2018 Chevy Equinox Redline - New car prep with Cquartz

[The Guz]

For those that are not aware my brother ended up selling the 1999 Tahoe that he purchased from one of our uncles.

1999 Tahoe -> CarPro Essence + Cquartz TiO2 + Gliss

He took that money and used it towards a 2 year lease of a 2018 Chevrolet Equinox with the Redline package.

The packages includes the black bow ties, black with red side badges and the black wheels with the red accents. This is an LT model on paper with a 2.0L turbo that puts out 252 HP and 260 ft-lbs of torque. Good get up and go for this little thing.

He opted to not have the dealer wash it/detail it. He also wanted a coating on it to protect the paint and last as long as his lease. Less maintenance and less worry for him.

Before I continue these are the products used.

Prep:
CarPro Ironx
McKee’s 37 Coating Prep Wash
Griot’s Fine Surface Prep Mitt
CarPro Immolube at 1:5

Polish & prep:
Rupes LHR15 MKII, Rupes Mini, Rupes iBrid Nano
Rupes Yellow Foam pad
Optimum Hyper Polish
CarPro Eraser

Protection:
CarPro Cquartz TiO2 (aka Classic)
CarPro Gliss
Wheels:
CarPro Ironx
CarPro Essence
CarPro Cquartz UK
CarPro Cquartz TiO2

Tires:
Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner
McKee’s 37 Tire Coating

Ironx in action. As seen brand new vehicles can certainly have iron contaminants. Came out kind of dark due to the shade.





As I rinsed of the ironx there were signs that something was on the paint aka wax or sealant. The McKee’s Coating Prep Wash stripped about 85% of it and left the other areas degraded.

After the wash the paint and glass was clayed with CarPro Immolube and the Griot’s Fine Surface Prep Mitt. There were contaminants on the flat surfaces of the paint. Once complete, the paint was wiped down with Blackfire Paint Prep to remove the residue from Immolube.

I was then able to asses the paint. The good thing is that there were not a lot of defects in this paint. Not the horrendous DISO that is common on new cars. I could barely pick up the defects on cam.



I had originally planned to use Essence as I was going to be coating the paint with Cquartz but I would not have enough to do the entire thing. Barely had enough to polish out the wheels with what I had. So I then gave Sonax Perfect Finish a go with a Rupes Yellow foam pad and that worked well. I got the entire font end and stopped using it. The reason why is because I was not in the mood to clean up dust which is the annoying thing I find with Perfect Finish even after some slight adjustments. Went back into the cabinet and gave Optimum Hyper Polish a go and that worked just as good as Sonax but without the dust. The only downside is that it stains pads. My Rupes yellow pads are light green due to the blue dye of the polish lol.

I prep wipe with Eraser to remove the polishing oils as I go. Once done I come back with another prep wipe. Then I finished it off with two coats of Cquartz TiO2 and one coat of Gliss. TiO2 to me looks best on light colored paints adding that additional reflectivity from the TiO2 within the SiO2 mixture.

The glass was clayed, prep wiped and finished off with McKee’s glass coating. Used two coats on the front and rear hatch to test and see if two coats lasts longer than one.

The trim was cleaned, prep wiped and protected with Gyeon Trim. Topped with Gyeon Cure 24 hours later.

Finished results with losing daylight but highlights the gloss.







I had cleaned the tires during the paint correction phase using Tuf Shine Tire Cleaner and received three coats of McKee’s Tire Coating. But one week later I polished them in preparation for a coating. They were polished with my remaining Essence, prep wiped with Eraser and coated with the CQUK + TiO2 combo (one coat of each) primarily to use up the remaining coatings in these bottles. Essence removed some light defects and the gloss from this combo made the wheels pop.



In full sun.







One week later after the first wash with McKee's N914 and using EcH20 as a drying aid and in the daylight.



It is now protected and will last him the entire ownership of his lease. Thanks for reading.

[Justin at Final Inspection]

Nice results. It's always nice to get a new car that's a mess already.

[The Guz]

Nice results. It's always nice to get a new car that's a mess already.

Thanks. I agree. Made it easier to work on.

[JustJesus]

looking good man!

You should have buzzed me (haha). I could have given you Essence. Next time, man.

Those wheels look crazy glossy.

Nice job, Guz

[SWETM]

Awesome write up and pictures! Great work on your brother car!

/Tony

[Chopper280]

Your combo of products were dead on for the color.
Looks Great and thanks for the info.

[The Guz]

looking good man!

You should have buzzed me (haha). I could have given you Essence. Next time, man.

Those wheels look crazy glossy.

Nice job, Guz

Thanks. Who knew you even had it lol. I still thought you were on vacation. Next time for sure.

The wheels came out great. Even I was wowed.

Awesome write up and pictures! Great work on your brother car!

/Tony

Thanks. Glad you enjoyed the write and the journey I took you on.

Your combo of products were dead on for the color.
Looks Great and thanks for the info.

Thanks. I agree with the combination of products I used made this paint pop. Glad to hear you took something away. Always nice to hear that.

[JustJesus]

Thanks. Who knew you even had it lol. I still thought you were on vacation. Next time for sure.

The wheels came out great. Even I was wowed.

I sometimes forget what I have. I'll have to inventory soon. Have to anyway, as I'm reorganizing the garage and will be eliminating products I won't be using.

[Sizzle Chest]

Great post!! Pics, work, everything. Came out very nicely!

[The Guz]

Great post!! Pics, work, everything. Came out very nicely!

Thank you.