The Detailers Cafe
The Café Detailing Help Desk => Detailing Help => Topic started by: Too Stroked on May 14, 2020, 05:13:04 PM
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Like most of you, I have products that I use more because they work for me than because they're the latest and greatest. If I were to purchase every new product that came out and claimed to be the best, I'd have a detailing cabinet full of stuff I don't use - which of course I do. That said, my go to polishing polishes have been Meguiar's M101 Foam Cut (for heavy correction) and Meguiar's M205 (for final polishing) for the last 5 years or so. I also like Menzerna SIP for heavy correction work.
Lately, I've seen a lot of buzz about a product called 3D One and in the spirit of testing something new, I thought I'd try it. Since my new part time job as Parts Driver for a local Toyota dealership has recently expanded to include some detailing work (yes, word got out), I had a whole new reason to try something better and a limitless supply of used cars to test new products out on. So I ordered a quart a few weeks back and actually tried it out this week.
So what did I find? First of all, the ads claim you can use this product with virtually any pad and stepping up in aggressiveness (of the pad) just increases your correction ability. (Yea right, I said.) Well, they seem to be correct. After playing with different pads and amounts of product, I learned that you only need a very small amount of product and it lasts a long time. Use too much product and you'll have fun smearing it around instead of wiping it off. Get the amount right though and boy does it correct nicely. In fact I'd say that you can even finish with a white pad on the Flex - with zero dust!
I'm still playing with pad combinations and will post some pics up when I get a chance, but I wanted to get this information out there and see what you folks think.
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I don't read books. Only magazines. Magazines have pictures. Where are the pictures?
Kidding. Sort of. I need to give my truck a polish and coating so I need to start absorbing some of this info.
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That sounds very interesting. I'll do some looking into it. Although I don't really need anything at this time, it's always cool to hear about something new.
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I had to so some reading up before asking questions, to try to sound intelligent.
The single product changing out the pad is a 'hallmark' of PB ProPolish.
I have not had luck in removing more severe defects using PB PP and switching to an ORG pad. Well I have, it just takes a long time. EG: Turning a 4x4 into a 2x4 using 320 grit sandpaper.
Did you find this to be the case with 3D One ?
Given PB PP is all chemical reaction, and 3D One has mechanical components to it.
On your test whip, did you find marring after an IPA wipe down post step down in pad change ?
Best to note if your test whip is more hard or soft paint.
I have read this, no 1st hand experience of it.
- Similar reviews say it works great on severe defects by adding scratch doctor to it... :dope:
I have been following this on Detailed Image for about 4 months, but your are the 1st level review I have seen, and it is bringing me some hope it works as advertised.
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Sorry it took me so long, but here's some pics of an "exterior only" detail I did Saturday. The truck was delivered after dark Friday night - in the rain - so the "before" pics aren't all that great. That said, for a 2015 truck with just over 70,000 miles on it, the paint was in pretty decent shape. Then again, it was the color we all love to hate - black. So here's some before pics:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0735_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0733_1_.JPG)
Since the original reason I started this thread was to discuss the use of 3D One, that's what I used to polish this truck. Since a good part of the hype about using this product is that you can use it with just about any pad, after a little experimentation I went with White Lake Country pads on the Flex run at full speed. The 3D One allowed almost a limitless number of passes and didn't seem to give up much correction ability as it went. The best part was absolutely zero dust.
How well did it work? Well, here's some shots after only one full pass followed by Menzerna / Jescar Power Lock. You be the judge.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0745_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0742_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0743_1_.JPG)
And just to show that after all these years I can still be cheap and shameless, here's a reflecto shot:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0739_1_.JPG)
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I had to so some reading up before asking questions, to try to sound intelligent.
The single product changing out the pad is a 'hallmark' of PB ProPolish.
I have not had luck in removing more severe defects using PB PP and switching to an ORG pad. Well I have, it just takes a long time. EG: Turning a 4x4 into a 2x4 using 320 grit sandpaper.
Did you find this to be the case with 3D One ?
Given PB PP is all chemical reaction, and 3D One has mechanical components to it.
On your test whip, did you find marring after an IPA wipe down post step down in pad change ?
Best to note if your test whip is more hard or soft paint.
I have read this, no 1st hand experience of it.
- Similar reviews say it works great on severe defects by adding scratch doctor to it... :dope:
I have been following this on Detailed Image for about 4 months, but your are the 1st level review I have seen, and it is bringing me some hope it works as advertised.
Steve,
I know you're a big fan of PP and have had very good luck with it. I tried it a few times many years ago and just couldn't get it to work. As I stated earlier, my first test of 3D One wasn't all that great, but definitely showed promise, so I kept trying.
My first crash test dummy was a very average looking "lease return" black 2019 Toyota Rav4 at the dealership. I was trying to convince the Sales manager that a little quick polishing could do wonders for the curb appeal of dark colored vehicles, so I showed him this vehicle and told him to stop back in exactly 45 minutes.
Now here's where "dealer detailing" is very different from the kind we all do on a regular basis. It's all about how fast you can get the biggest bang for the buck in making vehicles look better so they grab potential customer's eyes. (I call it "meatball detailing.") So I cheated big time here and didn't mask any black textured plastic, I just stayed away from it. I also didn't do anything below about half way down the doors. I did do the whole hood and rear hatch, but did not do any significant correction work other than a few fairly minor scratches that I did spend a little extra time on. Here's what it looked like after one full pass with 3D One on an Orange LC pad:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0731_1_.JPG)
Right on time, the Sales Manager showed up 45 minutes later. He couldn't believe the difference. Looks like we may be using more of this product in the future.
As for your questions on marring, so far, I haven't had anything to speak of. I'm slowly stepping up in agressiveness on pads and plan on trying some Yellow LC pads next week. I'll keep you guys posted.
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..<snip>...
As for your questions on marring, so far, I haven't had anything to speak of. I'm slowly stepping up in agressiveness on pads and plan on trying some Yellow LC pads next week. I'll keep you guys posted.
The question might be more applicable to the truck you did at the house.
Post LC White pad ( assuming old school white foam ) single pass did you do a wipe down or paint clean before the PL application ?
- Maybe add in if you had any heavy amount of down pressure or if you let the Flex do the work like a Long Throw polisher.
I noticed that OPT HyperPolish at times would fill some minor defects, so an IPA ( I use the GG paint cleaner ) was needed to make sure the paint was clear of defects.
I'll offer my Rupes to you again now that you are going to be "meatball detailing" if you want to try a long throw polisher.
- I did not see a delta to the flex, but I am not doing 5 vehicles a day..
Thank you for the review and the additional info. I just created a Detailed Image order, and added in a 8oz bottle of it to try on the front clip of the Nav.
- There are a few marks that I need to get out, and this will be nice test vs the MF pad and Hyper Twin that I was using on it before.
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..<snip>...
As for your questions on marring, so far, I haven't had anything to speak of. I'm slowly stepping up in agressiveness on pads and plan on trying some Yellow LC pads next week. I'll keep you guys posted.
The question might be more applicable to the truck you did at the house.
Post LC White pad ( assuming old school white foam ) single pass did you do a wipe down or paint clean before the PL application ?
- Maybe add in if you had any heavy amount of down pressure or if you let the Flex do the work like a Long Throw polisher.
I noticed that OPT HyperPolish at times would fill some minor defects, so an IPA ( I use the GG paint cleaner ) was needed to make sure the paint was clear of defects.
I'll offer my Rupes to you again now that you are going to be "meatball detailing" if you want to try a long throw polisher.
- I did not see a delta to the flex, but I am not doing 5 vehicles a day..
Thank you for the review and the additional info. I just created a Detailed Image order, and added in a 8oz bottle of it to try on the front clip of the Nav.
- There are a few marks that I need to get out, and this will be nice test vs the MF pad and Hyper Twin that I was using on it before.
To answer your specific questions:
- I did a 50/50 alcohol / water wipe down after the 3D One and before the Jescar Power Lock. I didn't see any evidence of fillers hiding defects.
- With the Flex, I did not use any significant down pressure and never do. I always try to let the product do the work.
- As for the offer to use your Rupes, believe it or not, they've got a Rupes Bigfoot at work for me to use. I've tried it several times and still do not like it compared to the Flex. The big things I don't like are the "soft start" feature and the fact that you can very easily stall the rotary motion. You can't stall my Flex. Thanks for the offer though!
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To answer your specific questions:
- I did a 50/50 alcohol / water wipe down after the 3D One and before the Jescar Power Lock. I didn't see any evidence of fillers hiding defects.
- With the Flex, I did not use any significant down pressure and never do. I always try to let the product do the work.
- As for the offer to use your Rupes, believe it or not, they've got a Rupes Bigfoot at work for me to use. I've tried it several times and still do not like it compared to the Flex. The big things I don't like are the "soft start" feature and the fact that you can very easily stall the rotary motion. You can't stall my Flex. Thanks for the offer though!
Tom Thanks for the info. Soon enough I'll have some 1st hand on the 3D one product, I added a bottle based on your review here.
