exceldetail

Hey Merry Christmas everyone!!
Wait a sec.....a $500.00 A MONTH car payment and they dont have the money to pay for a proper detail?
Absurd..........

evolpe

As long as TOGWT's signiture is on the back of the bottle it's good enough for me!

Where do I get Klasse? Pep Boys or specialty shop only?

Joe, i hope you didn't think i was aiming my first comment towards you. You replied kinda defensively. I just want facts from people who know and sometimes it's jard to sort the BS fro what is real. I'm a biostatistician so I deal with BS everyday with people claiming to understand statistics. I just want to be sure my source has credability and isn't someone throwing their opinion around and claiming it to be fact. Ya know?

evolpe

I'm hoping that's sarcasm.

joerockt

Online only, as far as I know.

Not at all. Your post came off as a bit dickish actually. Are you new to internet forums? You'll find their are a TON of people who have no idea what their talking about. Everything needs to be taken with a grain of salt and verified by several other sources before you can really believe anything. Eventually you just learn to ignore the BS.

Enjoy your stay

evolpe

I tried to come off dickish. I'm a bit of a dickhead at times, especially when it comes to calling out bullshitters. But I'm new to these forums and haven't identified the knowledgable from the morons. I just got a '06 RRP TL 2 weeks ago and want to seal up the paint before the winter months. I've been reading about a lot of different products and despite what some people say about it, i went with Zaino because a lot of people have been happy with it. I also enjoy spending time on my car and wouldn't be bothered by putting 3 coats on it. I'm not going to get crazy and throw 20 coats on it but I just learned about the whole polymer thing and bought into it. I'll find out if it's worth the hype very soon.

SB for the Chargers? I don't think any team can stop them, except maybe them Eagles! Ha ha (The Eagles fan thing would have given it away that I'm a dickhead if I would have just said so sooner!)

joerockt

Then expect responses like mine in kind.

Do a bit of research on Zanio. Espically at Autopia.org. You'll find its a hotly debated product, for one reason or another. The biggest being the advocation of using Dawn. I used it when I first got my TSX, it worked great at first, but as I learned more about detailing, I found their were other products out there (like Klasse) that gave me better results with less hassle.

You gotta stop #21 first baby!

stogie1020

No joke, my Acura dealership (North Scottsdale, AZ) carries AIO and SG in the service area! Reasonably priced as well.


And.... If Patrick or TOGWT say it, I would believe it before I believed what was on the bottle.




Mods: How is there no emoticon of a dude putting his foot in his mouth?

exceldetail

Well, the Merry Christmas was to interupt the eventual chaos, and the part about not affording a proper detail was about as serious as they come.........
Im friggin serious, its like people who buy million $ homes out here in So. Cal, but cant afford a landscaper to keep it green?
If you can afford a $500.00 a month payment, you can afford $20.00 a week in totallity for a quarterly detail.
Another version, $40.00 at Jiffy Lube every other month?
How much is a cell phone bill per month?...C'mon, show some pride...Its the people who dont care, that keep my busy on the weekends, But I'd rather be doing preventative care , then total swirl removal........Like the guy says, "Pay me now, or pay me later".........

evolpe

I believe in preventive care and would rather do things to my car myself than have someone else do it. If my car ever got into such bad shape that it needed work that i couldn't do, I would bring it to a detailer or try to learn the techniques myself, but not on my $34,000 car.

cmschmie

I am pretty sure that is the whole purpose of the detailers on this forum. They give THEIR advice to help US take better care of our car.

evolpe

I agree but are you going to take an orbital buffer to your car for the first time, knowing you could do some pretty serious damage, on your $34,000 car? Personally, I'd like to have some hands on experience first, not just some written instructions from someone who claims to be a detailer. There are few guys on here who's advise I would take, but if I felt my paint was so bad I needed it to be buffed, I would go to a pro to do. Let's be honest, we're all here looking at the wash and wax threads because we're meticulous about our car's appearance. One slip up and you will notice your mistake everyime you wash your car. My paint isn't in that kind of shape, it's an '06 so all I need to do is preventive care, something I don't need a detailer for. Especially not on a quarterly basis.

cmschmie

I understand and do agree. I've yet to take the plunge into orbital polisher for fear of damage. I've been more than happy with the results polishing/waxing by hand, but I'm sure as my car gets older (also an '06) a PC will really get me some great results
I can gaurantee that if I lived near any of the detailers on this site I wouldn't hesitate to bring my car to them and have them teach me to use a PC......as long as they're willing to teach. I've gotten nothing but great advice from them

evolpe

They seem knowledgable and I'm not trying to knock them. I'm new to these forums and didn't know who was knowlegable and who was BSing. I've been away from detailing for a few years now (I hit a dear with my prelude and never fixed it and didn't see the sense in making a dented up car shiny). I'm trying Zaino, since I already bought it and it's shipping today, but I am open to any product as long as it performs well. And as for the Dawn wash, I'm staying away from it. The clay bar should remove the wax. There shouldn't be much wax on an '06 anyways.

cmschmie

Glad to hear it. Heck, you can even use a Paint Cleaner (your Zaino kit may have some) after you clay, though that is a little over board, and get all the old wax off.

Post some pics when you're finished.

evolpe

No paint cleaner with the kit. It wasn't included and i didn't think I'd need it yet. My dad has a 56 Bel Aire (I think it's a 56) that has won best paint at a few car shows and he always gets compliments on it. If I can get some side by side shots of the two cars I will. He has like 8 coats of clear on it so the paint looks real deep. It's been sitting in the garage for a while so there might be some dust on it so the comparison might not be fair. I'll post sometime during my holiday vacation.

