Help! I`m stuck in 2006 and need advice.

B

bluegrass

New member
When I purchased my current vehicle in 2006, I did a lot of research on detaining products and started using items like Zaino and the Ultimate Detailing Machine. But I`m still using this stuff and haven`t kept up with the latest products/trends!

I will soon buy a new vehicle (2018 Mazda CX-5, White exterior, Black interior) and am updating my entire product lineup. I`ve just spend lots of $$ on a bunch of items, but need advice on the most important products. Please help...

Interior Protectant
- I bought CarPro PERL, primarily for the tires and engine bay. Is this also a decent product to use on the interior?
- Is there any reason I`d want to avoid PERL on the interior?

Leather Protectant/Treatment
- I`ve never had a car with leather. All modern automotive leathers are coated/treated. Is it important to use a product on my black leather?
- Can PERL be used on the leather, or should I use something else?

Glass Sealant
- I`ve always used RainX. There are so many new glass coatings on the market, which one should I choose?

Trim Dressing/Coating
- I think I like the idea of a coating that only needs to be applied once or twice a year, as opposed to using PERL. What product should I look for?

Paint Sealant/Coating
- Should I go the consumer coating route or use more traditional sealants?
- I don`t mind spending the time & money on a decent coating, but will the benefits be worth it on a daily driver?

I`m generally looking for products that fairly easy to apply and don`t have a steep learning curve.
Any advice is much appreciated.
 
Welcome to Autopia and congrats on the new car.

Perl is a good interior protectant used at the recommended dilution ratio. Leaves a nice finish.

I have not used it for leather but it works as well. I have since used a coating for leather and have used both Gyeon Leather Shield and Cquartz Leather Coating. Both have been working very well.

For glass my favorite glass coating is Optimum Opti-Glass. Pair it with Optimum Opti-Glass Clean & Protect for a great maintenance combination and great performance.

For trim there are quite a few options. Some favorites are Wolfgang Exterior Trim Sealant and McKee`s Trim Restorer. From the coating side, GTechniq C4, Gyeon Trim and CarPro DLUX all work well.

For paint protection, well you are asking a tough question. If you are looking for long durable protection then a coating is the way to go. If you are looking for the next best thing then a sealant would be what you want. Gyeon CanCoat comes to mind that is a coating lite. Benefits of a coating but without the longevity of a coating. Gyeon Primer Polish + Gyeon CanCoat is a great combination and I would recommend it. Only other thing you would need is a prep wipe product like CarPro Eraser, Gyeon Prep, GTechniq Panel Wipe if you choose to go with CanCoat or any coating.
 
Wing Commander said:
How and how often will you wash your car and is it garaged? Welcome to the forum!
Click to expand...
Great questions.

Wash Frequency
- Weather permitting, I generally wash my vehicles every week or every other week through spring/summer/fall. I live in the Midwest, so washing is less frequent in the coldest winter months.

Wash Method
- I use a 2-bucket method with decent products (no Walmart wash mitts, ect.). However, I do NOT use a pressure washer or foam gun.

Storage
- My vehicles are kept in an insulated garage at my house. They are daily drivers and sit in uncovered parking lots on weekdays.
 
The Guz said:
Welcome to Autopia and congrats on the new car...
Click to expand...
Thanks.

I think I will take your suggestion and use PERL for my interior protectant, and possibly the leather as well, unless people suggest otherwise.

Is there any benefit to using a glass coating, trim coating, and paint protection from the same product line?
If it would make the application learning curves easier, I may pick one brand (CarPro, Gyeon, GTechniq, ect) for all of these products.
I would love opinions on which of these brands offer the best overall range of products (longevity, ease of use, ect).

Regarding paint protection, I`m torn on whether to use a coating. I`ve read a few other threads questioning the real-world durability of coatings. Will coatings hold up on a daily driver that isn`t pampered with foam baths and expensive sacrificial sprays at every wash?
 
bluegrass said:
When I purchased my current vehicle in 2006, I did a lot of research on detaining products and started using items like Zaino and the Ultimate Detailing Machine. But I`m still using this stuff and haven`t kept up with the latest products/trends!

