Hello all, second post. My first was in the Intro forum. Here goes.
Been lurking for a while, reading, listening, reading, bought the iBook and loved it, bought a buffer, some pads, stuff. Lots of stuff. Finally got the time to work on the wife's new 2013 Prius. I had "practiced" a few weeks ago on my 2006 Highlander so I was not completely clueless, just very little real experience.
My wife picked up the car a couple of weeks ago at a dealership used and in great condition. A few minor scratches here and there but nothing really bad. Paint looked in good shape. They wanted to sell her the $600 "teflon coating" so I played dumb and asked them how that worked and if they took the old wax off before applying the Teflon coating and the guy said NO, they just applied it over the current surface after a wash. I told my wife that I would do it for half price and she decided not to pay the $600 and let me do it (of course I didn't charge her).
So Labor Day weekend and I'm all set. Wash and dry the car, get it into the garage, get going. Starting with the roof, then hood, then one side, then the other side, then the trunk/hatchback.
I start clay barring the roof and notice a lot of roughness. I had noticed when I dried the car that it seemed a little rough in areas especially the roof and I thought that perhaps my microfiber waffle weave towel was not clean but I put that outta my head as I always wash them separately etc. so I was just puzzled. Now I take a look at the clay bar after doing a small area and sure enough its brown from oxidation and crap. Looks like the one year old car with 13K miles was never detailed, likely just made its way though a car wash on occasion. Well the mystery of why the towel felt rough was solved - its just oxidation etc. Finish the clay barring the roof and break out my DA buffer.
I divided the roof up into four equal areas which was a little larger than the recommended 2' x 2' area but it worked out well. After a pass with my DA and a black Lake Country pad with Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 I then completed the work with a blue LC pad with Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0.
To make a long story short, I worked the entire car this way, and did two coats of the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0. All in all I spent about 8 hours over two mornings. Pictures at the end of this post. My wife is very happy.
This forum taught me everything I know about detailing and I am very grateful for it. Great people, knowledge sharing, tutorial videos, products, etc. And the iBook was amazing. I loved how it is organized with so many videos and photos. A real life saver when starting out like me. I now have the confidence to repeat my accomplishments on my 2006 Highlander. Thanks Mike and this Forum!
Hope the pictures come out. Its a dark blue Prius. Kinda hard to tell from the photos I know. But you get the idea.
Thanks,
Michael
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Been lurking for a while, reading, listening, reading, bought the iBook and loved it, bought a buffer, some pads, stuff. Lots of stuff. Finally got the time to work on the wife's new 2013 Prius. I had "practiced" a few weeks ago on my 2006 Highlander so I was not completely clueless, just very little real experience.
My wife picked up the car a couple of weeks ago at a dealership used and in great condition. A few minor scratches here and there but nothing really bad. Paint looked in good shape. They wanted to sell her the $600 "teflon coating" so I played dumb and asked them how that worked and if they took the old wax off before applying the Teflon coating and the guy said NO, they just applied it over the current surface after a wash. I told my wife that I would do it for half price and she decided not to pay the $600 and let me do it (of course I didn't charge her).
So Labor Day weekend and I'm all set. Wash and dry the car, get it into the garage, get going. Starting with the roof, then hood, then one side, then the other side, then the trunk/hatchback.
I start clay barring the roof and notice a lot of roughness. I had noticed when I dried the car that it seemed a little rough in areas especially the roof and I thought that perhaps my microfiber waffle weave towel was not clean but I put that outta my head as I always wash them separately etc. so I was just puzzled. Now I take a look at the clay bar after doing a small area and sure enough its brown from oxidation and crap. Looks like the one year old car with 13K miles was never detailed, likely just made its way though a car wash on occasion. Well the mystery of why the towel felt rough was solved - its just oxidation etc. Finish the clay barring the roof and break out my DA buffer.
I divided the roof up into four equal areas which was a little larger than the recommended 2' x 2' area but it worked out well. After a pass with my DA and a black Lake Country pad with Wolfgang Finishing Glaze 3.0 I then completed the work with a blue LC pad with Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0.
To make a long story short, I worked the entire car this way, and did two coats of the Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant 3.0. All in all I spent about 8 hours over two mornings. Pictures at the end of this post. My wife is very happy.
This forum taught me everything I know about detailing and I am very grateful for it. Great people, knowledge sharing, tutorial videos, products, etc. And the iBook was amazing. I loved how it is organized with so many videos and photos. A real life saver when starting out like me. I now have the confidence to repeat my accomplishments on my 2006 Highlander. Thanks Mike and this Forum!
Hope the pictures come out. Its a dark blue Prius. Kinda hard to tell from the photos I know. But you get the idea.
Thanks,
Michael
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