Looking for advice... Lunar Blue Mercedes

[johnm304]

I purchased a used Lunar Blue Mercedes two weeks ago. The paint is in VERY good shape - no swirls and a pretty smooth finish, although the trunk lid is a little "bumpy".

I am looking to do a round of detailing next weekend, so I'd love some product advice. Here's what my current plan is, based on what I have in my garage at the moment.

Please chime in... I don't want to make a mistake... she's my new love :)

1. Meguiars Gold Glass Soap
2. Meguiars smooth surface clay
3. Meguiars Ultimate Compound, Buff and Shine blue pad
4. Mirror glaze #7 WHAT Pad???
5. NXT 2.0, Buff and Shine white

As you can see... I have a quite a few Meguiars products, but I am open to suggestions.

Thank you!

[Mask]

Congrats in your new Mercedes :)
Your detail list looks cool ^^
For me, I would only compound if polishing doesn't work.
Machine apply polish and wax makes life so much easier too.

I also recommend looking into Meguiars detailer line:
D114
D156
D101
D108
M205

Looking forward for your beautiful after pictures :D

[johnm304]

Congrats in your new Mercedes :)
Your detail list looks cool ^^
For me, I would only compound if polishing doesn't work.
Machine apply polish and wax makes life so much easier too.

I also recommend looking into Meguiars detailer line:
D114
D156
D101
D108
M205

Looking forward for your beautiful after pictures :D


Is Meguair's Detailer line significantly better than there consumer line? (After spending $$$$ on a car, I don't mind spending a little bit more to get the right product.)

And, you caught a typo... I have Meguiar's ultimate POLISH. (Never had paint that needed compound... no idea where that came from!)

Thank you! I will definitely post a pic or 2.

[Ebg18t]

When you say the trunk is bumpy, is it contaminated? Bad paint?

Do you plan on decontaminating the paint (Iron-X)? If not I highly suggest it before spending the time on next steps.

I am not a Meguires fan, so no suggestions from me on those products.

[johnm304]

When you say the trunk is bumpy, is it contaminated? Bad paint?

Do you plan on decontaminating the paint (Iron-X)? If not I highly suggest it before spending the time on next steps.

I am not a Meguires fan, so no suggestions from me on those products.

It's not bad paint... just surface contamination I think. My best guess is tree sap. Odd though that the hood seems to be in fine shape. I think the clay should be able to take care of it.

I am not necessarily a Meguiars fan either; my local auto parts store stocks a pretty decent selection of Meguiars and... Turtle Wax. I rarely plan detailing adventures ahead of time. I am hoping to get an order together today or tomorrow from Autogeek so I have a broader range to choose from.

If you have any suggestions outside of Meguairs, I'm all ears!

[Don M]

I purchased a used Lunar Blue Mercedes two weeks ago. The paint is in VERY good shape - no swirls and a pretty smooth finish, although the trunk lid is a little "bumpy".

I am looking to do a round of detailing next weekend, so I'd love some product advice. Here's what my current plan is, based on what I have in my garage at the moment.

Please chime in... I don't want to make a mistake... she's my new love :)

1. Meguiars Gold Glass Soap
2. Meguiars smooth surface clay
3. Meguiars Ultimate Compound, Buff and Shine blue pad
4. Mirror glaze #7 WHAT Pad???
5. NXT 2.0, Buff and Shine white

As you can see... I have a quite a few Meguiars products, but I am open to suggestions.

Thank you!

Unless the car has single stage paint (no clearcoat) then you would use the #7. If it has clear, there is no point in the 7, the Ultimate Polish has plenty of the trade secret oils in it.

The Detailer and Professional Lines are a bit different than the consumer products, but if you're just starting out, then I would stick with the consumer line, they're more forgiving. The exception would be that with the pro and detailer lines you can buy in bulk which offsets the cost a bit, things such as their glass cleaner, Ultimate Quik Detailer and Ult Quik Wax, car wash soap, plastic and rubber dressings and cleaners and so on ...

