Jaguar Exterior & Interior Trim

[Super Cat]

Hello to everybody out there.

I am new to this and find it very confusing about all the different products that are on the market. I drive a 2001 Jaguar XJR in silver with oatmeal leather and wood interior.

Yesterday I used Meguiars products for the first time claying, cleaning and finally waxing the exterior with gold class wax. The problem is the paintwork now looks fantastic but the trim rather dull.

What Meguiars products would you experts out there recommend to clean the following:

Chrome finish bumper inserts.
De-Chromed window surrounds in black.
Rubber surrounds on windows.
Wood interior trim and oatmeal leather seats.

Look forward to any help, advice or tips anybody can give me.

Super Cat

[Top Down]

For chrome (and all metal)

NXT All Metal Polish



For your trim and rubber molding

Gold Class Trim Detailer



For leather, there's lots of options depending on how you want to apply it. There's leather wipes, foam, spray, or lotions. They also come in one and two step to clean and condition. So this one is up to you. I would link you to their page, but for some reason you can't link to an entire section, just single products. It's in their store under Consumer Products, and then Automotive Leather Care.


For real wood, I'm not sure if Meguiar's makes anything for it. I'm sure someone else will pitch in if they do. I use a polish that I got from furniture store. Good luck on the detail. Pics would be good too
PS How about tire dressing?

[Mikeyc]

I like to use the Meguiar's Interior Quick Detailer on wood interior trim.

[Murr1525]

Check out the Meguiars furniture line of products, or even Fender.com for the guitar/piano care products if you want things to use on wood.

[sneek]

dont want to hijack this but is there any link to a "store finder" for fender products... awkward way to put that quaetion but my im tired i just finished a macbeth essay

[Murr1525]

The Fender products arent sold on Meguiars.com. So you would have to go to Fender.com, or maybe other random music websites. Maybe even a guitar/piano store near you would sell them.

You could probably just do a search for Meguiars on the Fender site... or I think they are under accesories, or someplace like that.

[sneek]

ya but i would like to buy something instore and i dont have a credit card

[Murr1525]

Yeah, I dont like buying stuff the first time online.

When in doubt, givem a call.

[Accumulator]

SuperCat- Fellow Jag owner here ('85 XJS w/18K miles, have owned other Jags too).

I like to keep a coat of wax on my chrome. Any "chromed plastic" will be somewhat fragile, I never use anything harsher than a cleaner wax on that stuff.

I treat my black metal surfaces like fragile paint- a mild cleaner as needed (Deep Crystal Step #1 comes to mind) and wax for protection.

The Gold Class might work out great for those applications. I'd give that a try first.

Rubber surrounds can be tricky as dressings tend to get on the metal trim that holds them, and the glass, in place (note above recommendation) and/or run onto the glass in the rain. Mine are still fine after 21 years with very little upkeep, but I don't leave it in the sun too often either. FWIW the other Jags weren't as pampered and their rubber window gaskets held up very well too. But mine were all "pre-Ford" Jaguars, so I dunno for certain how yours will hold up to sunlight/etc.

The other body-gasket rubber stuff (trunk lid, doors, etc.) oughta get treated with a vinyl/rubber dressing to keep it soft.

Interior wood depends on the condition. It's clearcoated much like the paint, but this clear is soft, thin, and somewhat fragile.

If it's perfect I'd use a straight/non-cleaner wax or sealant, applied carefully so you don't get it on the surrounding surfaces. Use soft microfibers (MFs) so you don't mar it. While the Gold Class might have some *extremely* mild cleaning agents (I can't remember for certain), I woudn't hesitate to try it on your wood, just try it on a small, inconspicous area first.

Then I'd clean it with the MFs and #34 Final Inspection for normal upkeep.

If it's dirty the Deep Crystal Paint cleaner or a cleaner wax will work, but again, keep such stuff off the surrounding surfaces.

If it's marred a mildly abrasive polish can be used, but note again that the finish is fairly thin and somewhat fragile (so be careful how aggressive you get and be prepared to say "good enough" before it's perfect). Something like #9 would be my choice, but I'd try a small area first to see how your wood's finish responds to it.

After any cleaning/polishing, I'd apply the wax/sealant. The biggest thing for interior wood (other than not scratching it) is protecting it from heat and sunlight, which is IMO more a matter of how you use the car than which products you choose.