Today's clean has been postponed to next weekend. 

"Svend" (svend) 09/15/2018 at 06:08 • Filed to: detailing

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The Lexus RX400h I was supposed to be doing today was what I thought it’d be.

A once quite expensive Lexus that hasn’t been looked after by the original owner. Driven through car washes and the previous owner has tried removing some minor scratches with T-Cut (I hate that stuff and when people use it. It’s too abrasive but people don’t think about that. They see the scratch has gone and with the fillers, it masks the fact you’ve gone and added so so so many new smaller ones and the area will show as a flat spot once the filler glaze has gone, broken down by the rain and UV light).

Here’s what I’m looking at.

Here’s the extent of the dirt the majority of people see on their cars.

Here’s what I see.

I’ve ran out of Gtechniq P1 but had some jewelling Gtechniq P2 (which is a really fine polish) but made the front passenger wing come up a reat.

I’ve put it off until next weekend. That way I can give it a deep clean on the Saturday, assess what the paint needs and if necessary finish it off on the Sunday

I hope it doesn’t take as long as the last one, but it did come up nice.

Before

After wash

after hand polish and seal. 

pip bip - choose Corrour > Svend 09/15/2018 at 06:51

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BMW cleaned up really well.

Svend > pip bip - choose Corrour 09/15/2018 at 07:05

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It took two days.

Not sure whether it was totally worth it. The car came up great and that’s good but the owner was a friend and he doesn’t look after them properly so that was probably the last time it saw any love.

fintail > Svend 09/15/2018 at 12:53

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In my area, these are definitely a choice for those who don’t care much for cosmetic maintenance (of their car anyway, some are drawn like magnets to botox or more).  If it is reliable and comfortable, and still has a badge for the gallery mall or overpriced health “club” parking lot, it’s all good.

Svend > fintail 09/15/2018 at 13:25

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It’s such a shame. But, it’s their car and they paid for it.

It’s a shame there is a correlation between the initial cost of the vehicle and care of it. 

fintail > Svend 09/15/2018 at 17:10

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I think it is a demographic thing.  These aren’t for people who like cars or like driving, nor for people who enjoy maintaining their machines.  Add the very specific subset who is attracted to these, and you’ll find neglected damage.

Svend > fintail 09/15/2018 at 17:18

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It’s such a shame.

I see base model Ford Fiestas looked after much better than some Range Rovers and Maseratis from new, only getti ng the treatment they deserve when they are bought used. I know of two Range Rovers and a Range Rover Sport that are absolutely pampered by their truck driving owners who bought their vehicles at five and six years old on the used market. The only thing the original owners cared about was the badges on the tailgate. 

fintail > Svend 09/15/2018 at 18:30

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Many who are richer than god and don’t care (especially if not self-made money), or lease and move on and don’t care, simply don’t have the desire. They want a badge to flash, then move on to the next thing. I think for some higher end cars, there are ownership subsets who maintain cars (think of an older guy in an E-class), but many are probably treated no better than a Corolla.

The RX has a few of those going for it - not an enthusiast vehicle by any description, and attractive to people who don’t care. They probably won’t abuse the vehicle in a physical way, but will not care for it properly no less.