triggaice

I've had a dark colored Acura in the past and loved the way it would shine but it was a pain to maintain. I couldnt wait till I got a new car so I could get a light metalliac color. Now I miss dark colors and am thinking of going back to a darker color.

Obviously I know other manufactures have stronger paints than acura and i'm thinking lexus offers a thick paint, is this true? Does your dark colored Lexus swirl easy? Any problems out of the ordinary?

tfischer

I've had both light and dark colored cars, and I love my black SC430.

I've had Zaino on it since it was new, and don't get any fabrics near it other than MicroFiber, so swirls are never a problem. As far as I can tell, the paint is of the highest quality, although I don't know how thick or "strong" it is.

It stays on the car fine, and looks great.

1ton

I have black onyx and I love the dark color as well. It is definitely harder to maintain because you see dirt easily. I had a Silver RX prior and it was really easy to maintain but the shine doesn't come close. Black is so slick!

Also, the black does not have a clearcoat, as I understand it, the reasoning is so that it does not create as much scratches that are noticible. Clearcoat provides white scratches. I have also Zaino'd my car and it it does not have swirlmarks. There are scratches from previous owner but they are minor.

Tfischer, most microfiber towels are colored right? Does the dye do anything to the car? I have heard that you want to stay with white. Your thoughts?

Gojirra99

No regrets what-so-ever for me. You do need to wash a dark color car more frequently,but it's a weekend car for me anyway.
Use several microfibres and/or lambskin for washing/drying & wrinse them frequently between wipes on the car & you won't get swirls. Paint is of the highest quality you can find anywhere.

tfischer

MF towels are different colors. Many are a very light blue or green, and I have some others that are a dark green or dark yellow. I have not seen white MF towels. The color in the towel has no impact on the car. They do not even run when washed in hot water. This is not an issue. The most reputable of the MF distributors who sell to the most particular detailers all over the world sell in various deep colors.

One use of the colors is to distinguish between size and between the use that you apply them to. For example, I know that some owners have MF towels for glass and some fot the car and don't mix them. (I'm not sure why.)

As for white towels, that's for cotton towels used on your car. If you are going to use cotton on the car, use only 100% cotton made in the USA white cotton towels. Others can have polyester in them, which will scratch, and the dye in them causes a problem which I forget what it is. I use cotton to remove Zaino, but I have MF towels for everything else. Especially drying. Once you use a waffle weave MF towel to dry the car, you will never want to use cotton again.

The black car is more trouble to keep clean, but it's worth it.

Of course, you can always drive it dirty, too.

dseag2

Hi Guys,

What Zaino products do you use on your dark colored cars to remove swirl marks? All of my prior cars have been Silver (including my SC), so maintenance was never a problem. The GS300 is the first black car I've ever had, and I only went with that color so I could get the saddle interior. Even though I only drive it a few days a week and hand wash it weekly with cotton towels I still see swirl marks. I've waxed it 4 times already with Maguire's Gold Class (yes, I'm a bit obsessive) but that doesn't seem to help.

I don't regret getting black... the Lexus paint is outstanding... but I do want to remove the swirl marks. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks,

DSeag2

1ton

I have bought MF towels in the past and was not pleased with it because it did not seem to pick up all the water well enough like the cotton towels. However, I bought it at an autoshop and not sure what brand it is.

tfischer

DSEAG:

No Zaino product contains anything abrasive, so none of them remove swirl marks. Z is not designed to do that. Z5 does contain elements that will fill in some of the swirl marks and make them less noticable, but the effect is minimal and the marks are not removed. They will reappear as the Z5 wears off.

If you have swirl marks, you need to use a light abrasive, such as a swirl mark remover. Then apply the zaino. Check your autozone shelf, and by all means read the stuff on the Zaino web page because all the details are there.

As for the towels, there can be a wide variation in MF towels. Cheap MF towels even have polyester thread used to sew around the edge, which kind of defeats the purpose. Some MF towels are faux MF towels and will scratch. You can use the CD test. Best bet is to buy from Pakshak or a known high quality dealer.

