Not quite a year ago, I bought a 2021 GMC Canyon Denali. I really loved my Denali, it was fun to drive, great in the mountains where we live, quiet and comfortable on long trips. And got pretty good gas mileage and had great acceleration.
On 10/10/2021, someone didn't really didn't like my Denali as much as I did. The first estimate to repair it was a little over $13K and I thought that wasn't too bad, USAA will repair it. A few days later, I got another call from the Collision repair place and the estimator gave me some bad news. The new estimate was not around $34K. The frame was twisted, The oil pan and possibly the engine block were cracked and the car was leaking oil. The whole right front suspension needed to be replaced. The list went on. The estimator told me to expect a call from USAA telling me that the car was not repairable.
Well, he was right. USAA let me know that my beloved, less than year old, Canyon Denali was deemed a total loss. They gave me a good deal on car and I had opted for new car reimbursement which gave me an extra 20% more. Which, as it turns out is greatly needed when looking for a replacement vehicle right now.
I won't bore you with the details of looking for a replacement vehicle other than to say that in the states around Colorado, there are no 2022 Nissan Pathfinders Platinum to be found in stock that are available to be purchased. They are either sold, spoken for or priced much higher than MSRP and I am not willing to do that.
While searching for new vehicles, we had to give up on some things we had considered must haves, and we had to accept some things we swore we never would. One of them being a dark painted car due to all the work involved. Of course, as soon as we modified our search, I found something that might work.
A Jeep Grand Cherokee in Diamond Black Crystal Pearl. It had pretty much everything we wanted except for a two package, which can be added later. The other thing it had that was pretty cool was that it had not a speck of chrome on it. All the exterior trim is Granite Crystal including the 20" wheels. The interior is dark leather with light tungsten stitching.
Now for the reason I am on here telling my tails of woe:
From everything I have read, listened to, heard tails of, etc.. Dark painted cars need a lot of care and protection to keep them looking good. And I presume that also means the exterior trim as well.
And since my wife is not all that careful while drinking her liquids, I want to help protect the interior as much as possible.
I had bought some Adams Graphene Ceramic Coating to put on the Denali but, I no longer need to do that. Would that be okay to use on the Jeep's black paint? Or is there a better product to use?
There are all these back to black products out there, Well, I really don't want to let the Jeep get to the point of having to get back to black, I want to keep it that dark granite color in the first place. What should I use to help keep it that way?
I have interior cleaning products from Adams, Chemical Guys, Griots and others. Same for leather care, so I am good for those products unless there is something new in the past year.
What can I use to protect the interior? I don't want any sheen to the dash and such. Armor-All made a low sheen product but I have heard that there are better products out there. Are there? If so, what?
I learned long ago, 3-4 decades ago, not to use dish-soap to wash cars. I have progressed much since then. I have an electric power washer, a couple of foam canon's (one hose pressure, the other for the power washer), grit guards, micro fiber mitts, (no sponges touch my car anymore). I use the three bucket method. one is for the wheels. I keep the things that touch the car wet, not just damp.
Car washes are good if they are manual, or touchless. God Forbid if I catch anyone in my family take a car through anything with brushes....
So, I am looking for any and all recommendations that people may have.
Hopefully we can keep this vehicle longer than a year....
On 10/10/2021, someone didn't really didn't like my Denali as much as I did. The first estimate to repair it was a little over $13K and I thought that wasn't too bad, USAA will repair it. A few days later, I got another call from the Collision repair place and the estimator gave me some bad news. The new estimate was not around $34K. The frame was twisted, The oil pan and possibly the engine block were cracked and the car was leaking oil. The whole right front suspension needed to be replaced. The list went on. The estimator told me to expect a call from USAA telling me that the car was not repairable.
Well, he was right. USAA let me know that my beloved, less than year old, Canyon Denali was deemed a total loss. They gave me a good deal on car and I had opted for new car reimbursement which gave me an extra 20% more. Which, as it turns out is greatly needed when looking for a replacement vehicle right now.
I won't bore you with the details of looking for a replacement vehicle other than to say that in the states around Colorado, there are no 2022 Nissan Pathfinders Platinum to be found in stock that are available to be purchased. They are either sold, spoken for or priced much higher than MSRP and I am not willing to do that.
While searching for new vehicles, we had to give up on some things we had considered must haves, and we had to accept some things we swore we never would. One of them being a dark painted car due to all the work involved. Of course, as soon as we modified our search, I found something that might work.
A Jeep Grand Cherokee in Diamond Black Crystal Pearl. It had pretty much everything we wanted except for a two package, which can be added later. The other thing it had that was pretty cool was that it had not a speck of chrome on it. All the exterior trim is Granite Crystal including the 20" wheels. The interior is dark leather with light tungsten stitching.
Now for the reason I am on here telling my tails of woe:
From everything I have read, listened to, heard tails of, etc.. Dark painted cars need a lot of care and protection to keep them looking good. And I presume that also means the exterior trim as well.
And since my wife is not all that careful while drinking her liquids, I want to help protect the interior as much as possible.
I had bought some Adams Graphene Ceramic Coating to put on the Denali but, I no longer need to do that. Would that be okay to use on the Jeep's black paint? Or is there a better product to use?
There are all these back to black products out there, Well, I really don't want to let the Jeep get to the point of having to get back to black, I want to keep it that dark granite color in the first place. What should I use to help keep it that way?
I have interior cleaning products from Adams, Chemical Guys, Griots and others. Same for leather care, so I am good for those products unless there is something new in the past year.
What can I use to protect the interior? I don't want any sheen to the dash and such. Armor-All made a low sheen product but I have heard that there are better products out there. Are there? If so, what?
I learned long ago, 3-4 decades ago, not to use dish-soap to wash cars. I have progressed much since then. I have an electric power washer, a couple of foam canon's (one hose pressure, the other for the power washer), grit guards, micro fiber mitts, (no sponges touch my car anymore). I use the three bucket method. one is for the wheels. I keep the things that touch the car wet, not just damp.
Car washes are good if they are manual, or touchless. God Forbid if I catch anyone in my family take a car through anything with brushes....
So, I am looking for any and all recommendations that people may have.
Hopefully we can keep this vehicle longer than a year....
