DaveJ

I've posted a similar message on the detailing forum with no responses, so I thought I would try here. I'm making plans for caring for the mercury metallic (silver) finish on my GS300 and I'm curious how you're waxing your GS's finish.

When I receive the car I'm planning on using Mequiar's Deep Crystal or Medallion Premium to first clean the paint. I'm also going to use Meguiar's NXT wash and wax products. I've seen the prep work by my dealer and it looks very good, so I'm not planning on claying.

Thanks for your comments.

mooretorque

When I next update vehicles, I plan to continue with Zaino, fwiw.

toyemp

You might want to check out some of the detailing boards like autopia.org. they are dedicated to detailing and you can get a lot of good ideas through the forums there.

here are the results I posted a few weeks ago on my gs430 http://autopia.org/forums/showthread...threadid=53173

keep in mind that claying is not necessarily related to looks, it is for removing dirt particles that have embedded themselves into the paint itself. if after washing, when you run your hand lightly over the surface of the paint, if you still feel a slight roughness to the paint then you will need to clay. after claying, the paint should feel like extremely smooth glass.

DaveJ

toyemp,

The finish on your GS is fantastic! Are the products you referenced made by Zaino?
Thanks.

jwaters

Zaino is good, but if you want good protection and nice shine in an easier to use (i.e. less time consuming) application, give Klasse a try. They offer two products, an All-in-One and a Sealant Glaze. I usually use the All-in-One during the summer and apply a couple coats of the Sealant Glaze on top of the All-in-One for Winter protection.

toyemp

Actually, all of the products I listed are part of Meguiar's professional line.

#80 is Meguiar's Speed Glaze
#20 is Meguiar's Polymer Sealant
#26 is Meguiar's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax

I like to experiment with different polishes and waxes but I have all of Meguiar's professional line in my inventory. I also have the entire Mother's, Klasse, Poorboys and P21s lines with ClearKote on the way.

I started out years ago using the Meguiars consumer line (Deep Crystal) but knowing what I know now, you can get much better results using other higher-end products and usually the higher end products are easier to use also!

longjohn

Toyemp, that finish definitely looks awesome. Great looking ride.

When I bought my GS300, by the time the Finance guy was through with me he had sold me on something called the "1st Place Finish". Basically it's a paint sealant treatment on the exterior and leather and fabric protection of some kind on the interior. The paint sealant is guaranteed against water spots, bird droppings, fading, etc. The other selling point was that it needed no waxing, in fact "wax would just slide right off of it".

I never buy that kind of stuff, but the guy did a great job of convincing me that a dark car like the Flint Mica needed something like that to help keep it looking good. The other factor is that I simply don't have a lot of spare time to spend detailing the car. If this stuff gives some kind of edge in keeping it looking good, then it was worth it for me. So here's the question:

Did I get completely snookered, or is there some value in something like that? Having young kids, I definitely wanted some kind of protection for the interior. But I am more than curious about whether this stuff is of any value on the exterior.

LB Lex

I tried a similar combo before and got good results, but just recently I tried Klass AIO + Poorboy's EX-P, and Meguiar's #16. The car looks fabulous considering it's silver. Klass puts down a very very durable coat of acrylic, which will protect the paint. Then I switched from #20 to EX-P because you can layer it (#20 has cleaners, so when you layer it, it removes the layer you put beneath it. There is debate over whether EX-P is layerable, but the consensus says yes and my experience is yes too). Ex-P and #20 are polymer waxes, which is a synthetic wax that is very durable. It gives the paint a somewhat plasticky look to it. It's kind of hard to explain, but it provides a great shine and some people use it as the final step. Then I topped it off with #16, which is one of the best carnuba waxes. This coat makes the paint really shiny and slick. Pretty much any carnuba wax WITHOUT any cleaners will do. This combo makes silver paint "pop" by bringing out the metalic flakes, but the paint has to be in good condition.

As Toyemp stated, he clayed his car first and then polished it. Even though the car is brand new, there is a lot of junk that gets on the paint during transit from Japan. Claying will remove any contaminants that are on the paint. Then you polish to get rid of any swirl marks, spider webs, and scratches that might have damaged the paint during transit or while claying. Once the paint is cleaned up then you go to the steps outlined by Toyemp and I to protect the paint.

lexuslover

i bought a similar exterior sealant for ~500 back in 1998 on a new black GS400. i thought i would need it considering the car was black and i was living in downtown SF at the time and had little time to wash it properly. that sealant doesn't last any longer than a regular wax, and the spots, droppings and swirls will eventually get there. the dealer told me that i would not have to wax the thing for my entire 3-year lease! i handwashed the car about once a month (didn't drive much anyway) and the swirls were coming fast and furious after a while. the only thing i could do was get a good exterior detail to get the thing looking new again.

so now i resort to doing a professional int/ext detail every 6 months instead of spending the money at the dealer. the sealant won't last 5 years or however long they say, i don't think mine lasted much longer than 4-5 months . . . maybe things are different now? and flint mica should hide swirls much better than black.


toyemp - beautiful car!

DaveJ

toyemp, what did you use to clay the finish?

Thanks again.

toyemp

I can't speak from experience since I have never purchased the "lifetime sealant" stuff that dealerships try and sell you but everything I have read indicates that the stuff really isn't that different from the "hot wax" stuff they use at the car wash. My opinion? probably got taken on that one...

toyemp

Lately, I have been using Pinnacle clay but I bought a big supply of it around a year ago (a dozen bars) and need to decide if I want to stick with it or buy something else.

If you are looking to purchase something locally over-the-counter, both Meguiar's, Clay Magic and Mothers are probably the easiest to find in stores. I prefer the Clay Magic given a choice between those 3.

toyemp

I use AIO alot also. I usually use it when I clean my mom's camry and my dad's 4runner because it saves time and tends to have pretty good longevity (since the only time my parent's cars see any TLC is when I get disgusted with them and clean them for them)

I just recently started using EXP on some of my cars, but haven't decided if I like it or not.