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2008 Infiniti M35 Dark Navy Blue
Objective:
I wish to document my first DIY detailing project from start to finish. Hopefully, I will inform and give hope to others out there who are contemplating detailing their own car.
Car Background:
I purchased this car used with 11k miles on it. I’ve owned this car for about 2 months now. I did an autocheck on the car and it appears it may have been owned by a rental company. So as you can see from the pictures below, there are swirls and scratches galore. Fortunately, most of the paint is rather very smooth to the touch. Aside from the bumper, which I swear has had a rotary put up against it. My fingers can actually feel the swirls!
Detailing Background:
I’m new to the world of enthusiast ‘detailing’ or here at MOL we would probably use the term proper car maintenance. I somehow stumbled onto this forum and found myself engrossed in educating myself and contemplating what products I needed. My prior car was a 2006 Hyndai Sonata (Silver) and I’ve always washed my car and tried to keep it in good shape with ‘over the counter’ products, but I didn’t quite realize the (professional) level of results I could potentially achieve by the DIY approach.
Phase 1: Researching and buying the tools
Where to buy:
Auto Detailing Solutions is by far the best site I found to purchase all the equipment I required – meaning they were the cheapest and had all the Meg’s products I was looking for in one location! I tried checking amazon and a few other online auto stores, but ADS offered the best deal and the complete line of Meg’s products.
The G110 kit they offered had 2 w8207 pads and 1 w9207 pad. What I really wanted were 2 w9207 pads and 1 w8207 pad. So I emailed support and they quickly responded to my email at 9PM Sunday! They said this wasn’t a problem.
Products Purchased:
Since I’ve been using mostly OTC products, I decided I need to make an initial investment into the proper tools for proper car maintenance. I literally had the browser open for 4 days with the ADS shopping cart updating items. Deciding which products I needed was the biggest initial hurdle in this project. Total cost was $282
Blue Grit Guard: I saw some google video on how the grit guard works and I’m still skeptical on if it’s really worth it, but at least I can use it to dry my mitts after I’m done washing. I will be using the 2 bucket approach and leave the grit guard in the rinse bucket (vs. the soap bucket).
Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash: I opted for this product over the Gold Class car wash b/c the NXT was slightly cheaper and it has water softeners to prevent the soapy water from creating water marks on the paint. I will also use the NXT car wash to wash the wheel covers / rims.
Meguiar's Deep Pile Microfiber Wash Mitt: I almost purchased the sheeps wool mitts, but for the price, I opted for 3 of the MF mitts instead (in case I drop it in use, then I have another clean one available)
Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber
Meguiar's NXT Generation Insane Shine Tire Spray: I opted to get the spray version vs. the aerosol version. I figured less clogging and less mechnical breakdown.
Buff & Shine Heavy Duty Microfiber Glass Towel & Meguiar's NXT Generation Glass Cleaner: I’m excited to try this combo out.
Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit
Meguiar's G110 Dual-Action Polisher Express Kit (included backing plate, 2 w9207, 1 w8207 and 3 supreme shine microfiber towels)
Meguiar's M205 and M105: I think I'll need the M105 for the bumper
Meguiar's Even Coat Applicator 2 Pack
Ultimate Microfiber DA microfiber-bonnet
Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0: I was contemplating on getting the Meg’s Cleaner Wax, but opted to pay the extra $$$ for the NXT. 1) I don’t need a cleaner wax, when I’m going to go through the car w/ the m205 2) I have a smaller bottle of Meg’s Cleaner Wax from the Clay kit if needed. Plus, all the rave reviews of this product on darker colors won me over.
Meguiar's NXT Generation Spray Wax: good for follow up treatments when I wont be using the G110 to apply.
In after thought, I’ll need to goto Target or OSH and pick up a few more items such as some plastic ware to store the products, a cleaning brush for the tire and perhaps a sturdy stool to stand on for detailing the top of my car.
