Did you recently take on (or consider) a loan of 84 months or longer on a car purchase?
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Paint and Body Care
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Vern
(CDR Lew)
I have 40 years of being a car fanatic, and have tried almost everything to coax a little better shine and /or durability out of my car finishes. Carnuba waxes have been around longer than cars, and it's about time that modern chemistry gave us something better. I am only voicing MY opion.
However, I am as skeptical as they come, and I thoroughly investigated this product for a year before I tried it. dhanley is the ONLY detractor that has supposedly tried the product that I have ever seen. THAT is what makes me wonder what is wrong here.
ps - Thank for being there.
No good purpose is served when negative opinions of products that have NOT been tried by the poster are offered.
If someone says they have tried a particular product and found that it has no advantage over another particular product, that's fine. If another reads that post and has a different experience, posting that different experience is fine as well.
There is no need to get into arguments over differing experiences - obviously, our differences are what make us who we are and are just part of life.
All of you here know (or should know) that respectful discourse is required in Town Hall. If anyone needs a review of the Participant Agreement, just follow the link on the left side of this page.
We are getting a little too close for comfort to some previous difficulties we've had around these issues, so let's just take a deep breath and go back to sharing constructive posts on Paint and Body Care.
Thanks.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Service
Vern
"I just took delivery on a new Forester for my wife and the leather steering wheel cover has a slight (3" long or so, in a spiral around the wheel) mark. It looks like maybe the bozo who was taking off the "protective" covering on the wheel used a knife and accidentally 'sliced' the leather.
"It is strictly a surface mark but you can feel it
on the wheel. The dealer says their prep room will
"buff it out." But I'm wondering if maybe I can't
do the repair myself -- after all, they're probably the same bozos who got the cut in there in the first place.
"Do any of you have any way of smoothing the damage so it's not so noticeable against your fingers. I'd also like to avoid making it any more visible.
"Thanks for any suggestions.
"Take care.
"Joe W>"
However, let them try - perhaps they have some special stuff that can restore the feel after buffing. BUT remember - you will be touching this part of the car for a LONG time, so insist that it is perfect!
Good Luck.
I'd be completely open to repeating my test if there are people from the forum who can judge the 2 halves of the car in my area ( albuquerque ). I can video tape myself applying the different polishes, and then have people unaware of which 1/2 is which judge the 2 halves then and a few month later. Aside from that we can just agree to disagree which is fine with me.
dave
Thank you in advance for all your help.
I think you will get a better answer to your question if you post it in a topic where other GS 300 owners are hanging out. Here is a link to a popular topic in our Sedans conference:
The Lexus GS - Part Three
Good luck and again, welcome.
Pat
Community Leader/Maintenance & Repair Conference
but after reading so many pro-post on zaino's, i was going to order me a kit for both my truck and my new maxima. figured i should get some feedback from everyone on here first. is zaino worth the money? i've used finish2001 before and i absoluately loved the ease and shine that i get out of the product. but figure i would give zaino a try too... any thoughts?
Several things impressed me about Zaino over the others. They are:
1. I put 1 coat on my mother-in-laws Taurus about 5 months ago. With the recent rains, the car was still beading water very nicely. Now, her car only gets driven about 12 miles a day when she goes to lunch, and remains garaged the rest of the time, but still, I found 5 months to be impressive.
2. I hit some road tar in my white car. I thought that I would have to go get all the bug/tar removers and work hard to remove it. A Z7 wash and a little rubbing pulled all the tar off.
3. I find that bugs are far easier to remove than they were with other waxes. My car is driven daily, garaged at night, and I apply Z2 about once every 3 months. It still beads, but I just feel better with a "fresh" coat on a regular basis.
4. The older I get, the harder it seems to get out there and wax the car. The Z products are easy enough to use that it is no longer a "chore" to have a nice looking car.
I bought Z1,Z2 and Z7 last December. I just now have to order more Z2. I did a 300M 5 times and a 98 Taurus once with that bottle. IMHO, at 8 bucks a bottle, it's a bargain. I still have enough Z7 for about 5 or 6 more washes. Again, in my opinion, that's lasted a pretty fair amount of time, and Z7 is another 8 bucks well spent.