Good to hear I am not crazy ( on this ) about the Rupes.
I got one from all the hype about how much better it was than the Flex, and I found it to be complete crap.
I did the modification ( problem 1 of many with it, needing to be modified to work ) and it did not help much with the stalling. I changed from the shim with washer to trim the edge, and it did nothing different than the washer shimming.
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Had some time for some more experimentation and testing the other day on another black RAV4 that needed some love at work. It was a typical 2 year lease return vehicle that looked like it had been washed (repeatedly) with a rake. As usual, the Sales Manager didn't want to sink a lot of time (and thus money) into paint correction since believe it or not, most folks don't notice. But he did like the idea of "waking it up" just a bit.
Remember how I'd started this thread by stating that I'd been using Meguiar's M101 for most of my heavy correction work in the past? Well, this vehicle was a perfect candidate to test the M101 against the 3D One heads up. Unfortunately, I'd left the iPhone home, so no pics. Based on what I've learned about Toyota paint, I went straight to an Orange LC CCS pad on the Flex run flat out. I then did half the hood with M101 and the other half with 3D One. My impressions?
The M101 cut / corrected pretty decently, but created the usual (relatively minor) dusty mess. Although the level of correction - with one four way pass - was pretty good, it wasn't quite ready to go because there was some minor hazing. For a used car, it was probably good enough, but I wasn't impressed. My usual process in the past would have been to follow up with M205 on a White LC CCS pad, but time didn't allow that here.
The 3D One was next, didn't dust at all and corrected even better. In fact, one four way pass gave me a super slick looking ready to go finish. No, it didn't take out all of the scratches, but that wasn't the intent. What it did do was provide a dramatically better looking finish with one pass, one product and one pad. And did I mention zero dust? The only thing that it didn't do quite as well as the M101 was wipe off. The 3D does take just a bit of effort to get off as it tends to smear around just a bit.
The Sales Manager popped in right after I'd finished the entire vehicle and was duly impressed. In fact he suggested that we'd be able to raise the asking price for the vehicle - which is my whole intent. We agreed that the process I used would become the standard process for all dark colored used vehicle preps.
Funny side note. So far I've detailed about 8-10 used vehicles for the dealership. Every single one of them is parked right on the end of a row because they look so much better than the rest of the cars on the lot. :whisp:
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Very cool findings! certainly sounds like a interesting product!
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Sorry I haven't updated this thread, but I've been pretty busy at work. The plus side is that I've gotten to do a ton more experimentation with the 3D One and my old favorite Meguiar's M101. Based on probably 15 cars with varying degrees of nastiness, here's my current thoughts:
- The 3D One corrects well, but I'm beginning to think the M101 corrects just a bit better.
- The big downside of the M101 is the dusting. There is definitely more than the 3D One. On the other hand, there's way less dusting with the M101 than there is with M105. Way less.
- The 3D One does not wipe off nearly as easily as M101. There's almost an oily residue that one needs to remove as it smears around a bit before finally coming off. I thought this might be a bit of filler / glaze / oil to mask defects, but have not seen much difference in the surface after a 50/50 alcohol / water wipe. Hmmm.
- The working time of the 3D One is way longer than the M101. You can easily make a 4 way pass on a 2'x2' area and still be able to correct. The M101 is starting to dry out by then. The M105 would be caking up by then.
- One has to be careful not to use too much product with 3D One. 3 dime size dots appear to be all you need. Use too much and you'll struggle to wipe it off when you're done. The M101 comes off quite easily.
I have come to the conclusion that for 90% of the "dealer detailing" that I do, the 3D One is the best product. I think it leaves a glossier surface in less time with less product. I can also "spot correct" just by changing pads, not products. And when you're trying to do couple of cars a day like I am, that's important.
Here's an example of a 2017 Camry that the Sales Manager really wanted to get out on the lot due to the very desirable color. And he he was pretty sure I could really make it pop. What you're looking at is one pass with a White LC CCS pad - with no LSP at all. Make sure you click on the pic to enlarge it. Yea, it pops. I rest my case.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0782_1_.JPG)
PS: The Lexus IS in the background is my "fill in" project. I work on it as I get time since it belongs to the Sales Manager. It was quite rough when I started, but with lots of elbow grease and some incredibly aggressive pads, the 3D One is bringing it back.
Here's another 2017 Camry (also a lease return) that was done with the exact same process. The very first person who looked at it bought it on the spot. See why?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0776_1_.JPG)
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Interesting experiment today. It was almost 90 and humid as hell. Needless to say, that's not my favorite weather for detailing. At least we have several of those 10' diameter ceiling fans in the Service Department and they do move a ton of air around. What I really wasn't looking forward to was the difficulty in removing the 3D One or the dusting of the M101. But I did happen to have what was left of a 32 oz. bottle of Menzerna SIP. (Remember that stuff?) I had to do some minor correction to a 2015 RAV4 with 79,000 miles on it to get it ready for delivery, so what the heck.
I used a White LC CCS pad on the Flex and made just one pass. Wow, it woke the paint right up! Better yet, it didn't dust hardly at all, didn;t haze or hologram and it came off very, very easily. Now remember, I wasn't doing any heavy correction here, so I have to do some more playing, but the old SIP really worked well on Toyota paint. Hmmm.
I went online and tried to find SIP under either the Menzerna or Jescar brands and no dice. Anybody got some SIP they'd like to sell me?
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Very interesting updates. I need to place a order for a few small things and seriously thinking about adding the 3D one to the list. It may be the perfect product for those free “friends and family” details I do.
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Another day, another test vehicle. Today's test involved a 2012 Camry owned by a senior citizen. (No comments on my age you guys!) One big clue was the stacked floor mats. (One carpeted mat to protect the carpet and a rubber mat to protect the carpeted mat.) Although the car didn't have a ton of miles on it, the owner must have brushed snow off of it with a wire brush. The big challenge was getting the majority of the scratches minimized so it would look good on the lot.
I started with M101 on a Burgundy Meguiar's Cutting pad on the Flex. Yes, I went waaay aggressive. That combo did a reasonable job on knocking the mess down, then I followed up with 3D One on a White LC CCS pad to finish. I think the results are more than acceptable.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0785_1_.JPG)
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You think that's something? I went to the car wash today, the touchless kind, 3/4 of the way around the first pass and the machine clips my passenger mirror and comes to a complete halt. Dead. I pull out and have $8 cash to get quarters to get the soap off and do a half ass job of a wash. Meanwhile, 3 or 4 people tried to use the now non functioning touchless drive through. One lady was storming all over the property and trying to make phone calls about it. Oops.
That car looks great though. Not sure I care for the color but it sure does clean up nicely. You're killing it lately, Tom. You make me feel bad about the state of my truck.
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I was beginning to wonder if I needed to come down to PA and organize a search party for you!
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I was beginning to wonder if I needed to come down to PA and organize a search party for you!
I'm easy to find. If I'm not at work then I'm at home with Cassie and my dogs, minding my own business.
Except for now. Now I'm in Maryland for work.
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Sorry for the long pause. Been busy detailing and experimenting again. Here's the latest developments.
When I do a full detail at home, as you might guess, it's a little different from what I do at work. A full inside and out detail at home includes everything except under the hood. (Too many bad experiences with Ford products and coil packs shorting out.) For the exterior, you get a full clay decontamination, bug removal, iron removal, full masking off of all black textured plastic, 2 stage polishing, then the LSP of your choice. For the interior you get a full vacuum, glass and vinyl / leather cleaning & conditioning. Generally speaking, it takes me about 5-6 hours.
At work, the engine bay does get cleaned and hosed down. (Yes, you can do that with absolutely no issues on any Toyota.) Then the outside gets a full wash down before the interior gets vacuumed, the windows, seats and vinyl cleaned. For the exterior, I have a deal worked out with the Used Car Manager for what we call "Tom's Standard Cheat" when it comes to buffing / polishing. First, I take out any removable scratches and scuffs, then I do a single stage polish only from the mid-door up. I don't even to the roof on SUVs and trucks. Why? Because it saves time and money and 9 out of 10 customers wouldn't notice the difference. It also helps me hit my target time of 3 hours per vehicle. As you can see, "dealer detailing" is much different than the stuff I'm (and you're) used to and I'm doing my best to make sure I don't get lumped in with guys that have only done dealer work and think they know what they're talking about.
Here's my big challenge as of late. I need to find a polish that does it all in one pass with one kind of pad if possible. That means it needs to cut quickly, not make a mess (dusting or caking), finish up beautifully, then wipe off easily. I had high hopes for 3D One and it does all of that except come off easily. That's been enough of a problem that I no longer use it on humid days. I've actually gone back to what's left of my old bottle of Menzerna SIP. I also use M101 when dust isn't an issue, then follow up with M205 - but that's a second pass...
