Altima-- Fall Detail!

[The Critic]

2010 Altima V6-- purchased in January 2010

With the exception of the handwash done at PDI, it has only seen careful hand washes with the two bucket method on a bi-monthly basis. I do know that someone has wiped down part of the hood and roof once or twice with only water (for unknown reasons), which has resulted in a few light swirls.

Also, here's a good article about white paint. Despite its young age, the white paint became slightly (but noticeably) whiter after the light polishing with Meguiars D151. Meguiars D151 is an AIO product which has paint cleaning abilities yet also has a surprising amount of cut.

Lastly, the paint on this car felt rather rough on the hood and the trunklid. After claying the paint, it now feels silky smooth. I'm curious as to what were those bonded contaminants, as the Pinnacle clay looked clean after claying the car but it obviously took off those contaminants. Any ideas?

So, today's process was a wash/clay/polish/seal. Here were the products used:

- Wash with 2 bucket method with Chemical Guys Wash and Gloss
- Clay with Pinnacle Ultra Poly Clay and ONR at 1 oz to 16oz water for clay lube
- Polish with Meguiars D151 and Lake Country White Polishing Pad with Flex 3401XRG on Speed 4
- Seal with Duragloss #105, applied with a Flex 3401XRG polisher on Speed 3 with a Lake Country Black CCS Pad

Tires and wheels were cleaned with a strong solution of Chemical Guys Wash and Gloss. No dressings were used as I hate them.

Unfortunately the clouds decided to come out right as I began to take these pictures.

Any questions or advice regarding the process used, please let me know!

Thanks!

 

[sunfire]

Originally Posted By: The Critic

- Polish with Meguiars D151 and Lake Country White Polishing Pad with Flex 3401XRG on Speed 4
- Seal with Duragloss #105, applied with a Flex 3401XRG polisher on Speed 3 with a Lake Country Black CCS Pad


The car looks mint. Even your brakes are shining. Those are some pretty serious detailing supplies. I've always wanted to try Megs D151.

 

[Johnny]

Looking good.

 

[The Critic]

Thanks guys.

Also, money saved: $135!

That's how much a local detail shop charges to hand wash the car, steam clean the floor mats (I have rubber weathertechs, so that wouldn't even apply to me), clay the car, do a light polish, and apply two coats of wax.

For me, I spent three hours and saved $135. I may not have done as good of a job (as I am still a newbie), but that is still a significant savings.

Originally Posted By: sunfire
I've always wanted to try Megs D151.

If you're local, PM me and I can give you some.

 

[crinkles]

you forgot to obscure the number plate in photo No 1.

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: crinkles
you forgot to obscure the number plate in photo No 1.

Thanks for pointing it out. I did edit the plates out, but it seems like photobucket is having a slight delay when it comes to updating those changes to their files. For some reason the edits appear when I sign into my account, but if I load the picture using a direct url, the edits do not show. Weird.

 

[Scienceman]

Looks great!

 

[daves87rs]

Nice!

 

[Falcon_LS]

Great job!

One thing I like about white paint is its ability to hide swirls and all. But I love the wet look of a freshly detailed white paint.

 

[Nick R]

Looks nice, just not a huge fan of white on cars.

 

[barlowc]

Originally Posted By: The Critic
For me, I spent three hours and saved $135.

You must work fast. Or I work slow. It takes me longer than that just to do a thorough wash and wax with Meguiar's Gold Class liquid wax.

 

[buster]

Looks good. Almost as good as Zaino.

 

[bretfraz]

Looks terrific, Mike. Always nice to get the detail done before winter weather sets in.

I really like the Altima a lot. Much nicer and more fun than an Accord or Camry, and more stylish and seems better built than a Sonata (old one). Only comparo IMO are the Fusion and Malibu, at least style-wise and driveability. I recommend Altimas to all my customers looking for a similar car.

 

[huffmuds9320]

Wow great job. It looks even better than when you just got the car brand new. I don't know anything about detailing, it seems like a lot of steps are involved but its well worth the effort. I just wash, dry and apply a cleaner wax like Turtle Wax or Zymol. That reminds me, I need to wash and wax the car before the rain season starts.

 

[SLCraig]

Same color as my old Altima.. I love white, its the best color.

 

[RTexasF]

VERY nice! I know that using the Flex made it a pleasure (well, almost) to do.

 

[ekpolk]

Meh. Get back to me when you can get a BLACK car looking that good! (Where's the raspberry smilie when you need it?!?)

Seriously though, nice job Mike. I'd bring you the Camry to work on, but by the time I got home, it'd have an inch thick layer of bugs on it...

 

[The Critic]

Originally Posted By: barlowc
Originally Posted By: The Critic
For me, I spent three hours and saved $135.

You must work fast. Or I work slow. It takes me longer than that just to do a thorough wash and wax with Meguiar's Gold Class liquid wax.


Yeah, I was really hustling.

But working by machine allows you to work A LOT faster.

Originally Posted By: ekpolk
Meh. Get back to me when you can get a BLACK car looking that good! (Where's the raspberry smilie when you need it?!?)

Seriously though, nice job Mike. I'd bring you the Camry to work on, but by the time I got home, it'd have an inch thick layer of bugs on it...

I don't have any black cars to work on. This is the closest we have in the family. I polished this one with D151 too. The camera definitely makes the paint look better than it really is: