Nissan Maxima

[Pauly6401]

Well, word is spreading at work to come see me for all your detail needs. I did this Pearl White Nissan Maxima today, and am supposed to be doing a Titan in the future. That one is going to hurt, I think. I haven't decided what to charge for it. I've gotten quick enough that I don't feel bad giving an estimate and charging by the hour, because I don't think that I will be going too slow and therefore overcharging. The exterior and interior of this took me about 7.5 hours, and mainly because the exterior needed so much care. Any tips on setting up a fee structure are welcome!

This is the car that the coworker's wife uses. She works out of her car, so it gets a lot of mileage and not a lot of cleaning. The interior actually wasn't that bad, which is good because I forgot to take pics of it, but the exterior needed some love. There were love bugs all over the front (or their guts, at least), rock chips, and general paint contamination. Lots of brake dust, and about a forest's worth of leaves, twigs and acorns in the cracks of the car.

The owner wanted me to use Zaino as the last step because he had bought the complete kit recently and was going to maintain the car with those. On to the story:

Exterior:
Wash with Surf City Wash and Wax
Love Bugs got Surf City Road Trip Grime Destroyer
Dry with Ultimate Guzzler (didn't have to wring it out once!!)
Clay with Z18
I started to polish with Zaino PC, but it wasn't strong enough so I moved to XMT 3/XMT 1
2 Coats Z5 Pro w/ZFX
Windows: Stoners IG
Tailpipe: Surf City Killer Chrome

Wheels
Wash with DP Gel Wheel Cleaner
Dressed with DP Wheel Glaze
Tires got Surf City Beyond Black Tire Pro​

This is what the car looked like when it arrived at 9:30 this morning, and after I shot some Grime Destroyer on the bug factory:

The wheels were nasty:

As I started washing, you could already tell a big difference:

It took a couple of times over the car with the sponge and some clay and then another wash to get to this point:

 

[Pauly6401]

OK - now that the crud was off the car, I could get on with the paint correction. The combination of cloudy skies, white car, and metallic flake made it REALLY hard to see how I was doing, but it came out ok. THe pearl looked awesome once I was done -like it was floating under the clear.

Signature shot, and you can even get a bit of the Vette reflection even though it's white in the sun:

Overall it came out well, and he seemed happy with the results. That just means I have to tackle the Titan next....that thing is a monster.

 

[Reddwarf]

Very nice work. What a huge difference the wash made, then you add the polish and wax and bam! Looking good!

 

[Tonya]

WOW! Paul great job! I love the flake shot and the difference betweent these two. Very nice, thanks for sharing!

 

[scottgt]

looks good

 

[Rsurfer]

looks good

Good job!:goodpost::applause:

 

[Nica]

Sweet detail, I agree the 50/50 picture was great. The flakes was another picture I enjoyed.

Lovely finish from the rims to the paint, the entire vehicle looks great.

Thank you for sharing.

 

[zaxjax]

Awesome!

I know first hand how a white car can be! Great job and nice Vette!

 

[Reddwarf]

What are your thoughts on the Surf City Wash & Wax? It seems like the use of a wash & wax product in this scenario is pointless becaused you clayed & polished. But how was the performance of the soap in cleaning and slickness. From your 50/50 shot it sure looks like it cleaned darn well!

 

[alban61]

Great job there, Paul! I thought it was a tan Maxima at first! LOL
Looking sweet! Great flake shots.

 

[Pauly6401]

What are your thoughts on the Surf City Wash & Wax? It seems like the use of a wash & wax product in this scenario is pointless becaused you clayed & polished. But how was the performance of the soap in cleaning and slickness. From your 50/50 shot it sure looks like it cleaned darn well!

I've used Megs Ultra Suds, Zaino Wash, and the Surf City and the Surf City and Zaino seem to be about equal in terms of suds and slickness. I alternate between using either one, since I have both, but the Surf City is definitely cheaper to use on a regular basis.

I don't really know how the "wax" aspect of it works because I've never seen water beading or anything as/after I use it. It cleans quite well though, foams nicely, and is slick enough. It also leaves the car with a smooth shine, though I don't know if that's because of the wax in the soap or just because I washed the car and it's actually clean for once.

I usually don't even need to break out the Grime Destroyer with it, because it takes care of most of the problem spots without any help. Love bugs and really bad tar are the only things that it usually can't break through on its own. I hope I answered your question - I know a lot of this is just my opinion so if you want to know anything else let me know.