sydtoosic

yes... Zaino was my first love. and then BF, and then CG.

sydtoosic

you are very welcome Mojo. how many coats of HB did you apply? there was bird**** on my car that had been there a couple of days. it was hard so i knew it wasn't fresh. i got my spray bottle with distilled water and sprtized 4 times and the crap slid right off and didn't leave a **** mark on my paint. your car looks great BTW. the HB is ideal for this soft Lexus paint, and it's so easy to apply and remove, just don't apply to much. so far i haven't used anything better. don't forget to maintain it with the wolfs Quick Detailer and the Wolfs Nano Shampoo.

sydtoosic

overdosed on the " keep it sparkling products huh". most of us have the same problem. so you're not alone. IMO if you applied HB to RR and you'll save on detailing products because all you'd need is HB, Nano Shampoo and the Nano Quick detailer. all wolfs products. Christmas is coming... put it on your list and hand it to wifey. i already put in my Christmas order. i have my skipper design lip and lowering springs coming courtesy of the wife

Nexifer

Most paint sealants have a "glassy" wrapped in cellophane look. They are excellent for protection and last longer than most waxes. But IMHO they lack the depth of a good wax. Pinnacle Souveran is actually one of the best waxes and quite expensive. Many people do use a paint sealant and then a day later, put a coat of wax on top of the sealant. This tends to give you the best of both worlds. Better protection and the depth of a good wax. One caveat is that most good wax will mute metalic or glass flakes in paint. I have Riviera red and it does slightly mute the flakes, but in the sun they pop just fine even with the wax.

My GS was detailed prior to being delivered. It had a coat of wax on it. You can't put a sealant over wax... You have to remove it with a polish or precleaner first. If there are contaminants in the clearcoat, ie rough sandy feeling grit, the car needs to be clayed as well as polished. If you wax every few months, the sealant is really not necessary, unless you like that glassy look or you don't wax that often.

1111GS

I was in love with Zaino a few years back and then lost my interest in keeping the cars shiny. It's time for me to get back into this stuff. And I'm gonna try Hard Body. Where do you get this stuff? Can I get locally? What is a good package to order? I had to order Zaino online.

Thanks.

sydtoosic

get the Wolfs Chemicals Hard Body starter kit $89.00. if you want great customer service and fast next day delivery, order from Detailers Domain. he just got a shipment of wolfs nano shampoo which is a must to maintain the HB. and you don't need to add wax on top of HB. wash and dry and that's it. HB is not in any stores... online only.

SW17LS

In general I agree with you, but have you tried some of the newer paint sealants like Blackfire's Wet Diamond? Not quite to the depth level of something like Souveran but they're much more attractive than the old stalwarts Zaino and Klasse.

Souveran is a great beauty wax, but has terrible durability.

1111GS

Just placed order for the two. Can't wait to get my hands on them. Thanks.

sydtoosic

you are very welcome my friend... anything for the Lexus Family

mehran888

I want to pick up the Skipper lip too!

Yeah, I totally OD'd. I picked up a ton of stuff from Chemical Guys. I find their products are good, and I frankly like the fact that they feel like a community (when I watch their videos or email them). The next time in LA I'm going to drop by their main shop.

I'll pick up Hardbody, and do it in the Spring. What's another $50 when you've probably spend $1500 on stuff?

Sadly, it's been a bad week for my car. Nothing terrible, but I got a pretty significant parking lot ding at Ikea last Saturday, and then last night I was being less careful than normal and slowly scuffed my front left rim. For a few moments today I thought 'Forget it, just treat it like anyone else treats their cars', but those moments passed.

Still upset about the door ding. I had my '01 IS300 for 8 years without a single ding!

SW17LS

Both those things are easily fixable, not to worry. $150 and it'll be good as new.

sydtoosic

wow M... my guess is that it's a door ding??? our cars need to be made of a lightweight titanium. ask your dealer who they use for bodywork. try not to do the repair through lexus because if you go to the repair guy personally instead of through lexus, you will save yourself some dough. do you have a wheel and tire pkg.? if so, you are entitled to a new or repaired wheel.

mehran888

Yeah, it's a door ding. About 3/4" in length (it's white, but I think it's the paint from their car.. my clear coat seems intact..) and significantly dented enough to be able to tell from 20-30 feet away.

No tire/wheel package. The wheel bothers me a bit less - I'll look at new wheels down the road.

All things being considered, a couple of little things on my car isn't a big deal. Just sucks when your car is one of the few things in life that is truly 'your own' and you want to control and maintain. I think this is a guy thing.

dseag2

You can pick up some scratch remover to take the paint out of the dent, then just use a paintless dent removal company to remove it or pay a little more and have the Lexus dealer do it.

I bought the tire and wheel package and the dent package because I also scrub my rims and, at least for me, dents are inevitable. I have 4,000 miles on my GS and already have a dent that I plan on getting removed during my 5,000 mile service.