Anybody got any good maintenance tips or product referrals regarding:

dashboard: good products to clean dashboard and to keep it looking glossy???

leather: oils/sprays to keep leather in good condition

scratches: any good agents to cover up and fix minor scratches

waxes:???

any suggestions/tips would be very appreciated.....i think we all love keeping our TL's clean and looking good.

thanks.

 

For the leather use lexol cleaner and conditioner. For the outside use zaino, go to their website to find out what to use for which. For the dash use armor all cleaner then use protectant. It will stop cracking, but be careful it is sacraficial and evaporates slowly which in turn will get on the windows. Then that is when you get the windex. A little tip, when using windex use newspaper with out any color pictures. It absorbs well without leaving streaks like terrycloth towels or fibers like paper towels.

 

I use Meguiars Vinyl & Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner for the dash and it is great. Here is the link:
http://www.dominionsureseal.com/megu...roducts_PI.htm

 

I've had good luck eliminating superficial scratches (damage to clearcoat) using Meguiar's Scratch-X. See my post:

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=32332


I've used Meguiar's products and the results are very good. I especially like their 'tire shine' product (Endurance). It is easy to apply (using a supplied sponge applicator) and lasts several weeks. It dries to a non-tacky finish.

I don't use so-called plastic protectors on my TL's interior. I don't like the glossy look; it causes too many reflections. To each his own.

I use a microfibre cloth to quickly remove dust from interior surfaces. It keeps the interior looking fresh until it is time for a serious cleaning.

Winter in Montreal is a messy business and it takes some effort to keep the carpets free of muck and salt-stains. The best strategy is a good defense. I use three layers to keep the carpets virtually stain-free. The first layer is a large garbage bag. Put something in it (newspaper or thin packing foam) to help it lay flat. Allow the bag to run up the sides of the footwell (you want a bathtub effect). Next lay down a layer of newspaper to absorb spills and runoff from the final layer, namely large rubber floor mats. Elaborate but highly effective. My TL's carpets are pristine, I don't have a huge cleaning headache in the Spring, and I don't care what's on a passenger's boots.

 

Same here. I've used Meguiar's products for over eight years and always get compliments. Shortly before I traded in my '93 Vigor, someone asked me if it was a new car. They obviously didn't know their cars.

I use Meguiar's Show Car Glaze as a polish, Meguiars Medallion for paint as the Wax.

Leather is treated with Meguiar's Medallion for Leather. I regularly treated the seats in my Vigor with this and after eights years they still looked great with ZERO cracks or tears.

As for the carpets, though not as elaborate as TheBigLaguna, I have after market mats on top of the factory mats. During the winter I put in WeatherTech type mats on top of those. In case you're not familiar with WeatherTech, they're the big heavy rubber ones with the deep grooves that can collect water. I'd post the site here, but we're not supposed to, just do a search. They're kind of expensive, but I found a comparable brand at the local Target that cost me $20 (vs. $80) for the fronts. You can cut them to custom fit the shap of the floor. In the back, since my kids are back there and they don't always keep their feet on the mats, I did something different. I cut a section out of an old piece of carpet that covers the entire carpet in the back seat area, even over the little "hump". That way it doesn't matter where they step.

 

I do not like Armor All products because they use silicones, which are ineffective in conditioning and tend to be greasy to the touch. Plus they don't stop outgassing (mbeebe, that's that gunk you see on your windows).

For vinyls, I use Lexol Vinylex. It has low gloss and a deep sheen, and is not greasy to the touch. It puts an end to outgassing; I've never had a filmy layer on my windows ever since I used it.

I use Lexol's pH cleaner and leather conditioner for the leathers. It'll keep your leather supple and soft.

If you prefer to have the "new leather" smell, use Zaino's leather cleaner/conditioner.

For the exterior, Zaino, Zaino, Zaino. None better

As far as carpets go, I simply take mine out and use Acura's own All-weather rubber mats in the winter. Just take them out when you wash the car and hose them down. I'll put my mats back in in the summer. Sure beats BigLaguna's trash bag system!

The TL comes with no interior protectants at all from the factory. You must use a leather and vinyl conditioner on your surfaces before the car sees its first summer weather, or your surfaces will dry up and crack.

 

great, these tips will be helpful, it sucks that i live in seattle and seasonal floor mats during certain seasons dont help much because of our weather....
but as soon as we get some good weather ill get to work with these tips

 

acuraTLao:

"seasonal floor mats during certain seasons dont help much because of our weather.... "

Can you please elaborate? Thanks.


BTW, I've used Pantsaver mats in the winter on all the cars I've owned. They are flexible in obscenely cold weather (hey, this is Montreal!) and have deep, narrow ridges that trap a large quantity of water and slush. They have large flexible side-flaps that are supposed to rest on the vertical sides of the footwell (i.e. door sill and transmission hump). You don't cut these mats to fit the outline of the front floorwell, you let them create a bathtub-effect to collect all runoff. I've seen plenty of cars with clean carpets directly under the floormats ... whereas everything else is cruddy and there's a salt-encrusted outline of the floormat!

The garbage bag covers even more than what a normal floormat protects. It covers the driver's footrest and the carpeting almost up to the plastic molding on the door sill. The newspaper absorbs spills and leaks; this is an old trick I've seen used by local taxi drivers. You just replace the newspaper once it gets soaked.

I like goaub's idea to custom fit some old carpeting. I've been thinking of replacing the garbage bags with something a little more aesthetic. Maybe waterproof industral carpeting will do the trick. The beauty of garbage bags is that they're cheap, waterproof and come Spring, have no maintenance nor storage requirements.

 

yes i was trying to say that since I live in Seattle, we're known for our rainy weather, it might be pointless for me to swap in nice weather floor mats and bad weather floor mats.

anyhow,
yeah, that garbage bags and newspaper idea sounds good, unfortunately with me i'm way too into the "aesthetic" look of my car, and i'm sure if i try to create a contraption that involved garbage bags and newspapers inside a TL, most forum members would kill me because it would look horrible..at least for me.....

if you have a chance, u should take a picture of your solution because i'd love to see how it looks.....

thanks.

 

It looks like it sounds ... a garbage bag underneath a rubber floor mat.

If you are concerned with appearances, and your reputation with our fellow members, I would not try this solution! It is purely functional.

FWIW, I only use it in the snowy season (4 months). One day of local city-driving, through snow, slush, road abrasives, and ice melters, will make your car look like it was off-roading. Luckily, it all washes off.

The same can't be said when the crud gets into the carpets and underpadding. I'll put up with the funky look of garbage bags if they spare me the effort of a major Spring-cleaning. To each his own.