My '99 Mazda 626 was totaled when I was rear-ended back in October. I really liked the '02/03 Maximas, so I made one of them my first choice in my search for another car. Got a great price on an '02 SE, plus it wasn't black!!!

First thing I did when I got home was to get rid of the headlight haze. First car I have had with HIDs and didn't want hazy headlight covers getting in the way.

Half polished using Optimum Hyper Compound and a folded microfiber towel:



All polished. And yes, those are chips in the hood, very typical of Nissan paint.



The next day, I washed the car and then clayed it...for about 30-40 minutes. This is the left rear quarter panel's level of bonded contaminents!



Whoever detailed it for the dealer sucks at his job and should find a new line of work. Light rotary swirls and all that crap stuck to the paint? Hack. :angry

At least the swirls weren't deep, probably just ran the rotary quickly over the car with a cheap one step that left white splatters on the wipers. Nothing I knew I couldn't easily fix though.

First things first though, I removed the "Maxima" emblem from the trunk. The "Nissan" emblem has holes behind it and I left the "SE" emblem on for now but I may remove it later. The dealer license plate frames found their way to the trash.

I started with Optimum Compound and a burgandy Meguiars cutting pad via UDM. I was very pleased to see that there was no hazing at all with this combo, so the paint is definitley a lot harder than my 626. Completely removed all the rotary swirls and I'd say I got a good 90% of the spider swirls out too. Probably can get it to 98%+ swirl free but I really didn't have the time since the sun is setting so early now.

I followed with Optimum Poli-Seal using a yellow Meguiars polishing pad. Really added some nice depth and wetness. I then applied 2 coats of Opti-Seal about 20-30 minutes apart and went over the wheels with Wheel Wax in those 20-30 minutes. About a half hour after the 2nd coat of OS, I went over the whole car with the upcoming new version of Optimum Car Wax. By then, it was getting pretty dark.

Today, I made the mistake of parking near a live oak and ended up with sap on my car. I did a quick Optimum No Rinse wash and applied another quick coat of the new OCW and then took these pictures.

 

 

 

The mighty VQ...

Didn't do anything to the engine other than a quick wipe down. 255 hp vs 170 hp in my 626...yeah, I notice the extra power! Romp on the gas right out off the line and it spins until it shifts into 2nd gear. Yahoo!





The interior was actually in decent shape but it appeared the mats had an extractor run quickly over them, so I tossed them in the tub with some BioKleen Traffic Lane Cleaner and let them soak about 3 hours. They are drip drying on my balcony rail right now, fixin' to toss them in the dryer so they will be nice and new looking. Dressed the interior with Optimum Protectant Plus but it was too dark for pics.

As you can see, the dealer's detailer didn't get the mats very clean...



Sorry for all the posts, but only 5 images per post allowed.

 

I LOVE smoke colored cars!!! Not as much of a PITA as black cars, but still look as good!

After washing so many times within a short period of time, I started to get hard-core swirls/spider scratches everywhere...nothing some compound and polish couldn't fix last week!

Please keep in mind that if dealership detailers were to have bath-tubs and infinite amount of time, while still making money, then ya, the cars would look "mint" (I'm a dealership detailer I definitely do not half ***, just want to defend the title)

 

Then you are a rare one, my friend. The luxury car dealers are the worst, imagine that. I think a lack of proper training and the lack of time are the worst enemies of dealership detailers. I think the vast majority want to do good work but either haven't been properly taught or aren't given enough time.

 

Looks good!

 

amazing man!

Your the detailing guru so let me ask you this. No matter how many rounds of clay/polish/wax I do, my car will look the same as if I just did a wash with soap. I mean it will feel so much better but I never get that fully detailed look that I see so many other cars have. Is it b/c my car is silver? I see darker colored cars really shine just from a simple detail

 

Your car is looking great! I haven't checked out the updates for the UDM in a while. Anything new?

What's your procedure with the BioKleen Traffic Lane Cleaner? How long does it all take? Do you wash and dry the mats in a machine, or just dry them in a dryer?

 

Hey Scottwax, Great to see you picked up a 3.5! I've learned a lot from your posts on Autopia. Welcome to the org.

 

hey man. nice ncie nice....

can you list the products you used and where to get them? and how you did it? and do you work for free? how about for beer?

my friend works for free so i was wondering if you can't beat it, do you think you can match it?

no jk! you're too far.

 

Hey Scott, nice job on the Gray Lustre. Did you manage to miss the infamous clip near the front brakes that will slice you if you aren't careful?

 

what training?! There's dip**** porters that come in and don't even know how the **** to wash a car, let alone sweep up the shop!

I have just been brought up with having everything clean ALL THE TIME and I also worked as a porter at a Chevrolet dealership for a year, while learning a few things here and there from a detailer. I also learn really quick and I know the areas that need extra finger-****ing to get clean!

Precisely, and I quote a salesperson..."silver just doesn't have the *pop* like darker colors do."

 

I knew that av looked familiar. Welcome and good to have you in here.

Nice ride btw, looks fantastic.