Yesterday I received a bottle of Menzerna 400 Heavy Cut Compound that I'd been wanting to try because I love their stuff. (Menzerna / Jescar Power Lock is my all time favorite Sealant.) You know what? This may be the ticket. It cuts amazingly well with only an Orange Lake Country CCS pad, finishes up perfectly and comes off with almost no effort. The only weird thing about it is that you'd better be holding onto the Flex. This stuff tends to steer the polisher around a whole lot more than the other stuff I've mentioned. More to follow.
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Update time. I've been playing with the Menzerna 400 Heavy Cut Compound and it works, really, really well. I've also been playing with a new pad - the Chemical Guys Hex Logic Quantum Heavy Cut foam pads this week. As you know, I'm just working on Toyota and Lexus products, so I can't speak for how it might work on other paint, but this combination is definitely the hot ticket. You can correct like no tomorrow, generate minimum dust, not hologram and pretty much finish up with just one pad and product. Yes folks, the Holy Grail of detailing.
As a real acid test, I worked on two vehicles in particular the last two days that really allowed me to test the combination. The first was a 2020 4Runner with black (fine) metallic paint and a 10" scratch in the lower drivers door. I could just feel it with my fingernail, so I wasn't too optimistic about my ability to get it all out. Oh, and did I mention that it was the dealership owner's personal vehicle? (No pressure at all.)
It took 3 full passes, but the entire scratch came out. I'd faded the edges of the correction area and did not see any hazing with my LED sun light, but I figured I'd give the whole door a finish pass just to make sure. For that I used a White Lake Country CCS pad and Meguiar's M205. To say it came out perfect would be an understatement! The owner now calls me his "miracle man."
The next test was a dark brown metallic (almost root beer) 2016 Highlander that was sold, but had not been fully detailed. I did one complete walk around on the whole vehicle just hitting the scratches with the 400 / Hex Logic combo. I was able to correct everything in one pass. Then I did the entire vehicle with one more pass with the same combination - fully expecting to have to follow it up with a finish pass and a finer polish / pad combination. Nope, the damn thing looked stellar. See for yourself:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0839_1_.JPG)
I think I might be onto something here.
I also tried the 400 with an Orange LC CCS pad on the 2017 RAV 4 in the picture below. One pass, one pad, virtual perfection. In fact the day after this picture was taken, I arrived at work to find the very same (lease return) vehicle on the showroom floor. Yes, it was so nice that the Sales Manager moved it inside. I don't think I've ever seen a used vehicle on our showroom floor. Nice!
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0826_1_.JPG)
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So you're basically a celebrity now.
That blue is something else. I don't think I'd want to own something that color but it sure is pretty to look at.
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So you're basically a celebrity now.
That blue is something else. I don't think I'd want to own something that color but it sure is pretty to look at.
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Well, I don't know if "celebrity" is the right word for it. It does appear that they've never really had anybody who knew anything about detailing before though. My biggest problem now is managing expectations. They seem to think I can make anything look like new and repair any kind of defect. I've told them that I can (usually) heal the sick, but I can't raise the dead. And some of that come in on lease returns are pretty close to needing life support.
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So at this point the 3D One is relegated to the back of the cabinet ?
Have you tried an AIO for any of these less severe jobs ?
- I don't know if you have one you like.
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So at this point the 3D One is relegated to the back of the cabinet ?
Have you tried an AIO for any of these less severe jobs ?
- I don't know if you have one you like.
Due to issues during humid days, the 3D One is indeed used sparingly. On less humid days, it's my first choice for addressing new car issues. (Yes, some new cars have issues caused during shipment.) The 3D One works very well with White and Orange Lake Country CCS pads and finishes out beautifully. I amazed a salesman yesterday with what it did to correct some minor blemishes in a dark blue Camry.
As for an AIO product, I've never found one I liked. Just like an "All Season" tire, too many compromises.
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So at this point the 3D One is relegated to the back of the cabinet ?
Have you tried an AIO for any of these less severe jobs ?
- I don't know if you have one you like.
Due to issues during humid days, the 3D One is indeed used sparingly. On less humid days, it's my first choice for addressing new car issues. (Yes, some new cars have issues caused during shipment.) The 3D One works very well with White and Orange Lake Country CCS pads and finishes out beautifully. I amazed a salesman yesterday with what it did to correct some minor blemishes in a dark blue Camry.
As for an AIO product, I've never found one I liked. Just like an "All Season" tire, too many compromises.
I think I will have a chance to try 3D One this weekend, to see if it is any different than my go to with PB ProPolish over multiple pads.
- Feel & looks... it is very similar to PB PP.... :dunno:
I did not know if an AIO would be useful for what you are doing to save ( ?? ) a step.
- I also don't know if you have the step of LSP or if you are putting it out naked.
I don't know what is quick and good for an LSP.
WOWalkAway Opti-Seal is not exactly quick; it can be picky for flash over.
PL is great, but not fast ( neither is Collinite )
Beadmaker is quick but will amplify the orange peel ( think back to the 1st gen NXT ).
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So at this point the 3D One is relegated to the back of the cabinet ?
Have you tried an AIO for any of these less severe jobs ?
- I don't know if you have one you like.
Due to issues during humid days, the 3D One is indeed used sparingly. On less humid days, it's my first choice for addressing new car issues. (Yes, some new cars have issues caused during shipment.) The 3D One works very well with White and Orange Lake Country CCS pads and finishes out beautifully. I amazed a salesman yesterday with what it did to correct some minor blemishes in a dark blue Camry.
As for an AIO product, I've never found one I liked. Just like an "All Season" tire, too many compromises.
I think I will have a chance to try 3D One this weekend, to see if it is any different than my go to with PB ProPolish over multiple pads.
- Feel & looks... it is very similar to PB PP.... :dunno:
I did not know if an AIO would be useful for what you are doing to save ( ?? ) a step.
- I also don't know if you have the step of LSP or if you are putting it out naked.
I don't know what is quick and good for an LSP.
WOWalkAway Opti-Seal is not exactly quick; it can be picky for flash over.
PL is great, but not fast ( neither is Collinite )
Beadmaker is quick but will amplify the orange peel ( think back to the 1st gen NXT ).
As much as I hate to admit it, the LSP is a simple spray wax called Snappy Shine. When I negotiated the standard detailing processes with the Sales and Service Managers, they had a time (and cost) constraint I had to deal with. My goal became to significantly up the standard for used car detailing, but be able to do the average car in 3-4 hours. Any vehicle that's in rough enough shape to need more work than that gets send out to a local detailing shop that specializes in used car detailing. That said, you'd be amazed what I can do within that time window.
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This is a GREAT thread Tom. Sorry, I am new here.
I few points to bring up. Steve, regarding PB PP. I don't recall PP being aggressive at all, and yes it can be pad dependant but if you have to increase cut from a pad, why not use PB Master Cut or PP2?
Saw a quick reference to Meznera SIP...I do love that stuff.
So Tom, I have to presume that this new product is a non diminishing abrasive?
BTW, looks like you may be come the made ready boss!!!
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This is a GREAT thread Tom. Sorry, I am new here.
I few points to bring up. Steve, regarding PB PP. I don't recall PP being aggressive at all, and yes it can be pad dependant but if you have to increase cut from a pad, why not use PB Master Cut or PP2?
Saw a quick reference to Meznera SIP...I do love that stuff.
So Tom, I have to presume that this new product is a non diminishing abrasive?
BTW, looks like you may be come the made ready boss!!!
JP, yes, I believe the 3D One is non-diminishing. It seems to be willing to cut for as long as you're willing to buff. Interestingly, it finishes out perfectly with no hologram problems. Amazing stuff!
BTW, since yesterday and today were relatively low humidity, I went back from the Menzerna to the 3D One. Man, what a difference! The 3D product both cuts and finishes better with the same pads as I would have used with the Menzerna. The best part is wiping off the residue though. On a day without excess humidity, the 3D wipes off way easier and leaves absolutely no dust.
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As I mentioned in my last post, the humidity levels have gone down the last few days so I'm back to using the 3D One - and loving it. As my first example, the other day I rolled a 2012 RAV4 into my bay with very low expectations. It looked tired and it had 74,000 miles on it. I was thinking of taking a "before" picture, but quite honestly, I didn't think it would look very good with only 3 hours to detail.
Under the hood was s typical Toyota piece of cake to clean up. The interior wasn't terrible, but definitely showed some scars. The fabric covered seats needed lots of scrubbing and extraction to get to an acceptable level. The exterior was quite a challenge with marring everywhere and a good number of "special attention" areas. I used my most aggressive Hex Logic Cutting pads and the 3D One. How'd it come out? How's this?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0878_1_.JPG)
Yesterday I got yet another 2017 RAV4 lease return. This one had a little under 40,000 miles on it and was actually quite well taken care of. The Sales Manager said he had somebody coming in to look at it and if I could do my magic, it would really help ice a sale. Once again I pulled out the 3D One and the Hex Logic Cutting pads. (It takes about 3 to do a RAV4.) How's this for a total stunner?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0880_1_.JPG)
Oh, it sold.
