HRP

Please post your final selection and periodic updates to let us make comments, snide remarks, and second guess you.

Check out the Michelin A/S Pilot Sport tire.

Well, the car is garaged when not being driven; it still beads water finely, and is slick. I know it wasn't like that 3 years ago since it still has the original paint. It is kept washed with Zaino car wash. And scheduled for a complete detailing this weekend.

Check out www.autopia.org. They have several discussion boards and product reviews. Many are done by professional detailers. Suggest you check out their reviews and comments regarding the different products for appearance, ease of application, and durability. Whichever product you eventually choose, FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS!!! Zaino did well and is considered to give one of the most durable finishes out there. Check out the pics of a red SC430 down the page here:http://www.autopia.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25958&highlight=Zaino BTW, I'm in Greensboro and my Zaino done 2 1/2 years ago has held up beautifully. Never wait that long, but personal life got too busy to have time to really devote to fine detailing to my cars other than wash and vacuum and give a lick and a promise. But this weekend (after the tomato plants are in the ground).....

Abouit 2 1/2 years ago, after retiring, I researched car detailing products in great depth (I'm a physician). I finally settled on Zaino (available on-line from www.Zainostore.com ). I've been using it for the past 2 1/2 years and have been getting comments like "new car?"; "how do you like your new car?", etc. These about a 1991 Buick Reatta Convertible. My 1977 black Excalibur Roadster looks like my Buick, better than it did on the showroom floor new; as does my 2002 LS430. I've been waxing and polishing cars for at least 50 years and go back to the old yellow can Simonize, applying tire blacking with a paintbrush, and removing and painting the back of bumbers with Rustolium, and using a whisk broom to clean the carpet. Zaino gives you the best looking and most durable finish out there. Here's what convinced me from the Reatta discussion board: "There's lots of hype out there, but here's a test conducted by an Acura NSX owner that proved interesting. He pitted his "custom" $144 a jar Zymol NSX wax against zaino, Mequiars and the inexpensive Zymol wax sold in discount stores. He also used several other NSX owners to help judge the results. Considering that many of these guys think of their cars as if it were their religion, I knew they would "take no prisoners" when it came to determining which wax worked best." Here's the link to see the results of the test: (past this into the search bar on your browser): http://www.nsxsc.com/nsexcitement/waxtest.html The Guru Wax Report just rated Zaino #1.

Not replacing it electively ain't worth it!!! You know it will fail at the worst possible time under the worst possible conditions (one of Murphy's Laws) and if more than one thing goes bad, they will go bad in the worst possible sequence and combination. I'm sure there is a +50% built in durability factor, but why gamble?

My Millenium Silver Lexus LS430 has a 1/4" chip on the side of the hood. Which touchup products do y'all prefer? I'm considering the Autovisuals Autosharp touchup pen, but thought I'd ask for opinions and/or experiences while I'm waiting for our April showers to clear up.

Yeah, we Zaino users do have one track minds, we want our cars to look their best!!

Suggest you clean and polish (wax) the door frame where the seals meet the metal, then use a good protectant on the seals. That should help to dininish the windrush that is apparently inherent in the original design. And turn up the volume on your stereo.

I can see where you are coming from. No, I'm not a Zaino rep or salesman; don't own stock in it either (it's privately held, darn it). I'm actually a retired physician, but I am really favorably impressed with Zaino products. About 2 1/2years ago, I researched car care products to the nth degree (I'm an internist); tried and compared several, searched reviews, etc. and finally got around to Zaino. My car looked better than it did new on the showroom floor. I was asked spontaneously by several people how I liked my "new" car. It was an 11 year old 91 Reatta. Even got really favorable comments from the service people at the GM dealerships. That had never happened with anything else I'd ever used; and I date back to the old yellow can Simonize days when we applied tire blacking with a paintbrush and painted the back of car bumpers. Appearance and durability are both the qualities where I think Zaino excels. Check out the autopia website. Those guys are detailing fanatics (worse than me). They have a fair share of Zaino, Klasse, Meguires, etc. devotees. I guess all of us have our preferences. I continue to research and try new car care products. This weekend I plan to try out a new product, "Waxing Frenzy". It is a marine product. I've heard some incredible claims for it's use on cars (Like the ones I heard about Zaino 2 1/2 years ago), so I'm going to do half a car with it and Zaino the other half. BTW, Zaino does offer a Money Back if it doesn't do what they say!!! Zaino Bros' Show Car Polish™ is the easiest polish you will ever use. There is nothing on the market that compares to Show Car Polish products. Guaranteed! Our Show Car Polish products have been written up in publications such as Popular Mechanics, Hot Rod, Street Rodder, Truckin, Vette, Popular Hot Rodding, Super Chevy, Corvette Fever and Custom Rodder, and many more. We were rated #1 in Corvette World magazine, #1 in Corvette Fever Magazine's product test of leading car polishes and waxes for highest gloss, easy to use and longest protection. Most recently, we were also named #1 by The Wax Test and Guru Reports who tested 46 waxes, so you don't have to!

