Kesawi

Hey guys, just wondering if anyone can help me out with this, some parts of my clear coat are scratched, I'm pretty sure its jsut the clear coat as the scratches don't feel deep but they look like ****...

I had a look at supercheap and meguires scratch X looks like a product that MAY fix it. Anyone got any ideas?

Check out this thread which has covered scratch repair in the past.

If you are getting scratch X, make sure you get Scratch X 2.0 as it will do deeper scratches quicker than the original version. Saw it at Supercheap here in Brisbane the other day, so the newer formula should be available now elsewhere in the country. I suggest you read the following link for tips on how to use it and what to expect.

Hot to remove a defect by hand with Scratch X

The definitive SratchX Thread Collection

Noticed dash rattles starting to happen the other day with my KX-S <_<

Time to battle with the dealer again.

Chrome fog lights are a nice touch.

Chrome exhaust tip to complete the look.

Hi Guys,Im trying to remove the trim panel below the stereo, so i can add a switch in the blank spot, ive got a grande mode which doesnt have the ciggy tray and as such is a little different and very hard to get off, any tips for removing the trim like where the clips are and how many?

From memory there are about 3 clips along the top beneath the A/C controls and two on the bottom. Then on the wings either side which go to the glove box and steering column I think there are two top and bottom. I think I started by prying off the wings at the top with my fingers and just pulling hard until it came out at one of the clips, and then working around the edge of the panel until all clips were out. You just have to keep pulling and trust you're not going to break anything, which I found hard to do the first time.

we looked at the altitude too, but we really wanted the leather seats so i think KX-S for us, although now hubby is talking about getting a "real" 4WD like a Prado or Pajero too many choices!

It can sometimes be worse than no choice at all :)

If you like the features of the altitude, you could always go for aftermarket leather. It's approximately $3500 here in Brisbane for the Kluger.

How hard/expensive would it be to get the ignition and stearing wheel lock from the Grande fitted to the KX-S?

Might get lucky at the wreckers.

Could also get lucky and score a working power tail gate :D

This is still pretty new stuff, at least in Australia. I think there will be some viable after market opitons for our KX-S in the next couple years. It's more for my wife who would find it very convenient not having to rummage through her hand bag for the keys all the time. IMO Smart Key is the most appealing feature of the Grande. That and seat/mirror memmory. I thought the Grande had 2 seat memmories when I was looking at them. The seat position should automatically change depending on which of the two keys you use to open the car. With the electric seats and mirrors already in there you'd think it wouldn't be too hard to add the logic for memory.

Smart key is nice from that perspective. Also, I guess there would be a reduced risk of locking the keys in the car. There would also not be the annoying alarm when you leave the keys in the ignition while the door is open. A real pain when I'm working on the interior and want to listen to the radio.

I don't think the Grande has seat memory as neither the manual or marketing info mentions it. Would be great if it could be installed aftermarket, as the power seats are really not complete without it.

i think i would be happier with petrol, diesel is WAY more expensive here, we can get the 10% ethanol blend premium which is 2c cheaper than regular unleaded, whereas diesel is about the same cost as premium so like 5c more than regular unleaded

Do your Kluger a favour and don't use E10. While it is slightly cheaper, the fuel economy isn't as good. See the following topics:

FASTER THAN R50 V10 TWIN TURBO VW TOE RAG!!!

ultimate vs vortex

I'd like to know where you get premium or diesel for only 5c more than regular. Price gap is around 10-15c here in Brisbane.

I've seen instructions for the following items after market.

Auto-dimming mirror.

This has been fitted after market to the US models and instructions are available at http://mojavetrail.webng.com/AutoDimMirror.pdf. Not sure whether the Australian models are prewired. Given the dark tint to rear window on the Kluger I've never found that I've been dazzled by headlights in the reart view mirror. Some comments from someone with a Grande on the mirror performance would be good. Further information on the mirror can be found in the topic Auto dimming mirror.

Rear DVD Player.

I had an Alpine PKG-RSE2 installed into my KX-S and it is great. In my opinion the Alpine is much better than the factory unit as it is slimmer and doesn't block the rear view mirror as much. Pictures of the player in my vehicle are in the thread Close to getting my first Kluger. If all you want from the Grande is the rear DVD player, then spend $1600 on getting the Alpine installed rather than an extra $10k on the Grande.

In Dash Sat/Nav.

The factory sat/nav is pretty limited in functionality and there are far better units around. Again if all you want from the Grande is a in-dash Sat/Nav, go after market as for $2000-$3000 you could get a much better unit. I would also argue the portable units offer better features and value for money, but then it depends on what your preference is. Threads dealing with Sat/Nav include:

Toyota Genuine Sat Nav, Is it worth it ?

