Car Detailing Tips

[u54mot]

but I'm currently hunting for a Meguairs Boot Organiser to tidy it all up :)

Get one of these: Camry Cargo Tote, delivery costs may be a bit much.

Alternatively you could get a Camry Cargo Net.

I've got one of these, but can not remember which Ebay Seller i bought it from, but i think it may have been Frank Scion Toyota.

[Tash]

Thanks for that suggestion! Will have to look into those if the Meguairs one falls through, apparently the Victorian sales rep know where he can get his hands on one, but not sure of the cost yet. I've seen them on Amazon UK for 22.50 pounds which was about $37 AUD when I last looked.

[-DAvo]

Watching the vids and reading the bottle of Scratch X (which I haven't bought yet) it says to carry it in your car for spot 'repairs', does this mean you can use it without claying first? I'm gathering that it would be most effective after a clay bar, so now that you've mentioned I can apply the products one after another I'm thinking I can wash, clay, use scratch x in a couple of places to get the really bad ones, then follow up with Ultimate Compound, then Swirl X (both of these by hand) and then polish and wax with the Mothers wax attack palm polisher.

yeah im sure it would be fine but i would never just whip out the scratchx and do a "spot" repair without first washing the car (or at the very least the area you are wanting to "cirrect".... the idea of introducing dirt into areas such as your applicatior pad, microfibre cloth are just too high a risk IMHO.

the regime highlighted in bold is a very good plan, my advice is to set aside enough time, keep a few drinks nearby and reap the benefits ;)

Edited May 11, 2010 by -DAvo

[Tash]

Watching the vids and reading the bottle of Scratch X (which I haven't bought yet) it says to carry it in your car for spot 'repairs', does this mean you can use it without claying first? I'm gathering that it would be most effective after a clay bar, so now that you've mentioned I can apply the products one after another I'm thinking I can wash, clay, use scratch x in a couple of places to get the really bad ones, then follow up with Ultimate Compound, then Swirl X (both of these by hand) and then polish and wax with the Mothers wax attack palm polisher.

yeah im sure it would be fine but i would never just whip out the scratchx and do a "spot" repair without first washing the car (or at the very least the area you are wanting to "cirrect".... the idea of introducing dirt into areas such as your applicatior pad, microfibre cloth are just too high a risk IMHO.

the regime highlighted in bold is a very good plan, my advice is to set aside enough time, keep a few drinks nearby and reap the benefits ;)

Yea, I was a bit skeptical of using it as a spot product so good to know.

Excellent! Well I better go and buy another slab then lol

[Tofuboi]

Hey guys, I'm watching Tash detail and clean up her Camry. She just wants to tell Davo this.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RECOMMENDING THE ULTIMATE COMPOUND, IT IS ****ING BRILLIANT!" :D:D:D:D:D

That is all.

[Tash]

Hey guys, I'm watching Tash detail and clean up her Camry. She just wants to tell Davo this.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RECOMMENDING THE ULTIMATE COMPOUND, IT IS ****ING BRILLIANT!" :D:D:D:D:D

That is all.

Man oh man the results of that product spoke for themselves - so many minor paint defects are gone along with some minute white coloured scratches - I am thoroughly impressed :D Plus I did the whole car by hand with it and I haven't even used 1/4 of the bottle! Big props to Meguiars on that product

[whitestivo]

Just about to prep my car properly, does prepsolve even dilute into water???

I know it' says 1:1 on the first page, but i thought it would just separate?

Cheers

whitestivo

[STYLSH]

Yup it should since it is an alcohol based cleaner

[-DAvo]

Hey guys, I'm watching Tash detail and clean up her Camry. She just wants to tell Davo this.

"THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR RECOMMENDING THE ULTIMATE COMPOUND, IT IS ****ING BRILLIANT!" :D:D:D:D:D

That is all.

Man oh man the results of that product spoke for themselves - so many minor paint defects are gone along with some minute white coloured scratches - I am thoroughly impressed :D Plus I did the whole car by hand with it and I haven't even used 1/4 of the bottle! Big props to Meguiars on that product

whooo hooo! :) :) post pics asap Tash!! im about to finish mine off tomorrow too! just onto the small details now :P

[Tash]

Oh dear - that was a very old post! I did do some work on Saturday but no Ultimate Compound, however I did try out Meg's new Ultimate Polish. It's not out in Australia yet as its part of their new 2011 product range. I am very impressed with it too, does exactly what it says on the bottle which is to add a layer of gloss and reflectiveness, and it helps to even out the swirl marks as well, and I did notice it had this effect.

