My wife's getting a new car! We just placed the order today

[Inzane]

We decided on a 2005 Nissan Altima.

Its a 3.5SE with 5-speed manual, Majestic Blue, Charcoal Interior, Leather & Sunroof Package, w/ optional spoiler and 3M Clear Bra.

The only unfortunate thing is we had to factory order it as there were none available in Western Canada of that exact configuration. Not only is the color one of the rarer ones, but apparently only ~10% of 3.5SE's are sold with a 5-speed manual. I guess my wife is one of the rare breed that actually prefers to shift for herself.

Here's a couple pics I found online of what our car will look like (same color, same rims, spoiler, grill, etc.):






I'm looking forward to having a new car to detail. This is the first brand NEW car to come into my hands since I started getting serious about detailing. My wife thought she was nice by not picking black, but this color will probably be 2nd worst to maintain. Oh well, I like a challenge!

From the Autopia/detailers standpoint, I like the fact that the rims look like they'll be easy to keep clean. My only concern is the plastic grill in the middle of the fascia, around the Nissan emblem. Anyone here with experience with washing & detailing '05 Altimas? Any tips for dealing with that grill?

Also, I've never had a car with that 3M clear bra protection before. Is it a pain to wax and polish around it? (ie. will I always be cursed by having a line of wax, etc. stuck along the edge of the film?)

Thanks!

[White95Max]

Nice car! With a sweet color to boot!

I know what you mean about the low percentage of M/T cars nowadays. To my understanding, only 5% of 4th gen Maximas came with a 5spd M/T. Even less with the 5th gens.

I'm fortunate to have grabbed one of the 5spd 4th gens.

[series1]

Congrats on the new and nice car! That is a nice color to go with too.

[pigeonbus]

Looks very nice. Who is installing the ClearBra?

For the grille, just get some smaller brushes. OXO and Meguiar's make some nice spoke/small brushes that will work for this application as well.

Congrats!

[Inzane]

Originally posted by pigeonbus
Who is installing the ClearBra?

A 3rd party shop that does work for the dealership I'm buying from. I've seen other cars done there and it appears they do good work. I also checked with a good friend of mine who bought a Murano from this dealership recently and also got the clear bra, and he was very happy with the job they did.

But this is a first for me, so it will be a bit of an experiment I guess. What should I expect? I would hope no one is stupid enough to install clear bra over "dealer installed swirls"?

[pigeonbus]

Yes, it could possibly be real bad, hopefully it won't. Check some more of their work and if it's good you should be fine. Is there any way you could get to the car before the installer does?

[audio1der]

Nice ride- can't wait to see pics of hers once it's in!
The grille looks similar to that of our Sentra's; keep it well dressed and it should stay clean relatively easily.

[WrxRob513]

Why not get the car from the dealer and clean up the swirls and then have a 3rd party of your choice do the bra?

just wondering.

[SilverLexus]

Congratulations! That is a beautiful car in blue.

[Inzane]

Regarding the 3M Clear Bra film, and based on the pictures I provided above, any suggestions on exactly what area(s) on the front of the car I should expect to have covered by the film? I think the standard package is really only the hood, maybe back as far as the outer tip of the headlights.

Should I be trying to get the fenders, fascia and headlamps covered as well?

[blkZ28Conv]

Congratulation Jason !!!

New toy to detail!

I do believe you will dress that "bad boy" with a Zaino suit and Z8 Top Hat.

Tell the wife - "You go girl, Nice Ride"!!!

[SilverLexus]

Zaino would be great but so would AIO and Souveran or just good ole Souveran.