Pushing Essence to the Limit - 2015 Grand Cheroke New Car Prep - 22ple VX3 - Attention to Detailing Peoria IL

[zmcgovern45]

The owner of this vehicle contacted me in search of a premium level of protection for their new vehicle. Upon inspection, it was determined that the paint needed some work to get it into a true "new" condition, so we decided our premium service which includes a one step correction process to remove the majority of defects from the paint and our standard ceramic paint coating for years of protection and gloss.

Several weeks later, when I arrived at the owner's place to work on the vehicle, it became clear that the paint was in considerably worse condition than I had originally judged. For a brand new vehicle, it was in rough shape. I still needed to stick to the original plan and budget set, so I began by testing numerous polishes and pads to determine what would yield the best results in the most efficient way possible. I was incredibly pleased to see how well Essence worked when paired with a microfiber cutting pad. Some areas required a second go, but in general, Essence knocked it out of the park! The paint turned out amazing. The black is rich and deep, and the metallic flake really pops! The car is protected and should look great for a long time!


Process Highlights
Wash: ONR
Decontamination: Fine Grade Nanoskin Mitt with Glide as Lubrication
Polishing: CarPro Essence on MF Cutting Pads via G21 and LHR75e
Paint Protection: 22ple VX3
Tire Dressing: Waxaddicts Slicks Spray Tyre Dressing (my new favorite)


No cleaning/decon pics, so we'll get right into the correction...
The sun was shining through the window and easily highlighted the swirls and scratches on the door, so I knew I had a lot of work ahead of me on this new vehicle.

50/50 during correction process

door before correction

door after correction - no perfect, but what an awesome difference!

50/50 during correction process

50/50 during correction process

50/50 during correction process... that metallic flake is really coming to life!

And now a collection of some more before and after shots throughout the job...

Applying the paint coating - I filmed much of this process, and hope to attempt at making a "how to video" for the first time.

Showing off the gloss in the sun

Shield your eyes!

The paint looked amazing! The reflections are crystal clear and the color is deep and dark!

Here's a quick iPhone video I took while snapping these pics.
[video=youtube_share;65_ZQtXh02A"]22ple VX3 - 2015 Jeep Grand Cherokee - YouTube[/video]

Needless to say, I have more Essence on order. I've been impressed by this product every time I have used it.

As always, thanks for reading!

 

[David Hayward]

Looks awesome. I'm really happy with essence sofar. It seems like a great product. Especially great when doing coatings.

 

[Sicoupe]

Another beautiful job Zach!

 

[GSKR]

Great review for us thanks.

 

[DeansDetailing]

Zach: Where do you think Essense would fall on the Polish chart for aggressiveness? Would it come close to HD ADAPT in correction ability? Or closer to HD SPEED?

Which MF Cutting pads did you use? Megs?

Finally, there's truly no need for CarPro Eraser or ISP wipe?

OH- Looks beautiful!

 

[haris300]

Looks like Essence combined with your well known skills is a real killer combo for defect removal Great job!

 

[Every_detail]

This looks stunning!! Always been a fan of that color.

which coating did you apply?

 

[runrun411]

What's really going to be interesting is how well deod Essence hold up all by itself without a coating topper. Hopefully it will do better than Reload which is really durable.

 

[umana2482]

Great work Zack. How much time did you spend polishing?

 

[RMM]

Nice work! :dblthumb2:
It seems that Essence is a true winner.

...

which coating did you apply?

It's right there in the title or under Process Highlights / Paint Protection.

 

[Rsurfer]

Good job. I'm wondering if using a MF finishing pad or Car Pro's Gloss Pad would refine the paint even further? Never the less, great job for a one step polish.

I really like your before and after shots. Some will take a B and F shot, but not the same angle. How do you remember where to place the camera when doing a finishing shot?rops:

 

[zmcgovern45]

Thanks everyone!

Zach: Where do you think Essense would fall on the Polish chart for aggressiveness? Would it come close to HD ADAPT in correction ability? Or closer to HD SPEED?

Which MF Cutting pads did you use? Megs?

Finally, there's truly no need for CarPro Eraser or ISP wipe?