DVD player with 7" Screen Installed.

AVICHD3

DIY Radio and Subwoofer Install in 2009 Toyota Highlander (From Toyota Nation Forums

Which GPS is worth the value?

Auto Head Lights

I haven't seen any threads confirming whether it is possible to install this after market. It may be as simple as replacing the indicator stalk as the sensor comes in the KX-S.

Moon Roof

In theory it may be possible to install this after-market, but would probably be very expensive and create a lot of corrosion and structural issues.

Power Tail Gate

This is the only feature of the Grande that I would like to have in my KX-S, however I believe this can't be installed aftermarket or would be prohibitively expensive (see http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/showthread.php?t=286413). The Kluger's tail gate can be quite heavy and a couple of times when I've had shoulder problems it has been hard to close. It is also a little too high and heavy for the kids to close (aged 6 & 8), which means if I drop them off at school I need to get out of the car and close the tail gate after they've got their bags out.

Smart Key

In theory this could probably be installed in the KX-S, but would require a lot of work. I haven't seen any threads confirming whether it can be done. I've never owned a car with smart key so I can't comment on how it performs.

Something to keep in mind when comparing an after market upgraded KX-S against a Grande, is that the resale value of the Grande will always be higher simply because of the badge. I don't think too many upgrades will increase the resale value of a KX-S against an otherwise identical unmodified KX-S. This may or may not be important to you.

Personally I went for the KX-S instead of the Grande as it was $10K cheaper, and for a little bit more I could install the extra features I wanted.

Got the new car last week & 1st thing was to use the quick Clay & tech 2.0 .. Now the paint is like glass.

I was supprised how much contaminents where on a brand new car.

What do you guys use for the Dash & interior...

For the leather treatmen I use Meguiars Gold Class Rich eather Cleaner/Conditioner. I generally apply this every 1-2 months.

For cleaning minor marks on leather between treatment, I use Meguiars Gold Class Rich Leather Wipes . I keep them in the car to use these whenever the kids get marks on the leather. They do a really good job.

For the trim I use Meguiars Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant. I apply this generally every 1-2 months when I do the leather. I also keep it in the car along with some microfibre towels, which I use for spot cleaning as required. I find it stops the white marks appearig on the black interior plastic trim ever time you touch it. Meguiars do make some Quick Interior Detailer Wipes, but I haven't used them.

For the interior side of the windows I use RainX Anit-Fog Wipes with Glass Cleaner.

Yes I am a little bit of a Meguiar's nut, but found these products to be the most commonly recommended, and they do a good job for me.

Alternatively clamp a cycle rack to your towbar so that when the car behind decides to sit 2" from your bumber you can roll back and spear him through their windscreen.

Tow bar won't get the windscreen but will have same effect. If they're sitting that close, then they're also at fault if you roll back and hit them.

Ours does it too, I use the Hill Holder all the Time.....But make sure you put your car in gear not in N when you go to take off it could be messy and you end up revving the crapper out of your car and go nowhere fast the wrong way!! :o

Hill start assist won't activate until you are in gear and the park brake is released.

There is a front point for the hook behind a plastic square in the front bumper but if you have the nudge bar fitted it is covered up by the bar so not sure what to do in that instance

the plastic square pops out and you screw the hook in to the thread

I believe the nudge bar may be attached through these points. There is a corresponding removable patch on the front plastic cover of the nudge bar which I think is the tow point. Haven't ever taken it off to have a look.

I still wouldn't rely on it as a recovery point.

Can't get the clear coat in a bottle anywhere that can be applied over the base coat repair?

thanks guys

so if you get stuck in the mud in your kluger, how do you get towed out? backwards is ok with the toebar, but forwards?

Fit an aftermarket recovery point if the chassis has a strong enough position. I was going to look into this but never got around to it.

Lots of cars these days have the screw in tow points through the front bumper. The Kluger DOES have these as well and actually has one on each side compared with sedans that only have just one.

You can clearly see their position in this photo:

The following link is information on the towing eyelets from the US manual:

http://sumbiz03.home.comcast.net/~sumbiz03/5-01Towing.pdf

Key points are:

• Should only be used on hard surface roads.
  
• Avoid sudden starts or erratic driving maneuvers which place excessive stress on the emergency towing eyelets and the cables or chains.
  

I imagine the Australian manual would be pretty similar (it's too cold outside for me to go down to the car and check). Based on the details in the manual, I would suggest that they are not rated recovery points. There are also two points on the rear, that could also be recovery points, but are most likely tie down points, as the steel in the area is very light.

I did some rough numbers on the various towing/hold down points in a post on the Toyota Nation Forum. The size and thicknesses of the materials at these locations don't appear to have the necessary load capacities to work as recovery points.

