Do any of you treat your DD like a garage queen?

HateSwirls

HateSwirls

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I'm impressed how so many people here maintain their cars.

I don't own a Hot Rod or a classic car but own a family car, 08' black RAV which my wife drives.
Even though it's just an avg. car I maintain it just like it was a classic.

It's inspected daily for any imperfections that it may have and correct it right away, no waiting.
I do a RW on it daily also, the car is always protected, some people in my family ask me why all the fuss.
I tell them how I love detailing my cars and that I want that new look for as long as I can.

It's a DD that's maintained each day.
Can you share how you maintain your DD and how often?

Oh, Opti-Coat is coming soon:)

The ladies at work ask my wife how her car remains clean all the time.
She tells them she's married to a detail freak and wish their husbands were the same , most are lucky if they wash it once a month.
 
I used to treat my DD like a garage queen. Man was that a lot of work! I then just accepted that using my car as a daily driver it is going to have its blemishes. I still wash it once a week or so and keep the interior show car clean.

It is just impossible to keep a daily driver 100% perfect. mine is at I would say 85% and I know it is better than most cars on the road. And I get compliments on how clean it looks often so I know I am doing okay with it.
 
I treat all my cars like that because I'm a nut case.
 
IAtegeler said:
I used to treat my DD like a garage queen. Man was that a lot of work! I then just accepted that using my car as a daily driver it is going to have its blemishes. I still wash it once a week or so and keep the interior show car clean.

It is just impossible to keep a daily driver 100% perfect. mine is at I would say 85% and I know it is better than most cars on the road. And I get compliments on how clean it looks often so I know I am doing okay with it.
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^This... I've accepted that I can only do so much, so I try not to let little things bother me when I find new defects. It gets polished every 1-2 years and a new coating applied at that time so it stays well protected.
 
Awesome pic Zach! I want a GTR for my garage queen one day!

I wash my car once a week and wax it once a month. The interior stays clean with exception of the carpets which I vac once every two weeks. I keep a charged microfiber towel in the car at all times to dust the interior with though.
 
Yes our daily driver is treated with the same care as our Corvette. Its never stays dirty for much past a night and when it does drive me sorta nuts. I guess I'm a special kind of sick though, I treat my company car like a garage queen. Everytime I'm out with someone from the company they comment on my new company car, it has 43,000 miles on it. I just like a clean work space, plus its a canvas to try new stuff on. Our heated garage makes wash and rinse easy in the winter.

PC
 
I really used to love to do so...
yes.gif


But that was when I was young(er)...being quite ablest;
and oftentimes considered to be: Impetuous.

Nowadays? Not so much.
Love, has since, turned to a different page in the "Book of Life".


:)

Bob
 
i think all of us would like to treat our DD like a garage queen (not all of us have a garage) all the time, but in reality it's gonna encounter a ding or two, a few deep rids, and many stone chips that will be from every day driving situations that is beyond our control...
 
VISITOR said:
in reality it's gonna encounter a ding or two, a few deep rids, and many stone chips that will be from every day driving situations that is beyond our control...
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Your right about that but door dings drive me crazy. I do all I can to avoid them. sometimes I'm the jerk at the mall parking lot that takes up two spaces. Im the MAN
 
I surely do, but I have learned that it will never be perfect as well. I live in the desert where is doesn't rain much, so my car hasn't been washed in about 5 months. I have it topped with CG butter wet wax. I dust her off every day or every other day with a California Duster which does induce light scratches, but I can't drive a dirty/dusty car. If I go through a water puddle, I just hit it with my Ultima Waterless wash in the spotted areas or if I have fingerprints. Maybe once every two months I hit it with a polish on a light cut pad to reduce the scratches but not fully remove..then wax again. It still looks good to the average non detailer...so much so I get quite a bit of compliments on the gloss. The pic below is after 4+ months of no washing.
 
I always enjoyed detailing, ever since I was a kid. I had my first car fifty years ago this month and I've probably washed and waxed a couple dozen cars literally thousands of times since. I have never seen it as a chore and the fact I am an autogeek tells you I have not lost my enthusiasm. I retired in 1995 so I have had lots of time to devote to my cars. Currently, my daily driver is a Club Car Precedent, 48v that I pull out of my cart room every day for my golf game. My car is the real garage queen - a 2012 Mercedes ML350. My cart has more miles on it than the ML so you can imagine how well it is treated. It is always in the garage at night, never goes out in the rain and is never taken off road and pavement. I wash it weekly whether it needs it or not and usually apply a spray wax or sealant every third wash or so. The windshield is washed after every drive and the car is also inspected for bugs and tar.

