Need help deatiling my car!

[rscott22]

Hey guys,



I have always kept my cars very clean but I can never seem to get them to what I call perfection. I have a 2008 Lexus IS250 that I wash every week no matter how cold it is or how hot it is outside. I will list my normal routine of washing and detailing my vehicle below.

Regular wash:

• Spray the car down with regular tap water.

• I use 2 5 gallon buckets with grit guards using surf city concentrated car soap and microfiber sponge.

• I always was the car top to bottom the scrub the front end to remove all bug and tar.

• Last I wash the wheel and tires and fender wells with wheel cleaner and AWSOME.

• I dry the car with waffle microfiber towels



Detailing and buffing:

• I clay the car first with Meguairs clay bar kit and spray detailer then wipe down the car to remove all detailer left over.

• I then use a Meguiars V2 buffer and medium buff pad with Meguiars compound.

• The hand seal the car with meguairs sealant 2.0



Ok guys I realize that isn’t the best way but it’s all know and I am looking for some good advice for fixing what I am doing now. After I usually finish detailing the car it has terrible water spots still over the whole car and buffer marks all over. Please I will take any advice possible to fixing what I am doing now like what products and buffers to use to how I am going about detailing my car. I have no plans of ever being a pro detailer just want my car to looks it`s best.



Thanks,

Ryan

[Toymachine2009]

Okay well your steps are great not much really to change there. Your washing with good techniques and you clay bar your car and even polish your car there is no reason your car shouldnt look 100%. I dont think your steps are wrong I think its HOW you do them. Obviously washing the car has nothing to do with why your having buffing trails from polishing. You need to learn a good technique and make sure you follow up with a less aggressive polish and pad which would probably remove your buffer trail. As for water spots... Those should all come out while compounding..



Also throw a wax on the sealant that way water spots wont be so hard to get out during normal routine washing..

[cptzippy]

Agree with toymachine, what you lay out sounds like a good approach. First thought, what kind of MF towels are you using? If they are bad to begin with or are worn out they may be introducing more swirls/micromarring. Do the CD test on them and check that out. A LSP (sealant) would also help put a layer of protection to help things out but won`t (in most cases) improve the swirls underneath. A spay wax like Optimum car wax would be a great booster for the weekly wash as well - Prima hydro even has a little bit of hiding ability for those swirls.



All that said, it is very hard to maintain 100% on a daily driver. Even the best washing techniques are going to add up over the long haul.



I`m not familiar with the Meg`s polishing products you mention but spending some time in the machine polish section learning technique and products is ultimately going to be the only way you`re every going to get close to maintaining 100% finish.

[Dan]

If you want your car to look its absolute best, you need to get polishing down to an art. Plenty to read here, pull up a chair and start in the machine polishing forum. We can probably help with things you are unhappy with but you need to state specific issues you want to tackle. Otherwise, read, read and read some more.

[Kean]

….the first thought that came to my mind was if your water spots are a result of your regimen or if it is a pre-existing issue you are trying to address? If you’re getting water spots from your wash routine I would suggest tackling the wheels, wells, etc. first and then the paint. This will leave less time for the water to dry on your finish and reduce the chances of spotting.



As far as correcting, I would strongly suggest taping off a test area on a panel (~1’x1’) and then test your product(s), tools & techniques on that section first. The idea is to find a combination that will achieve the results you are after. Once you have that spot polished to your satisfaction, you will not only be more confident about your methods/approach, but you will also have a better idea of the amount of time and effort the rest of the vehicle will require. Polishing the entire car without first knowing how effective your chosen process is will usually result in the type of frustration you’re experiencing.

[Accumulator]

rscott22- Welcome to Autopia!



What Kean said :xyxthumbs Especially about the need for a test-spot. Whenever you get a problem "all over", it`s something you should try to catch sooner, while it`s confined to a small (and thus easier to fix ;) ) area.



And keep spraying the car down with water regularly (before anything dries) right up to the point where you start drying it off. That oughta help with the spotting.



Another reason to do the wheels/etc. first- some of the stuff in those areas can be really nasty, and I wouldn`t want to get it on an otherwise clean car.