As for drying, a waffle weave MF towel is far superior for this purpose than a smooth MF towel. I'm not sure why that is, but it is designed for that purpose. If you want the best towel for drying, go to pakshak's web page and get a WW MF. I wouldn't use a MF towel from an autoshop on anything but windows because I don't think that's a reliable place to find the high quality you want. Quality control is a big problem in the MF world, which is why you need a reliable source.

PS: always wash them separately from everything else and don't use any fabric softner on any towel ever. The fabric softner screws up the ability of a cotton or MF towel to absorb moisture. I don't know why becasue they feel so soft and smell go good, but that's what all the detailers say.

1NICESC430

Tim ...

Thanks for the detailed information regarding WWMF towels, even though I was not one who asked. I use one of those California Water Blades to skim off most of the water, but need something to wipe up what's left.

BTW ... I once threw one of those Bounce things in the dryer when I was drying plain old "people" towels. Not a good idea. It seems that it puts some kind of coating on the towels causing water to bead up. Beading might be okay for cars, but not for the bod.

tfischer

I did not mention the Calif Water Blade because (1) I did not want to complicate things and (2) I figured that everybody who is serious about carefully washing and drying the car already has one. I find it saves an enormous amount of time and, with almost no effort, removes about 75% of the water on the car.

Because the SC has so many rounded parts, it's not as effective as it would be on, say, your Ford Expedition, but the end result is that drying is a one towel job (for which a WWMF is perfect).

Anything that makes a job take less time and less effort is my kind of tool. I'm all for the Calif Water Blade.

Merry Christmas.

1NICESC430

>I figured that everybody who is serious about carefully washing and drying the car already has one.<
I didn't have the foggiest idea what a California Water Blade was until I started to visit this forum.

You're right about it being a great labor-saving device. I have a very bad back which makes washing and drying my car a painful ordeal - the CWB helps a lot even though it doesn't precisely fit the contours of the car. I don't even bother washing my Outback; it goes to Magic Car Wash.

I plan to get some of those WWMF towels on your advice to make things even easier ... next summer, anyway.

Thanks, and Merry Christmas to you, too.

JCtx

This thread is more interesting than I thought; glad I opened it.
Before asking some questions of my own, I want to address the thread's subject. Lexus paint has great quality, but it's my experience (4 new V8 Lexuses, so they should have had the best paint, right?) the paint is softer than others, because they chip very easily. That has nothing to do with luster and depth, but just a comment. Also the EPA is at fault for banning lead on paint, but since Lexuses are painted in Japan, I don't know if the same lead-less paint is used there. Anybody know?? As far as dark colors, I was tired of them, so I chose silver. Dark colors show dust IMMEDIATELY, plus any blemishes are 10 times more conspicuous. They also look gorgeous when squeaky clean. With my ultra hot weather, it was completely out of the question for me, but I like the looks of a shiny black car.

Now to my questions. It looks like I'll have to change my detailing habits.

1. I'll buy a calif squeegee asap; I thought they could scratch the paint. Wal-mart has them too. It'll make my life a lot easier, especially drying the SUV's roof.
2. I buy blue and white (3 and 3 in each $6 package) MF towels at Wal-mart, and use them mostly to remove remnants of wax (take it off like no other), for windows, and to remove Plexus (use it to clean everything) from my bike. Are there any problems with them? I thought all MFs were synthetic anyway, but I guess any product has good and bad.
3. Is it better to use MF to dry than a chamois? I've been using chamois for ages, and never used MF for drying.
4. Is Meguar's Gold a 'cleaner' wax? Bought one, but doesn't say. Used Zymol the first time I waxed my car. Was planning on using the Gold, if it has any 'cleaning' ability. The good thing of having a light color is I don't have to do the claying crap and all that (so don't suggest it -he he); did it once on my gold GS4 (half and half on hood) and couldn't tell the difference; since I had already bought the stuff, proceeded to do the whole car, but that was the last time I used it. By the way, I used Griot's Garage products, which I believe to be comparable to zaino. I like my cars clean, but don't like to be a slave of them, especially in this dusty town.

Thanks in advance for your help.