I will soon buy a new vehicle (2018 Mazda CX-5, White exterior, Black interior) and am updating my entire product lineup. I`ve just spend lots of $$ on a bunch of items, but need advice on the most important products. Please help...

Interior Protectant
- I bought CarPro PERL, primarily for the tires and engine bay. Is this also a decent product to use on the interior?
- Is there any reason I`d want to avoid PERL on the interior?
Click to expand...
Have used Gyeon Preserve and it works quite nicely


Chemical Guys (gasp!) Silk Shine is nice for interiors as well, not glossy, leaves nice clean scent: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/silk-shine-dressing.html#.WrUJAvnwa00

Leather Protectant/Treatment
Click to expand...
- I`ve never had a car with leather. All modern automotive leathers are coated/treated. Is it important to use a product on my black leather?
- Can PERL be used on the leather, or should I use something else?
Click to expand...
Have used both Gyeon Leather Shield (longer lasting) and Gyeon Leather Coat with good results


Glass Sealant
- I`ve always used RainX. There are so many new glass coatings on the market, which one should I choose?
Click to expand...
Gyeon View is nice.

Have also used Pearl Nano Glass coating which has so far been the best for me but now trying IGL Window and it`s looking pretty solid

Trim Dressing/Coating
- I think I like the idea of a coating that only needs to be applied once or twice a year, as opposed to using PERL. What product should I look for?
Click to expand...
Gyeon Trim is nice, about a year.

Paint Sealant/Coating
- Should I go the consumer coating route or use more traditional sealants?
- I don`t mind spending the time & money on a decent coating, but will the benefits be worth it on a daily driver?

I`m generally looking for products that fairly easy to apply and don`t have a steep learning curve.
Any advice is much appreciated.
Click to expand...

This is a whole `nuther topic in and of itself; as mentioned, Gyeon CanCoat is a nice, relatively inexpensive way to dip into the coating lifestyle. Easy wipe on, buff off proposition much like a spray wax but with 6 months longevity in general, up to a year if reasonably maintained. If you want a more `substantial` coating, 22ple HPC is nice...ridiculously easy to use, great self-cleaning, long lasting...kinda a `molten glass` type of gloss. Kamikaze Miyabi is nice as well, easy to apply, more of a sharp, hard looking gloss. Feynlab Ceramic + Topcoat is another nice, relatively easy to apply coating combo, has one of the most `brilliant` shines to it of things I`ve used, lacks a bit of depth though on dark paint but is kinda reminiscent of the Zaino shine.

First thing you should do is decide what you want out of a coating; things to consider:
1. Durability, longevity
2. What kind of appearance? i.e. hard, candy-like gloss or deeper, warmer wax-like glow
3. Ease of application important?
4. Climate; what might work nice in Arizona (dry) might not be so nice in New Jersey (rain/snow)
5. Do you like beading or sheeting?
6. Are self-cleaning characteristics important to you or are you gonna wash your car weekly regardless?
7. How much do you wanna spend?
8. Daily driver or hobby car?

While quartz/glass/ceramic coatings are all in the same general category with respect to LSP’s, there are subtle differences in them and you may as well go with one that is strong in your primary areas of concern.

Another item to consider is wheels and tires; coating my wheels and tires is *the* biggest time saver for me when washing cars. Prep can take a day or two to get everything clean & coated but after that, I`m getting 6 months of decent looks out of TuffShine Tire Coating: https://www.autopia-carcare.com/tuf-shine-appearance-kit.html#.WrUMp_nwa00

As for rims, Gyeon Rim is nice, Kamikaze Stance is nicer, albeit at twice the cost:

Nice thing about the wheel/tire coating is a quick spray with stream of water cleans `em up nicely, with no need for wheel cleaning chems, tire dressings, brushes, nasty rags, etc.