One last example. Just to prove I can work on something else, here's a Honda Pilot with 38,000 miles on the clock. This one wasn't too bad and I was able to get away with an Orange LC CCS pad and the 3D One. Man, I love pearl white paint!
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0879_1_.JPG)
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Well guys, I punted my first one today. I started out with a couple of really nice 2017 Camry that didn't need a ton of work. I need that once in a while since what I'm essentially doing is flat rate detailing. Then I went up to the Service Manager and asked for my next vehicle. He handed me the keys to a 2017 Sienna minivan. I was a little apprehensive for several reasons. First, minivans get lots of "kid traffic" and you know what kind of a mess they can create. Second, Siennas have a lot of surface area. That means lots of opportunities to mess the paint up and lots of buffing even if the paint isn't all that bad.
Things didn't even start well. I opened the driver's door and was hit with a wave of "wet donkey ass" smell. Yup, this one spent it's life on a farm. Taking stock of the interior, the rubber mats were a mess, the carpets under them were completely stained and encrusted with salt. Every single one of the (fabric covered) seats were stained. Said another way, it was hard to find a single square inch of the interior that wasn't totally hogged. Ugh!
Oh well, time to put the head to the grindstone and start the standard process. After cleaning the engine bay and washing the outside, I started buffing. I went right to the 3D One and the Hex Logic Cutting pads. No use trying anything less aggressive. It took and hour and a half - and 4 pads - to get her looking half way decent. I also used a bunch of Poor Boy's Spray and Rinse Wheel Cleaner. (Still my absolute favorite.) So here's where we stood after 2 of my allotted 3 hours:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0885_1_.JPG)
I then poked my head back inside, but this time used my Scangrip Sunmatch 3 LED Light to really look around. Oh lord, what a total mess! And the smell hadn't gotten any better either. Even my clothes were starting to smell like the interior from driving it into the shop. Time to punt. I went to the Sales Manager and after a quick look inside, he agreed to ship it out for the interior. Whew!
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Thanks for taking the time and effort to post these up Tom. It is really nice to see and learn from your experiences on these "well loved" vehicles.
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More dealer detailing fun today. I brought a 2016 Highlander in and almost kicked it back out to be detailed. It was right on the hairy edge of what I'm willing to tackle for what I get paid per vehicle. Here's what the interior looked like. You should know that the carpeted floor mats were also thrashed and wadded up in the back. They required almost 45 minutes with the extractor.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0902_1_.JPG)
I thought I took a picture of the outside, but I can't seem to find it. The vehicle is a very desirable color and the Sales Manager begged me to do it because he likes my results better that the outside contractor. Trust me though, this one was rode hard and put away wet just like the interior. In addition to there being lots of micro marring everywhere, there were at least 15 spots that required "special attention" to correct major defects - some of which were never going to get fully fixed.
Ands so, four hours later - after going through 6 Hex Logic Cutting pads using the 3D One - this is what sat in my bay:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0903_1_.JPG)
Yea, it looks pretty darn good, but there are a number of defects that give away the fact the it led a pretty hard life. That said, many folks will either miss them or decide they're perfectly acceptable. I'll call it a hard fought victory.
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Really digging that color. Looks great even if it's not perfect to a perfectionist.
So maybe I missed this but you get paid per vehicle or per hour? I thought I recall you saying you only are alotted 4 hours per vehicle. I don't care what the number is I was just curious.
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Really digging that color. Looks great even if it's not perfect to a perfectionist.
So maybe I missed this but you get paid per vehicle or per hour? I thought I recall you saying you only are alotted 4 hours per vehicle. I don't care what the number is I was just curious.
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I'm getting paid a flat rate per vehicle. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. :dope:
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Really digging that color. Looks great even if it's not perfect to a perfectionist.
So maybe I missed this but you get paid per vehicle or per hour? I thought I recall you saying you only are alotted 4 hours per vehicle. I don't care what the number is I was just curious.
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I'm getting paid a flat rate per vehicle. Sometimes I win, sometimes I lose. :dope:
So you give yourself 4 hours per vehicle then based on what you charge to make it worth your time?
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I actually budget 3 hours per vehicle. If I can average that, I'm doing ok. Then again. I'm thinking I need a raise.
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I actually budget 3 hours per vehicle. If I can average that, I'm doing ok. Then again. I'm thinking I need a raise.
Wow, you are hauling ass if you have an average of 3 hrs per vehicle. :clap:
Seeing what you do for those vehicles inside and out and what that the sales manager wants you to work them.. you think you could get a 4 hr rate on them.
- Or a higher rate per hour...
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I actually budget 3 hours per vehicle. If I can average that, I'm doing ok. Then again. I'm thinking I need a raise.
Wow, you are hauling ass if you have an average of 3 hrs per vehicle. :clap:
Seeing what you do for those vehicles inside and out and what that the sales manager wants you to work them.. you think you could get a 4 hr rate on them.
- Or a higher rate per hour...
For an old guy, yes, I am hauling ass to keep the average at 3 hours per vehicle. On 90 degree das, it's not fun. Having taught and
practiced implementing Toyota production methods (continuous improvement) for so many prior years though, I'm using that methodology to continuously improve my process.
As for the rate, I am thinking of asking for a bit more now that they've seen the results.
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Today's question: Is it possible to make a 10 year old vehicle "pop?" More specifically, a 10 year old vehicle with 130,000 miles on it that's gone through 10 winters in the salt belt.
I had to address that question yesterday when the Sales Manager brought just that type of vehicle in for my attention. As some of you may know, the Toyota FJ Cruiser (think 4Runner in fancy clothes) was discontinued a few years ago and values for used ones immediately went through the roof. So being able to get one in a desirable color in half way decent shape was a big thing. Making it look (and drive) like new would make it even more valuable. So after my friends in Service went though it from top to bottom, I got to do my thing. The reason I'm posting it here is that I used the 3D One again. The Sales Manager was impressed enough that it's going on the concrete pad right out in front. What do you think?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0919_1_.JPG)
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I think banana creme pie. Lie, really shiney banana creme pie though. That looks incredible. I have to think you're really making this dealership look good, Tom. Vehicles that look this good are eye catchers for sure.
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I think banana creme pie. Lie, really shiney banana creme pie though. That looks incredible. I have to think you're really making this dealership look good, Tom. Vehicles that look this good are eye catchers for sure.
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Thanks Mike! Yea, I'm reasonably sure I've helped raise the used car standard a few notches. The trouble is, now they're getting used to phenomenal looking used cars and not everything that rolls in is a candidate for that better standard. They're actually getting quite picky about what they want. That would be great, but we still have that 3 hour limit we agreed to and it's getting tough to stick to. In the grand scheme of things, that's a good problem to have though.
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Looks great! Those things are commanding big bucks up here now too!
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Today brought some interesting challenges. For instance, the second thing to roll into my bay was a 2017 Tundra. (Another lease return.) This one had only 20,000 miles on it, but you'd never know it. What you would know (immediately) was that this was a farm truck. Clues? Four wheel drive, stripper trim, mud filled wheel wells, trashed interior, FFA sticker. How bad was it? Here's the interior when I opened the door:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0923_1_.JPG)
Here's the interior 4 hours later:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0925_1_.JPG)
The exterior wasn't totally hogged, but it was rough and included several nice dents. Oh yea, and it was black! Did I mention that I haven't (yet) found a way to detail dents out? Here's what the truck looked like when I was ready to roll it out. It isn't perfect, but for a farm truck it came out pretty well.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0924_1_.JPG)
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This post embarrassed me. My interior often looks this bad. It's that dirt road life.
Also... Nice work!
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This post embarrassed me. My interior often looks this bad. It's that dirt road life.
Also... Nice work!
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Yea, but I'm pretty sure your truck at least gets cleaned once in a while. I highly doubt this one ever had the interior cleaned until I got it. :hp:
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This post embarrassed me. My interior often looks this bad. It's that dirt road life.
Also... Nice work!
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Yea, but I'm pretty sure your truck at least gets cleaned once in a while. I highly doubt this one ever had the interior cleaned until I got it. :hp:
I clean mine twice as often. Haha
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Here's a couple of recent ones. First, here's a 2017 Camry lease return. It was in pretty decent shape, but it had a lazy scratch starting just below the driver's door handle and meandering up and down all the way back to the tail light. It was barely enough to feel with your fingernail. It took almost 30 minutes and multiple passes just to get that bad boy out. Then I had to do the rest of the car. How's this for black paint that almost drips off the car?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0949_1_.JPG)
Next, here's a 2017 Tundra Platinum work truck that had 94,000 miles on it. Although the owner took really good care of it, we're still talking work truck here. (The inside of the bed showed more wear and tear than the body.) Other than one crease that our PDR guy will take out tomorrow, the truck looked pretty good, so I took my time. How's this?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0950_1_.JPG)
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Sometimes I get to play with new vehicles too. We've had this brand new 2019 TRD Pro Tacoma sitting in various places around the lot for a number of months now. Its even gone to several special events as advertising for the dealership. It's been tough to sell because it has the optional snorkel kit that nobody around here wants. That and it lists for $45,000.
