tliartis

All,

I will be recieveing my black on black GS on Wednesday! I like parts of the FSport, but not all of it, so I have the premium package and had the dealership put in the fsport grill since I like the look of it. I think it will be a good change, curious as to anyone's input. I'm planning on having it clayed, waxed, and sealed as soon as I get home, but are there any things I should do while the car is brand new to set me up for success in living with it? Also any necessary additions? Thanks for your help and I"m excited to be here.

mehran888

I washed, clayed, sealed, and waxed my car this weekend. It was wonderful. I agree that you should do the same. Make sure you seal before you wax .

I also got the clear bra on the hood, side mirrors, and door handles.

jj14

Door handles - you mean under the door handles? If so, where did you get those from? I really want to get that, and the local shops here don't seem to have those.

mehran888

Yes, under the door handles. The dealer has a guy come around once a week to do all the clear bras, so he did it. He cut it manually, just like he did the side mirrors.

It's "good", but not perfect. There are scratches in the bra and the cut isn't perfect. Even my hood wasn't done great. But that's probably the person we used and not the quality. Still glad I did it. I really dislike scratches under the door handles. Hopefully this won't mean I have scratches around where the tape/bra is on - that would stink.

jj14

Thanks mehran888
Unfortunately, my local dealership doesn't offer that
I will keep looking for an installer that can custom cut it and mail it to me (if they aren't nearby)

Scratches under the door handles are horrible - it shows horribly on my other car (black) - recently buffed those out and need to do something about those as well (to prevent them from showing up)

tliartis

What do you guys recommend for cleaning this Lexus. I like to wash weekly if I can, so for outside and the leather inside? I will clay/polish/etc. periodically. Anything in particular for this leather and paint? My car is the ever tough to clean but rewarding Obsidian.

jj14

For the leather, on my GS, I applied the leather master's protection cream after a week. That supposedly prevents stains from going bad. I plan to apply it once every 6-8 months. Along with the car wash, I plan to use a woolite/water mixture 1:10 or 1:20 to clean the leather.

tliartis

After looking around I'm looking towards Zymol because of it being a black car. Not sure if items like swissvax or pinnacle souverign are worth the extra money. What do all of you think for black car wash & shine?

mehran888

NP - as a point of reference, my total work cost $800 (Canadian + taxes). The partial hood and side fenders were $600, the side mirrors $60 each, and the doors $20 each. I'm sure I could have gotten better, but I preferred to get the dealer do them all than drive the car off the lot and deal with either

1) finding somewhere else to do them (takes more time - my dealer did it on delivery)
2) risking a random rock from chipping my hood on my first drive.

G'luck

raytseng

I think if you're going to go through the trouble, if I were to get a new car and wanted to invest the effort, I'd coat it with one of the new nano-ceramic/nano-glass/nano-quartz sealants as this is actually a tech change (there a few choices on boutique car care sites like autogeek, opti-coat and cquartz for example,).


Then you can LSP with whatever carnauba or other actual layer of wax you want. or whatever is recommended with those protectants

Then I would actually wash car less frequently. the more you wash, it's still a mechanical action. Remember Water cut the grand canyon. The more you wash, the more you're wearing down you LSP layer that you put on, and chances are some small amount of dirt is going to abrade a little bit.


If you're set on clearbra, Check with tint shops near you, as they often do clear-bras too.

matt2421

Hi, I just got a black on black luxury package as well. I also like the look of the FSport grill so i emailed the parts dept asking about compatibility between the FSport grille and the luxury grille and here is the reply

Matt – the upper grille insert is interchangeable for one to the other however the lower grille is not. The bumper is different between the two models that does not allow the F-Sport lower insert to be installed on the standard GS bumper.

Was just wondering if you had the FSport grille put on your car yet and if so did you also get the lower grille? before and after pics? I am thinking of doing this as well and would greatly appreciate the help.

tliartis

Mine isn't luxury, it's premium. Below is what they wrote me.

"$600 for the upper and lower sections of the grill."

That is from Lexus of Orlando

tliartis

Sorry, I haven't gotten the car yet, I take delivery Wednesday. We'll se how it looks.

mehran888

Ray: What nano sealants do you recommend?

I'm reading up on this thread but don't see anything definitive. Opti coat?

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/aut...r-sealant.html

I can afford enough time to seal my car twice a year (April and October) and wax it maybe 3+ times (April, July, October). Being in a cold climate I don't think I can reasonably get my car clean, clayed, and so forth between November-March. Any advice?

raytseng

take a look at those 2 items cquartz and opticoat. Try a search at autogeek forums and you'll pull up reviews including this mother of all tests:

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/...0-cquartz.html