Was up early this morning to take delivery of my boss's new car, a Mazda CX-5 Akera in Eternal Blue.
They even splurged on the Turbo engine; I think I may have influenced that a little.
After advising to skip the dealer protection packages, the aim of this detail was to install paint and interior protection.
I normally start on the exterior but switched that around today as I had to go out mid-morning. As you would expect for a brand-new car, there was not a lot to do on the interior. I simply vacuumed the carpets and used a damp microfiber to dust off the dashboard and door trims. There were a couple of specific treatments though.
A quick misting of 303 Fabric Guard on the carpet mats and boot floor.
With the customer wanting the leather to be protected, I decided on Colour Lock Leather Shield. Being brand new, I only felt the need to clean the front seats, the rest was given a wipe with a damp microfiber. In this case, I'm using Colour Lock Mild Leather Cleaner.
Once clean and dry, it was onto the Leather Shield. Colour Lock offer two leather protection products, Leather Shield is for new leather less than 3 years old. Leather Protector is then used from 3 years and older.
Leather Shield protects against abrasion, color transfer and general wear and tear in those first three years. After that, it is then a case of feeding/protecting the leather with Protector.
Application is easy, simply wipe the product on with a cloth or application sponge and allow to dry.
That was it for the interior, save for cleaning the glass. No scented cleaning products were used or needed, nor did I apply any scent...........a car only smells like this ONCE!
Moving to the exterior, it was onto cleaning these stunning 19-inch wheels. Brake Buster for the tires and wheel arches as usual, then NV Purge for the wheels.
This was my first chance to try my new EZ Detail GO Brush. I bought this specifically for wheel arches, a job it does very well.
Again, a new car so minimal to no iron-reaction.
The car has been with the owners for two weeks, this will be it's first wash in that time on my instruction! Knowing that they would be using a foam sponge, the "blue soap from the supermarket" and a 30-year-old chamois, I didn't want them to create more work for me! :xyxthumbs:
Pre-soak with OG Decontamination Soap, a rinse, re-foamed and then contact washed was the sequence.
Thankfully, the paint felt lovely and smooth, meaning I could skip the clay step. Even so, I did do an iron-decon just to safe.
As always after using IronX, I like to take the extra few minutes to re-foam the car and then rinsing to remove any residue. I then applied Gyeon Wet Coat to the wheels and wheel arches.
The car was then moved inside and meticulously dried using my blower and a towel. It was then wiped down from head to toe with Carpro Eraser in preparation for the next step.
Now for the interesting part, well for me at least. And I have to say the daunting part as well. Save for applying a ceramic coating to wheels and trim, I have never used a ceramic coating on the paint of a vehicle before. Some could say it was foolish to practice on my boss's car, but I choose a very user-friendly coating to begin with; Gyeon Can Coat EVO.
Can Coat EVO is a 12-month coating, up from 6 months for the original formulation. Unlike more hardcore coatings, Can Coat is much easier to apply, flashing instantly with minimal residue to remove, meaning it requires less micromanaging to get right.
I chose to apply Can Coat with a microfiber applicator block rather than a folded towel. You use very minimal product, only two to three spray per section. It's also advised to spray the coating into the towel/applicator away from the car to avoid inadvertent over-spray. Do not spray directly onto the paint.
Application is simple; apply the product to the applicator, work the product over the surface before buffing immediately, making sure to overlap your buffing to prevent high spots. I will say it can be hard to see where Can Coat has been applied to, my only complaint with the product. It took me about an hour to get around the car, some of that was me just getting used to the product.
While Can Coat can be used across all surfaces, including glass, I chose to use Gyeon Quick View for that role.
I then applied Dr. Beasleys Metal Coat to the exhaust tips and dressed the tires with Koch Chemie Plast Star.
Can Coat needs 12 hours to cure and should not be exposed to water during that time. To mitigate this, I applied Gyeon Cure to the whole car. Cure also improves slickness.
Something interesting to note when giving the engine bay a quick wipe down with OG Drying Aid, this $60,000 car has a prop-rod. So, it's not just Ford Mustang's that miss out on proper bonnet struts, seems Mazda are stingy in that department as well.
To go with the detail, I also put together a care package for the car. Sticking with the Gyeon theme, I went with a bottle of Bathe for washing in conjunction with a Rag Company Cyclone Wash Pad. I also put in a bottle of Bead Maker as a drying aid and coating maintenance product. Knowing the chamois situation, I gifted them a couple of towels too.
The interior on this CX-5 is stunning! Excepionally well-made and sporting a variety of lush, soft touch materials. I really like the leather trim, having a plum/chocolate hue to it rather than the predicably boring all black interiors that most cars on the market have.
The Eternal Blue paint has a really nice purple flake to it in direct sunlight, emphasized by the Can Coat and Cure combination.
As for Can Coat, it was very easy and forgiving to work with. I'm a classic overthinker, so thanks to those who offered advice and reassurance.
rops:
This car was a pleasure to work on. I'm really happy with how the car came up, being brand new made it so easy, making a change from the neglected and filthy customer cars I normally deal with. The best bit was seeing it driving out of the garage and down the street, it just looked so perfect.