OH- Looks beautiful!

Essence is quite unique and I am not sure it can be equally compared to other products since it does intend to fill some as well as correct. It is certainly not nearly as aggressive as putting Adapt on a MF. I would call it a versatile finishing polish and leave at that. Cut depends more on what pad you're using with it, and it will finish down great.

I used Meguiar's MF pads on this job.

Right, no need for Eraser or IPA wipe down.

This looks stunning!! Always been a fan of that color.

which coating did you apply?

Thanks!... as the title states, and the process description states, and the video title states.... 22ple VX3 coating was applied

What's really going to be interesting is how well deod Essence hold up all by itself without a coating topper. Hopefully it will do better than Reload which is really durable.

I don't intend on using it without applying a coating on top of it, but it may surely be useful for anyone who doesn't regularly coat vehicles.

Great work Zack. How much time did you spend polishing?

I think I had about 10 hours start to finish on this one... about 7-8 of which was polishing.

Good job. I'm wondering if using a MF finishing pad or Car Pro's Gloss Pad would refine the paint even further? Never the less, great job for a one step polish.

I really like your before and after shots. Some will take a B and F shot, but not the same angle. How do you remember where to place the camera when doing a finishing shot?rops:

I've done previous testing with Essence on MF followed by Essence on foam on metallic black paint and noticed no difference. I did not repeat that test on this vehicle though as I was very pleased with the finish it produced... idk that any more gloss is ever needed lol

All before/after and 50/50 shots are taken using a tripod. It is a must to achieve these types of shots where the 2 images are in the exact same spot. I discuss more photography tips on the Detailed Image Ask-A-Pro Blog... I have an article about Before/After shots, 50/50 Shots, and creating sun stars in your images. Hope that helps!

 

[Audios S6]

Great work Zach. Assuming you did this alone...how much time do you think you saved over a traditional polish and coating prep?

 

[Mike@DedicatedPerfection]

Nicely done Zach!

 

[Every_detail]

Nice work! :dblthumb2:
It seems that Essence is a true winner.



It's right there in the title or under Process Highlights / Paint Protection.

It was a long day yesterday, I noticed after.

 

[Ish]

Awesome post, excellent work and stunning photography as always!
Thanks for sharing.

 

[su3zero]

WOW....
Great work bro... congratulations!

 

[LaFawnduh]

Beautiful work!

Wondering if you saw bad orange peel on the car? My 2015 jeep in the same color has some pretty noticeable areas on the hood and doors. Did this car have that and, if so, did you find the essence + MF pad knocked it down a bit? Reflection shots look smooth so was curious.

 

[Rsurfer]

Beautiful work!

Wondering if you saw bad orange peel on the car? My 2015 jeep in the same color has some pretty noticeable areas on the hood and doors. Did this car have that and, if so, did you find the essence + MF pad knocked it down a bit? Reflection shots look smooth so was curious.

I can't answer your question about the OP's detail, but I can say that essence is a polish and not a compound therefore is not aggressive enough to remove orange peel. You will need to wet sand or use a denim pad to remove OP. OEM paint is pretty thin, so I would live with it.rops:

 

[zmcgovern45]

Thanks guys!!

Great work Zach. Assuming you did this alone...how much time do you think you saved over a traditional polish and coating prep?

No doubt this saved a couple hours total. The polish works very quickly - just 2-3 passes needed, and then of course no messing with IPA or Eraser.

Beautiful work!

Wondering if you saw bad orange peel on the car? My 2015 jeep in the same color has some pretty noticeable areas on the hood and doors. Did this car have that and, if so, did you find the essence + MF pad knocked it down a bit? Reflection shots look smooth so was curious.

The peel on this Jeep wasn't as bad as I have seen on others of previous model years... then again this highly metallic black does help to hide some of that texture compared to a jet black finish.

You can see quite a bit of texture in this photo as well as other reflection shots when you look closely.

...and as already mentioned, Essence on a MF pad will have zero effect on orange peel. You would need to sand the finish or use a specialized orange peel removal pad (denim or velvet) to cut down on the texture.