Returning customer confused by new products.

[ScreamingTaco]

It's been awhile (5 years).

Long story short, I have a new truck, an old dual action polisher and a bunch of detailing product that's either dried out or of questionable quality. I used to use the Mirror Glaze line of products but I can't find them on the shelf locally. I can find a bunch of the Ultimate line of products but I know nothing about them. I'll buy online if I have to, but if the Ultimate line is suitable then I'll get that instead.

I'm looking for recommendations for products (soap, paint cleaner, polish, wax and a plastic care product) that will work well on a white 4x4 pickup with black plastic detailing. The truck gets off-roaded regularly and is constantly bombarded by insects on the front end, however I'm anal retentive and like it looking minty fresh between weekends. Durability, resistance to bug etching and the ability to buff out scratches will be more important than showroom shine. Not having to scrape white stuff off black plastic is also a bonus.

I'd also like recommendations for;

A tire product that spreads evenly, will work it's way into mud terrain tire lugs and is either low lustre or doesn't shine.

A recommendation on how to care for a chromed plastic grille?

And recommendations on how to care for painted rims with a billet aluminium beadlock.

Thanks!

[wifpd4]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo and Conditioner
Smooth Surface Clay Bar
Quik Detailer - as clay lube
Ultimate Compound - check out the photos from the Saturday classes
Ultimate Polish - optional step
Ultimate Wax - for longevity
Ultimate Black and or M40 Rubber and Vinyl Protectant
Aerosol Endurance - shine will diminish after bit or wipe off - easy to apply to knobbies
Wax on chrome grill
Ultimate Quik Wax on rims

For maintenance -
Ultimate Quik Detailer
Ultimate Quik Wax
the very awesome - Ultimate Wash and Wax Anywhere - great for bugs.

You probably need some new foam pads for your buffer too.

Down and dirty quick list, other folks will have good, if not better, recommendations

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

We like David's product listing!

For the record, a lot has changed in our consumer lineup in the past few years, and that's a very good thing. Ultimate Compound is derived from M105 in the Mirror Glaze line and is probably a more potent yet better finishing product than any of the older Mirror Glaze products you used to use in the past. Very forgiving on the DA, long buffing cycle, minimal dusting (almost none, really) and great cutting ability with a great finish.

The other very important thing we want to add is regarding care of your wheels. Stick with either our Hot Rims Aluminum Wheel Cleaner or just plain soap and water. The billet beadlock is the main reason as this material is very easy to stain with an overly aggressive cleaner, so stay away from even our All Wheel Cleaner on those!

[ScreamingTaco]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Any particular advantage/disadvantage to the Ultimate Paste vs Liquid Wax?

What is the purpose of the Ultimate Quik Detailer vs the Ult Quik Wax? I used to use the old Quik Detailer to remove water spots after drying, but I noticed this new Detailer is now wipe on/wipe off, which made me think it it was some sort of wax itself?

[stanclub]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

From what I remember, the paste wax drys with white residual like old fashion; the liquid wax will not. I recommended the liquid version to my friend to use on his black car, and he even put it on the trim.

[Murr1525]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

You might like to get the wheels cleaned up well, and then use the Brake Dust Barrier on them. Would be pretty easy on those, and seems to help the dust and dirt wash off mine easier.

Any particular advantage/disadvantage to the Ultimate Paste vs Liquid Wax?

What is the purpose of the Ultimate Quik Detailer vs the Ult Quik Wax? I used to use the old Quik Detailer to remove water spots after drying, but I noticed this new Detailer is now wipe on/wipe off, which made me think it it was some sort of wax itself?

They will both dry more or less, but the liquid wont stain the black trim. Some people do have a few issues with streaking from the liquid version (usually applying to thick), but any minor error would be hard to see on white.

The Quick Detailer is good for claying, and removing light dust, but doesnt really leave anything behind.
The Ult. Quick Detailer is good for removing light dust, and leaves behind a polymer coating. Its not exactly a wax, but its something.
The Ult. Quick Wax leaves behind a wax behind, but needs applied to a clean surface. It works really well when drying though. I usually go around my car twice, once to get most of the water quickly, and then once with a dry towel and the UQW to finish drying, misting the UQW as I go.

[ScreamingTaco]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Cool. So it looks like I should be using the UQW as my final step after a regular washing instead of the UQD. That's good to know.

On the interior side of things, what is the breakdown between the Ultimate Protectant Spray and the Quik Detailer?

Also, it seems we don't have Ultimate Black available in Canada but we have a product called Ultimate Protectant Dash & Trim Restorer that isn't showing on the US site. Are these the same product with a different name?

http://www.meguiars.com/en/automotiv...ltimate-black/

http://en.meguiarscanada.com/product/371

[Murr1525]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Looks the same to me.

The QID spray is more of a duster, with a little protectant left behind.

The Ult. Protectant, and other dressings would leave more protectant behind, and just a little cleaning.

In theory, you would want to use a dressing once in a while, and dust a bit in between.