[rms64]

Greetings...may want to check out the thread below for some excellent information on (potentially) your new car's paint:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/47152-ceramiclear-paints-careful.html

[johnm304]

Greetings...may want to check out the thread below for some excellent information on (potentially) your new car's paint:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/47152-ceramiclear-paints-careful.html

Thanks for the heads up... just checked my paint code, it is not ceramiclear. The paint have virtually no swirls or scratches - I had thought for a moment that it might have been ceramiclear.

[johnm304]

Unless the car has single stage paint (no clearcoat) then you would use the #7. If it has clear, there is no point in the 7, the Ultimate Polish has plenty of the trade secret oils in it.

The Detailer and Professional Lines are a bit different than the consumer products, but if you're just starting out, then I would stick with the consumer line, they're more forgiving. The exception would be that with the pro and detailer lines you can buy in bulk which offsets the cost a bit, things such as their glass cleaner, Ultimate Quik Detailer and Ult Quik Wax, car wash soap, plastic and rubber dressings and cleaners and so on ...

Gotcha! thank you.

[Mask]

Is Meguair's Detailer line significantly better than there consumer line? (After spending $$$$ on a car, I don't mind spending a little bit more to get the right product.)

And, you caught a typo... I have Meguiar's ultimate POLISH. (Never had paint that needed compound... no idea where that came from!)

Thank you! I will definitely post a pic or 2.

What Don M said ^^
I started out using Meguiars consumer range years ago but the price here is crazy.
For me will be branding option since a bottle carpro iron x 500ml cost cheaper than ultimate polish 16oz here : 18 USD vs 23 USD
Over the years I tried many products (not all) and I now only look for local accessibility and price.
I use:
D114 (1:15) for glass / waterless /QD & clay lube
D101 (1:9) for interior cleaning
D108 (1:5) for interior tough stain/ exterior and engine.
D156 for drying aid after every wash
D110 for me work a little better than gold class soap.

I might add M26 later since everyone seems to like it for show LOOK :)

[Ebg18t]

It's not bad paint... just surface contamination I think. My best guess is tree sap. Odd though that the hood seems to be in fine shape. I think the clay should be able to take care of it.

I am not necessarily a Meguiars fan either; my local auto parts store stocks a pretty decent selection of Meguiars and... Turtle Wax. I rarely plan detailing adventures ahead of time. I am hoping to get an order together today or tomorrow from Autogeek so I have a broader range to choose from.

If you have any suggestions outside of Meguairs, I'm all ears!

Since you are saying the paint is in good condition after claying I would polish with Menzerna SF4500 or CarPro Refect then Seal with Menzerna PowerLock. Menzerna SF & CarPro Reflect really enhance the depth of the paint. Menzerna PowerLock is a easy to use sealant that looks awesome. An alternative to PowerLock is the Wolfgang sealant. Solid protection and good quality!

[johnm304]

Since you are saying the paint is in good condition after claying I would polish with Menzerna SF4500 or CarPro Refect then Seal with Menzerna PowerLock. Menzerna SF & CarPro Reflect really enhance the depth of the paint. Menzerna PowerLock is a easy to use sealant that looks awesome. An alternative to PowerLock is the Wolfgang sealant. Solid protection and good quality!

Just to make sure I got this right... I can use the buff & shine blue pad with the SF4500 and buff & shine white with the powerlock?

Running behind on my detailing project, already!

[Ebg18t]

Just to make sure I got this right... I can use the buff & shine blue pad with the SF4500 and buff & shine white with the powerlock?

Running behind on my detailing project, already!

With buff & shine you can polish (using SF) with white, green or blue depending on how much cut you need as all 3 of those are polishing pads.

Apply PowerLock with black pad.

I use lake flat pads so my buff & shine pad experience is limited. I don't know how different blue, green & white really are, but they are all polishing pads, black is a finishing pad.