Burnt Orange Avalanche and a filthy S500 Benz - Pinnacle Auto Detail - CT

[PinnacleAutoCT]

Hey guys, I haven`t been posting much due to it being the busy season in CT. I figured this pair of vehicles from yesterday would be of interest to the forum, so here they are:

First up is the Avalanche, this one is a 2007 with 51k miles. It was purchased last fall with 37k miles, and had only been quickly detailed by the dealership prior to delivery. The goal here was to quickly clean up the inside and outside while making it easier for the owner to maintain its appearance in the future. It had recently seen some long trips to the shore, so the front end was splattered with bugs, while tar and general road grime covered the lower panels. The rear wheels had heavy accumulation of baked-on brake dust due to incorrect pad selection (the owner swapped out the pads to alleviate the issue).

Before:

Note how dull the paint looks, and the visibility of the bug splatter even from a distance:

DSC04163 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04178 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04189 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


Close-ups of the bug splatter, here CarPro Tar-X would be used as a pre-soak to loosen the bugs:

DSC04164 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04174 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Tar and grime covered the lower panels, CarPro Tar-X and Clay Magic medium clay would remove the accumulation:

DSC04173 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The dealer had "wheeled" the entire paint, meaning they sloppily polished the entire body with a rotary, resulting in these swirls:

DSC04169 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04185 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The front wheels had some accumulation of brake dust:

DSC04172 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The rear wheels were much worse in the brake dust department, Sonax Wheel Cleaner Plus would be used multiple times to clean them:

DSC04176 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04181 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Following the wash and decon steps mentioned above, the body was polished using the Rupes 21 and 75E using Lake Country white foam polishing pads and HD speed. This combo deep cleaned the paint and removed the rotary holograms, plus some of the marring, which was all that the owner was concerned with. Following this the paint was sealed with CarPro Reload, and the tires were dressed with 3D Ultra Protectant.

After:
DSC04213 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04214 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04216 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04206 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04207 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04219 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04222 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The owner was very happy with the final result despite the very basic process that was performed. Please note that the trim is untreated in the pics, this is because the owner had a product (a dye of some sort) that he wanted to apply himself.

[PinnacleAutoCT]

Next up is the 2004 S500, which was bought used when it was a couple years old IIRC, and hadn`t been detailed since then. It had some heavy soiling on the seats, plus general soiling, stains and food spills all over the interior which required the use of Folex, Optimum Power Clean at 3:1 dilution ratio, various brushes, compressed air, an Uber interior brush on the PC7336, and my VX5000 steamer to get the desired outcome. Following the cleaning process, the seats were treated with the Leather Masters duo, plus 1z Cockpit Premium on the plastics. The exterior received a wash, decon and light polishing with the Rupes 21 & 75E with HD Speed and LC white polishing pads. The paint was sealed with Reload and the tires were dressed with 3D Ultra Protectant. Unfortunately I ended up starting this one at 5pm after finishing the Avalanche, and finished just after midnight, hence the nighttime pics.

Before:
The owner had set up some equipment prior to my arrival (nice guy, though I ended up using my own equipment):

DSC04231 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04232 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The wheels had a fair amount of brake dust buildup:

DSC04239 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Random leaves and debris littered the trunk jam:

DSC04244 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Spills and stains were evident in the trunk:

DSC04243 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The driver`s mat was heavily soiled:

DSC04250 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Here you can see the general condition of the interior, it was not pretty:

DSC04254 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04254 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04256 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

It`s hard to tell in some of these pics, but the seats had grime/soiling that was really ingrained in the dove-gray leather:

DSC04259 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04269 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

This pic didn`t come out so well, but the cup holder had tons of coffee and miscellaneous food in every crack and crevice:

DSC04263 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Note the white makeup/lotion buildup on the nav controls:

DSC04264 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Soiling around the ignition:

DSC04265 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The rear seating area also showed some heavy soiling:

DSC04270 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04272 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04274 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04275 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04278 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Further staining and sand, dirt, etc covered the passenger front area:

DSC04280 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04279 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04282 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

After (3D Ultra was still drying in these pics):

DSC04282 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04290 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04291 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04292 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


The steering wheel`s leather covering was just worn through by years of use, hence the discoloration in these pics:

DSC04285 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The carpets weren`t perfect, but were MUCH better after the combination of steam, manual and machine agitation, OPC and Folex:

DSC04286 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04307 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

Here the interior was looking clean and natural due to the use of the Leather Masters duo and 1Z Cockpit Premium, both leaving a non-sticky, low odor, matte finish, allowing the Benz to look and smell like a Benz:

DSC04294 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04295 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr


DSC04296 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr



DSC04298 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The rear seats cleaned up nicely for a twelve year old vehicle:

DSC04301 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04302 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04303 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The cupholder and surrounding area were very clean after some APC and steam:
DSC04308 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04309 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

DSC04310 by Mike Donoghue, on Flickr

The customer and I were happy with this one; it`ll certainly be much nicer to drive than it had been for the past 10 years or so!

As always, thanks for looking, comments and questions are welcome!

[rookiez]

Nice saving there on the S500!!

[Stokdgs]

Beautiful, Detailed, Work, Mike !
The Truck is incredibly glossy and beautiful now..

The Mercedes - wow - simply amazing that people can gunk up a nice car so bad for YEARS and drive around in all that mess...
You turned it back into what it used to be and it is so, so, much better ! Looks Great !!!

Thanks for all that hard work, then pics, then editing and posting up..
Dan F

[mjlinane]

Great job!

[ShawnF350]

Looks Great. I can`t drive in anyone`s car that looked that bad when you got it.
You did the interior carpet by hand, steamer and what type machine.
An extractor?

[Pats300zx]

Nice work !!!

[mnehls86]

Great job bringing both of those rides back to life. Especially the interior of the S500

[PinnacleAutoCT]

Thanks guys.

ShawnF350: The interior was done by a combination of hand agitation, machine (PC 7336) agitation with the Uber brush (obviously OPC was sprayed on before agitation), then it was steamed, then the carpets were "rinsed" with water-dampened microfibers. An extractor was not used, and I prefer it that way because (IMO) it`s better to minimize the amount of water and chemicals going into the carpet.

[DAC17]

I am always amazed by how people have the money to buy such cars (S500), and then let them go to h*ll before paying someone mucho dinero to save them. Maybe I shouldn`t be, as they`re used to buying anything they need...

Nice job!

[Cameronswmp9]

On the nav control, did you use just air and vacuum before protectant? Or actual chemical? Seeing some people clean and ruin head units makes me wonder how you did it, as obviously you wouldn`t return it not working.

I`m amazed by the turn around on the entire interior! Awesome work!