2007 Saturn Aura detail

2007 Saturn Aura with 40k miles

This is my fiancée's lease car that will be turned in soon. I figured it would be a good opportunity to try out the XMT line and some other favorites. I looked at it like an open canvas.:dblthumb2:

The vehicle is her DD, which was parked outside until recently. The water spots were pretty bad. The pictures don't really show it as much as I expected.

Process

Wash: Meg's Deep Crystal

Clay: Meg's over the counter clay kit

Microfiber: Corbra microfiber towels (yes the 530s linted)

Paint Correction: after two test spots, one with XMT2 and the other with XMT3 I was dissapointed. I ended up reverting to what has worked in the past...Meg's UC on the top panels. I got a chance to try XMT 360 on the side panels, which turned out well.

Pads: LC CSS 5.5 - orange on the hood, yellow on the roof and trunk. White was used on the side panels. The black pad was used w/ 85RD to correct the marring on the test spots.

LSP: This will crack some of you up... after the UC I followed with XMT Glaze (the lease ends in an month). I wanted to try out the product, so I figured why not. It was easy to work with and the looks were great. It says it can be your LSP right on the bottle. I am courious on the durability of it though. The side panels were not touched after XMT360. Once again this can be used for your LSP. I see others following it with a wax or sealent, so I decided to see if it last a month with out one.




Type II water spots


Swirls on the hood




The camera couldn't really capture how bad the water spots were




The top panels were clayed about 6 months ago


Claying didn't help the water spots much of course..type II

The sides panels and bumpers have never been clayed


As the clay shows...it was a lot worse


Trying to show the swirls and water spots on the hood


Some pretty good scratches and of course more water spots


This was my test spot on the hood with XMT2 - see the marring


Another test spot with XMT3 - same marring


Menzerna 85RD corrected it with no problem




50/50 shot after XMT3 and 85RD


After shots -










This is the hood showing an awesome reflection in the garage

premium said:

Nice work!

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Thanks Gary!

christian900se said:

You should get a lot less marring with those two products, try working the XMT polishes as long as you can because I have found them to be very sensitive in terms of the working time.

Very nice results though, gotta love 85rd!

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85rd is amazing. I can't wait to use it again.

I think you are right about working them as long as possible. I was kind of in a hurry on this car, so that's why I switched to Meg's UC. When I have more time I will play with the XMT line more. Thanks for the advice!

bill walsh said:

great job

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Thanks Bill, it was fun.

CEE DOG said:

Nice work!

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Thanks, it must me the Saturn love :xyxthumbs:!
She loves her Saturn and is dissapointed that the lease is about up.

killrwheels@autogeek said:

My DD is a Saturn Aura XR with all the toys and bells. The paint is quite hardy and really needed Megs 105 followed by Menzerna Nano to knock out the waterspots from past owner. It too sat and sits outside 24/7. I try to wash weekly and use a spray wax like Four Star UPP to avoid spots going forward. Car is still not perfect but paint looks 100 times better than at purchase .

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I previously noticed that you had the XR with the 3.6L - nice pick! :dblthumb2: I have to agree with you on needing Megs 105 - it woud have worked better. It will be added to my arsenal soon.
Her next vehicle is silver which will be lot easier to keep clean. I have been just using a QD after the weekly wash...I will have to try the spray wax as well. Thanks for the suggestions!