New car, needs love, what would you do?

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pilotpip

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My wife and I just bought a 2014 explorer sport in tuxedo black metallic. We couldn't pass it up, low miles, and with baby number 2 due in January we needed something that fits two car seats that are rear facing (big sister is only going to be about 20 months older). Mechanically, it was very well maintained. It looks like it was run through the car wash brushes weekly, swirled pretty bad.

It's going to get cold here in St. Louis in the next week, and I won't be able to do anything to it until after Thanksgiving. I have some McKees 360 but I'm thinking it will need a little more correction than that gives. So, do you:

A) Do it right the first time, and use a compound, polish and LSP or

B) Use the AIO to see how it does, and know that I have a good layer of protection on it for the winter, then do it right when the weather gets more pleasant and I have more free time

I have a PC, and will use CCS orange pads for the correction. I have 6 so I can swap out and clean them as needed.

I'm leaning towards option B because of the holidays and whatnot, and also because 360 gave pretty good results on my blue jean metallic F-150 (2 dark vehicles, I'm a glutton for punishment). They don't have to be perfect but I want them to look good and have something protecting the paint. They're both daily drivers but the explorer will fit in the garage. I can be swayed, however.

What say you, Autogeekers?
 
Hey congrats on the having another baby.

In your scenario I would go with the AIO option to get it cleaned up with the short amount of time you have on your hands. This way you can get the get the car detailed in time for the upcoming season. Later on next year when you have more time and the weather gets nicer you can focus your efforts on multi stepping the vehicle.

In the time being you can add more tools, products, etc to your arsenal as well as research a bit more on exactly what you want to do with it in terms of coating it or not and will be better prepared in that point in time.
 
pilotpip said:
My wife and I just bought a 2014 explorer sport in tuxedo black metallic. We couldn't pass it up, low miles, and with baby number 2 due in January we needed something that fits two car seats that are rear facing (big sister is only going to be about 20 months older). Mechanically, it was very well maintained. It looks like it was run through the car wash brushes weekly, swirled pretty bad.

It's going to get cold here in St. Louis in the next week, and I won't be able to do anything to it until after Thanksgiving. I have some McKees 360 but I'm thinking it will need a little more correction than that gives. So, do you:

A) Do it right the first time, and use a compound, polish and LSP or

B) Use the AIO to see how it does, and know that I have a good layer of protection on it for the winter, then do it right when the weather gets more pleasant and I have more free time

I have a PC, and will use CCS orange pads for the correction. I have 6 so I can swap out and clean them as needed.

I'm leaning towards option B because of the holidays and whatnot, and also because 360 gave pretty good results on my blue jean metallic F-150 (2 dark vehicles, I'm a glutton for punishment). They don't have to be perfect but I want them to look good and have something protecting the paint. They're both daily drivers but the explorer will fit in the garage. I can be swayed, however.

What say you, Autogeekers?
Click to expand...
sonax cut and finish in one then Collinite.cant get any easier than that.you may need more pads though,the thin pro pads are great keeps the da spinning all the time.
 
With the sonax no need for multi step that's what makes sonax great.Its a one punch knock out product lsp ready.I personally don't care for aio unless it's a big project.Hd speed deos do a amazing job though.
 
I would go with Option B... and in the Spring Invest in a bottle of compound, finishing polish, and a lsp..
 
My vote is B. Get it clean and protected. Spend any extra time cleaning and protecting the interior. Do the exterior in the spring. Winter will trash the exterior anyway and you will just redo most of it again.
 
I live in the same area, and the upcoming forcast does shows that fall is catching up to us finally.

I would go with a third option: Apply a long lasting, durable LSP to the vehicle and call it done until Spring when the weather is in your favor. Also, any correction you do now will most likely be undone somewhat over the Winter due to snow removal, ice, road salt, etc. I'm not familiar with 360's durability, but the AOI's I've used in the past can't touch a dedicated sealant. There area host of sealants or even Collinite products like 845 which will hold you over until you can do the job right.
 
Comgratulations on the new arrival coming. I wish health and happiness to you all. I would personally go with option B as well. I'd get some protection on it for the winter season and then tackle the bigger job for when things might settle down and you get a break from the harsh weather. Best of luck with everything.
 