Finally, most of the posters on the Z board have no financial stake in Zaino. Sal depends on word of mouth to advertise his product. When one finds a product that is easy to use, long lasting and produces an excellent shine, we just want to do our part to help keep Sal in business!
Kyleknicks, Ask yourself this: look at the zaino homepage. Why isn't the stuff sold in stores? Do we really believe that sal zaino has made dozens of "moleclar chemistry" discoveries? If it's as good as he claims, why doesn't he copyright the 30 or so molecular discoveries he has made, sell them to meguiars for a couple million, plus royalties, and retire happily?
I don't think the car z-7 wash is any different than the others on the market. As far as i can tell it's just like meguiar's wash, texture, look, cleaning power, foamibility, with a little perfume added.
Whatever you do, don't get the custom polish applicatior. It's a little terry cloth towel wrapped around a foam sponge. Period. A folded towel will work better.
Like I said I am willing to repeat the test if there are interested observers. I think video proof would be too long to post to a web page, though.
dave
Also - I wonder why the only time we see you post is to put down Zaino products, not to offer other positive advice to others?
Kylenicks - There is only one person on the Zaino board that is also a distributor, and he offers a lot of good advice to new and old users alike. In fact he is so low key that no one knew until someone mentioned it. Also, each distributor has such a small territory that posting on this international forum is not likely to help business too much!
Also - there may be people on this and other forums with vested interests in other products - there is no way to know, is there?
dave
All I know is I sent a personal check with an order for Z1,Z2,Z7,Z9&Z10 -almost $70 worth of products, and I received my order in just over 1 week. Nothing shady so far. It works well and it's easy to apply, and the "manufacturer" will talk with you personally to discuss proper use or other car care issues.
I guess there is a small faction of people who would rather have control over their product rather than sell it to some conglomerate for them to change it to save a penny here or there. Kind of like Kentucky Fried Chicken - Colonel Sanders kept the recipie secret until he died. His heirs sold out to Pepsico, and the chicken's never been the same since.
Nice shiny car. But both my cars shine like that
too when they're clean.
pjyoung: I'm just pointing out the "i sell personally to keep quality high and avoid headaches" is just B.S. I know he takes phone calls. I called him. Isn't that headache?
dave
PLEASE stick with the wax you like so much - someone has to buy it!
Meanwhile folks, you only have to look around at other car forums, not just paint and wax forums, but on the the AudiWorld, Mercedes, Corvette and dozens of others to see countless unsolicited happy Z users with photos to show they are not faking it. The only thing "shady" around here is dhanley's constant negativity towards a single product. Hmmmm.
Back to Paint Care!
dave
How did "choses" get past the Spellcheck, anyway? While "chose" is a word, I'm not aware that "choses" is/
On your Maxima, according to Edmunds, Clearcoat was standard, so you'd need the Z2. I too have a white car, and I can only see swirl marks if I look at it juuuuust the right way, so I didn't opt for the Z5. I might order it in a future order, but unless you can really see swirl marks in the Max, I'd just opt for the Z2. I would really recommend the Z7 wash though. There's just something about it that I can't describe. And one capful to a bucket of water has proved to be sufficient.
Bottom Line, Z1,Z2,Z7 at a minimum, and maybe Z5 for the Jimmy.
BTW, I have used GS27 and for anyone who's curious, I think it sucks. -eagle
If you want a finish that lasts much longer and seems to offer better protection than wax, you can try the polymer finish that is discussed a little above and at length on the Zaino forum here. Have Fun!
where the paint has chipped. It shows black underneath (the car is dark blue) but there is no rust. I don't have any touchup paint for it and I wondered if I bought some (of the correct color) whether it would match exactly now that the car is over ten years old. The paint doesn't appear to be faded at all and I've kept the car waxed over the years. I may be selling the car in a few months so I don't want to "mess up" the touchup.
I also want to thank everyone who posted about their (bad) experiences with GS27. I bought a tube a while ago but never got a chance to use it. Now at least I won't be messing up the hood with that. Any suggestions? I'm pretty much a cheapskate Toyota owner so I don't think I'll have it professionally done.
who or where is the source for the "paint leveler"? Will the dealer carry it usually?
