dtl

Hey guys,

Have been sifting through this forum and have been provided great information so far. I have an '08 IS250 Obsidian , yes I know I know a black car. I promised myself I would never get another black car but guess what, I just couldn't resist. The previous owner let the car sit out for a while and it is in desperate need of a detail. I'm trying to restore it but I want to budget this accordingly so that I'm not spending too much money, I'm thinking something south of $200. I have a game plan going but need some further help:

Exterior:
Fix paint chips [was thinking Dr. ColorChip or using regular touch up pen from Lexus]
Wash [Foam cannon? still not sure what kind]
Clay Bar [Heard mothers has a good kit available]
Buff?
Polish?
Wax [Meguiar's NXT Generation Tech Wax 2.0?]

Interior:
303 Aerospace on dash and door panels
Woolite mixed solution to clean leather
Lexol conditioner for the leather once cleaned

Not addressing the wheels and tires. Wheels are plastidipped and were completely cleaned before I put the plastidip on. Tires will be getting replaced very soon!

Looking for products that are readily available, preferably through Amazon. I haven't done too much detailing before but I have a daily driver that I can practice on first. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Will post pictures of the car later today.

dtl

By the way, I didn't include too many exact products because I wanted to get your opinions first.

Greg@DI

Hi dtl,

Congrats on the new car, I'm sure you'll spend some time making it shine as it should!

You have a great plan going, however I can tell you right away that you'll have a nearly impossible time staying under $200 if you plan on doing any machine polishing. Reason being, any decent polisher, such as the PC7424XP or Griot's Garage polisher, will cost around $120+ unless you come across some amazing deal. Add to it pads, polishes and towels, you'll be around the $200 mark just with the polishing supplies. Clay bar, wash stuff, etc. will just add to it. From my experience, you'll be looking at $350-500+ for a full detailing kit (polishing machine, pads, polishes, towels, washing supplies, etc.).

If on the other hand you're talking about hand polishing, then it may be possible to stay around the $200 range. I'd love to help you put together a kit, but definitely need to know exactly what you plan on doing as well as if you have any budget flexibility.

Hope that helps!
Ivan @ DI

dtl

Thanks Ivan for the response. I didn't include a nice polisher in the price of all this, the $200 was for only the detailing supplies. I've found a thread on this forum of a good step by step on the process, if I'm not mistaken it was on the detailedimage website. Still need to get close ups of my car, just have been very busy recently.