Once every four or five months I strip the LSP with the stripping ratio of CGs Clear shampoo followed by P21S Paintwork Cleanser. Sometimes I'll clay but I have not found the need to use a compound or any polish stronger than Duragloss 105 (with 601 bonding agent). My lsp is a variety of things from Duragloss 111 to Collinite 845. Most everything is applied via Griot's 6" electric polisher with an occasional hand application if I feel up to it.

I top my sealants with AquaWax (lately I've been using Lucas Slick Mist with great success) and I top a wax LSP with OCW. I use Endurance on my tires and the wheels are cleaned with either CGs Diablo or Mother's Tire and Wheel Cleaner, whichever is handy at the moment. I don't use rinseless or waterless washes that much but when I do I go for ONR (not the wax version because I want to choose the topper), or Duragloss with AquaWax when my sealant is a Duragloss product. For waterless nothing beats PoorBoys Spray and Wipe - it cleans and that's it which is just the way I want it. It adds nothing and takes nothing away from the LSP except dirt and does so better than anything.

Glass gets the CarPro sheets for the interior and Stoners for the exterior. Protectent 303 is for the interior uv protection and if any mess should develop I reach for diluted P21S Total Auto Wash solution (4:1 ratio). Light stains are taken care of immediately with a spritz of Griot's interior cleaner. Wheels are sealed with nothing more than AquaWax or Klasse AIO - nothing else needed to protect from brake dust.

So that's it. That is my current routine for my "garage queen" and I must say that the look is better than anything I've done for any of my cars during the past half century. I may be a bit old in years now but detailing and looking after my car helps me stay young in spirit and happy every time I finish rubbing on my car and stand back to admire my work - can't beat that!!
 
I think since WW & RW was introduced it changed how much better I can keep up in keeping it clean.
About once a week I'll give it a good hand wash or if I get caught in a rain I always do my best to wash it, doesn't take much time with all of the products offered to us these days.
Now I'll take it one step further, I'll coat it using Opti-Coat, that will assure me it will always be protected.
 
For me it's about pride and taking care of things, just how I am wired but then I look at the business end of things my new 150 sticker for $45,000
I work hard for what I have, and I will take care of my truck or the wife's car a 2008 Mercury Sable which looks better than brand new.:buffing:
 
I'm not one to buy a new car or truck often so I do my best to keep it looking close to new as I can.
Back in 1996 I bought a brand new GMC pickup, it now has 245k on it and commute one hour each way to and from work.
When it's washed you can still see new looking paint, 17 years old and never, ever parked in a garage but still looks very nice.
Can't tell you how many people come up to me and ask what year is my truck and say it looks so good.

Right now I haven't driven it nor cleaned it in three weeks due to surgery, I never seen it so dirty but I'll soon change that.
I have a good friend who bought a brand new truck three months ago and he's yet to wash it, I ask him why he doesn't take care of it, he says it's just a truck and has better things to do.
Too bad how one can neglect a new truck, I don't get it.
If I'm not mistaken he payed 38k for it.
 
runrun411 said:
Your right about that but door dings drive me crazy. I do all I can to avoid them. sometimes I'm the jerk at the mall parking lot that takes up two spaces. Im the MAN
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You and me too!!:buffing:
 
I try to keep my ungaraged DD as clean as possibly, all the time.

Wash it after every rain, and at least once a week if weather allows me to.

It's very difficult to keep an 11 year old Honda looking new, but it pays off when someone thinks is a new car.

I try to park as far as I can when I'm at work, but that's another problem. I have driving schools teaching parking skills next to it 😡 makes me angry.

It's hard, and people think I'm crazy, QD'ing my car in the middle of the night.
 
Hot cars are made to be driven not looked at. I run em like I stole em. It's much more fun hearing that power under the hood than the sound of a polisher. I try to keep her looking new but I'm not afraid to stretch her legs every day.
 
silverfox said:
Hot cars are made to be driven not looked at. I run em like I stole em. It's much more fun hearing that power under the hood than the sound of a polisher. I try to keep her looking new but I'm not afraid to stretch her legs every day.
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+1


I like to wash my truck at least once or twice per week. Since I don't have a garage it's hard to keep it looking its best. I will throw a coat of wax maybe once a month, that is it. Plus I'm a family man, rather neglect my truck then my family.

Sent from my HTC One using AG Online
 
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