Every time it goes someplace, our other "detailer" washes it with a brush and slobbers tire shine literally everywhere. It was sitting right out front by the main road this morning when I pulled in after coming back from an appearance at a local golf tournament. I almost wanted to puke after looking at it. To say it looked terrible would be an understatement. The marring was really getting out of hand. So I talked the Sales Manager into letting me do my thing to it. Again, 3D One, but followed by Jescar Power Lock. Better looking now?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0954_1_.JPG)
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Nice work yet again.
So what's involved in taking off the snorkel kit? Does it leave any holes? Alsough functional, it does look a little ridiculous. I wouldn't ldnt want it either. Those are great looking trucks though. Big fan of them.
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Nice work yet again.
So what's involved in taking off the snorkel kit? Does it leave any holes? Alsough functional, it does look a little ridiculous. I wouldn't ldnt want it either. Those are great looking trucks though. Big fan of them.
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From what I hear, it requires a rather large hole to be cut in the right front fender plus a small one up top for the support bracket. Oh, and you can't go through an automatic car wash with the damn thing either. It sticks up too far and isn't strong enough. Ugh.
I have another TRD Pro (in grey) that I should be doing later this week or early next week. It's got 15,000 miles on it and they're asking $40k - and folks are interested! I must be missing something here. :dunno:
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Still learning more about this product through actual experience at work. One important thing I wanted to pass on is the fact that this stuff (3D One) just flat out doesn't quit. You can polish till the cows come home and it doesn't stop cutting or start dusting and caking. Absolutely amazing!
Every once in a while, I actually get a vehicle that was well cared for. As soon as I stepped inside this 2017 RAV4 Limited, I knew somebody took care of it. The outside was all wet from the morning dew, so I couldn't draw too many conclusions, but it too looked pretty well cared for. Oh, and did I mention that it was my favorite color - black? Good lord, not another one! But since I was a bit ahead of schedule and this one looked like it could really pop, I spent some extra time on it. 3 1/2 hours later, this is what sat in my bay:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0979_1_.JPG)
Even the hood looked decent:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0980_1_.JPG)
Unfortunately, all good things must pass and the next thing on the schedule was a 2013 Camry with 93,000 hard miles on it. This one's going to be a challenge and is never going to be a prom queen. I told the Sales Manager to set his expectations low so he'd be impressed. Just look how hammered this thing is:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0976_1_.JPG)
And the driver's door area:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_0977_1_.JPG)
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That Rav 4 looks exceptional! Very well done.
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That Rav 4 looks exceptional! Very well done.
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Thanks Mike! Looks it's heading for the showroom.
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That Rav 4 looks exceptional! Very well done.
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Thanks Mike! Looks it's heading for the showroom.
It must be a nice feeling that your work product heads to the showroom, where the outside detailing work product goes to the 'good from far, far from good' area of the dealership.
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That Rav 4 looks exceptional! Very well done.
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Thanks Mike! Looks it's heading for the showroom.
It must be a nice feeling that your work product heads to the showroom, where the outside detailing work product goes to the 'good from far, far from good' area of the dealership.
Thanks Steve. Yes, it does feel pretty good when something I do is good enough to go into the showroom. Truth be told, I would have loved to do one more pass on the RAV4 with maybe a White LC pad to jewel it out just a bit more. As good as the thing came out, if I was doing it at home, it would have definitely gotten another full pass. But, it was good enough for a used car.
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Things have slowed down in the used car side of the business, so my workload has gone down quite a bit. I did want to share one recent detail though. Just to prove that no product or process can fully knock out the ugly, I offer this 2018 Toyota C-HR in a beautiful shade of metallic blue. The paint looks gorgeous, but the car? Um, no.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1057_1_.JPG)
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Things have slowed down in the used car side of the business, so my workload has gone down quite a bit. I did want to share one recent detail though. Just to prove that no product or process can fully knock out the ugly, I offer this 2018 Toyota C-HR in a beautiful shade of metallic blue. The paint looks gorgeous, but the car? Um, no.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1057_1_.JPG)
Toyota really does make some goofy cars. Good thing you're there to bring some sort of respect back to the vehicles. Nice work!
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Things have slowed down in the used car side of the business, so my workload has gone down quite a bit. I did want to share one recent detail though. Just to prove that no product or process can fully knock out the ugly, I offer this 2018 Toyota C-HR in a beautiful shade of metallic blue. The paint looks gorgeous, but the car? Um, no.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1057_1_.JPG)
Toyota really does make some goofy cars. Good thing you're there to bring some sort of respect back to the vehicles. Nice work!
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"Goofy" might not be the term I'd use. More like just plain weird. As I mentioned to one of my co-workers as I was working on it, "Ever wonder what happened to the idiots who designed the Pontiac Aztec?" And the visibility out the back of these things is downright awful!
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Things have slowed down in the used car side of the business, so my workload has gone down quite a bit. I did want to share one recent detail though. Just to prove that no product or process can fully knock out the ugly, I offer this 2018 Toyota C-HR in a beautiful shade of metallic blue. The paint looks gorgeous, but the car? Um, no.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1057_1_.JPG)
Toyota really does make some goofy cars. Good thing you're there to bring some sort of respect back to the vehicles. Nice work!
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"Goofy" might not be the term I'd use. More like just plain weird. As I mentioned to one of my co-workers as I was working on it, "Ever wonder what happened to the idiots who designed the Pontiac Aztec?" And the visibility out the back of these things is downright awful!
You can put the Aztec right there with the original Tribeca from Subaru. Atleaatthe Aztec turned in to a tent. That's almost cool.
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Things are still pretty slow in Used Car sales and we have plenty of inventory - most of it now detailed by me. That means I don't have to crank out 2 cars a day anymore to keep up with demand. Of course the paycheck is smaller every week too. Oh well.
I was out walking the lot the other day looking at the row of cars slated to get wholesaled to see if there was anything interesting there. I ran into the Used Car Manager (my main customer) and we started talking about what vehicle we should bring into the showroom next seeing as the 2017 RAV4 Limited that I did recently lasted all of 3 days. I suggested another white RAV4 that one of our employees owned that was really, really sweet. He had a different idea. He suggested that we take the car that had been on the lot the longest, spruce it up and put it in the showroom. Ok, how bad could that possibly be?
15 minutes later, he pulls a plum colored 2017 RAV4 into my bay with a huge grin on his face. "This one's been on the lot for 234 days. Of course you didn't detail it, but do you think you can wake it up a bit?" Holy crap Batman! What a roach. The engine bay wasn't touched. Neither were the door jambs. And the hood, oh lord the hood. The guy who used to prep our used cars apparently tried to "correct" the hood with rubbing compound by hand. And the rest of the body wore plenty of scratches that he didn't even try to get out. (Probably a good thing.) So how bad was it? How about these shots of the hood?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1084_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1083_1_.JPG)
So I went at the thing with the 3D One and a brand new set of Hex Logic pads. (I started with an older pad, but it just wasn't cutting it anymore.) The hood alone took over half an hour, but here's what it looked like:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1086_1_.JPG)
Not perfect, but one hell of a lot better. Here's what the vehicle looked like with a coat of Menzerna Power Lock on it:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1087_1_.JPG)
This one's going to be interesting. If you ask me, the whole reason this one didn't sell was a crap detailing job that actually made the vehicle look very ratty. Although not perfect, it looks waaaay better now. It goes on the showroom floor tomorrow. Let's see how long it takes to sell.
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That's a huge improvement! Looks great. I'm guessing it will sell quickly.
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That's a huge improvement! Looks great. I'm guessing it will sell quickly.
Thanks! It went in the showroom today, so the clock is now ticking.
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You sure must love a challenge Tom! Heck of a turn around.
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Tick, tock, tick, tock .....
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1090_1_.JPG)
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That hood was wrecked. You need to start asking for commission since your work is a big part of why they're selling. If this one sells, it's not a coincidence. Even half a percent of selling price.
Nice work!
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That hood was wrecked. You need to start asking for commission since your work is a big part of why they're selling. If this one sells, it's not a coincidence. Even half a percent of selling price.
Nice work!
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Thanks, and yes, the thought had crossed my mind. Can you think of a better way to prove that point than this one selling quickly now? :om:
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Here's an interesting one. It's a lease return 2018 Camry with less than 20,000 miles on it. How much damage could one possibly do in that short of a period of time? You might think not too much and you'd be about half right. The interior was actually pretty decent. The outside, um, not so much. Virtually every panel had some kind of defect that required special attention. But, since it was Pearl White, it was both forgiving and hid remaining defects well. Yea, I think this one will sell pretty easily now.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1180_1_.JPG)
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Here's an interesting one. It's a lease return 2018 Camry with less than 20,000 miles on it. How much damage could one possibly do in that short of a period of time? You might think not too much and you'd be about half right. The interior was actually pretty decent. The outside, um, not so much. Virtually every panel had some kind of defect that required special attention. But, since it was Pearl White, it was both forgiving and hid remaining defects well. Yea, I think this one will sell pretty easily now.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1180_1_.JPG)
This one might be my favorite. And that's saying something since I'm completely over white, especially pearl white.