 

Are you hand or machine polishing? What products are you using? Sealants tend to look better on silvers than carnaubas. This is a G35 I have been detailing 2-3 times a year since it was new (it is an '04), right after applying two coats of Optimum's Opti-Seal.



95maxrider-The dillution ratio for BioKleen TLC is 32:1 so for the approximately 5 gallons of water in the tub, I added 5 oz of product to the water. I let them soak for a few hours but on customer's mats, I don't have that kind of time. I spray the mats down with the solution (in a 32 oz bottle), let dwell 5 minutes, scrub, wipe down with terry cloth towels and wet vac. If the mats are trashed, soaking them works better. You can also take your mats to a coin op car wash and pressure wash them. If you soak or pressure wash the mats, use a squeegee to remove as much excess water as possible, hang them until water stops draining out, then dry them on medium heat in your dryer. My dryer holds 1 front mat or two back mats and it takes about 30 minutes to dry them completely.

AnDyMaN-I listed most of the products I used in the thread. The ones I didn't list are Optimum No Rinse Wash-only takes a gallon of water and no rinsing-very fast way to wash a car and no, it won't scratch the paint. The clay was Meguiars retail level version (the kit at Pep Boys). The Optimum stuff I get from my local distributor but when I buy online, it is usually from www.exceldetail.com

Prinz-No problems with cuts from a clip but I did slice open my index finger somehow when changing the wiper blades. No idea what I cut my finger on either.

 

very nice.

i see you gotta do all your stuff in a parking lot too huh. god it ****ing sucks.

 

I use PlasticX on my headlamps, and it works fantastic.

 

Great JOB, its all about the details.

Please get back to us on if head lights to come back to a haze.....

i dont want to be pesimistic...but...IMO All this polishing/ plastix ..... are only temporary fixes..and sorta like cover up...that you have to keep using almost everyother wash.....

 

I have a few customers with G35s and I pretty much have to polish the headlights along with the paint every time to keep them clear. No biggie to polish them out when you are taking care of the paint at the same time.

 

I'm curious as to why you went with such an aggressive first step like compound? I was always under the assumption that compound was a last resort? I've detailed my car with a PC7424 and went with a heavy swirl remover and followed it up with a Fine Swirl Remover. Or should I have just saved myself the time and agony and just went with a compound to start out with? Lol.

It's good to find more detailers as OCD as me.

I LOVE DETAILING! To go from this:

To this:

Is just..a great sense of satisfaction.

Gotta love black.


Keep up the great work!

 

I went with a Meguiars burgandy pad and Optimum Compound because it works and doesn't typically haze. Probably cut my buffing time in half vs a less aggressive approach. On black paint, I'll start off less aggressive though.

 

 

Of course. In the second picture you can notice that there is some hazing and this was just after one run with a orange pad and a heavy swirl remover. The most aggressive I've gotten with any car really. I have been considering going with a compound/orange pad combination on some of my customer's cars but have been too scared to try since if I **** up.. it's on my ***.

 

Wow, how I wish you lived in Toronto. My 2k2 hasn't been waxed in over 1 year. Great job on your car, it looks amazing!

 

i live in houston and I have my pc7424 and no idea how to use the damn thing correctly, might have to take a lil trip

 

Scottwax,

How do you get rid of water marks? I've tried polishing and rubbing compound and a clay bar. thx

 

Are you sure it is simply water spots and not acid rain etching?

After washing, wipe down the car with a 50/50 water/vinegar mix and let it stay on the paint about 10 minutes or so, then wash again. Doing that and then polishing as needed works 90% of the time. Acid rain etching can require wetsanding or a repaint.

 

How do you tell the difference?

I've got some markings on my roof/hood which won't come out even after a pass with Menzerna IP and the harshest pad on the UDM on 6.

 

Polishing normally won't take out deep acid rain etching. It will take out water spots. If there is no change at all after heavy compounding, odds are really good it is acid rain or some other form of etching.

 

Detailing guru, How do you clean you exterior windows. Mine have a film on them that really sucks. Any suggestions? I heard that you can use a very fine steel wool. Is there any truth to this?

Thanks
Andrew

 

Yes, 0000 steel wool and Soft Scrub (kitchen cleanser) works, or paint polish.

 

http://www.rightlook.com/index.asp?P...ROD&ProdID=849


I just use "window cleaner" as the lubricant and it works quite well!

 

Thank you very much.

 

i didnt know you got a maxima till i just saw it on that "other"

:bigthumb:

 

Every time there would be a "what will your next car be thread", I would always say an '02/03 Maxima. I wasn't kidding.

 

Hey man i got a question for you again. I was detailing my car going with DC1 and DC2 and when i was taking off both products each one left somewhat of a haze on my hood and no matter how much rubbing i did it seemed to stay or just kind of move around with the path of the microfiber. What am i doing wrong now? I didn't use a lot of NXT wax when i did my wax and it came out without hazing so thanks for that, but i can't figure how to get out the haze left by DC1 and DC2. Same thing, too much product?

 

i never go in those threads

 

Dude that ride is sooooo clean

 

That is what it sounds like. Try using a QD after each step and see if that helps.

 

Eagle 1, thats how I roll.