TOGWT

A manufacturer is free to place any claim of excellence he wants on his product to make it sell, but commercialism brings with it concerns of honesty and true representation. In other words, it’s difficult to know what is true when someone is motivated by income, i.e. directly targeted at product sales, more so than an unbiased opinion. It is my intent to educate, based on four plus decades of experience passing on to my readers not only the “How it works’ but “Why it works”. Because I’m passionate about what I do and care about making sure detailing is a fun and rewarding experience for the enthusiast

I only endorse a product that I have personal experience of by using it, rather than personal preference, brand loyalty or emotions. It is my intent to educate passing on knowledge that’s based on four plus decades of experience and what is left is experience, and experience unshared is knowledge wasted. I hope that you too enjoy the learning process as much as I do and with the help of the techniques and methods I’ve posted on this and other detailing forums your vehicle will become something to have pride in, or perhaps even become a “Best of Show” Concours d’élégance winner

Why share knowledge? I take time out of my day to contribute to these forums to educate and pass on five decades of experience to its members in not only the “How it works’ but “Why it works” and in turn be educated by them. Because I’m passionate about I do and care about making sure detailing is a fun and rewarding experience for the enthusiast.

Knowledge; Base your decision to use a product on scientific fact not marketing hype, which is only scientific fiction…

Jon Miller aka TOGWT

evolpe

I agree with everything you just said. When I was reading the Zaino site I was thinking, how do i know what they're saying is true. They can use fancy words and create some meaningless process but then call it a "polymophing polymerizing enhancement system" (I just made that up) and because it sounds fancy they expect us to believe it's good. But anyways, i have little experience with advanced detailing. I used the 3 step Maguiar's process on my Prelude a few years back, before it got a huge hood dent from a deer. I'm now just getting back into it. I ultimately did go with Zaino because I have a new paint surface and need relatively no abrasive properties, the filler in Z-5 will do until the summer when I'll put some Z-PC on the relatively damaged sections.

I'm a scientist like you (biostatistician) but I don't have the time or money to design a controlled experiment to test which performs best. What do you personally use?

evolpe

just so you guys don't think I'm an a-hole. here's some PMs between Exceldetail and myself.


Originally Posted by evolpe
Thanks, I really appreciate your help. I hope Pep Boys has something like you suggest. Also, I'm sorry if I might have come off like a dickhead in the thread about using dishwashing soap on your car. In hindsight I wish I never posted it.

Originally Posted by exceldetail
Originally Posted by evolpe
Excellent. Pep Boys had a variety of microfiber and terry cloth products, but I'm skeptical of most. I forgot to pick up a good shapoo mitt and will be going back today after work. Anything good you would suggest?

Originally Posted by exceldetail
Megs makes a great consumer and pro line. You dont have to worry about them cutting corners, even though its made in China. I sell microfibers by the thousands every year, and they're made in China (and S. Korea)......
Originally Posted by evolpe
Since you're a dealer I was hoping you could answer this question for me. Tonight I went to Pep Boys to get some stuff to remove polish and dry my car. I got some of the Mag's gold class towels and they're made in China. i have read even though the labels say 100% cotton, there are sometimes polyester than can scrath the paint's surface. However, I know Mag's is a good product and would think they knew better. What's the story? Are they good?

Thanks,
Ed

And happy Holidays

Ya cant go wrong with any Megs stuff, there is better but Megs is by no means bad.
As for a wash media, go with natural sheepskin. Stay away from synthetic wash articles.....Its hard enough keeping something swirl free.

Ed, not a problem. Remember im in e-commerce and see "dickheads" every day of the week. I appreciate the apology however. It takes a man to admit his mistakes. Take it a step further and cut and paste to the thread for all to see! Have a Merry Christmas!!

Hawhyen51

Most of us here pass info and offer advice because of experience. The regulars here on the forum won't pass on BS because they do want to help/assist. You'll figure out who they are. One can either choose to accept it or totally ignore it. BTW, welcome aboard ....... and you did come on a rather opinionated and you gotta expect some feedback. Have fun detailing.

wasupdog

iTrader: (2)

fwiw...i use zaino on my tl. i bought it used at a year and a half old so i used dawn on it once, although i was aware that it will dry out the oils on the rubber seals if overused. i don't plan on using dawn again. the first time i did the detail i read through hours and hours of posts of "zaino for n00bs" type posts before i did anything. i dawned, claybar'ed, rewashed and then applied the 3 coats with Z-6 gloss enhancer in between all of the coats and that pretty much took all friggin' day.

now, my car sits in garages 6 days a week at work and at home. going over the surface there really isn't that much grit and admittedly, there wasn't that all that much grit that the claybar took off when i first did it. about 1 or 2 times a month i wash and apply 1 coat of zaino with Z-6. i kinda alternate between Z-2 and Z-5 for the zaino coat. the Z-2 is glossier and the Z-5 is a little less so (some ppl like Z-5 better cus of this).

oh yea...here's my 2 cents. i think u said u just got your car new? you DO NOT even need to dawn it imo, and claying it is debatable as there probably is minimal grit. after using zaino for the last 7 months, i would only dawn a car if it really was dirty and gritty...ie if i bought a car used and the previous owner never washed it. dawn is strong, way too strong. the Z-whatever car wash is very mild, that is why it does not strip off the old protection.

hopefully my post makes common sense and doesn't confuse you or contradict what you were planning to do.

joerockt

Its actually a good idea to clay when your just get your car. A lot of stuff settles in on the surface in the months it takes traveling from the factory to your garage.