Hello everyone, I'm a new member who recently purchased a Nightfall Mica 2022 ES350 w/ Premium package. I've been meaning to buy some detailing supplies but wasn't sure what brands or products I needed. Any recommendations on detailing routines or products? Currentlty I'm just thinking of buying a turtle wax hybrid ceramic spray. Thank you!

 

Given the price just buy it see what you think. That is one of the better temporary spray coatings out there but as with any product it works best when the paint is well prepared that's the hard part. Can do nothing, or do a hand wash and iron remover then apply Turtle Wax. Or can go full hog and do a complete detail.

 

Sonax Spray and Seal;
Chemical guys Sprayable leather (for the plastics inside)
Gyeon seat cleaner and shield
Karcher power washer and foam cannon
Chemical guys Foam/Shampoo/Spounge
1400 gm towel for drying.
Ultra soft towels for the interior
and so on


This is my detailing collection:

 

This ^^^^ Preparation is the key. But even if you don't fully prepare these liquid spray products will work really well for a monthly spray routine; and it will keep the car clean longer. There are multiple online tutorials and youtube videos on how to prepare and apply. If you are willing to put the effort on the first coat then you can easily maintain it.

Nice display & products! Thanks!

 

My new '25 UL should arrive in the next couple of weeks. I have asked the dealer to NOT have the car washed at the dealership. I will do the following:

1. Wash by hand
2. CARPRO IronX Iron Remover
3. Wash by hand
4. Clay bar
5. Polish using Meguirs Ultimate Polish
6. Gtechniq Panel Wipe to remove residue
7. Sonax 236941 Ceramic Coating CC36

 

You'll get a hundred posts where everyone thinks theirs is the best. There is a detailing forum on this web site. Suggest you go on there for some good info... GOOD LUCK with the new wheels...

 

I went a little overboard with my car. I had the dealership do the Resistall just so that the interior would be protected, I wasn't concerned about the exterior.

A week after I got the car I brought it to a PPF installer and had XPEL full front installed.

A month after that I applied Gtechniq CSL + Evo4, and Halo on the PPF. Next time I'm going to use a respirator, that stuff is awful.

Now I just maintain everything with a mix of Gtechniq and Griots chemicals. I go overboard every time I was the car (Foaming surface wash through a cannon, 2 bucket wash with soap, then a cannon of Wash and Coat to finish everything up). My car beads water like crazy.

 

Correct! ^^^^
Here's the link for reference: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...detailing-122/

 

Remember when I bought mine the dealer added a "~$1,500 - Professional Ceramic Protection Package". I had to fight with the sales and finance guy to have it removed from the deal. Supposedly I had to take the car and leave it for a full day for the service to be performed since the detailing guy only works with 4 cars a day. Knowing how a basic ceramic detailing works, it's impossible for someone to do 4 professional ceramics in one day.

I did mine with wash, clay, Griot's ceramic & orbital and took me almost a full day on the 300h; and that's not a professional ceramic detailing in anyway but good enough to protect. This costs less than $300 if you had to buy the G9 & products which I already had.

 

I learned about cleaning and paint protection from this site:
https://www.autopia.org/
This is Autopia, a forum by and for professional detailers. They discuss their experiences with different products and procedures, including basic things like washing a car. Some of the discussions will not pertain to car owners, but much of it does, and I found it very helpful.
ALSO: I had an experience much like that described by SCUB, above, when I purchased my ES350 UL last year. The dealer wanted to charge me over a thousand dollars for some kind of ceramic coating. Upon questioning, he indicated that they do it in the shop at the dealership and it takes about 4 hours. He said they do it to all their cars, but admitted that it had not yet been done to the car I was looking at (on the showroom floor). Only when I told him this was a dealbreaker did he relent. After the purchase, I had my detailer do a cQuartz ceramic coating and a clear film on the hood, which takes several days (and cost more than a grand). The point of this story (and readers here know that most of my stories have no point) is that auto salesmen will try to sell you lots of things with the car that you don't need, and if you know something about the subject, you are prepared to protect yourself from these expenditures.

 

Agreed, in my case along with the (later day service ceramic) they also added whee/interior protection detail & insurance plus extended warranty to the finance contract. A couple of thousand $ extra without letting me know beforehand; and they had the nerve to tell me that they had gotten me a lower monthly payment deal. Of course it was lower as they added a full extra year to the loan. Fortunately I did my homework numbers long before buying (also had a loan amort-calc in my phone) so I quickly noticed the playbook rip. It was very annoying to have those extras dropped because they were very pushy as sellers. I pre-negotiated a good price on the 300h Lux and probably they were trying to make for profit in those add-ons.

Side note: Always read the terms & conditions before agreeing to any insurance. Most of the time there are very specifics situations required (like having the planets aligned) for a claim to proceed or some specific common scenarios that aren't covered.

 

I enjoy detailing my cars but honestly there's a million products out there that do the same thing. Once you get above like bottom of the barrel level stuff they are all mostly pretty good. It's just a matter of personal preference and what's on sale when I need it. I like Adams stuff, Chemical Guys, Griot's Garage, Meguiars etc. I've used a ton of different brands but mostly lean towards those.
I also ceramic coat all my cars myself. I've only used the Adams coating for this, but may try something new on the ES350 I just got. Nothing fancy I just like how it makes it very slick so it's easier to wash and blow dry which is my prefered method to dry.

 

Me 2! I need to get me a blower and try that drying method. The ceramic water beading is insane and it should be very easy to dry that way.

 

At home I use a masterblaster and it's fantastic but $$. At our cabin I just use an old lead blower I kept just for that purpose and it does a pretty good job on the cars with a really good ceramic coating.
I find using the masterblaster relaxing. I just put on my earphones and go at it.

 

Thanks! I Googled masterblaster and not what I was expecting.

Anyway, I eventually found it. Didn't knew this existed, I was visualizing a leaf blower for this.

Have you had it for many years? It's so laud that you need earphones? An Amazon user reported "Blows so strong it breaks the cheap hose". I found an Adam's unit at almost half price, but people also reported a cheap hose.