The only annoyance with it is that you cannot let it dry, so as soon as I applied it I had to remove it before it dried. So I can see that having one of their Dual Action polishers would make this step much, much easier!

Have only clayed, polished and waxed the car, lots of work to do before the annual still! (most of which will be done up there)

[-DAvo]

Oh dear - that was a very old post! I did do some work on Saturday but no Ultimate Compound, however I did try out Meg's new Ultimate Polish. It's not out in Australia yet as its part of their new 2011 product range. I am very impressed with it too, does exactly what it says on the bottle which is to add a layer of gloss and reflectiveness, and it helps to even out the swirl marks as well, and I did notice it had this effect.

The only annoyance with it is that you cannot let it dry, so as soon as I applied it I had to remove it before it dried. So I can see that having one of their Dual Action polishers would make this step much, much easier!

Have only clayed, polished and waxed the car, lots of work to do before the annual still! (most of which will be done up there)

**edit**

acctually in reading further into the ultimate polish write ups, it seems a pretty close match to meguiars M205 ultra finishing polish.. which makes sense seeing as ultimate compound is the consumer version of M105 which pairs up with M205... much like Ultimate compound will pair with Ultimate polish...

im nterested to see how the ultimate liquid wax turns out thou.. could be a contender for the AG extra gloss protection... MAYBE :P when it hits our shores here ill have to do a side by side test on durability!

**end edit**

how did you get your hands on the ultimate polish tash?? :P a write up would be great :) im eager to see the product on the shelves here, but apprehensive to stray from the AG regime i have going.. :P will have to try some on the missus car before i try on mine LOL

Edited May 31, 2011 by -DAvo

[Tash]

Heheh I got it from a very special source :) Basically just a bulk shipment from Amazon, so I've also got some gallon bottles of their Detailers line at home now too :D The endurance tire gel that is now in a spray bottle is a stack better as well (can now get trigger or aerosol, Autobarn tell me they expect to have the 2011 products around July - pretty terrible considering Amazon have been selling them since January!)

What you've said about the M205 is basically spot on, and I think their use of the word 'Ultimate' is mostly marketing spin, and designed to get consumers to line up the products in their mind as in they will have Ultimate Compound, followed by Ultimate Polish, followed by their Ultimate Wax, which I think is available as a liquid and as a paste. I am keen to try the AG regime too, but with Meg's doing such a good job for me at the moment I am finding it hard to stray too

In terms of a write-up I will knock something up, I've only got the one photo of it on my car before I hit it with wax but you should be able to see enough of a result from that :)

[u54mot]

Heheh I got it from a very special source :) Basically just a bulk shipment from Amazon, so I've also got some gallon bottles of their Detailers line at home now too :D The endurance tire gel that is now in a spray bottle is a stack better as well (can now get trigger or aerosol, Autobarn tell me they expect to have the 2011 products around July - pretty terrible considering Amazon have been selling them since January!)

When did Amazon start shipping Car Care Products? Shopping Spree coming up.

How long did it take for the products to get to you?

[Tash]

Heheh I got it from a very special source :) Basically just a bulk shipment from Amazon, so I've also got some gallon bottles of their Detailers line at home now too :D The endurance tire gel that is now in a spray bottle is a stack better as well (can now get trigger or aerosol, Autobarn tell me they expect to have the 2011 products around July - pretty terrible considering Amazon have been selling them since January!)

When did Amazon start shipping Car Care Products? Shopping Spree coming up.

How long did it take for the products to get to you?

They don't :( We used a go-between guy in the US to get them here, so buy them all, get them shipped to them, pay for shipping over here. It was probably a good month the last time, but it was worth the wait :D Hyper dressing did an amazing job in my engine bay, as well as the wheel arches and all my black trim

[u54mot]

They don't :( We used a go-between guy in the US to get them here, so buy them all, get them shipped to them, pay for shipping over here. It was probably a good month the last time, but it was worth the wait :D Hyper dressing did an amazing job in my engine bay, as well as the wheel arches and all my black trim

They do, cause i did it already, the stuff should be here after the long weekend.