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Tick, tock, tick, tock .....
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1090_1_.JPG)
Sold yesterday!
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Well, that didn't take long!
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Tick, tock, tick, tock .....
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1090_1_.JPG)
Sold yesterday!
They have to be ecstatic! The money they pay you is money well spent.
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Thanks guys!
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I forgot that I took a picture of the plum RAV4 when it came back for it's final prep after a week in the showroom. Click on the pic and look at the driver side. Nice huh? That's probably why it sold.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1200_1_.JPG)
If you were to ask me what I'd put in the showroom next, this would be my recommendation. It's another 2017 RAV4, absolutely gorgeous and loaded. Oh, and it's got almost flawless pearl white paint.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1201_1_.JPG)
But on the way out of work today, I stopped by to check with the Used Car Manager. Guess what he wants to put in? Yup, another veteran from before my time. I took a quick look at it on the way out of the parking lot. A 2017 RAV4, silver. Even though it was raining, I could see plenty of scratches and scuffs in the driver side. Monday's going to be a long day.
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Sounds like Monday may also be a satisfying day!
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Sounds like Monday may also be a satisfying day!
Thanks. I wish I shared your optimism. I worry that they think I can make anything look great these days. I keep telling them that "I can heal the sick. I can't raise the dead." This looks like another one on life support. Hopefully I'll remember to take detailed before and after shots this time.
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I'll bet you guys thought I'd forgotten how to detail anything but used Toyotas. Yea, I kinda thought the same thing. But while Stella and I were out for a walk last week, we ran into a former co-worker of mine and the subject of what I do for a living popped up. (Imagine that.) As soon as he heard what I did, he asked if I could do his car. How could I say no?
So yesterday he dropped off his 2017 Chevy Impala in the color we all love to hate - jet black - for an exterior only detail. It had just rained, so I passed on the "before" pics and jumped right into washing, decontamination and correction. There actually wasn't much of anything for the Nanoskin mitt to remove, but I didn't want to take any chances. For first step correction, I originally started with an Orange LC CCS pad and 3D One, but it just didn't correct enough, so I jumped up to a Hex Logic Cutting pad. That did it. I then stepped down to Carpro Reflect on a White LC CCS pad and followed it with Jescar Power Lock. It looked just a little bit better when I returned it 4 hours later:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1205_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1206_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1207_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1209_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1208_1_.JPG)
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I may have missed it before, but how do you like the Hex Logic pads? I never heard of them.
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Looks pretty great by the way!
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I may have missed it before, but how do you like the Hex Logic pads? I never heard of them.
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For first pass / cutting / heavy correction work, they're just about all I use these days. Most cars I do at the dealership get one pass with 3D One on a Hex Logic Pad. That combination finishes out really nicely. Chemical Guys sells them BTW.
Yea, I like them!
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Man, that looks good! Nice work, Tom!
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Every once in a (great) while, I get a used car to detail that was actually well cared for. For whatever reason, the planets really aligned this week and I got two in a row! The first one was a 2018 RAV4 with only 29,000 miles on it. The lady that owned this thing took excellent care of it and that made detailing it a ton easier. Other than the black wheels - which I still really, really hate on anything - it came out pretty darn good.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1218_1_.JPG)
The second one was even more special. It was a 2013 RAV4 with 65,000 miles on it. By our dealership's standards. this was a fairly old used car and we normally wholesale anything this old. But it looked pretty good to start with and even better when I got through. I noticed that the fuel door was open in the pic when I was posting this. Oh well. See what you think:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1217_1_.JPG)
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So, do you have Popeye arms now?
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So, do you have Popeye arms now?
Believe it or not, they actually did get a little bigger. I still hate Spinach though. :yoda:
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They look great! As usual. I sure hope you enjoy looking at and working on Rav4s because you see a ton of them. Haha
Black wheels... I 100% agree. Very very seldom do I like them. Those wheels to me blend so much with the car that it's hard to even notice a design to them. And that's my whole issue with black wheels.
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Every once in a while I get to play with something a bit more exotic. This rolled into my bay today for me to address some minor issues with the paint before it got delivered to the a very special customer. Typical BMW (awesome) paint.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1240_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1242_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1241_1_.JPG)
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So, you're amazing as always work aside. I'm unsure about how I feel about this car. It just doesn't give me the same warm and fuzzies as the old ones.
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It just doesn't give me the same warm and fuzzies as the old ones.
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I have to agree with you there. Different color wheels make a big difference IMHO though.
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Every once in a while I get to play with something a bit more exotic. This rolled into my bay today for me to address some minor issues with the paint before it got delivered to the a very special customer. Typical BMW (awesome) paint.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1240_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1242_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1241_1_.JPG)
I forgot to mention another infuriating thing about the matte black wheels on this Supra. You absolutely have to clean the inside of each wheel because it shows. But, the back side of all of the spokes is a nice, sharp corner, so you give blood every time you reach in there. On top of that, the BMW brakes are so large that you can't reach all of each wheel. So you do what you can reach on all four, then move the car forward (or back) a bit to expose the rest. Ugh!
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It's a beautiful color.
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I had a few hours late today, so I detailed the outside of the infamous Toaster - my 2006 Scion xB with 140,000 miles on the clock. Here's what it looked like with the first coat of CarPro CQuartz UK 3.0 on her. Sorry for the darkness, but trust me, if you click on the pic to enlarge it, the shine will still be evident.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1264_1_.JPG)
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Nope... That shine comes through loud and clear! Wow.
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Nope... That shine comes through loud and clear! Wow.
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Might be time to try a coating on the new truck. Hint, hint ... :om:
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Nope... That shine comes through loud and clear! Wow.
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Might be time to try a coating on the new truck. Hint, hint ... :om:
So I was sitting at a light today and looked in the side mirror and saw a bunch of swirls on the dually fender. That's one of the down sides to the dually fenders, you can see them... Very well. Haha. I can't tell you how much this bothered me.
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That's one of the down sides to the dually fenders, you can see them... Very well. Haha. I can't tell you how much this bothered me.
I don't think think you can to explain it, we all know it all too well.
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I had a couple of 2018 RAV4's roll through my bay this week. Both had less than 25,000 miles on them. Both were lease returns. The silver one looked to be in significantly better shape, so I detailed it first. Bad choice. It had some terrible outside body shop paint work on the right rear corner that although the color matched perfectly, really messed up the whole vehicle. So, I won't share any pics of that here.
The Aqua Blue one however had real easy to spot absolutely hammered paint. How bad? "washed with a rake and steel wool" bad. Doesn't look bad from a distance right?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1397_1_.JPG)
Let's look at the hood - which was representative of the whole vehicle - a bit closer.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1398_1_.JPG)
Yea, it was bad. But since I was under absolutely no time pressure, I took it as a personal challenge and went in with all guns blazing. That meant Hex Logic Cutting pads and Menzerna Heavy Cut 400 Compound. I really don't like using this stuff because it reminds me of Meguiar's M105 without quite so much balling up of the polish. It also makes controlling the Flex pretty difficult because it pulls the pad all over the place. It also makes a pretty good dusting mess while doing an awesome job of correction. How well did it correct?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1411_1_.JPG)
A little closer in:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1412_1_.JPG)
The right rear quarter panel had what for this vehicle was a "typical" amount of defects. Here's what it looked like to start with:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1408_1_.JPG)
Here's that same panel after the Menzerna 400:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1410_1_.JPG)
Here's that same panel after a pass with 3D One on a Hex Logic pad. If you're keeping score, this means I did a full second pass on the vehicle. I almost never do that on used cars.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1409_1_.JPG)
Much to my amazement, this RAV came out way better than the silver one. I found it utterly amazing that anybody could do that much damage to the paint in so few years and miles. I found it equally amazing that I could bring it this far back.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1416_1_.JPG)
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Wow. Hell of a turn around on that. That was in rough shape.
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You pulled that one back from the dead! I’m liking that color.
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You pulled that one back from the dead! I’m liking that color.
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Thank you guys!
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Gentlemen, I offer you the absolute finest used car I've detailed to date. It's a 2018 4Runner with about 19,000 miles on it. It was a lease return - which normally means the vehicle was hammered. But this one was different - really different. The interior was almost spotless. Literally all I did was wash the rubber floor mats, vacuum the carpets, dress the vinyl and clean the windows. It was incredible.
The exterior was nice, but it had some issues. Whomever owned it took very good care of it, but probably washed it with a brush. That meant a reasonable amount of surface marring. I pulled out the Menzerna Heavy Cut 400 Compound for the hood and the tailgate, plus a couple of minor spots on several doors. The rest was easily handles by the 3D One. Feast your eyes on this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1433_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1432_1_.JPG)
I had about a half hour worth of final work on the interior to do when a salesman came out and asked when it would be ready for a test drive. I almost fainted because it was snowing outside and they had just salted the road out front. I talked him out of it so that we could get pics for our web site before it got messed up. Close call!
