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Thanks.
PS - just to be clear, I'm not criticizing your post here b/c this is an appropriate forum, too. I just suggested the others 'cause multiple opinions can be helpful. Sorry I can't offer any insight myself.
timny....I am not in need of tires right now...but was looking into tire options when I was making my purchase decision of TL or G35 coupe. In terms of tires... decided to go TL as you will be unable to rotate the G35 coupe tires as the front and rear have different sizes...so I bet the tires will be eaten by 15k...not to mention that the brakes are known to be only good for 25k.
Anybody else have tire recommendations?
Believe me! If she'd go along with it, I would. Flat out refuses. Grounds for divorce?? :P
Driving home in torrential downpours lasts week, the Bridgestone's proved to be scary in puddles, too (easy hydroplane). I'm not happy. But I did wash and Z6 the Abyss Blue yesterday and it looks fabulous!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
Saw a Blue yesterday, it was very pretty. I almost regret not buying a Blue, but I don't regret having to wash my Silver every week. :P
Actually, I've been handwashing my cars (in the New England months that allow such an activity) since I bought my first car many, many, many, many (ok, now I'm depressed) years ago: A 1978 white VW Scirocco (bought used). FWD, 77hp and a bunch of fun. And rust!
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
I love washing my TL, it's fun and show it off. :P
I put Yoko Ono's on the evil wife's RX300, she loves 'em. I think Sears retreads might be an impovement on the Turanza's... :surprise:
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
anyways, my two options are 1)a "brushless" car wash around the corner. i used to take my maxima there, decent job, but that was a 97 maxima, so as long as it wasn't as dirty as before it went through the wash, i didn't care. i'm a little more concerned with my 05 TL. 2) a friend's house....45 miles away. unfortunately, i live in LA and 99% of the "homes" are condos/apartments. my only friend with an actualy house is way way way out in the 'burbs.
so , should i be afraid of automatic car wash places and just drive the 1 hour - 1.5 hours + buy my firend lunch every other weekend, or, is the "brushless" wash ok?
thanks!
ps, i'm also planning on claying/zaino-ing it for the 1st time this weekend. is there a major issue with getting the car washed, then driving it about 2 miles into my garage before i start claying?
I've heard that car washes with brushes are better. "Brushless" car washes have to use harsher chemicals to get the dirt off, but I guess if you were going to polish it afterward, that might be OK. I heard certain types of brushes are fine - hope someone can confirm that.
What color is your TL?
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
anyone have thoughts/feeling on those do it yourself car washes? i really just need a hose, i'd bring my own wash, towels, etc.
What do you recommend? All this talk about stripping wax and using Zaino treatments has me really nervous about my car care.
Oh - and does it matter what kind of towel I use for wiping off bird droppings and other occasional road dirt?
Jonathan
1. you want to use car wash for general washes; if you want to apply a polish or something that would go underneath a wax, you'll want to use Dawn's basic dishwashing liquid to wash the car.
2. Use 100% cotton washcloths or handtowels to wash the car - don't use the tapered ends b/c they're usually tapered with nylon that can scratch
3. Wash your car in the shade and not when the car is hot - the point is to wash and dry the car before the sun dries soap on it
4. use back-and-forth motions to wash, dry and wax the car - not circles
5. clean bird poop off ASAP.
6. I like to use regular cotton towels to dry the car too.
In general, to wash 'n wax, the order is wash, dry, wax on, wax off. If you're polishing, too, it's wash, dry, polish on, polish off, wax on, wax off.
Those are the minimums, which is what I genereally follow. However, if your car looks filthy after a light rain, that's when I'd wash with Dawn and use a polish. Zaino's real high grade stuff. I tried a cheap turtle wax car polish, just to see what happens and I was pretty happy with the results. I washed and dried the car, then wiped polish on the car. Waited about 1/2 hour for the polish to dry, and then waxed it. I work slowly, so I'd say I spent about 4 hours on this. I'm in FL and we're in our rainy season. about 2 mos has passed an it's been rained on heavily at least a dozen times and the only place my TL shows water-spots or lack of a shine is on the lip at the base of the trunk opening. The only thing I've done since that intial wash is (1) I wiped down the car with some kind of a glossy finisher (Meguires) that said would restore shine between washes (time: 20 min.) and once recently when after parking in my garage I noticed the watter didn't run off my hood, I used a squeegy to get it off (time: 1 min). So for my dark green TL, I've spent less than 6 hrs over 2 months and my finish looks glossy and clean.
One thing I can't figure out is how to stop my wheels from getting so black from the break dust!!!
I also tried silicone spray...that worked ok also. Also great to keep your rims from corroding.
Teflon spray also worked...but that stuff is expensive.
The easy way is to not only to spray a cleaner (as you have now discovered)...but also to get a dedicated paintbrush (a bigger one...like about 3" to 5") for cleaning the rims.
