The Definitive OPPO New Car Accessory And Care List.

"Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again." (sir-stig)
07/21/2014 at 12:09 • Filed to: car buying

I think that OPPO should come up with a definitive list of must haves/must does for a new car. I know there are some auto detailers on here, and we should have a large enough user base for personal anecdotal evidence to be usable. One by the end of the day when I (hopefully) purchase my new FiST would be nice :D

I'm thinking a format like so should be good for anecdotal experiences:

Vehicle:

Colour:

Geographical Area (Include Weather, Salt, Etc):

Dealer Add Ons (Undercoat, Sealant, Etc):

Aftermarket Add Ons:

Detailing Care:

Perceived Results:

The format might need some help but I think in general this would be a good article to cover in Car Buying . Professional detailers go whole hog and dump as much knowledge as you care to write.

DISCUSSION (6)

GhostZ > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
07/21/2014 at 12:23

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Kinja'd!!!

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Kinja'd!!!

I'm just kidding, this actually sounds like a very good idea.

crowmolly > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
07/21/2014 at 12:23

Not detailing advice, but I have always been a big supporter of upgraded floor mats, like Weathertech or Monster mats. They look pretty good and will handle rain, snow, slush, etc without your carpet taking a big hit. As a matter of fact the Monster mats in my Passat held a mostly-full can of soda that somebody dropped. That would have been hell to clean otherwise.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > crowmolly
07/21/2014 at 12:34

I have for sure gotten some sort of all weather floor mats thrown in, I'm going to try and make sure they are the ST branded ones if I can.

Jayhawk Jake > Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again.
07/21/2014 at 12:35

We should note color too if you want to talk about car care, because how you care for a black car can vary from how you care for a white one. I also assume by add-ons you are referring to addons specifically for caring for a car/detailing one

Vehicle: Chevrolet Sonic RS Black Granite Metallic

Geographical Area: Midwest. Literally everything. Dusty? All the time. Rain? Sometimes. Snow? Yes, with salt and gravel on the roads. Hail? You betcha

Dealer Add-Ons: A stupid pin stripe, window tint

Aftermarket Addons: Removal of said stupid pin stripe. Painted calipers, but not well enough. Has chipped. Planning on repainting a bit soon (sometime this week when I switch wheels again)

Detailing care: hand wash ~2-3 times per month. Products used: Meguiar's Hyper Wash , Meguiars Quik Wax applied after each wash. Last wash attempted tip from AMMO NYC of spraying as I dried, seemed to work. Meguiar's Ultimate liquid wax applied once every 1-2 months or so, as necessary. Necessary is when water stops beading. In the past I have also used Meguiar's Gold Class Carnuba as another layer, adds some extra shine. Labor intensive, so I don't do it often. Have tried Turtle Wax for black cars, don't notice it being any better than standard stuff but it dyes everything it touches black, which is kind of terrible. Do not recommend. Clay barred twice with Mothers Clay Bar kit (mother's detail spray smells like cinnamon, it's amazing). Have used Turtle Wax trim restorer on exterior plastics, seems to work alright. Would be open to other suggestions there. Black Magic tire shine spray used as well, not totally sold. Again open to recommendations here. Lexol Leather cleaner used when necessary, and interior plastics just cleaned with watered down simple green. Invisible Glass used on all glass, streaks less than rainx but still repels water reasonably well. Have used PlastX to remove scratches from piano black trim with moderate success, difficult to access so scratches remain. Note to GM: Don't put piano black plastic there.

Perceived results: My car is in good shape ~1 year after purchase. Some small scratches on the bumper, likely from loading stuff. Annoyingly there are scratches on the 'chrome' handle on the hatch that I have not been able to remove. Have tried hand polishing with compound, polish, and plastx (it's a plastic piece) with no success. Would like to try with DA. Otherwise the paint is swirl and scratch free, at least as much as it could be after a year of ownership with no machine polishing or paint correction attempted. Judge for yourself:

After typing all that out, that's lots of words. Not sure if this is the best format, it's a lot of information.

I'd recommend you checkout reddit.com/r/autodetailing . That's where I've picked up most of my knowledge, and it's how I came to use most of the products I use.

Basic care is pretty straightforward. Get yourself a good car wash soap, seriously, HyperWash was something like 25 bucks for a gallon off of amazon, I've probably done 10 washes or more with it and I still have more than half the bottle left. It's night and day when you compare it to the neon stuff from wally world.

You don't need super fancy wash equipment. I have 3 buckets (Soapy water, water, and wheels and tires), two mitts (one for paint, one for wheels), two wheel brushes (one for wheels, one for the wheel wells). Essentially just follow this . Buy a bunch of microfiber towels and clean them every now and then, I use Chemical Guy's microfiber wash, it works really well (and smells like oranges). I can't decide which drying method I prefer: I have a Meguiars waffle weave towel that sucks up ridiculous amounts of water and works well, and I've dried with just microfibers. I don't think it matters, it's faster to do the big waffle weave towel then follow up with the microfibers.

I like my car to be clean, and keeping it that way isn't difficult, but with a black car it's a lot of work. I will wash my car once a week if I can, usually do the interior once a month. Vacuuming is nice to do more often, it keeps the interior looking clean as a whistle. I can wash, quick wax, and vacuum the car in less than 2 hours.

Ultimately though, I keep the attitude of it's a car. It's going to get scratched, it's going to get dirty, it's not going to be showroom perfect forever. It's got nearly 17,000 miles on it and looks good, but it's far from perfect. I don't expect it to be perfect though, because once I do I focus more on keeping it fresh and new than I do driving, and driving is what owning a car is all about

Rico > Jayhawk Jake
07/21/2014 at 13:03

Here's some advice:

Exterior Trim try a combination of Meguiar's Ultimate Black ( http://www.autogeek.net/meguiars-ultim… ) and follow up with Exterior Trim Sealant ( http://www.autogeek.net/wolfgang-exter… ). The sealant is the most important thing to finish up with to keep the trim from fading.

For tires, I absolutely HATE super glossy/shiny tire dressings. Not only can they lead to tire browning but it looks incredibly cheap. My tire dressing of choice is: 303 Aerospace Protectant ( http://www.amazon.com/303-Products-3… ) it gives your wheels a nice matte shine, makes your tires look brand new off the rack with just a hint of matte shine to stand out. It says you can use 303 AP on exterior trim but I've never tried it.

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Rico > crowmolly
07/21/2014 at 13:05

Agreed on upgraded floormats, when I picked up my C300 my sales person offered me Weathertech floor liners for only $85 I definitely couldn't turn it down.