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I had about a half hour worth of final work on the interior to do when a salesman came out and asked when it would be ready for a test drive. I almost fainted because it was snowing outside and they had just salted the road out front. I talked him out of it so that we could get pics for our web site before it got messed up. Close call!
How cool is that, he is selling them out from under you while you are detailing them.
it is hard to figure out what a commission based plan would be for what you do, so maybe it is time to ask for another 1 hr per vehicle. :clap:
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That looks amazing. Cassie really wants a 4Runner. She said the interiors are boring and there’s not much in the way of tech. She really likes her Subaru Eyesight.
What a frustrating job during the winter months. To think all that hard work could go right out the window in an instant.
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Some people wonder why I like (and drive) white vehicles. I always say it's because the color is so easy to take care of and hides a multitude of sins. Case in point, today's detail of a 2016 4Runner with 76,000 miles on the clock. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it was no prom queen when I started either. 3 1/2 hours later, this is what sat in my bay. I rest my case.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1461_1_.JPG)
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Some people wonder why I like (and drive) white vehicles. I always say it's because the color is so easy to take care of and hides a multitude of sins. Case in point, today's detail of a 2016 4Runner with 76,000 miles on the clock. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it was no prom queen when I started either. 3 1/2 hours later, this is what sat in my bay. I rest my case.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1461_1_.JPG)
Need another white vehicle? It might have a bit more square footage to cover but it’s in need. Haha
That looks great by the way. How long until this one sells?
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Some people wonder why I like (and drive) white vehicles. I always say it's because the color is so easy to take care of and hides a multitude of sins. Case in point, today's detail of a 2016 4Runner with 76,000 miles on the clock. It wasn't in terrible shape, but it was no prom queen when I started either. 3 1/2 hours later, this is what sat in my bay. I rest my case.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1461_1_.JPG)
That looks great by the way. How long until this one sells?
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That's an interesting question. We actually have three 4Runners on the lot right now. The red one I posted earlier, the above white one, and another 2016 white one with only 16,000 miles on it. (It came out pretty awesome too.) That's actually more 4Runners than we usually carry, but winter is coming. All three will look pretty good from the street!
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Mike,
BTW, I'd love to come down and detail your new truck. As soon as I get through re-arranging my sock drawer, polishing my driveway, re-arranging my stereo wires and a few other things, I'll give you a call. But seriously, if you were only a little closer ...
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Mike,
BTW, I'd love to come down and detail your new truck. As soon as I get through re-arranging my sock drawer, polishing my driveway, re-arranging my stereo wires and a few other things, I'll give you a call. But seriously, if you were only a little closer ...
This damn dirt road is killing me. I can’t even get to the end of the road without it being trashed. And holy crap do dually fenders accumulate dirt.
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I had four really nice cars in a row to detail the last few days at work. You know what that means right? Yup, today a 2018 RAV4 rolled into my bay with one of my favorite colors. I forget what Toyota calls it, but Candy Apple Red would cover it quite nicely. The vehicle was a lease return with only 26,000 miles on it, but it looked a little rough before I washed it. It looked even rougher after I washed it. How rough? The hood was pretty representative of the vehicle if not a little worse. How's this? (Make sure you click on the pics to enlarge them.)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1494_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1495_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1496_1_.JPG)
I swear, I'm not making this crap up. People actually return leased vehicles in this kind of shape.
Since I really, really like the color - and the fact that this particular RAV4 is a very desirable trim level, I elected to really wail on it. I took two full (4 way) passes with Menzerna 400 on a Hex Logic Cutting pad followed by another two full passes with 3D One on the same kind of pad. I ended up going through 3 pads just on the hood! Although it didn't turn out perfect, I think this looks a tiny bit better. Your thoughts?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1499_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1500_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1501_1_.JPG)
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Wow that hood is wrecked! But what a great color. I’m not a fan of most reds but I like that. Awesome turn around! Sounds like it will be another quick sale.
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Looks like someone loved the auto car wash! Very nice turn around
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Thanks guys! I finished this one up this morning and discovered some more interesting handy work from the previous owner. This was the right rear quarter panel before and after. Words fail me.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1503_1_.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1505_1_.JPG)
After a total of 4 1/2 hours, here's what rolled onto the used car lot. Not perfect, but one hell of a lot more attractive than what I started with.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1507_1_.JPG)
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Looks like someone loved the auto car wash! Very nice turn around
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I was thinking atleast they kept it clean. Probably very clean. Looks like it was washed A LOT! Haha
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Tom, I may have missed it. What size of pad are you using with all those curves on the Rav 4? Can you get in there pretty well with a 5" pad?
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Tom, I may have missed it. What size of pad are you using with all those curves on the Rav 4? Can you get in there pretty well with a 5" pad?
I actually use mostly 6" pads. I only have a few 5" and very rarely seem to need them. In fact for this generation RAV4, the 6" work much better - even with all of the curves.
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Good to know. I’m always worried about ridges and high spots with larger pads.
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Think every new car that rolls off the transporter is perfect and just needs a wash prior to delivery? Well, that's the plan, but sometimes things don't go according to plan. I was detailing a used car in my bay while one of my co-workers was prepping a brand new Army Green Tacoma for delivery. He was washing the hood when he said, "Um, Tom, you better take a look at this." I went over and found this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1523_1_.JPG)
What we have here is a situation where something on the transporter was rubbing on the hood. (This is the driver side, but there was a slightly less ugly matching mess on the passenger side.) My guess is that it was from a piece of fabric, possibly an orange flag that they sometimes place on cross members. Ugh. Oh, and it was 11 AM and the truck was due for delivery to the customer at 3 PM. Time to get to work.
As bad as it looked, I couldn't feel anything really bad with my fingernail, so there was hope. I started with a Hex Logic pad on the Flex with the Menzerna 400 Heavy Cut Compound. It took about 90% of the defects out. I then stepped down to an Orange LC pad on the Flex with 3D One. Here's what the same area looked like a bit later:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1524_1_.JPG)
Score one for the good guys. The truck was delivered on time and in perfect shape. Whew!
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Nice.
I always wondered how much damage is from the train / transport truck and how much is induced by most prep guys washing with one bucket and a wash mitt from the Reagan administration that is dropped on the floor two times per day...
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Wow that’s rough. Looks like someone wet sanded it. Nice save!
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Today's "save." This is a 2018 RAV4 with 26,000 leased miles on it. It's also the most stripped RAV4 I've ever seen. Cloth interior, wheel covers, manual seats and even no roof rack side rails. Yea, this one had nothing on it and very little going for it. The special bonus was the area around the driver's door. Apparently the person who drove this had a very large ring of keys or something. The paint was chipped to hell on the leading edge of the back door and the B pillar area inside the door actually had a bunch of small dents in it. And of course the paint was removed at the center of the dents too. Oh, and did I mention that it was washed with a rake? Yea, I got through washing this one and pretty well wrote it off. The interior was dirty, but virtually everything came off with the vacuum.
So you would think that I've been doing this for long enough to know enough to take proper before and after shots right? Well, I have this nasty habit of not taking before pics of anything I have no hope for. And as I mentioned, I had no hope for this one. That said, I also had some new polish products from our local Detailing Supply house that they wanted me to try. Hell, what could I mess up? So I have no before pics, but trust me, it was bad.
The main product I tried on this one was a Heavy Cut Polish from a company called Pace. (I'd never heard of them.) But seeing that I had 3 free sample bottles of various polishes from them, I figured this would be a great test vehicle. I used this product on every panel (on brand new Hex Logic pads) and was reasonably impressed. The hood however posed special challenges because it was so bad. I ended up going back to the Menzerna Heavy Cut 400 - and 3 full passes - because it was so hammered.
How did it come out? Well the Pace polish cut pretty damn well and finished out very nicely. It wiped off very easily - something the 3D One is not famous for. The vehicle as a whole looked a ton better. In fact when I rolled it outside, it looked damn decent - except for all of the brush touch up work I was forced to do. Do you think this might sell though?
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1527_1_.JPG)
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Still loving that color. I have this love for maroon and dark red especially with a little metallic. It looks good and I’m sure even with a few flaws it will probably sell. Your average joe just looks at the whole package and if it looks eye catching then they are sold.
You said wheel covers but those look like regular wheels.
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You said wheel covers but those look like regular wheels.
Steel wheels with plastic wheel covers. I don't care for them much. I like the alloy wheels much better.
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Ever have one of those days? I've had a couple in a row. First, they toss me a 2008 Scion xB that used to be a Parts Delivery vehicle. (I used to drive it.) It's got 203,000 miles on it and they pretty much gave up on using it for deliveries. Did they want me to detail it? Nope. They want to wholesale it, so they want the wrap taken off. The wrap was put on in 2011. Can you say baked on? It took me 5 hours just to get most of the wrap off the sides and back. The hood is totally baked on and cracked to beat the band. I'm thinking a couple more hours of playing with myself will maybe get half of it off. Since there's no big hurry though, I can use this job as fill in work. Wish me luck.
