Lexus RX 350 Detail

**jakeclk** · 06-01-2015, 09:55 PM

Hi all,

I spent the better part of the weekend detailing my wife's DD, a black 2014 Lexus RX 350. Although I did not take any "before" pictures, the vehicle was thoroughly encrusted with bugs and had its share of light swirls and water spots (black shows everything!!). Although I am very happy with my results, the real purpose of this post is to share my experience with the various products that I used.

Here is the process that I followed:

(1) 2 Bucket wash (WG Auto Bathe)
(2) Wheels cleaned with Sonax Full Effect
(3) Decon with Iron X
(4) Decon with Nanoskin Washmit (Glide Lubricant)
(5) HD Speed on Roof
(6) Carpro Reflect (white LC Hybrid on Flex 3401)

Working backwards... I discovered the remaining water spots and swirl remnants...

(7) Carpro spotless
(8) Menz Fg400 (on horizontal surfaces)
(9) Carpro Reflect (on horizonntal surfaces; though FG400 finished near LSP ready); and
(10) Menz Color Lock.

Although I should have known better and performed a proper test spot, I learned a lot from my mistakes. For starters, I learned that Reflect is purely a finishing polish. I know... you already knew that, but I had hoped that it would suffice for the minor swirls on my wife's DD. Despite its limitations cut-wise, Reflect is my favorite finishing polish. It break down really fast, is easy to remove and leaves a glossy finish that is second to none.

Second, with all the recent buzz about every polish or compound other than Menzerna (for example HD, Carpro, Sonax, etc), I was starting to wonder whether my vast collection of Menzerna products was obsolete. Having realized that I was asking too much of Reflect, I needed a quick solution to the remaining marring on my wife's vehicle. Enter Menz FG400. Up to this point I had not used it much. I had one bad experience with too much dust (more like snow), which was a function of too much product and running my flex at too high a speed. This time, I opted to follow Zac McGovern's advice for using Reflect. I used an orange LC hybrid pad, applied 4-5 small drops of FG-400 (did not prime the pad) and ran the flex at 3.75. With subsequent sections I only applied 3 small drops. With each section, I made 2-3 passes with pressure and final pass or two with no pressure. This left me with a slight haze which was amazingly easy to remove. The resulting finish was excellent and had it not been for some other posts that I read on AGO I would have gone straight to my LSP. Sum total, FG400 retains an important place on my detailing shelf.

Lastly, I know that there has been much debate about PowerLock vs WGDGS vs BFWD vs whatever else is in vogue.... and I have and tried most of them with great results. For this particular job I tried Menzerna Color Lock. There has not been much discussion on AGO or elsewhere about this LSP, but as far as I am concerned it is completely underrated. Color Lock applies as easily as Power Lock although removal requires slightly more effort. It differs from the other sealants insofar as it leaves a true carnauba finish. One thin coat yielded excellent gloss with the warmth that can be expected from only carnauba paste waxes. The pictures might not give you the full effect, but I can only recommend that you give it try.