Check out www.zainobros.com I think their leather care products do an incredible job. I've a 91 Buick Reatta Convertible as one of my daily drivers. The seats are leather and I've kept them looking and feeling like new with Zaino products. Also suggest you check out the Autopia websited for professional advise on leather care: http://www.autopia.org/index.php

Suggest you go to www.zainobros.com and research their products (which include claybars) as well as their instructions. After applying wax and polishes for a good 50 years in overlapping circles, I found out I'd been doing it wrong all these years. Sal Zaino has some really good advice; and Zaino Car Care products are fantastic.

Howdy, I'm right around the corner from you in northwest Greensboro. Here are my comments: 1) I'd suggest the Autopia website for cleaning/detailing information inside, outside, and under the hood: http://autopia-carcare.com/ Check out the "Learn" and "Interact" options. Also they discuss almost anything from shoes to vacation sites, including fuel and oil additives. 2) Far more important for your car's health and longivity than additives are the common sense things like changing the oil & filter regularly (at least every 3 mos or 3k (whichever comes first) for premium motor oils, 6 mo or 5k for synthetics); buying fuel from stations with a high volume to insure clean tanks; flushing and changing fluids every year (brakes, cooling system, transmission), rotating and balancing all 4 tires every 5-6k, alignment at least once a year; checking cold tire pressure and condition frequently. 3) Keep your car clean; use UV and anti-oxidents on the vinyl, rubber seals, leather. (I'm a Zaino fnatic www.zainobros.com) A clean car is "respected" by mechanics, parking attendants, cops, etc. If you don't care about your car, why should they. A clean car has gotten me out of several traffic tickets. 4) Try to drive the car on the highway frequently(10+ miles). This gives the car a chance to "warm up", drives the water, etc out of the oil, muffler, let's the detergents and cleaners in most gasolines "do their thing". Around town "stop an go" driving is the hardest on a car. Keep the tank full, this prevents condensation from forming with temperature and humidity changes. 5) Additives: occasionally to the fuel. Check out this site for info on some additives: http://www.goldeagle.com/cartips/finject1.htm 6) Today's premium motor oils contain detergents and other additives. Today's automobile engines and transmissions are designed to go at least 150k with reasonable care. Unfortunately, the electronics in today's cars are their Achille's heel. Plus hevy family use wears out the interior. Few of us buy a "new" car because we wore out the old one. 7) Throttle body cleaning, sure, but it isn't hard or time consuming with today's products. See above "goldeagle website" Hope this helps. Suggest you consider joining a couple of the "auto enthusiast" chat groups. Use the web, you can pick up a lot of info and help here. Harmmmmmmmmmmmmmoniously (I'm a barbershop quartet and chorus singer) HRP

Y'all need to check http://www.mrwhizard.com/ He currently has the following running:1993-94 Lexus LS400 - only $189 for instrument clusters! I knw he does many makes and models. He's in Canada, so this may be Canadian $. Hope he can help.

Somewhere on-line I once saw a detailed discussion and orderly description of how to go about adjusting power seats (in any car) for the best and most comfortable positioning. Unfortunately, I didn't bookmark the site, and have searched in vain for it with different search engines. Anyone know of this site or have detailed knowledge on the proper procedure to set the "ideal" positioning for each driver/passenger?

2 points. 1) I recently got a real deal on brand new, still in the original packaging, OEM floormats for my LS430 on ebay; a full set (front and rear) for less than $40, including shipping. It is probably worth having a second set for spares. 2) http://autopia-carcare.com/ is a discussion site for detailing fanatics (like me) and covers cleaning problems in great detail.