Severely Neglected Saab 9-7X Sale Prep

CarolinasFinestDetailing

CarolinasFinestDetailing

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Hello all,

This is my first detail show-off, so here goes. Please excuse the crappy cell phone pics as I had a tight deadline and my wife who is the photographer was busy with our baby. The customer inherited this SUV from his father-in law I believe. The customer merely wanted the paint to look good enough to sale and didn`t want to spend a lot of money. So I performed a one-step. He did not care if I touched anything else. As you will see, I added some extras in there to compliment my work.

It was apparent that this vehicle had never received any type of professional detail, and was confirmed by customer. The paint was in a severe neglected state. It had apparently sat under trees for a long time as there was dried on sap and other particles on roof and sides. There was an abundance of leaves and pine tree seed helicopters in and around the engine bay.

I took my time inspecting the paint as the customer also said the previous driver....well....he hit things from not being fully able to drive.

Some before pics:








Bubbling:


Probably the clearest spot on the vehicle:


Some type of adhesive(It was hard):


Tree sap and other dirt particles dries on:


Engine before(Note the leaves and such):


I want to stress again how important it is to inspect the paint thoroughly before any type of machine polishing! As you can see, the paint is very thin around some areas and there was bubbling. It is the exact reason why I opted to clay bar instead of use my NanoSkin pad. I was able to feel the paint.

I first degreased the engine and scrubbed well and cleaned the wheels. I also ensured all debris was removed from all areas.





Rag after engine wipe down:


Engine after:


Sonax FE setting in:




After these areas were addressed, I washed the paint well, quick blow dried, Iron X`d, then clay barred.

This is my clay after second session of claying(Yes, it took 2 sessions!):


Taped up:

(I taped off thin paint areas and bubbling. I did not want to risk it at all. Customer was aware.)

Getting there:


Looking much better(Again, crappy phone epic):


I went over the hood, A Pillars, rear view mirrors, and top part of doors with finishing polish. I know that these areas are eye-catchers.

All Door jambs were also thoroughly cleaned and sprayed with CG Hybrid V07.

CG M-Seal curing:


M-Seal was topped with a quick coat of Cg Hybrid V07

Finished product:
Wheels and all trim were dressed to compliment the paint.


Note the thinning paint by wheel well.








As an added bonus, I did a quick leather clean & condition of the front seats and sprayed a bit of CG New Car Smell.

Overall, I am happy with the turnout. I sometimes get carried away too much with these jobs and forget what the customer is paying for. I make it my priority to treat every vehicle as if it were my own.

Quick list of products used:
CG Citrus wash & Gloss
2 bucket system with grit guards in each
Microfiber wash mitt, detailing brush, Speed Master
Sonax Full Effect
CG Sticky Gel Wheel Cleaner
Iron X
Griot`s Paint Cleaning Clay
CG Luber
CG Pad Conditioner
GG Pad cleaning brush
Stanley LED head light
GG 6" & 3" DA
6.5" Orange Hex Logic, small version as well
V34
6.5" Cobra Cross Groove White
V38
Car Pro Eraser
CG M-Seal
CG Hybrid V07
CG Black on Black
CG New Look Trim Gel

Thanks for looking!
 
Wow that things was beat down. Great turn around. Should fetch a decent resale figure now.:)
 
Nice turnaround, great picture taking, and good product choices....keep up the good work
 
Thanks guys. I cant wait till spring to revamp and paint my garage. Im also getting some new lights. I have some Wolfgang stuff coming and cant wait to see how it performs.
 
Awesome job, brought that Saab back to life!
 
Wow, that thing was pretty trashed and you brought it back! Looks good, nice job!
 
Great turn around!! If the paint is anything similar to the Trailblazer SS black then it's usually pretty hard but workable. I can only imagine the amount of time you put in it!
 
Congratulations on a job well done.
Great write up:)
Thanks for posting.
 
Pretty darn impressive. Someone on this forum once suggested that an extensive detail of the engine compartment on a car that had been seriously neglected was counterproductive in a prep for sale scenario.

His argument was that such an extensive detail of the engine compartment was a cue to potential buyers that the car might have hidden problems. The implication was, I suppose, that you should make the engine compartment presentable for a car like that, but not pristine.

I can see his point. As good as the job was here, I doubt that too many people would be fooled into thinking it had been meticulously maintained throughout its life. Any thoughts?
 
I would also venture to say, 75% of used car buyers don't even pop the hood to inspect it. Maybe I'm wrong but they don't know what they're looking for anyways.
 
Thanks for the love guys. I spent at least 10 hours from start to finish. I really took my time constantly checking my work. Plus I clayed the car twice. I worked a few areas more than normal during compounding due to the amount of imperfections. There are still swirls and imperfections. The finish polishing on the gloss panels really help it in my opinion.

As for the engine detail question, I made the engine presentable, in my opinion. I did not spend a huge amount of time on it, and I lightly dressed the covers. You will see the same thing done at used car lots, but dressed even heavier. I never recommend to anyone buying a used car to not do it without having their trusted mechanic go over it extensively.
 
Oh...I forgot to mention. The customer and wife`s exact words: "Is this the same car?" Tipped me extra and I have now 2 details in the spring as soon as the snow clears. The extras I put in allowed them to take it and get pictures to place for sale right away.
 
Your work made the difference not just between getting a good price for the car, but getting it sold at all.

I love working a car to get it sold for a neighbor.

A couple of years ago a young lady down the street was trying to sell her Beetle, one of the new type. It was beat. I know it had never been waxed and if it was ever cleaned inside it must have been done by the dealer in the first year.

She had never even had an offer. People dropped by to look at it and saw a rolling garbage heap.

So over two weekends I gave it the "works" Nothing ridiculous, just getting it good and clean, inside and out. But especially removing all the paint transfer from everything she had hit in the previous ten years.

After that the second person to look at it bought it.

I have never understood why people don't at least wash and vacuum their cars before putting them up for sale.

Really nice, complete job on the Saab.:dblthumb2:
 
^^^^ Yeah. I absolutely love details like this where you take a vehicle in horrible condition and make it close to like new again. It brings me a lot of satisfaction.

I personally don`t understand why people don`t do that either. Around here, there are places where you drive through to get your car thoroughly washed, and then you can pay extra for vacuum, wax, etc. While I don`t recommend these places, its better than nothing.
 
Awesome work!

What did you use to remove the old sticker? My thought would be a plastic razor blade, but what about the lubricant? Goo-Gone?
 
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