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I picked up a 2011 Honda Accord Coupe Crystal Black Pearl. I am a previous owner of a 2003 Honda Civic Coupe Nighthawk Black Pearl. I was able to keep the Nighthawk Black Pearl paint pretty nice over the last 8 years. Did not manage to prevent swirl marks. Nor did I ever figure out how to get rid of them. I sold the 2003 Honda Civic to my girlfriend, so needless to say, I will be continuing to wash/wax her on a weekly basis. I joined to forum to gain some insight about detailing a pearl based black car. To me there is nothing prettier than a nice waxed, swirl free, jet black car driving by. Ok, on to business. So this is a two part post.
First, I have my 2011 Honda Accord Coupe -
What have I done since driving it off the dealer's lot a month ago?
I have washed it on a weekly basis, using Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax. On week two I added a coat of Ultimate Liquid Wax. The liquid wax applied well but I did get some mystery cloud like swirls. They buffed out though when I changed my microfiber towel out. I hand applied the liquid wax. I did have some spot areas where some water spots had gotten into the paint along with a bug or two. I used some Ultimate compound that I applied with my bare finger and just lightly rubbed out the imperfection and wiped of the excess with a seperate microfiber towel. That's all I have done so far. There are some light swirl marks in the paint that I noticed when I picked the car up from the dealership when I first brought the car home. The swirl marks are still there. They are light, but noticeable with a detailed eye.
Concluding this, have I done everything so far to maintain my new car finish and shine? Anything I can improve upon? Do I need other products? Do I need other applicators (DA polisher)?
Second, the 2003 Honda Civic Coupe -
I recently spent a good 4 hours detailing her.
Here's what I did...
Started off with Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax. I applied as follows...
1. Turn on the hose with spray nozzle set to shower mode.
2. Spray the car down using sweeping left to right and up and down motions.
3. Fill up my cleanly rinsed car wash bucket half way (about 2 gallons).
4. Add Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax to half bucket full of water.
5. Fill up the rest of the bucket until full of water and some suds.
6. Repeat step 2.
7. Rinse of Meguiars Wash mit with hose (not over the bucket) on both sides to get rid of any grit or leaf pieces it may have attracted.
8. Dip my mitt in the bucket and apply the mit to the hood. I don't use a lot of pressure when I wash just enough pressure to keep the mitt from slipping out of my hand. I wash the Hood, Top of the front fenders, A pillars, Windshield, roof, rear window, and trunk lid first. I do about 1/4 of the hood and then rinse the mitt. I do that much area between rinses. I rinse in the bucket and rub both sides of the mit while its in the bucket submerged. If I see any thing dark or discoloring my white wash mit after I have done a section I rinse the mit outside of the bucket with the hose. I rinse its section that has been washed with the hose.
9. After the whole car has been washed and rinsed, I rinse the car off again repeating step 2.
10. Once the car is completely rinsed I use Meguiars Water Magnet Microfiber towel to drive of the car. Using sweeping on direction motions. Careful not to apply a lot of pressure to the towel against the car. Only enough to remove the water spots.
11. Once dry, I use Meguiars quik detailer and a clean meguiars microfiber towel and remove any left over little water spots left from the water magnet.
12. Throughtout the whole process I am careful not to let any towel or mit hit the ground or a dirty tire or wheel well. If the mitt does, I rinse it off thoroughly. If a towel does, I just get another one and I wash the dirty towel in the washer.
After that....I claybarred her car using quik detailer and a clean microfiber towel. After that, I applied Meguiar's Cleaner Wax with a foam applicator and buffed it out using another clean microfiber towel. After that, I applied Ultimate Liquid Wax with the black foam applicator and hand buffed it out with the black microfiber towel it came with.
The car looks pretty darn good for a 2003 with original paint. But I was wondering if I could be doing more to make it...A) the wax last longer and B) maintain as much of its shine as I could be. There are swirl marks in the paint to, I never could get those out by hand. And plus your expected road rock chips in the front bumper/ grille area. A faint water spot around the windshield washer nozzle that I would like to get rid of. Ultimate Compound maybe?
Sorry for the length...just trying to practice good car maintenance on both black cars.
First, I have my 2011 Honda Accord Coupe -
What have I done since driving it off the dealer's lot a month ago?
I have washed it on a weekly basis, using Meguiar's Ultimate Wash and Wax. On week two I added a coat of Ultimate Liquid Wax. The liquid wax applied well but I did get some mystery cloud like swirls. They buffed out though when I changed my microfiber towel out. I hand applied the liquid wax. I did have some spot areas where some water spots had gotten into the paint along with a bug or two. I used some Ultimate compound that I applied with my bare finger and just lightly rubbed out the imperfection and wiped of the excess with a seperate microfiber towel. That's all I have done so far. There are some light swirl marks in the paint that I noticed when I picked the car up from the dealership when I first brought the car home. The swirl marks are still there. They are light, but noticeable with a detailed eye.
Concluding this, have I done everything so far to maintain my new car finish and shine? Anything I can improve upon? Do I need other products? Do I need other applicators (DA polisher)?
Second, the 2003 Honda Civic Coupe -
I recently spent a good 4 hours detailing her.
Here's what I did...
Started off with Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax. I applied as follows...
1. Turn on the hose with spray nozzle set to shower mode.
2. Spray the car down using sweeping left to right and up and down motions.
3. Fill up my cleanly rinsed car wash bucket half way (about 2 gallons).
4. Add Meguiars Ultimate Wash and Wax to half bucket full of water.
5. Fill up the rest of the bucket until full of water and some suds.
6. Repeat step 2.
7. Rinse of Meguiars Wash mit with hose (not over the bucket) on both sides to get rid of any grit or leaf pieces it may have attracted.
8. Dip my mitt in the bucket and apply the mit to the hood. I don't use a lot of pressure when I wash just enough pressure to keep the mitt from slipping out of my hand. I wash the Hood, Top of the front fenders, A pillars, Windshield, roof, rear window, and trunk lid first. I do about 1/4 of the hood and then rinse the mitt. I do that much area between rinses. I rinse in the bucket and rub both sides of the mit while its in the bucket submerged. If I see any thing dark or discoloring my white wash mit after I have done a section I rinse the mit outside of the bucket with the hose. I rinse its section that has been washed with the hose.
9. After the whole car has been washed and rinsed, I rinse the car off again repeating step 2.
10. Once the car is completely rinsed I use Meguiars Water Magnet Microfiber towel to drive of the car. Using sweeping on direction motions. Careful not to apply a lot of pressure to the towel against the car. Only enough to remove the water spots.
11. Once dry, I use Meguiars quik detailer and a clean meguiars microfiber towel and remove any left over little water spots left from the water magnet.
12. Throughtout the whole process I am careful not to let any towel or mit hit the ground or a dirty tire or wheel well. If the mitt does, I rinse it off thoroughly. If a towel does, I just get another one and I wash the dirty towel in the washer.
After that....I claybarred her car using quik detailer and a clean microfiber towel. After that, I applied Meguiar's Cleaner Wax with a foam applicator and buffed it out using another clean microfiber towel. After that, I applied Ultimate Liquid Wax with the black foam applicator and hand buffed it out with the black microfiber towel it came with.
The car looks pretty darn good for a 2003 with original paint. But I was wondering if I could be doing more to make it...A) the wax last longer and B) maintain as much of its shine as I could be. There are swirl marks in the paint to, I never could get those out by hand. And plus your expected road rock chips in the front bumper/ grille area. A faint water spot around the windshield washer nozzle that I would like to get rid of. Ultimate Compound maybe?
Sorry for the length...just trying to practice good car maintenance on both black cars.
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