[Tash]

They don't :( We used a go-between guy in the US to get them here, so buy them all, get them shipped to them, pay for shipping over here. It was probably a good month the last time, but it was worth the wait :D Hyper dressing did an amazing job in my engine bay, as well as the wheel arches and all my black trim

They do, cause i did it already, the stuff should be here after the long weekend.

Ooo.. Shouldn't have told me that lol Now I have to go shopping on Amazon again!

[u54mot]

Ooo.. Shouldn't have told me that lol Now I have to go shopping on Amazon again!

It's your own fault! You shouldn't have told me that you bought from Amazon, without the stipulation it was via a 3rd Party!

If I knew that i wouldn't have checked on Amazon! :P

[Andrew357]

It's your own fault! You shouldn't have told me that you bought from Amazon, without the stipulation it was via a 3rd Party!

If I knew that i wouldn't have checked on Amazon! :P

Not all products (including car cleaning gear) can be shipped to Australia due to regional restrictions.

[Air23]

What is the equivalent of Mothers Step 1,2 & 3 if I am going to shift to Autoglym products.

Using Mothers brand

Step 1 : Prewax cleaner

Step 2 : Sealant & Glaze

Step 3 : Wax

[69.NIX]

What is the equivalent of Mothers Step 1,2 & 3 if I am going to shift to Autoglym products.

Using Mothers brand

Step 1 : Prewax cleaner

Step 2 : Sealant & Glaze

Step 3 : Wax

There really isn't. I remember the good old days before the war when I too was looking for a replacement to these products. I'm personally not a fan of auto glum (except there glass polish). Your for a nicely packaged, better marketed product. The difference is next to none. Personally, It comes down to your "Hard-Core-Ness" (HCN) factor. Are you looking to add some shine that looks good for a couple of weeks or spend that little more and get some that will blow your socks off?

If your looking for products that you can get from the local Super cheap / autobarn, then stick with mothers or megs, auto glym is just overpriced and the results dont justify the spend.

If you want to goto the next level, I suggest you check out http://au.toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php/topic/33525-product-review-thread/ - there are heaps of product reviews by fellow TOCAU's that have a HCN factor greater than 8 :)

Hope this heaps :)

[Andrew357]

What is the equivalent of Mothers Step 1,2 & 3 if I am going to shift to Autoglym products.

Using Mothers brand

Step 1 : Prewax cleaner

Step 2 : Sealant & Glaze

Step 3 : Wax

The most appropriate Autoglym replacements would be:

- Step 1: HD Cleanser

- Step 2: Ultra Deep Shine followed by Extra Gloss Protection (they don't have a sealant and glaze in one)

- Step 3: Aqua Wax or HD Wax

There really isn't. I remember the good old days before the war when I too was looking for a replacement to these products. I'm personally not a fan of auto glum (except there glass polish). Your for a nicely packaged, better marketed product. The difference is next to none. Personally, It comes down to your "Hard-Core-Ness" (HCN) factor. Are you looking to add some shine that looks good for a couple of weeks or spend that little more and get some that will blow your socks off?

If your looking for products that you can get from the local Super cheap / autobarn, then stick with mothers or megs, auto glym is just overpriced and the results dont justify the spend.

Going to have to disagree with you on that. I have found every AutoGlym product I have used worth the extra money over the Meguiars or Mothers equivalent.

So much so, just last week I got my delivery of 5L Super Resin Polish. I have not used anything else that comes close to what this stuff can do. I have implemented it into my correcting procedure as it culls the need to use a 'final polish before waxing and responds well to being waxed over as well.

[Kenshin X]

when i finish the megs on my mrs car i'm going to swtich to the permanon or the autogylm products....................

[pelebellz]

this is a awesome thread. Will definitley be more careful when deciding what products to buy for cleaning and waxing

[69.NIX]

we are all here to help :)

Andrew357 is your local guru ;)

[Couzellion]

DaveXR8,

I purchased the paint protection kit from Toyota back when I bought the car and was told I CANNOT use wax on the paintwork. In your line of work is this normal? They said if wax was used it would void the paint protection warranty but won't say exactly why. The condition of my paint is almost spotless but would love to bring it up to another level.

Cheers