Also, the spray and liquid are the same product, just different ways to apply.

[ScreamingTaco]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Cool.

Did my shopping trip today and stocked up on most of the list. Couldn't find any Endurance products (only Hot Shine), so I used the Ult Protectant on my tires. The results are similar to #40, which I can't find but really want for it's "looks like new rubber" look. I'm skipping the Ultimate Polish for now as I want to see how the Ultimate Compound performs on it's own. It's a white truck, so I'm not even sure if I'll reap the benefits of the extra step like I would with black paint.

On that note, I have a question about the Ultimate Compound. Reading up on the forum it seems that it's a fairly aggressive compound, which kind of goes against the "Use the least aggressive compound required" mantra of Meguiar's. I figure there's a method to their madness, but after years of being told to stick to mild abrasives unless absolutely necessary it seems a little over the top that a consumer grade paint cleaner is more aggressive than ScratchX?

[wifpd4]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

While I wholeheartedly agree with the "least aggressive method" and also working with a "test spot" first. You did say,

...truck gets off-roaded regularly...

That to me made me think you've got marks or defects that may need the attention of Ultimate Compound.

This article shows the versatility of Meguiar's products and how pad choice, downward pressure and DA speed influence the performance of your buffing efforts. Which you may have seen this article years ago.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?38239-Let-s-talk-about-quot-Total-Cut-quot

[Murr1525]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Yeah, UC is strong, and probably not the best thing to use every single time you want to detail. You could go with a milder pad, or less pressure, etc, but at that point you may as well just have a milder product.

Ult. Polish is actually a very mild cleaner/polish, so would be good for any dirt in the paint. It may be better to use that a few times after off-roading, and then only use the UC once or twice a year, or something like that.

[ScreamingTaco]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

The truck gets off-loaded regularly

That to me made me think you've got marks or defects that may need the attention of Ultimate Compound.

This article shows the versatility of Meguiar's products and how pad choice, downward pressure and DA speed influence the performance of your buffing efforts. Which you may have seen this article years ago.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums...Total-Cut-quot

Not questioning the recommendation, just want to make sure I use it appropriately. I normally do the full monty (wash/clean/polish/wax) 3 or 4 times a year and didn't want to get carried away with a product without knowing how to use it.

I like to off road, but my days of smashing through things and hitting every patch of mud because it looks cool are behind me. Now I'm a much slower, more technical driver (in a much newer, more expensive truck) so I try to do very little damage if I can avoid it. For the most part it's just washing off sand and mud, then buffing out surface scratches from tree branches dragging along the paint.

That article helps put things in perspective.

Yeah, UC is strong, and probably not the best thing to use every single time you want to detail. You could go with a milder pad, or less pressure, etc, but at that point you may as well just have a milder product.

Ult. Polish is actually a very mild cleaner/polish, so would be good for any dirt in the paint. It may be better to use that a few times after off-roading, and then only use the UC once or twice a year, or something like that.

Is there a product that falls in between the two? Or is there a method to Meg's madness and I'm just over-thinking this?

[Murr1525]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

Well, the method to the madness is dont take your show car off-road....

In most cases, the idea would be to fix the car up once with the UC, and then maintain with milder products in the future. And then after a year or two, some swirls or scratches will build up naturally, and you would use UC again.

Removing swirls/scratches does remove some paint... So you certainly dont want to go removing paint every weekend, esp if keeping the truck for a while. And depending on the scratches you get, they may not be fully removable anyway.

So you are just going to have to find a balance you are happy with. Keeping it shiny is no problem, and the mild products will take care of that. But you may want to let the scratches build up a bit before tackling them each time.

As far as inbetween products, you would be looking at: UC - SwirlX - #205 - Ult. Polish.

#205 is just a little stronger, not a lot, but could be a good option.

SwirlX is more in the middle... but also kind of where your results would be. Not great defect removal, and not as good of looks.

Also, didnt notice claying in your list... should be a good thing to do once in a while.

[ScreamingTaco]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

So you are just going to have to find a balance you are happy with.

That pretty much sums my whole internal debate up, and the only real way to figure it out is to do it and make adjustments.

I tried claying a number of years back (black truck) and didn't notice an improvement over just using a paint cleaner. I figured that as a step it was probably more beneficial to someone who needed to protect a quality aftermarket paint job than it was to me with a stock factory paint.

[Murr1525]

Re: Returning customer confused by new products.

The clay and paint cleaner actually do different things, so you may or may not see a difference. The paint job itself doesnt really matter.

The clay pulls off bonded dirt/grit, that a buffing pad can actually just bounce over.

The paint cleaner removes the dirt from the pores/imperfections, and can remove swirls, etc if strong enough.

So if your truck didnt have too much bonded on dirt (the Meguiars Smooth Surface Clay is white, so can be easy to see if dirt is building up or not), then there wouldnt be much difference.

I'm not sure if off-roading would lead to extra dirt sticking or not. I usually do it twice a year for a regular commuter car.