I earlier asked how people picked their RL from the lot. My next question is a little more subtle: When did your RL stop being "new"?

After a weeklong stay in Palm Desert, parking in dirt lots, eating a little food and drink in the car, finding a "belt stripe" on my driver's seat (my new suede belt left a stripe), scratching a wheel, and seeing a few spiderweb scratches on the paint (and chips on the post-trip wash), I couldn't help but think that my RL is no longer showroom fresh and "new". So, after 8 months, it isn't a new car anymore. Not that that's a bad thing. It actually eases the mind for an anal owner like me. You can't drive a car every day and keep it showroom clean.

When or how did you decide your RL wasn't still "new"?

Rob144

 

It's all in the MIND! "Never give up! NEVER Surrender!" (Galaxy Quest)

After washing and waxing today, I still feel like my RL is 'new'.... 7 months later. Still has leather smell. The few rock chips I touched up today are mere blemishes. Only I will likely know they are ever there.

I am anal though. A garage at the office, a garage at home, my RL sees daylight 30 mins a day. I park in single parking space between two pillars at the office parking garage (my motivation to get into work early). I never allow ANYONE to wash my car. Although a touchless carwash has occured.

I vacuum sand and grit form the engine covers and clean with plastic / vinyl sealers.

I dust the dash, polish the wood trim, clean the gauge bezels, wipe the Navi screen with a microfiber cloth at stoplights.

I brush the carpet mats after footprints appear from passengers.

Leather wipes one a week on the seats and steering wheel. I use a Townsend's glycerine stick to get ink stains from my belts off the leather seat bolster.

I wipe out the wheel wells and treat the plastic forms as I do the tires.

I have a bottle brush I use in the exhaust tips.

If I have any time left, I seek counselling....

So it IS new! NEVER give up! NEVER surrender!

 

You guys scare me.

The car stops being new when you can't smell that new car smell.

 

Bob,

Has the baby 'christened; the RL yet? That'll take away new car smell real fast!

Be afraid...be VERY afraid.

 

TampaRL: You use wax and not Zaino? You sound like a Zaino guy to me. It does give a car show shine. I refuse to make the time to go through the excruciating process.

 

my car stopped being new after the accident that replaced my hood, front left fender, bumper, radiator, and a few other things.

Now, I am in love again! Just got my car back from the dealer for some noises. They replaced the shifter gate plastic and now the noises are gone. The door panel is on national back order and the passenger seat base will arrive next week. I will need to bring my car back for those 2 things.


The car is very quiet now!

 

Zaino is for zanies!

My RL is not outside long enough for that kinda detail! I just use Mother's, and a minute detail after each wash thereafter. Once or twice a year a quality polish to deal with any fine scratches.

Anymore, I'd never have time to drive the car....

 

[standing and applauding]

Finally someone as anal as me. My neighbors make fun of me because when it's 15 degrees outside, I'm in my garage with a hose running to the laundry room faucet as I'm cleaning the salt off of my car. You could skate on my driveway afterwards.

After 11 months and 14K miles, I can still smell the leather and people have commented that the car still smells like new.

 

Are you making Acura Margaritas? I think the RL is pretty tastey already!

I was in the main computer room the other day. One of those air filtered 'clean rooms'. I got to thinking......hmmmmm, what a great garage mod!

Maybe we can get a group discount on group therapy? Is there a doctor in the house???

 

Looks like we have bought a car yesterday, just need to pick out the specific car and drive it today. Would you HIGHLY recommend the Expell Clear Bra?!? The dealer said it's about $1k but less if we go directly through the Expel guy. That's alot of money. My wife primarily drives the car around town, not too much beltway driving here in DC, but that might change if I start driving it alot. The car is black on black. Thoughts?

By the way, you sound like the way I keep my other cars. I've never cleaned my wife's car as well as mine, but the RL is so nice, I might privately think of it as my car and anally clean it like you folks do.

Really excited to get a Japanese car... never thought I'd say that. Repairs can be atrocious on my other 2 German cars...

Steve R

 

After the first oil change any car is no longer new.

 

I guess I'm anal, too:

I cover the car at the office, garage at home. I park in a "buffer space" at work with lots of room on each side (or out in the boonies with the BMWs).

I never allow anyone to wash my car - I even tell the dealer not to when it goes in for service. So far, no carwashes.

