Learning experience...06 IS250 complimentary car wash special

Mom bought her IS250 from the dealer where I work a few years ago. It now has 89k on the clock, and frequently gets the rotating brush automatic car wash...after a broomstick pre-scrub because the auto car wash never cleans cars good enough. Not only that, but I wish I could describe the SMELL of the water they have to use.(not sulfur) Me and the rest of us down in delivery prep can't do much better, but we do have wash mitts It's always rush rush so no time to really do a good job like I want. She wanted me to clean it up some, so I jumped at the opportunity to learn.

I apologize for the photo quality, as the best FUNCTIONING camera I had available was my retired HTC Thunderbolt.

The car has a ton of road rash on the wheels, lot's of chips and scrapes on the front end from her hitting stuff...so all could not be saved. Also what I assumed to be acid rain/hard water etching that I need to develop better skills with removing.

The interior was in good shape, minus normal wear. The carpet was just replaced under good will warranty (my brother and I both work at the dealership...we got it hooked up. Most times they just strip the interior out and dry the original carpets/padding) due to a known issue on these cars where the A/C drain clogs and fills the car with water. If any of you didn't know this already and have customers with a lexus who call you about wet carpet, good starting point. If they take it to a dealer they may be able to haggle for brand new carpet which could save you hassle.

I do need more experience trying to get all the scratches off plastic (if possible), and I wasn't sure what the safest dilution ratios for using cleaner like folex on the headliner was, so I left it alone for now. She always gets make up marks on it around the sunvisor.

Delivery:





Interior issues...scratches like these on all the door panels and kick panels...


as well as the make up marks


I was able to get the wheels from this:


to this:


Using 1z wheel cleaner and some brushing...however, old wheel weight residue and heavy caked brake dust behind the spokes really kicked my ass. Need better technique for that in the future.

engine was straight forward, used steam especially on the heat insulation. I popped the middle cover off to wipe down the hoses and wire looms that stick out the sides. I'll admit I was nervous about getting down into where all the crazy wiring is under there..tried to be cautious.





foam gun from Phil! I love it. Used a fresh mitt in a rinse bucket with grit guard, then sheeted the water off. Wish I had a distilled water setup ..our water doesn't smell like it does at work though.



After a nanoscrub....all those car wash swirls!



a little bit better



I used m105 with my dw849, then menzerna 1500 and 4500 with my GG. I was able to remove about 50-60% of the marring, frustrating that I couldn't get it perfect. I assumed it was just my skill level...must be something I'm not doing it right. This is where I really missed having a good camera on hand, because I wanted to show yal what I wasn't able to fix. The fingernail marks under the door handles were difficult as well, may need a tougher compound.

more pics:









this is probably the best photo I have showing what I wasn't able to fix...looking at the reflection of the spotlights:



I had trouble with the exhaust tips as well, tons of road paint and tar balls I literally was trying to scrape off, didn't have much luck but they look better from afar. Frustrating.




Getting all the powder out of the jams was a pain as well, I'll have to try and tape those off better. I decided to try the 1z glanz wax that came in the starter kit I got. Some pics when I pulled it outside the next morning before hitting the windows and tshine:



not a perfect mirror like I wanted but halfway there








Overall it was decent experience, Just frustrating I couldn't achieve perfection, and I don't have a professional extractor...was worried that carpets would never dry after using the LGM...not powerful enough vacuum. Following with the shop vac didn't help much. Tempted to rent a rug doctor with the hand tool everytime I do a car since it doesn't happen very often.

 

Nice work! Looks good. Any interior shots?

Also a new detailer here... just curious, you started w/ m105 then graduated to merz 1500 & 4500? Why m105 & 1500? Is 1500 less abrasive than m105?

 

thank you...I didn't really do any noticeable improvement to the interior besides a vacuum...so it wouldn't show off anything really. interior was clean for the most part.

as far as compounds...I was searching on here and found a thread where folks recommended that combination of correction steps. maybe an expert can chime in.

http://www.detailingbliss.com/forum/compound-polishing/33436-menzerna-vs-meguiars.htm

 

nice work! Practice makes perfect just keep on doing corrections and you will find what product combos you like. One thing I always do on exhaust tips is a good APC clean then if there is some nasty stuff leftover I hit it with tarminator followed by a metal polish. Overall though the car looks 100X better. Now keep her away from them brrom washes lol

 

ya I try but she loves being able to relax in the massage chairs...free coffee etc.

any recommendation for getting more of the swirls out?

thanks for the props ...car feels smooth as glass besides the front end that needs paint