Ive gotten great results with using an AIO on pretty nasty Tuxedo Black paint. As long as you can take your time, you can actually work an AIO and get some decent correction. So my recommendation would be....

Do a test spot or 2 and see if its something that you can live with. If not, wash, clay, and seal for winter until you have the time.

Note.......when the baby comes, you may not have the time for a full proper correction, so choose wisely.
 
I'm from St. Louis too. I have a ton of extra product. If you find yourself needing something or even a hand just shoot me a PM. I have a ton of machines(G21, Nano, MKII Rupes, etc.) that might help speed your process up, plus plenty of AIO, Compounds, Polishes, Coatings... whatever you'd want. Always glad to help a fellow Geek!
 
Sounds like the consensus is #2. I've used 360 twice and it has held up pretty well to our spring and summer with weekly washes using Megs ultimate wash and wax and spray wax. I also have been happy with griots paint sealant, which I have enough for at least two more applications. I've thought about switching to HD Speed/Poxy but I want to use what I have first. I don't know if the 360 and griots would play well together though.

I'm pretty lucky, my wife knows the cars are my thing, and in the 8 years we have been together she's never once had a mechanical issue while out on the road and she knows that taking care of them means we keep them longer and go without a payment. We both work irregular hours so it's not out of the question to have several days off in a row and the time to do this stuff. She also gets annoyed with me and playing with the cars gets me out of the house for a few hours :)

Next question: leather is new to me. I got some Pinnicle leather conditioner and black label leather sealant from a mystery box this summer (that I never thought I would use!) Will these play well together? Should I use the conditioner prior to sealant? I also have some McKees interior cleaner. Would this be better to clean with prior to sealing?

Thanks for the well wishes everyone, I appreciate it! Heisenberg, I may take you up on that offer at some point. Doing this stuff is therapeutic to be but the shear amount of product, and research time can be absurd at times.

I also need to clean the garage out, and get it organized so this beast fits inside!
 
I know this may not sit well, but have you given any thought to having a professional come in and polish the car out for you? They would probably be faster, and you could be doing something else in the mean time. After they are done, all that would be left to do is to coat with the LSP of your choice. It would get the contaminants off, and give you a great base to start working from in the spring.
 
It had, but I like watching iron-x do it's thing while I'm standing upwind.
 
Collinite 845 would be a great coating to keep the new paint protected throughout the winter. Works great as a windshield protection too keeping you from having to use your wipers so much.
Might even try just a light 6 month coating to keep it maintained easier till spring. Maybe Carpro Hydro2 Sealant. Haven't tried it, but I've seen really good reviews about it.
 
Just did the exact same vehicle a few weeks back. AIO will get you pretty far but to fully correct it you'll either spend a lot of time with some orange pads and 360 or you really should just compound and polish it and be done.

Either will work, it really all depends on what you're looking to put into it time wise. My vote is Compound and Polish now. It may, depending on how you care for it over winter, get a few more swirls, but overall it should be good for just a clean up and polish in the spring. If you just go AIO now you'll eventually have to compound and polish it anyway to get it perfect so why not just do it now?

Just my two cents.
 
Congrats on the second child on the way. Since you have had success already using McKees 360 I would stick with it for now. Adding the various thin pro pads will give you the option of starting with the least aggressive approach in the future. Protect the vehicle for now and make a plan during the winter.
 
Thanks again everyone. I'll take the 360 to it when I have a day that works and I can pry it away from her. The weather is supposed to be nice next weekend so I might do it while in a food coma.

When I bought the PC I also got a dozen pads split between white and orange, two black and two red so I think I have my bases pretty well covered. The white didn't have the results I was looking for the first time around on my truck so most of them are still in the package, waiting. They'll probably get used this spring on that.
 
Done today. Wash with Megs Gold Class, decon with iron-x "lemon" and McKee's 37 iron remover (wanted to do a side-by-side comparison), clay, wipedown with carpro eraser, wheels coated, plastic trim coated and 360. Also had time to hang most of our Christmas lights outside. Will post some pics shortly.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I'm satisfied for now, but I'll be doing a 3 step on it this spring when I have move daylight to work with.
 
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