I also dust the dash, polish the wood trim, clean the gauge bezels, and wipe the Nav screen with a microfiber cloth at stoplights. Plus, I use a paintbrush to dust the buttons.

I wipe out the wheel wells if they're dirty during washes.

Well, maybe I'm "sub-anal" compared to TampaRL! I use Black Magic or Turtle spray-on wipe-off wax, though, which probably destroys my credentials.

Rob144

 

I'll let you know when it happens. My two-year old still asks, "we're going in daddy's new car?" every time we go to get in it (as opposed to my wife's year-old car that she usually rides in).

 

Well, I think my car re-"new"s itself. Everytime I get the car washed (unfortunately no spigot at my condo complex), I think of it as new. When I see it covered in the salt and snow, I lose the feeling that it's new.

And then the next time it's washed, it's new again. The car never ceases to amaze me and I love it everytime I get into it, specially after a little road trip.

So I go through new and not-new cycles with my car.

Right now, since we just had a big snow/ sleet storm in NJ a couple of days ago and my car is not blue but white from the salt, it's not new... It will be new again soon enough!!!

 

Thank goodness, not yet. The baby is an excellent "car baby". He just sits there and stares out the rear window and makes not a peep unless he's ravenously hungry.

Besides, that's what our Pilot is for. He can barf on that cheap "leather" all he likes.

 

It stops being new when I drive it off the dealer's lot.... i mean, really, what's the point?

I guess perhaps it's because it's not my first new car ever... but I never really felt that way.

I love my car, but it's just a car, and I'm not in love with it like I am my fiancee.... then again, if I start asking "when's the honeymoon over" we'll probably get some similar yet interesting responses...

Good thing my car can never break wind in front of me.

 

Still new to me! Especially since I just got her back on the road after a 4 month winter hibernation.

 

It always had fine scratches in the paint--delivered that way from the dealer. They're too far away and I'm too busy to make an issue of it. Planning to have the car clayed and buffed at my local car wash sometime soon (I know, I know, but just don't have time to pamper my baby personally).

Still smells new inside after 3 months. Got the first stone chip on the hood a few weeks ago. Oh well.

Still waiting for that first door ding. Avoiding SUVs, pickup trucks, beaters, 2-door anythings and narrow parking spaces like the plague.

 

I am dreading that day.

I can't tell you how many times I've park in an end, wide, or distant space only to have someone in a minivan or giant SUV take the space next to me and park over the line, or super-close. I think someone posted a photo of a similar situation in another thread.

Bad enough that spaces are narrow or "compact" these days.

 

It does not seem to help. Just got that first door ding on the leading edge of the rear door on the passenger side, even though I park as far away as I can from the madding crowd. I think some people see you out there in the middle of nowhere and like to park right next to you.

 

My '05 has a little over 20K miles. This weekend I did a good cleaning including lots of Zaino Leather in a Bottle. 303 Aerospace on the plastic, 303 carpet cleaner where my son and passengers had the nerve to track dirt from their shoes (I really need to stop allowing passengers Was nice finally getting the all season mats out of there.

Nice smell is back and having everything clean sure makes a big difference in how you feel as to whether your car is new-ish or used.

 

I would highly recommend the XPEL clear bra. I went with XPEL before doing a little more research. I may have tried the Clearshield had I done more research. At some point you just have to do it rather than over analyze it.

If you are interested in a competing product, Clearshield, I have an installer in Rockville. PM me if you want more info.

Clearshield is considerably less expensive than XPEL, but in the end, it is all in the installer and the patterns used. For example, XPEL uses 3M film, but the real forte is the computer controlled patterns that can be transmitted to various dealers where they laser cut them on site. Lower volume dealers have to order and have it shipped to them.

Clearshield uses Bekaert film, and not only manufacture, but is also in the cutting business providing similar services to XPEL. I believe the film is manufactured in San Diego, and was once MSC films (SolarGard window tints) before it was bought by the international conglomerate, Bekaert Group of Belgium.

Make sure you understand what pattern you are getting regardless who you use. Some firms make the deluxe kit, and the standard kit, or the hood/fender/mirror kit and the bumper kit, etc.

To me, you want the most protection on that black nose, my XPEL job was everything they cut for the RL--hood/fender/mirror kit, bumper kit and headlight/foglight kit.

 

Greetings via Satellite!

Well that sounds like a good testament for the ASPEC suspension not being to rough! Good baby...good.

 

The car stopped being new when I hit the 60000 miles mark and warranty expired.