I agree completely with the comments above.

For $700-800 you could buy a DA polisher, pads and products to look after the car.

Alternately you could probably get two full details, with chip repair for the same amount.

Well today I tried this using the quik clay kit & tech wax 2.0 on my 8 year old black SS commodore.. Came up fantastic & has never looked so good.

Took about 4 hours all up but worth it.. All the Meguiars stuff I've ever used is top quality & worked a treat, the only thing that never produced any results has been that scratchX product which never seems to get rid of scatches or swirls for me ..

Anyway when I get pickup the Kluger next week will wait about a month then do the same on it...

ScratchX takes a little bit of work, often 3 applications to get rid of some scratches and swirls (See this link).

ScratchX is also not very aggressive and there are other Meguiar's products which would probably be better at removing swirls from an 8 year old commodore (see Aggressiveness Order for New Consumer Products). I suggest that you try Mirror Glaze #205, failing that a combo of Mirror Glaze #105, then #205. These seems to be the most recommended combination on the Meguiar's Online Forum. The other products aren't available in Australia, and I've only been able to find #105 & #205 at Zen Automotive Suppliers Car Care. If you post some pictures of the swirls on the Meguiar's Forum someone should be able to give you a good recommendation. Best bet is to try a different products on one spot to see if it makes a difference before doing the whole car.

Why wait a month to do the Kluger? Wash it, clay it and wax it straight away so that the finish is clean and protected right from the start.

Many thanks for all the great info Kesawi. Although I must say you make me feel awfully guilty!!

Cheers,

Pete.

Glad to be of assistance

Accidental double post

Topics dealing with aftermarket sat nav.

Toyota Genuine Sat Nav, Is it worth it ?

DVD player with 7" Screen Installed.

AVICHD3

I don't have an answer to your question, but if you haven't bought the car yet, save your money and buy an after market unit. There are better units around that you can get for less than what Toyota will charge.

There are topics on this forum and the audio forum which have recommendations. I'd put some links up but I'm writing this on my PDA so it's a bit difficult.

Process was:

1. Clean wheels with Meguiar's Hot Rims Non-Acid Wheel Cleaner.

2. Wash with Meguiar's Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner.

3. Clay using Meguiar's Quik Clay Detailing System.

4. Touch up visible scratches and swirls using Meguiar's Scratch X (Unfortunately with direct bright sunlight, and no swirl finding light I was limited as to what I could see under those conditions).

5. Apply Meguiar's #7 show car glaze. This step was not really critical.

6. Finish with Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0 Liquid.

7. Polish Nudge Bar with Meguiar's NXT Generation All Metal Polysh.

8. Apply Meguiar's Gold Class Dash & Trim Foam Protectant to external plastic trim (unfortunately I couldn't find the external trim products anywhere).

Each of the main steps took 30 - 45 minutes as the Kluger is a big car.

If you haven't clayed your car before, then will definitely need to do it the first time you apply a wax.

How often you need to clay afterwards depends on what conditions your car is exposed to, which is different for each individual vehicle. A rule of thumb I've seen is after you've washed and dried your car, place your hand inside a plastic bag and then run it lightly across the paint work. If it feels rough then it is time to clay. From my experience with the kluger, the horizontal surfaces seem to pick up the most contamination.

Polishing is really up to your own personal preference. I used ScratchX just to remove some really visible scratches. There were still some minor swirls present, but I couldn't be bothered putting in the time and effort to remove them by hand. I'll save that for when I get a DA polisher. Not polishing won't affect the performance of the wax to protect your car's finish. The car still came up quite reasonable, although not show car finish, without the polish.

I must say it was rather satisfying to run my fingers over the car and have it feel like glass afterwards. One of my friends was so impressed that he made his wife feel the smoothness of the paint.

Thanks Kesawi ,, great links..

I will be getting same colour as you ' metallic silver'.. My previous car was black & I used mequiars new tech wax which was fantasic.

Hope the silver comes up just as good..

Glad to be of assistance. This is how a metallic silver looks with Meguiar's NXT Wax 2.0. Still need to get a DA polisher and remove all the minor swirls, but silver is good like that.

More images in my gallery

Hi there,

Certainly some great information in the link there.

A quick question: Would it be evil of me to use a gurnie (the cheap $100 Bunnings Karcher variant) on a Crystal Pearl Kluger? Specifically, would it do any damage to the paint?

Thanks,

Pete.

I've been using a cheap Karcher to wash and rinse on my metallic silver kluger and so far haven't noticed any damage. I suggets you read the following links which discuss pressure washers and damage.

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10816

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/showt...hp?t=10102&

Make sure you also follow the excellent tips from DaveXR8 in the topic Car Detailing Tips when washing.