I tried to find some at Wal-Mart the other day...but had no luck
thanx,
Vern
Vern
Step 1) Interior: The interior of my cars were always pretty clean. The only products I tested were for the leather.
Nominees: Meguiar's Gold Glass Leather Cleaner/ Conditioner, Mothers leather cleaner and conditioner, Conolly leather "Hide" and cleaner.
TOP PERFORMER: Conolly Products
Step 2) Wheels: The wheels of my BMWs were always coated with excessive brake dust. I used many kinds of wheel cleaners, and the nominees are:
Eagle One Wheel Cleaner, Castrol Wheel Cleaner, Meguiars Gold Class Wheel Cleaner, Meguiars Hi-Tech wheel cleaner.
TOP PERFORMER: Meguiars Hi-Tech wheel cleaner
Step 3) Washing: This step removes fresh dirt and light contaminants.
Nominees: Meguiars Gold Class Car Wash, Zaino Bros Car Wash, Meguiars Hi-Tech Car Wash, Blue Coral Self Wash, Mothers Gold Wash, Zymols Car Wash
TOP PERFORMER: Meguiars Hi-Tech Wash and Blue Coral Self Wash
Step 4) Surface Prep: This is important because you do not want to wax over contaminants. Surface Prep cleans the paint leaving it smooth.
Nominees: Meguiar's, Zaino Bros', Mothers Claybars, Meguiars Gold Class and Zaino Bros' Surface Prep.
TOP PERFORMER: Mothers Clay and Zaino Bros. Clay
Step 5) Polishing: This step is usually optional.
Nominees: Meguiar's Step 2 Polish, Zaino Bros Surface Prep/Polish, Meguiars Swirl Remover, Polish, Fine Cut and Medium Cut cleaner.
BEST RESULTS: Zaino Bros' Surface Prep/Polish
Step 6) Wax/Protecting: This step protects the paint from harmful UV rays, etc.
Nominees: Zymol, Mothers, Meguiars Wax, Zaino Bros' Polish (protects)
BEST RESULTS: Zaino Bros' and Zymol
Other "best results:" Meguiars Gold Class Endurance Tire Gel, Eagle One TIRE cleaner, Rain X WIndow Cleaner, Rain X Window Polish
If someone comes in here looking for advice, I'll post my results and the products I use to get those results. If someone doesn't want to use Zaino (for whatever reason, be it the way they distribute, or some other shortcoming that they perceive with Zaino) then far be it from me to try to change their mind. It's no sweat off my back if someone doesn't like Zaino products. I am proud to post my experiences and my results because I've never found any product that works as well.
Since you obviously care - Please try Lemon Pledge for the interior - Wood, Vinyl, chrome, plastic and even the leather between conditioning treatments. You may be surprised at how well it works! Spray on a soft cloth, wipe and buff.
Also - Don't forget to Scotchguard your carpets while you can still get it!
Also - one key to getting it right with the leveler is to wrap one layer of the cloth tightly around a flat stick or pice of cardboard. This keeps the leveler from going into the chip, making a depression, which WILL happen if you use your finger on the cloth.
Good Luck!
Vern
Vern
1.) Lexol Leather Cleaner and Conditioner
2.) Lemon Pledge (on the leather)
3.) Scotchguard (if I can find it)
4.) Blech-Wite (I've heard it's strong, but I dont want to get my Bimmers wheels discolored, etc. So I made this cover for the wheels, and hopefully this will prevent it from damaging the excellent BBS on the '89.
5.)Turbo Wax (this is SUPPOSED to be like Blue Coral's Self Spray-On wash, but better)
3M recently stopped making it - here is the link to their press release:
http://www.3m.com/profile/pressbox/fluorochem.html
Also - I have been using the Pledge on auto interiors for 20+ years with never a problem.
Vern - Good Luck!
I must say that it do a good job of cleaning off the dust and pollen and leaving the dash without any residue or shine. Best part, it was free (well the first time).
Scotchguard "leather" protector (?) in the home cleaner section, near the Goo Gone (citrus gunk remover)
Thanx-Jon (automophile)
Vern