What Should I Do First?

[the patrick]

Steve,

Thanks for all the information. I have had my black IS350 for 2 1/2 months and love it. I am a newbie to detailing, but I have been diligent with a weekly wash. I bought good products; Meguiars Gold wash, Stoner's Invisible Glass, 303 for the interior, Lexol for the leather, good MF mitt and LOTs of MF towels etc... Someone (might have been you) recommended the California Drying blade - makes drying the car SO much easier. I also have been using a Meguiars Detailing spray. The cars looks awesome - I get compliments regularly on its shine.

Thanks to this forum and autopia, I have OCD about my keeping my car looking great. I noticed some micro-swirls here and there (I guess I was sometimes using a circular motion when washing) and then...my godson put a fine scratch in the door! So, I just bought the UDM with some additional pads, but I want your thoughts about a product I bought to use with it and have a few more questions:

1) I bought an AIO - Poorboy's Polish with Sealant to use with Natty's Blue. Any experience with PB PwS?

2) Do I need anything else? And is it really necessary to separately do the 1) polish 2) seal and then 3) wax, or is the AIO and then wax OK?

3) Would I only want to use the AIO once, let's say, every 3 months since it is abrasive?

4) I am still a little unclear when and how often I would clay (haven't done it yet)?

5) Lastly, can you recommend a hybrid wax, just in case the Natty's doesn't last long enough?

Thanks again for all of your posts!

[SW03ES]

Welcome!

1. Never used it, let me know how you like it.

2. It all depends on what your goals are. You'll likely always get a better result using seperate steps with dedicated products, but will anybody but your really notice that result? That depends.

3. I would just use it as needed

4. Clay is something to be done on an as-needed basis too. If the paint feels rough, break out the clay.

5. Its been a long time since I used a hybrid wax/sealant, I always like Poorboys EX and EX-P. Meguiars NXT is pretty good too.

[kab47401]

Steve,

Very good directions! I am wondering if anyone has noticed how easy the leather in the new RX 350's mark up? I just got an 08 white with gray interior and it seems like it gets dirty and wrinkled so easily. I also have a 97 ES 300 that has the gray interior that doesn't do this. I know the texture of the leather is different but it is driving me NUTS!!

Also, anyone know about mud guards for the RX? I've never seen one with them or heard any feedback.

Thanks!

Karen

[rxlove]

Hello! I just purchased a new lexus and haven't washed it yet so this forum has been awesome to review to get me started. Couple questions:

1. Can I wash it at any time or do I need to wait? I've read some things about the paint curing, etc. and the need to wait.

2. How often should I wash and detail? Looking at this forum it seems like I need to go through most of the detailing steps every week. Is this the case?

I have a graphite grey paint and black leather interior on my RX. This is my first Lexus and want to take good care of it!

Thanks!!

[Buk]

Hello! I just purchased a new lexus and haven't washed it yet so this forum has been awesome to review to get me started. Couple questions:

1. Can I wash it at any time or do I need to wait? I've read some things about the paint curing, etc. and the need to wait.

2. How often should I wash and detail? Looking at this forum it seems like I need to go through most of the detailing steps every week. Is this the case?

I have a graphite grey paint and black leather interior on my RX. This is my first Lexus and want to take good care of it!

Thanks!!

You shouldn't have to wait. The paint is heat cured at the factory and there has been time elapse since the car left the factory and ended up in your hands.

Important information has been given in this thread, starting with a clean car performing all the outlined tasks and then maintain it at this high level. The length of time between basic washing will depend on the environment your car is kept. Indoors in a garage or always outdoors. Rain or dry. Dusty or not. Using a high quality automobile soap is imperative. It provides cleaning and lubrication. The lubrication is important so you don't mar the finish when you HAND wash the car.

Reading here is a good start. There are many resources available on the internet. Just google car detailing, auto detailing or automotive detailing and read away. Many manufacturers have discussion forums. Adams, Meguiars On Line, AutoGeek, and Truth in Detailing are a few.

Good luck and enjoy.

[rxlove]

Hello! I just purchased a new lexus and haven't washed it yet so this forum has been awesome to review to get me started. Couple questions:

1. Can I wash it at any time or do I need to wait? I've read some things about the paint curing, etc. and the need to wait.

2. How often should I wash and detail? Looking at this forum it seems like I need to go through most of the detailing steps every week. Is this the case?

I have a graphite grey paint and black leather interior on my RX. This is my first Lexus and want to take good care of it!

Thanks!!

You shouldn't have to wait. The paint is heat cured at the factory and there has been time elapse since the car left the factory and ended up in your hands.

Important information has been given in this thread, starting with a clean car performing all the outlined tasks and then maintain it at this high level. The length of time between basic washing will depend on the environment your car is kept. Indoors in a garage or always outdoors. Rain or dry. Dusty or not. Using a high quality automobile soap is imperative. It provides cleaning and lubrication. The lubrication is important so you don't mar the finish when you HAND wash the car.

Reading here is a good start. There are many resources available on the internet. Just google car detailing, auto detailing or automotive detailing and read away. Many manufacturers have discussion forums. Adams, Meguiars On Line, AutoGeek, and Truth in Detailing are a few.

Good luck and enjoy.

Thank you so much!! Going out to buy the detailing products today!!

[Bykfixer]

Thanks for the write up. I'll have to train myself to use straight line only when washing as I've been doing circles for decades. 

I have a well used but fairly nice black car with lots of highway miles, so lots of small chips on the hood. Last time I did up a black car with high miles the hood had a million billion tiny white dots when I was done. Ugh. Looked great from 100 feet and the paint was like a mirror but……those tiny white dots used to laugh at me every time I got near the car. I definitely don't want to repeat that trick. 

[Bykfixer]

This post is to say thanks for the write up.  I washed a fairly dirty car today and was amazed at how clean the wash water was when done. Using a 2 gallon car wash bucket for soap water, a 1 gallon bucket to dunk the microfiber cloth in to rinse and straight lines to clean it was new to me but it worked beautifuly. The Mothers car wash and wax still had lots of suds when done. 

See, I bought this Lexus car back in March and just now got license plates and registration. Due to covid my states DMV does things one person at a time. Figuring having it titled by mail would be faster I found out that no good deed goes unpunished. 

My son had glued some Aristo logos to the trunk lid. Today I spent a couple hours getting the super-duper miracle glue off that remained. That left a haze. So while installing the plates the haze was driving me bonkers. I whipped out some Mothers polishing compound and it was like magic. Trouble was where the haze once was looked great. The rest of the car…… not so great. I could see the reflection of a house 100 yards away where I polished. 

Now the car looked a heck of a lot better after using Mothers California Gold wash and wax. Using a shammy cloth after really helped too. Two washes later the water was not beading anymore but was shedding instead. 

I washed where the plates go too. 

The 2004 GS 300 has lots of highway miles and lots of parking lot battle scars. So to get the finish all proper will take a while. 

Heaven knows when the wheels were cleaned last so baked on brake dust will require Bar Keepers Friend in a paste using a tooth brush to scrub them. The gas cap door looked like it had never been washed so that and really dirty door jams and truck area took a little while to clean too. But it looks a heck of a lot better. Then I noticed how dirty all that tan carpeting and leather has gotten in 17 years. Ugh! 

A quick jaunt around the neighborhood and it was time to put the cover back on it.