Objective:
I wish to document my first DIY detailing project from start to finish. Hopefully, I will inform and give hope to others out there who are contemplating detailing their own car.
Car Background:
I purchased this car used with 11k miles on it. I’ve owned this car for about 2 months now. I did an autocheck on the car and it appears it may have been owned by a rental company. So as you can see from the pictures below, there are swirls and scratches galore. Fortunately, most of the paint is rather very smooth to the touch. Aside from the bumper, which I swear has had a rotary put up against it. My fingers can actually feel the swirls!
Detailing Background:
I’m new to the world of enthusiast ‘detailing’ or here at MOL we would probably use the term proper car maintenance. I somehow stumbled onto this forum and found myself engrossed in educating myself and contemplating what products I needed. My prior car was a 2006 Hyndai Sonata (Silver) and I’ve always washed my car and tried to keep it in good shape with ‘over the counter’ products, but I didn’t quite realize the (professional) level of results I could potentially achieve by the DIY approach.
Phase 1: Researching and buying the tools
Where to buy:
Auto Detailing Solutions is by far the best site I found to purchase all the equipment I required – meaning they were the cheapest and had all the Meg’s products I was looking for in one location! I tried checking amazon and a few other online auto stores, but ADS offered the best deal and the complete line of Meg’s products.
The G110 kit they offered had 2 w8207 pads and 1 w9207 pad. What I really wanted were 2 w9207 pads and 1 w8207 pad. So I emailed support and they quickly responded to my email at 9PM Sunday! They said this wasn’t a problem.
Products Purchased:
Since I’ve been using mostly OTC products, I decided I need to make an initial investment into the proper tools for proper car maintenance. I literally had the browser open for 4 days with the ADS shopping cart updating items. Deciding which products I needed was the biggest initial hurdle in this project. Total cost was $282
Blue Grit Guard: I saw some google video on how the grit guard works and I’m still skeptical on if it’s really worth it, but at least I can use it to dry my mitts after I’m done washing. I will be using the 2 bucket approach and leave the grit guard in the rinse bucket (vs. the soap bucket).
Meguiar's NXT Generation Car Wash: I opted for this product over the Gold Class car wash b/c the NXT was slightly cheaper and it has water softeners to prevent the soapy water from creating water marks on the paint. I will also use the NXT car wash to wash the wheel covers / rims.
Meguiar's Deep Pile Microfiber Wash Mitt: I almost purchased the sheeps wool mitts, but for the price, I opted for 3 of the MF mitts instead (in case I drop it in use, then I have another clean one available)
Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber
Meguiar's NXT Generation Insane Shine Tire Spray: I opted to get the spray version vs. the aerosol version. I figured less clogging and less mechnical breakdown.
Buff & Shine Heavy Duty Microfiber Glass Towel & Meguiar's NXT Generation Glass Cleaner: I’m excited to try this combo out.
Meguiar's Smooth Surface Clay Kit
Meguiar's G110 Dual-Action Polisher Express Kit (included backing plate, 2 w9207, 1 w8207 and 3 supreme shine microfiber towels)
Meguiar's M205 and M105: I think I'll need the M105 for the bumper
Meguiar's Even Coat Applicator 2 Pack
Ultimate Microfiber DA microfiber-bonnet
Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0: I was contemplating on getting the Meg’s Cleaner Wax, but opted to pay the extra $$$ for the NXT. 1) I don’t need a cleaner wax, when I’m going to go through the car w/ the m205 2) I have a smaller bottle of Meg’s Cleaner Wax from the Clay kit if needed. Plus, all the rave reviews of this product on darker colors won me over.
Meguiar's NXT Generation Spray Wax: good for follow up treatments when I wont be using the G110 to apply.
In after thought, I’ll need to goto Target or OSH and pick up a few more items such as some plastic ware to store the products, a cleaning brush for the tire and perhaps a sturdy stool to stand on for detailing the top of my car.
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