After you handwashed the car...splash the excess soap from the bucket onto the wheel then brush clean the rims. (Do not dip your brush into the soap bucket as you don't want the brake dust to contaminate your bucket and to get onto your car paint in future washes.) After brushing...hose the rim off (and the brush so it is ready for your next car cleaning...which you don't use it for anything else). Later dry the rims with papertowels and throw them out. Rims will stay clean for sometime as your rims are squeaky clean and won't attract more brake dust.
i have a question. how long should you wait to let the paint "cure" from the factory before applying any type of wax to the TL? the manufacture date of my TL is 06/05 or at least that's what it says on the inside of the driver's door jam. any help/advice is appreciated. thanks.
joe
The paint is already cure once it leaves the factory.
Thanks for the advice.
Joe
Thanks for the reply. However, I was looking more to get feedback from TL owners who have practical - real time experience in time frames for applying wax as opposed to getting a standard bureacratic answer (albeit probably true) from the local dealer. Thanks again.
Joe
'21 Dark Blue/Black Audi A7 PHEV (mine); '22 White/Beige BMW X3 (hers); '20 Estoril Blue/Oyster BMW M240xi 'Vert (Ours, read: hers in 'vert weather; mine during Nor'easters...)
My dealer is very good and helps me in many ways. For example, he told the best BlueToothe phone etc. Whenever I need help he is always very helpfull, and his advise always spot on! I understand, however, not all dealers are this good.
Thanks for your patience and help.
BTW...I washed and waxed the heck out of my other spare car this morning. I am bushed...took me something like 2.5 hrs. I think I will take it easy by going back to work tomorrow.
Thanks.
xxxxxxxxxx
#177 of 197 Re: In over my head [abstractlife] by taxesquire Aug 12, 2005 (2:14 pm)
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Replying to: abstractlife (Aug 12, 2005 1:18 pm)
How are the cars washed at the dealership? If you're not gonna do it yourself, I'm sure it's fine. I have a dark green/camel TL, so my problems are similar to yours. Here's some recomendations if you are gonna do it yourself:
1. you want to use car wash for general washes; if you want to apply a polish or something that would go underneath a wax, you'll want to use Dawn's basic dishwashing liquid to wash the car.
2. Use 100% cotton washcloths or handtowels to wash the car - don't use the tapered ends b/c they're usually tapered with nylon that can scratch
3. Wash your car in the shade and not when the car is hot - the point is to wash and dry the car before the sun dries soap on it
4. use back-and-forth motions to wash, dry and wax the car - not circles
5. clean bird poop off ASAP.
6. I like to use regular cotton towels to dry the car too.
In general, to wash 'n wax, the order is wash, dry, wax on, wax off. If you're polishing, too, it's wash, dry, polish on, polish off, wax on, wax off.
Those are the minimums, which is what I genereally follow. However, if your car looks filthy after a light rain, that's when I'd wash with Dawn and use a polish. Zaino's real high grade stuff. I tried a cheap turtle wax car polish, just to see what happens and I was pretty happy with the results. I washed and dried the car, then wiped polish on the car. Waited about 1/2 hour for the polish to dry, and then waxed it. I work slowly, so I'd say I spent about 4 hours on this. I'm in FL and we're in our rainy season. about 2 mos has passed an it's been rained on heavily at least a dozen times and the only place my TL shows water-spots or lack of a shine is on the lip at the base of the trunk opening. The only thing I've done since that intial wash is (1) I wiped down the car with some kind of a glossy finisher (Meguires) that said would restore shine between washes (time: 20 min.) and once recently when after parking in my garage I noticed the watter didn't run off my hood, I used a squeegy to get it off (time: 1 min). So for my dark green TL, I've spent less than 6 hrs over 2 months and my finish looks glossy and clean.
One thing I can't figure out is how to stop my wheels from getting so black from the break dust!!!
xxxxxxxxxxx
Regarding my Labor Day cleaning here is So Calif......I had to scold my buddy across the street. He got inspired by my washing today and decided to wash his Lexus 430 for the first time by hand. He threw Dawn full strength into his bucket and wasn't going to wax....but stopped him in time to share some of my Meguires car soap. However...that is better than the lady around the corner...she was using a used wet mop (honest) to wash her new BMW 550i. I figure she didn't want to get any soap on her hands. Hope the Ajax wasn't coming out for her.
Also...great...I didn't realize you had a dark green pearl TL! Just as I do. The color that will be retired after 2005.
I like towels for washing because I find the nap of the towel is abbrassive enough to get dirt off, but it won't scratch like some sponges. I use bathtowels for drying because its a lot quicker.
Yes, Delmar, I knew our TLs are the same green color that's getting discontinued. Guess that makes us fellow-oddballs?!? What color is your TSX?
PS - I'm not a carwash guru or anything, and my cars are rarely showroom condition. Just that when I do get around to washing, I like to do it right so I don't ahve to do it again for a long, long time!!!
PPS - next time you retrieve one of my posts, please correct the spelling errors!!!
Yeah...sorry to have forgotten about your car being dark green pearl... I still very much enjoy that color...more unique on the road.
My wife has a Carbon Grey with Quartz interior. Typically we stick to the grey or silver (which is my other current car) cars with a unique color thrown in. She loves that color...probably the best on that TSX.
ps...I could correct your spelling or I might just put "sic" to point them out and not to destroy the fabric of your postings.
best regards,
Jack