush it down and paint it if you're not having issues with its fibrin, but if the caliper isn't that expensive a replacement may be in order.

Btw, that paint looks fantastic! Are there any swirl marks 9r reasons for a proper compounding or polishing?

[ScottyB]

Btw, that paint looks fantastic! Are there any swirl marks 9r reasons for a proper compounding or polishing?

thanks buddy.  you have no idea how bad the paint actually is.  its a 10-footer for sure, maybe a 15-footer on a bad day, ha.  it's been resprayed poorly once at some point in its life (these had recalls for factory clearcoat problems) so you can see a lot of orange peel and overspray in certain areas.  the hood is showing a lot of "crow's feet" from the clear cracking, and rock chips.  i was willing to overlook it all because aside from the paint the rest of the car is pretty mint.

paint correction is all i'd be willing to pay for, i don't think i'd ever spend the money to have it resprayed.

[ScottyB]

my parents were visiting this past week so i took some time with my dad and we cleaned up his Q7.  color is "ink blue metallic", almost black but pops in the sun.  its only got about 15k miles on it so the paint was obviously pretty minty to start with.  time limited so no clay/sealant/leather cleaning

washed with Optimum Car Wash, 2 bucket method
wheels hit with Chemical Guys AllClean+ diluted 10:1
waxed with Blackfire Black Ice Hybrid Montan Sealant Wax
ONR quick detailer on door jambs
Meguiars Natural Shine applied to tires/dash and door plastics
Griots Glass Cleaner on interior glass panels


engine was hit with ONR quick detailer and Meguiars Natural Shine


this is actually the reflection off the hood.


love the Blackfire wax

[Sijray21]

Very nice! That looks great. Those newer q7s are really sharp, too.

[JPolen01]

That hood shot!

[Goodspeed]

That looks incredible, and from what I already know, your product choices are always on point. You're learnin' me a lot of new stuff though that I'm going to have to try if the results look that good!

[ScottyB]

thanks duders

That looks incredible, and from what I already know, your product choices are always on point.  You're learnin' me a lot of new stuff though that I'm going to have to try if the results look that good!

allow me to quote Larry the Cable Guy: "I TELL YOU WHUT"

check out the youtube channel Dallas Paint Correction & Detailing. guy is super down to earth and all about getting results with products that are typically overlooked, or looked down upon for being "big box store" brands. i am working through my old products right now but will be moving on to a lot of the stuff and technique he uses, because it makes sense to me.

i've done a lot of trial and error...i can definitely tell stuff that doesn't work.

[Sijray21]

Not really sure where to put this, but I guess here works.

I'm prepping my mom's z3 for sale. There's a bit of a leak in the roof seal (where it meets the passenger window) and I have it in my garage to dry it out, keep it dry, and protected until we can either sell it to Carmax or a person. She's dumped enough money into this car so I'm shopping around for a 228i xDrive for her or a z4 coupe 3.0 if she decides to keep her ford focus. If she had a garage I would've just said keep this car as it's been fairly well maintained mechanically speaking.

I gave it a quick wash, clay (not a lot of surface area), and a quick wax. Vacuumed the inside and I'll wipe it down soon.

On the to-do list were the headlight housings. The drivers side was pretty oxidized, but I did the passenger side as well even though that was nicer (and I think newer).

[BLINGMW]

First claybar and wax for the family hauler. Decent amount of paint left for being 12 years old, though some long forgotten tree sap spots were not recoverable. Headlight housings were so bad I just replaced them.

[D_Eclipse9916]

Didn't know where else to post this question. What are people's opinions on ceramic-coating?

I haven't had the time the past couple years to keep up with paint/waxing/cleaning our cars. Jess' car is still in the very nice stage and I am looking at buying a new truck soon.

I have done very little research, but I gave these guys a call. (remember I am clueless on detailing).
Basically $350 to correct the paint + $599 or $1099 to get it ceramic coated.
$150 once a year for a full detail after that and either 2-5 year gaurantee.
What are people's thoughts? Expensive? Any other place I should think of? Spending $1300 for 2-3 years or $2k for 5 years isn't cheap, but so is keeping a car nice.

Having to buy a $100-200 buffer + $ pads + $ sealants/waxes + spending 2-3 days a year of my time? Eh starting to lose a lot of interest. My idea is ceramic coating, the $150 a year detail, and then washing it every 2 months (takes about 1-2 hours vs an entire day). Am I silly?
https://www.theautosalons.com/paint-protection.html

Reading this it looks like you don't get a true ceramic coating unless you do the $1099 package? I have no idea.

[.RJ]

Detailers wont do a ceramic coating unless ALL the paint correction is done first - the swirls and oxidizing and etc.

It depends on what your time is worth. Its not going to impact the value if you dont do it. I used to really enjoy detailing the car when I had the space for it and I'm going to get back into that now that I'll have a garage and driveway, and your total investment for buffer, pads, supplies will be around $300 plus a solid weekend of time. Is that better than $1000 and propping your feet up? $350 to correct the paint is cheap compared to the guys around here, holy shit.

[JPolen01]

$350 for a full paint correction is absurdly cheap. You are looking into $750 - $1000 starting for cars and especially SUVs up here. Do that now*. If you want to spend the money on a ceramic coating there is no reason not to. Protection from scratches/debris and water rolls right off. Should make routine washing (or rinsing at that point) extremely easy.

*That is so cheap I would look into their reviews/work very hard. There is very little profit, if any at all, on correcting an SUV of that size when you consider the man hours involved.

[D_Eclipse9916]

He said it could range from $350-$750, but that my wife's SUV which sits in the garage and in decent shape should be $350 mainly because it is white.

The reviews are very very good 4.9-5.0. I need to know which package is worth it (and if it's worth the price).

https://www.theautosalons.com/paint-protection.html

[JPolen01]

I was chatting with Dan earlier so I asked him his thoughts.

"Corrections range from $1,000 - $2500 depending on vehicle size and level of correctness achieved (0-100%). Coatings from $250 - $500 per application. Your biggest question is what equipment are they using to correct the paint and what coating do they apply."

[Rupertfl]

The sample detail i did at this years show was a huge success!

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[Sully]

What was the name of the leather cleaner that Dan always used?

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[JPolen01]

What was the name of the leather cleaner that Dan always used?

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Lexol I think. That's what I use.

[Rupertfl]

All Adams everything [emoji36]

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[HAULN-SS]

Thought it was Leatherique?