2017 Explorer Platinum: Richy`s Wife`s New Ride

My wife has a 2011 Dodge Durango Citadel in blackberry with tan leather interior and the Hemi engine. She loves the car! Instead of going with a new Durango, she chose a new Explorer Platinum version. In Canada, the Platinum is the top version and comes loaded with just about everything, including massaging seats! It also parks itself like my Lincoln will. The dealer had to trade vehicles to get it and it was transported by truck from 4 hours away. The dealer was good enough to allow me to keep it for a few days to do my thing to it. We have her Durango up for sale and I have negotiated 3 weeks in which I can sell it for more than their trade allowance.

Here it is as I got it from the dealer:


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First up was the wash. Prior to washing, I sprayed it down with IronX spray. It was only just built in June but already there was contamination on the paint:


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The vehicle was then foamed and washed with IronX paste on a wash mitt. That was rinsed and another wash using Pink soap followed. It was brought inside and clayed with a clay towel, using Prime for lube.

The first stage of intervention was going to be the wheels. They were pulled and the barrels were cleaned again with ONR followed by Squeaky Clean and finally Eraser. The barrels were coated with DLux. The faces of the wheels were coated with Feynlab Wheel & Caliper. The plastic wells were coated with DLux as were the calipers. Here`s 2 shots of the plastic wells after being coated:


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The interior was done next. I removed all the plastic and scraped the window stickers off with a straight razor and window cleaner. The carpeting was vacuumed (I was bummed, I had run out of 303 Fabric Guard for the carpeting). The plastic and wood pieces (including the wood on the steering wheel) were all coated with Feynlab Ceramic Lite. The leather was treated with CarPro Leather coating.

The engine was power washed off and cleaned with Zep Citrus and a brush. The plastic bits and pieces were treated with DLux.

The exterior trim was treated with DLux. On the side mouldings where it says "EXPLORER" with silver trim, I coated that with Feynlab Plastic. The tires were dressed with Opti Bond.

The paint was polished with a yellow Buff & Shine pad + M205 with a little DG Squeaky Clean added to the pad. This works as the pad gets gross as it pulls the crap out of the paint. Here are a few shots of it after being polished and prior to coating it:


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I worked on the car on and off for about 3 days. Last up was the paint coating. I had some leftover Feynlab Self Heal Plus from my Lincoln. I was able to do the hood, front fenders and double coated the front bumper and back bumper (where you load the luggage notoriously gets scratched). For the rest of the vehicle, I double coated it with Self Heal Lite and then topped that with Ceramic Lite. I doubt there is a smoother finish than this car. It has an unbelievable slickness to it. I called my buddy over just to feel it. I applied nothing to it afterward: no UWW or anything. The pieces that can`t be treated with the Self Heals were coated with Feynlab Ceramic, including head and tail lights, roof and the lower silver parts on the front and back. The side and rear glass and top glass were all coated with Ceramic Lite. The windshield was triple coated with Fly By Forte. The panels were baked in while I celebrated with copious amounts of red wine (no I didn`t over cook it, LOL). Here`s a pic of the glow from the IR light, or my wine, I can`t remember which:


http://i.imgur.com/AVgAe8E.jpg


Here it is all done. Now we`re just waiting for her Durango to sell and then the delivery can be final.


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She is excited for the new one, but is also very sad to see the Durango go. I know she`s gonna love the 3.5 EB every bit as much as she did the HEMI. Thanks for looking.

Nice Work as always!! It seems like the dealers here always remove the all of the plastic off the seats!

Congratulations on the color, that wont be to upsetting during those long salty winters.

Richy - any reason why you did not use Fenylab for the wheel wells as well?

Richy, beautiful vehicle, look fantastic and good luck. That`s for sharing and enjoy both vehicles and thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Looks GREAT!

Great choice.

Really nice work, no doubt she is proud of her faultless new ride. I would have that white interior buggered up in no time.

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Originally Posted by NLove

Nice Work as always!! It seems like the dealers here always remove the all of the plastic off the seats!

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Yes, here too of course. I asked them not to touch it. I did the same when I had ordered my `11 MKX. Thanks for the feedback.

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Originally Posted by trashmanssd

Congratulations on the color, that wont be to upsetting during those long salty winters.

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Well, the nice thing about white is that it has to be really dirty to show it. I know myself however, and it won`t get to that point I`m sure, unless we have a long spell of very cold weather.

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Originally Posted by grungy

Richy - any reason why you did not use Fenylab for the wheel wells as well?

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To be honest, DLux comes in a nice big bottle now that makes it a lot better value. Even though the wells don`t need the gloss that DLux has, it was still the cheaper option, plus, it will last just as long as Plastic would have.

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Originally Posted by WT Taggart

Richy, beautiful vehicle, look fantastic and good luck. That`s for sharing and enjoy both vehicles and thanks for sharing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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My absolute pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to comment!

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Originally Posted by Ronkh

Looks GREAT!

Great choice.

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Thanks kindly Ron. I hope she really enjoys driving it.

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Originally Posted by RTexasF

Really nice work, no doubt she is proud of her faultless new ride. I would have that white interior buggered up in no time.

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Oh, buddy, I hope this interior stays nice. It`s a lighter colour than the Durango. I applied CQuartz Leather coating to it. I`m hoping that does the trick for now.

Best of luck with it !!

Nice! My family has 5 Fords in this color. Very easy to work with. Twin Turbo? If so it will scoot too.

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Originally Posted by sjb89

Best of luck with it !!

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Thanks kindly!

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Originally Posted by GearHead_1

Nice! My family has 5 Fords in this color. Very easy to work with. Twin Turbo? If so it will scoot too.

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It`s a great colour! I`ve detailed a few vehicles in that colour and love it when it`s done. Yes, the 3.5 is the EB version. She likes her power and called herself a "HEMI girl", LOL. She was impressed with the EB power. I`m hoping it gives her better mileage than the HEMI did.

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Originally Posted by richy

Thanks kindly!



It`s a great colour! I`ve detailed a few vehicles in that colour and love it when it`s done. Yes, the 3.5 is the EB version. She likes her power and called herself a "HEMI girl", LOL. She was impressed with the EB power. I`m hoping it gives her better mileage than the HEMI did.

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It should give her better mileage as long as she can keep her foot out of it. Tell her to watch the boost guage.