Then there was this 2019 Camry with just 19,000 miles on it that rolled on for a full detail to go on the Used Car lot. How bad could this possibly be? Oh wait, it's black. Oh yea, and whomever owned this thing beat the ever loving crap out of the paint. How's this for just a couple of teaser shots of the damage? Both driver side door handles look like this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1629%5B1%5D.JPG)
Then there's the matter of the trunk lid. I'm not making this s__t up.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1627%5B1%5D.JPG)
I spent 4 1/2 hours doing a full 2 stage correction. I almost never do 2 stage correction on used cars because I just don't get paid enough to make it worthwhile. I still have the interior to do and I can't wait to see what surprises lurk within. Pics of the finished paint tomorrow.
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The whole vehicle is wrapped?
That looks like a woman’s car. I’ve seen that trunk kid damage before. They throw their purse up on there and then drag it off. Good luck.
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The whole vehicle is wrapped?
That looks like a woman’s car. I’ve seen that trunk kid damage before. They throw their purse up on there and then drag it off. Good luck.
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On the xB, yes, everything except the roof and the front air dam and rear bumper are wrapped. The hood is the biggest thing I have left. The rockers are still wrapped, but there's so many stone chips, it's like trying to pull off bits and pieces of swiss cheese.
I figured the exact same thing on the Camry. The scratches on the door handles are a dead give away. The truck has much more than purse damage though. I'm figuring grocery bags or cardboard boxes. Maybe even square dancing practice. Words fail me.
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I had to pull a wrap off a van if you guys will recall...i used GAS
worst day of my life.
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I had to pull a wrap off a van if you guys will recall...i used GAS
worst day of my life.
And if I recall correctly, you were outside. Since I'm working in the Service Department, I think I'll pass on that particular solvent.
I went back at it today - on the hood. After 45 minutes with the heat gun, I'd managed to remove about 10% of the hood surface area. I went back to the Service Manager and we agreed to send it to the auction just the way it is. Thank god!
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The whole vehicle is wrapped?
That looks like a woman’s car. I’ve seen that trunk kid damage before. They throw their purse up on there and then drag it off. Good luck.
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I finally got around to taking some pics of the finished Camry this morning. The inside was pretty decent. The outside - even though it looks a ton better - is still nothing I'd be proud to sign my name to. Whomever owned this thing just hammered the paint to death. It does look significantly better though. The scratches above the driver's door handle are 90% gone. Please forgive the dust that settled on it overnight.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1630%5B1%5D.JPG)
The trunk lid came out amazingly well. Not everything corrected, but good enough for a used car. (Did I actually just say that?)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1632%5B1%5D.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1633%5B1%5D.JPG)
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yes Tom, I was outside and that is a good pick up.
Car looks great, and good call on selling it. 45 min to get a little off. Ugh.
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yes Tom, I was outside and that is a good pick up.
Car looks great, and good call on selling it. 45 min to get a little off. Ugh.
Even outside, I have no idea how you put up with gas fumes for any length of time. :dope:
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yes Tom, I was outside and that is a good pick up.
Car looks great, and good call on selling it. 45 min to get a little off. Ugh.
Even outside, I have no idea how you put up with gas fumes for any length of time. :dope:
It wasn't so bad, but the gas eventually ate through the goves we were using, that was the worse part...never going to forget that.
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Tom, did you consider one of those eraser wheels for a drill? It worked amazing on my trailer for vinyl lettering. I think it would have worked and could have been cleaned up with a solvent after.
Crazy improvement on that car. That’s amazing!
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Tom, did you consider one of those eraser wheels for a drill? It worked amazing on my trailer for vinyl lettering. I think it would have worked and could have been cleaned up with a solvent after.
Crazy improvement on that car. That’s amazing!
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I have one of those eraser wheels, but by the look and feel of that hood, I would have needed a dozen of them. The car is getting loaded on a truck to go to the auction tomorrow. I can't wait to see it gone!
As for the Camry, thanks. It looks a ton better, but it's still not up to my standards. Since I've got 4 1/2 hours into it though, it's as good as its going to get.
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yes Tom, I was outside and that is a good pick up.
Car looks great, and good call on selling it. 45 min to get a little off. Ugh.
Even outside, I have no idea how you put up with gas fumes for any length of time. :dope:
It wasn't so bad, but the gas eventually ate through the goves we were using, that was the worse part...never going to forget that.
By my rough count, you've replied to at least 3 threads in the past 24 hours. You feeling ok? :funny:
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yes Tom, I was outside and that is a good pick up.
Car looks great, and good call on selling it. 45 min to get a little off. Ugh.
Even outside, I have no idea how you put up with gas fumes for any length of time. :dope:
It wasn't so bad, but the gas eventually ate through the goves we were using, that was the worse part...never going to forget that.
By my rough count, you've replied to at least 3 threads in the past 24 hours. You feeling ok? :funny:
He’s been killing it lately! I’m having a hard time keeping up with him!
You’d be surprised at how long those eraser wheels last. Put mine to work. When I first started I thought I was going to need a third one and I still only had one. I quickly ordered a second one But never even needed it. Even better than needing one, though, is having the vehicle gone and not needing one. Haha
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I've got a 2018 Corolla with 25,000 miles on it sitting in my bay for a full used car detail. As I was washing the snow and salt off of it, I ran into this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1672%5B1%5D.JPG)
Oh, and did I mention that the rest of the BLACK paint is pretty well hammered and scratched too. Good lord, what do people do to these cars! The Used Car Manager says he doesn't want to send it out for paint and he wants to see what kind of miracle I can pull off. Oh well, at least it's a Corolla and not a Tundra or something big. I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) it tomorrow and will post more pics. Wish me luck!
PS: I'm blaming JP for this one since the car came from Texas.
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I've got a 2018 Corolla with 25,000 miles on it sitting in my bay for a full used car detail. As I was washing the snow and salt off of it, I ran into this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1672%5B1%5D.JPG)
Oh, and did I mention that the rest of the BLACK paint is pretty well hammered and scratched too. Good lord, what do people do to these cars! The Used Car Manager says he doesn't want to send it out for paint and he wants to see what kind of miracle I can pull off. Oh well, at least it's a Corolla and not a Tundra or something big. I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) it tomorrow and will post more pics. Wish me luck!
PS: I'm blaming JP for this one since the car came from Texas.
So is that mostly paint transfer or a lack of paint?
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I've got a 2018 Corolla with 25,000 miles on it sitting in my bay for a full used car detail. As I was washing the snow and salt off of it, I ran into this:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1672%5B1%5D.JPG)
Oh, and did I mention that the rest of the BLACK paint is pretty well hammered and scratched too. Good lord, what do people do to these cars! The Used Car Manager says he doesn't want to send it out for paint and he wants to see what kind of miracle I can pull off. Oh well, at least it's a Corolla and not a Tundra or something big. I'm going to start (and hopefully finish) it tomorrow and will post more pics. Wish me luck!
PS: I'm blaming JP for this one since the car came from Texas.
So is that mostly paint transfer or a lack of paint?
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It's mostly paint transfer that you're seeing. Unfortunately, there's also a good number of deep scratches and noticeable rippling of the sheet metal. No, it ain't going to buff out. Not all of it at least.
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After prepping 2 new cars, I finally got to get cracking on the poor Corolla. I wasn't expecting miracles and oddly enough, none materialized. After 3 hours of polishing with Menzerna 400 on a wool pad (your read that right) on the tough spots, a hard foam cutting pad on almost everything else, then a Hex Logic Cutting pad with 3D One on the whole car. I was pretty well finished. I got most of the scratches out of the rest of the car, but the damage to the right rear quarter was worse than even I thought. Here's what I ended up with:
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1678%5B1%5D.JPG)
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1679%5B1%5D.JPG)
Was it a lot better? Yes. Was it perfect? No way. Was it up to my standards? Not even close. I called the Used Car Manager over and showed him what I had. Believe it or not, he was thrilled. "I didn't think you'd get it anywhere near that good" he said.
I've still got to do the interior tomorrow and the outside needs a re-wash because there's so much dust from the polishing, but the car does look half way decent. I still think it's going to get wholesaled.
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turned out great !!.
Do you think filling it with clear would help, or with Black that is going nowhere.
You gave me that trick on my sister's silver Honda way back when, and it worked like a top.
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turned out great !!.
Do you think filling it with clear would help, or with Black that is going nowhere.
You gave me that trick on my sister's silver Honda way back when, and it worked like a top.
It might, but I'm not going to even try it with what I'm getting paid to detail this one. Besides, I don't want to crack that door open for future vehicles. I'd rather leave paint to the body shop. Good idea though.
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I forgot to post an "after" pic. All in all - especially considering what I started with - it came out ok. Just not up to my standards.
I'm still blaming JP since the car came from Texas.
(https://hosting.photobucket.com/images/e60/tfwarda/IMG_1682%5B1%5D.JPG)
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It looks great. Nobody would guess what it looked like before.
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