Maxima, S550, swirled 740, GS300

Scottwax · 07-04-06, 11:57

2001 Maxima. Owned by one of the managers of the Walgreens that develops my pictures. Apparently, the photo techs all look at my pictures before I see them.

Anyway, it was in decent shape for a 5 year old car, just the usual interior stains. Tough color to keep looking clean since it is so light. I have a similarly colored interior so I feel his pain.

The driver's mat as expected, was the worst:

Cyclo, brush attachments, Woolite and water and a minute later:

The mat looked even better after my son went over it a second time and it fully dried...and considering it was 95 that day with low humidity, it didn't take all that long! Just forgot to take another pic.

After shots of the interior-cleaned with Woolite/water mixture and dressed with Optimum's Protectant Plus. I had to use flash in the pics, so that is why the driver's side is a bit washed out and the passenger side is a bit dark. Not sure what those two black spots on the right rear seat is, I know there weren't stains like that anywhere in the car when we started nor when we finished-maybe something on the lens since my camera sat outside without the lens cap on during the detail so I could have easy access to it.

The exterior wasn't too badly swirled but heavily contaminated. This is about half the trunk lid using Optimum's Opti-Clay:

The hood got the yet to be released Optimum Water Spot Remover to remove sprinkler spotting, plus Meguiars DACP with green Cyclo polishing pads to remove some light scratches, then the whole car got Meguiars #80 using white Cyclo finishing pads and we topped it with Poorboy's EX w/carnauba.

Scottwax · 07-04-06, 12:02

2007 Mercedes S550. I protected the exterior with Prime and Acrylic Jett when it was brand new, now, 3 months later, I just freshened it up with Acrylic Jett Trigger. Still no swirls at all that I can see in the ceramiclear paint, a testiment to how well it holds up if you wash it properly (Optimum No Rinse is what I've been using on it weekly).

You can see the sun spot in the middle of the upper 3rd of the rear pillar, no swirls, no marring!

Scottwax · 07-04-06, 12:19

1996 BMW 740Li. I've been taking care of this car for about 6 years now. He recently had the front end repainted, along with the roof. Front end because of an accident and roof because of shoddy repairs a few years back courtesy of Moritz BMW in Arlington-typical of their work, sanding marks very visible in the roof. Anyway, it appears the shop he took it to this time did a great job paint the car but a not so good job with the buffing-although far from the worst I have seen.

I tried to capture the swirls as best I could, they were actually a bit worse than you see in this before shot. I had a hard time getting the sun to cooperate and bust through the clouds but my boys and I were detailing 2 cars for the owner that day and just didn't have the time to wait for perfect conditions:

Here I have polished the center of the hood using green Cyclo polishing pads and Meguiars #83 DACP, the right side of the hood is untouched:

Here, the whole hood is polished as above, slightly different angle though but (I think) good sun positioning to show the swirls are gone, although you can see a touch of marring on the leading edge of the top of the fender that I had to go back over, and I also went over the whole car with DACP/green Cyclo pads.

I finished off the car with Menzerna 106FF/Clearkote Red Machine Glaze mix using white Cyclo finishing pads and sealed with Optimum Car Wax. The paint on the hood is a little less than a month old, and while the owner says when the car is left overnight in the garage there is no new paint scent in the morning (usually a good sign the paint is fully cured), I decided to play it safe and use OCW since my understanding is it is new paint safe and won't inhibit the curing process. Besides, I'll be back out in a couple months to lightly polish and seal it with a more traditional wax or sealant for the winter when I take care of his wife's ML500.

2002 Lexus GS300, did this one the same day as the 740. The paint was a bit rough, lots of random scratches, light halo swirls, etc. He bought the car as a lease return for his mother and just wanted it cleaned up as best we could without going nuts on it (save that for my BMW, he says!) since his mother is 82 and probably won't take good care of the car once he drops it off to her in Virginia. I didn't get any befores, my kids already had it in the garage and were cleaning the interior while I was working on the BMW's exterior and we had to be at my brother's house 30 miles away later in the afternoon. I ended up using the same polishing steps (DACP and 106/RMG) on the Lexus and sealed with Poorboy's EX w/carnauba. Turned out way better than I expected when I first saw it given the owner's instructions to get the most bang for the buck on it instead of going all out. I was especially happy with how deep the paint ended up looking.

BTW, this black Lexus did have a clear coat.

Bigpoppa3346 · 07-04-06, 12:26

Wow, stunning work on the 740 and the GS. Maxima looks great as well.

sevenrd · 07-04-06, 12:30

Great work! They all look fantastic.

blubird00 · 07-04-06, 05:52

What type of waterspots will the new waterspot remover get out. Somewhat fresh ones or more etched in type spots. Oh by the way the cars look awesome.

klnyc · 07-04-06, 06:10

Awesome stunning job! That 740 look hot and wet.

Todd03Blown · 07-04-06, 06:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by blubird00

What type of waterspots will the new waterspot remover get out. mewhat fresh ones or more etched in type spots.

I would like to know this as well.

SilverLexus · 07-04-06, 06:47

Love the clouds in the BMW hood Scott. Nice work!

whitejavaS500 · 07-04-06, 06:54

I am in love with the New W221 S Class. Too bad its silver

Awsome job on all of the cars as always!

ajbarnes · 07-04-06, 07:13

That GS is very wet! Awesome work on all.

Beason · 07-04-06, 07:41

Awesome work as always scott. I was wondering if you have and Z5pro in your arsenal upon request? I was thinking about making a stop by Arlington on a trip to Waco for college. Get striclty an exterior detail and Ive been wanting to try out Zaino and figured Id rather test it out before purchasing it and love to see you in work. It would be on a black tahoe with slight to medium swirling.