All Gyeon products available thru Autopia as are Silk Shine and TuffShine. 22ple available thru Detailed Image and Kamikaze stuff available thru Esoteric Car Care.
 
bluegrass said:
Thanks.

Is there any benefit to using a glass coating, trim coating, and paint protection from the same product line?
If it would make the application learning curves easier, I may pick one brand (CarPro, Gyeon, GTechniq, ect) for all of these products.
I would love opinions on which of these brands offer the best overall range of products (longevity, ease of use, ect).

Regarding paint protection, I`m torn on whether to use a coating. I`ve read a few other threads questioning the real-world durability of coatings. Will coatings hold up on a daily driver that isn`t pampered with foam baths and expensive sacrificial sprays at every wash?
Click to expand...

Nothing wrong with using one brand for all your coating needs. They all do the same thing and are all roughly the same in application as well as ease of use.

A coatings durability is going to vary with how one maintains it and the environment it is exposed to. Same can be said for a wax or sealant. So if you are ready to try a coating then go for it. If not then stick with a sealant.
 
bluegrass said:
Regarding paint protection, I`m torn on whether to use a coating. I`ve read a few other threads questioning the real-world durability of coatings. Will coatings hold up on a daily driver that isn`t pampered with foam baths and expensive sacrificial sprays at every wash?
Click to expand...

I`ve used a lot of coatings that I applied in Winter 2017 to fleet vehicles at work which never rec`d so much as a wash until Fall 2017, about 20k miles. They`ve held up very well over that time, quick refresh in Fall, good to go. 22ple HPC worked especially well in this situation.
 
Welcome to the Forum, Bluegrass !

Lots of great advice above, ^^^^^^ it will sure save you a lot of time..

You mentioned the machine - is that the Chemical Guys machine sold with that name ? Is it the Porter Cable 7424 machine then ?
This might have been the ultimate detailing random-orbital machine back in 1970, but there are many better machines out today... :)

How experienced are you with that machine ?

You may not need it very much on your new vehicle, because the paint should be in really good new condition but any other vehicle paint may need a little more work..

So much to see and learn about, hope your research goes well..

Congrats on the future new car purchase ! Mazda has great paintwork..
Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
You mentioned the machine - is that the Chemical Guys machine sold with that name ? Is it the Porter Cable 7424 machine then ?
This might have been the ultimate detailing random-orbital machine back in 1970, but there are many better machines out today... :)

How experienced are you with that machine ?
Click to expand...

This is the machine, purchased circa 2007...
https://www.autogeek.net/udm-ultimate-detailing-machine.html

My experience is minimal at best. Used only for 1-step touchups of minor scratches/scuffs.
I have a 3" and 5" backing plate, and just ordered some Rupes Yellow pads and Sonax Perfect Finish polish.
I`m thinking this should be fairly safe set-up, especially for a newbie and a new vehicle with white paint.
 
bluegrass said:
This is the machine, purchased circa 2007...
https://www.autogeek.net/udm-ultimate-detailing-machine.html

My experience is minimal at best. Used only for 1-step touchups of minor scratches/scuffs.
I have a 3" and 5" backing plate, and just ordered some Rupes Yellow pads and Sonax Perfect Finish polish.
I`m thinking this should be fairly safe set-up, especially for a newbie and a new vehicle with white paint.
Click to expand...

Bluegrass --
Thanks for the reply..

Looks like C/Guys and A/Geek are selling a machine with the same name.. :)
But yours is supposed to have a more powerful motor..

Good you have a couple of backing plates; that 5" backing plate should be perfect for all around work..

I have used Sonax Perfect Finish and with the right pads, technique, and adequate pad rotation, it works great..

The sealant that goes with Sonax Perfect Finish is Sonax Profiline Polymer Net Shield.. I have lots of experience with that product as well.. It also works great and lasts a long time..

Lots to think about ! :)
Dan F
 
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