Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

[walletless]

I have a lot more details on my blog post (see link in my signature at bottom), so I will keep this post to necessary pics and details. I detailed my 4-month old 2012 Nissan Altima (daily driver) today. I just completed a road trip, so the car is filthy. Once the dealer glaze wore off, I could see tons of scratches and swirls in the car.. the pics below explain it better than any words.

Before Pics:
























Products Used

Wash & Dry:


Claying:


Compounding:



Polishing:


Sealing/Waxing:



After Pics:










Laundry for tonight:


What next?
It is best to have two layer of wax or sealant. Some people top the sealant with a Carnauba wax, while some top it of with another sealant. My goal is to get the best durability, which rules out Carnauba. I decided to top off with Collinite 845

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Great work - that car was a mess before you started but the final beauty shots are just that; beautiful!!

[walletless]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Thanks Michael. As you can say, Meguiar's saved the day for me. I used several megs products, including Gold Class car wash, UC, and UP. I tried getting the clay bar kit, but my local auto store was out, so I settled for Mothers clay instead.
The only place where I did not use Meguiar's was LSP since I already had a stock of #845 and FK1000p.
For maintenance, I plan to use Megs Quik Wax and QD.. and ONR v3 and/or Megs RFEW (I have both in stock at home).

[ajb39oh]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Try the new Gold Class spray on that black. You'll like it!

[Mika]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Beautiful work! How long did you take, man?

[Wilhelm]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Two wows! The first because that paint on a brand new car looked soooooo bad and the second because it now looks better than when you picked it up from the dealer's lot!

[BlueZero]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Wow! What a great turn around. Great work.

[walletless]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Try the new Gold Class spray on that black. You'll like it!

Thanks.. I have a couple bottles of UQW that I need to get through.. will try the gold class spray after that for sure.

Beautiful work! How long did you take, man?

Thanks Mika. This was my first time, so I took plenty of time and did things very slowly. Washing/drying and claying took about an hour each. I spent about an hour on the test spot to ensure that I am using a product that will be effective. UC worked great, but I also tried SwirlX and M101. SwirlX did not give me enough correction, and M101 gave me great correction but left behind a lot of powdery/dusty mess, so UC seemed like the best product. Compound an polishing took about 2-3 hours each!!! After compounding, I took a break and resumed next day (I washed the entire car with ONR QD strength before starting next day - so another 45 minutes spent there). Yes, I was THAT slow. I am sure things will be faster when I do this next time, but I wanted to be as careful as I can for the first time. Waxing was the EASIEST - took about 15-20 minutes to put on, another 15 minutes to take off..

Overall, start to finish, I spent about 10 hours between 2 days.

Two wows! The first because that paint on a brand new car looked soooooo bad and the second because it now looks better than when you picked it up from the dealer's lot!

Thanks! Yes, the car was FILTHY before I started.. I just completed a road trip, so car was in pretty dirty condition. Also, my car is parked in NorCal heat and rain 10 hours a day at work.. and to top it off, there is construction going on at work that accumulates too much dust on the car.. kinda tough to maintain the car in such conditions :-(.. so this detail was due.

Wow! What a great turn around. Great work.

Thanks :-)

[ffboy]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

What a difference! Can't it get any blacker?

But seriously, that's great work. The before pics look horrible, but the after is stunning. Now the challenge is keeping it that way, it can be tough being black and a daily driver. Not the ideal combination!

[walletless]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Just thought I will update with a beading shot. We had some rain here in the valley today, and I happened to take a pic.

[BarsofClayATX]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

OP...your new nickname is Turtle.

You moved slow, took your time, and the results are positively stellar.

Before/After shots like that are what win you credentials if you ever decide to do this professionally or on the side. That car needed some SERIOUS saving!

I am still in disbelief at how bad your paint was on a 2012 model! Your finish looked remarkably similar to my 95 Camry (also black) that got me started back in late 2009. It's been my test bed.

First product I started experimenting with after a wash? Ultimate Compound! Good stuff.

Thank you for posting up these pics. You played it safe and smart and have the results to show. My hat is off to you sir!

[walletless]

Re: Detailed my daily driver - my first ever detail :-)

Thanks for the compliments, BarsofClayATX. Yup, the car was in terrible shape for being a 2012 model and only 4-5 months old.. hopefully I can maintain this new finish and shine from now on.

Go for the detail - take your time, do the test spot, and you will be fine. Take lots of pics, and post them here :-)