Detailed: 2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser - Black Cherry Pearl (Trashed Off-Road Revival)

[Marc08EX]

Quick Detail:
Duragloss Quick Detailer
Meguiar's Supreme Shine Microfiber

Paint Correction:
Meguair's G110v2 / 5" W67DA Backing Plate
Meguiar's M101 / D300 / Meguiar's 5" Microfiber Cutting Discs
Pad Conditioning Brush
Craftsman 500W Halogen Lights
Brinkmann Dual Xenon Lights

LSP:
Meguiar's D301 Finishing Wax

Plastic Trim:
Meguiar's Ultimate Black


The owner of this vehicle is a co-worker. He wanted to trade this truck in but dealerships were low balling him and giving his truck below poor trade in value. All of them were saying that the truck needed a new paint job to re-sell. I sent him a few of my previous detail jobs and he asked me if I could do anything about his paint. I said that I would like to try and see what I can do and hopefully he could gain a few grand in his trade-in. The owner took this vehicle for the main purpose it was built - off roading. Not only did he go off roading but he went at it HARD. He didn't mind the battle scars obtained from it because he thinks that the truck was built for it so he's just serving its purpose. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED but I really had my doubts on it. I still thought it was worth a shot and it's not like I can make it worse.

Brace yourselves.. This is not pretty..

Here are pictures the owner took before he brought over the vehicle to the detail location:

The owner was kind enough to run the truck through the car wash before bringing it in for the detail. I didn't mind the car going through the car wash because the damage is a lot worse than what can be obtained from a car wash. Upon the vehicle's arrival, I waited a little to let the car cool down. It's very hot here in Phoenix right now so the surface temp is through the roof. After waiting, I wiped down the entire vehicle to remove any dust. Here are pictures of the vehicle after the car has been wiped down:

Here's a picture of the table where I laid out my detailing stuff. Being mobile is a little hard LOL!

 

[Marc08EX]

The owner was planning to trade the vehicle in so I didn't really try to perfect the polishing process. I planned on using the Meguiar's DA Microfiber Correction System for this with an additional reinforcement - M101. I wanted to use the big guns because the scratches just look very deep and awful. So the plan was to mix M101 with D300 for the initial compounding step using the MF cutting discs. I wish i had my Rupes for this job but it wasn't with me at the time. The following pics are taken from the correction process:

Passenger Side Front Door Before:

Passenger Side Front Door 50/50:

Passenger Side Front Door After:

Here's a picture of the microfiber cutting disc after 1 pass. As you can see, it turned a little brown because it was pulling embedded dirt from the paint.

Passenger Side Rear Door Before:

Passenger Side Rear Door 50/50:

Passenger Side Rear Door After:

Passenger Side Rear Quarter Before:

Passenger Side Rear Quarter 50/50:

Passenger Side Rear Quarter 50/50 (Garage Door Closed):

Passenger Side Rear Quarter After:

Passenger Side Front Fender Before:

Passenger Side Front Fender 50/50:

Driver Side Front Door Before:

Driver Side Front Door 50/50:

Driver Side Front Door After:

Driver Side Rear Door Before:

Driver Side Rear Door 50/50:

Driver Side Rear Door After:

Driver Side Rear Quarter Before:

Driver Side Rear Quarter 50/50:

Driver Side Rear Quarter After:

The correction was not 100% by all means. I think I achieved 90-95% correction which was a big improvement. There were just too much RIDS and it's pretty much expected given how the scratches were obtained from tree branches or bushes rubbing against the paint. The following 2 pictures are take post polishing but pre LSP. Please excuse the faint white dot in the following pictures. There was a foreign particle on the lens and I failed to see it while taking the pictures.

For reference, the picture below is taken before polishing the front driver side fender. Comparing it to the reflections above, you can see that the reflection below is less sharp and more blurry.

After polishing the car, I applied D301 Finishing Wax with the MF finishing disc. Here's a picture of the LSP curing.

 

[Marc08EX]

The sun was setting when I finished the car. I rushed to take some after pictures outside before the sun sets completely. I still haven't dressed all plastic surfaces with Ultimate Black on the following pics so please excuse me for that. Again, please excuse the white dot in the pictures.

After:

I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the car under full sun. So after 2 days, I asked the owner to take some pictures for me outside and here they are:
(Ultimate Black applied and white dot removed)

The owner was ecstatic of the results!!! For me, that's the best thing I could hear. I was getting annoyed because I couldn't remove all the RIDS but if the owner is happy, so am I.

What do you guys think?

Approximate time: 7 hours
Location: Phoenix, AZ

 

[Regency]

Amazing work!

 

[90sedan]

Holy crap, that thing was trashed. Nice work, truly night and day difference.

I'm curious to know how much more he ends up getting on trade.

 

[lawrenceSA]

Really awesome turn around mate.

I am very interested to hear what the dealer did in terms of a revised trade in price.

 

[davey g-force]

Marc, like I said elsewhere, I think that's your best correction to date!

I nearly fell off my chair looking at the afters. Props to you :xyxthumbs:

 

[Kyle_Elantra]

Amazing

 

[swanicyouth]

I bet he doesn't even want to trade it in after that! Just amazing.

 

[silverfox]

Two comments: first of all the Meg's MF DA correction system remains an outstanding system as these pictures show. D300 or other Meg's SMAT polishes coupled with a DA polisher and a MF pad remain a formidable combination for compounding.

Secondly, D301 doesn't get much love on this forum but on harder paints its an incredible product. It's super fast (fast arm speed, usually just two passes), and is a dream to work with.

I think the D300-301 combo is the easiest, fastest way to get the results you see here using a DA polisher.

Nice job.

 

[sproketser]

It s what I call an extreme makeover . Congrats .

 

[Meticulous-Detail]

This gets detail of the year in my book. Stunning results with just two products and know how. You could have posted a long multi-step process and I wouldn't know the difference.

:dblthumb2:

Two comments: first of all the Meg's MF DA correction system remains an outstanding system as these pictures show. D300 or other Meg's SMAT polishes coupled with a DA polisher and a MF pad remain a formidable combination for compounding.

Secondly, D301 doesn't get much love on this forum but on harder paints its an incredible product. It's super fast (fast arm speed, usually just two passes), and is a dream to work with.

I think the D300-301 combo is the easiest, fastest way to get the results you see here using a DA polisher.

Nice job.

How does D301 compare to D151 in cut and longevity?

 

[Caleb@ImpeccableImage]

Holy crap! Those have to be the most dramatic 50/50 shots I have ever seen lol. Huge difference and great work.

 

[TheCougarGuy]

Congratulations! That was the best turnaround I've ever seen!!!

Great job:xyxthumbs:

 

[vet]

Amazing!

 

[zmcgovern45]

I thought this was a lost cause when I saw the before pics! I'm blown away! Amazing turn around Marc!

I don't think you mentioned it in the write up, but care to share how many passes you had to make over each section to see those results?

 

[Memphis_Blue]

Wow - great work!

 

[guess23959]

wow that is an epic transformation! great job!

 

[PA DETAILER]

jesus! that thing was trashed!!! amazing how one can abuse a vehicle. 100% turn around. your work is AMAZING.

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Hell yes Marc!!!! That's the kind of detailing job we all love to take on. One that is fubared and then brought back to show room standard.

Incredibly well done my good buddy. You strive for perfection in all your jobs and this one was no exception considering the state of this vehicle.

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