JC

DeniskaGS4

Guys how do you have time and patience to do all this. Especially now in the winter when its cold and the day is so short. I'm coming from a white GS400 that I leased new and waxed the car a total of 2 times during 2 years of ownership. I always took it to automatic car washes and the car always looked great. Now I have a 03 sc430 black/black that is also leased.. I took the car to hand washes when I had 20 inch wheels but finding a good hand wash around town is impossible.. I got the car waxed a few times this year but also take it to an automated wash on regular basis to wash the dirt off. You do see many swirls in my paint and fine scratches that where not there when I heard the pearl GS. I'm planing to drive the car in the winter and have a set of wheels and snow tires. I'm worried that all this salt on the road cant be that good for the paint. I'm planing on taking the car to get waxed sometime soon. When spring rolls around I don't mind buying some products and doing it myself. My question really is what I should do right now.. Pay someone to wax it and only take it to an auto wash when it gets real dirty?? when spring rolls around what can I do to make my paint look new again, with minimal time investment?? I plan to keep the car for a few more years will the paint be ruined by then?? this is my first black car

tfischer

With respect to the above posted interesting questions, I submit the following:

1. The California Water Blade is sold in many places, maybe Walmart, I don't know. I don't generally need a lot of things for my wall, so I don't hit the Walmart too often.

2. I have read that low-end MF towels are not to be trusted. The test appears to be rub it on the shinny side of a CD and see if it scratches. If so, don't use it on your car. If you buy them from Pakshak, you will have no problems. I wouldn't buy low end crap from Walmart to use on my high rent car.

3. I used a chamois a lot, but the WWMF is much easier to use. For one thing, you never have to wring it out. For another, it glides over the car very smoothly. A good chamois will not scratch the car either, but it's more work and takes more time. Note that the WW is designed for drying; the smooth MF towels are good for drying, but not as good as the WWMF.

4. I don't know anything about wax or Zymol or cleaner wax. Griot's is good stuff, but it's not comparable to Zaino because it's a different product. Zaino is a polymer finish which is used instead of wax. In fact, you have to remove the wax before applying the first coat of Zaino because Zaino bonds to the paint. If you put in on over wax, it will come off with the wax in a few weeks. It is far more reflective than wax, (almost optically perfect) and does not yellow over time, and stays on the car for 6 months or so. Waxes are completely different, and I haven't used wax in about 3 or 4 years, as the polymers are so much better, provided that you put them on right the first time. See the Zaino Brothers web page for a full explanation.

5. Claying has nothing to do with the color of the car. It is impossible to look at any car and tell if the car has been clayed or not. You have to feel it. The clay removes hard particles affixed to the paint, such as rail dust and brake dust, and some other airborne particulates. Some of these will rust over time. White or black, you should clay the car from time to time. It's probably the easiest thing to do, and takes little time.

6. Automatic car washes generally will use very harsh soap, often used recycled (dirty) water, and will rub all kinds of things up against your car. They are swirl machines. If you don't want swirls, don't go there.

7. If you want to remove the swirls, you will have to use a light abrasive, such as 3M SMR (swirl mark remover). Then wax or apply Zaino. Swirl marks or any other imperfection on the finish will stay under the wax or polymer (Zaino). Without changing your habits as you describe them, the finish will get much worse over three years. You can start fresh any time, but you will have to remove the wax, buff or polish out the marks, then apply a new protectant. But as soon as you hit the automatic car wash, you start downhill again.

8. If the Lexus paint were soft, it would be less prone to chip than if it were hard or brittle. I think the chips are more a factor related to the cross section of the front of the car than to the paint formulation, but that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

9. Merry Christmas.

triggaice

Interesting replys, didnt think about using microfiber instead of cotton. I usually just use a damp cotton towel. I try to wash the card during dusk so the water wont dry by the time i'm ready to use a towel.

As for Zaino, is this a polisher? Never heard of it, I usually use maquires polish and it works real well. Used to use liquid glass, I think that was the best polish I ever used but you have to apply right or you can get blemishes in the paint (so I hear but I never saw blemishes, im not a professional grade A car detailing expert now)

Anyone used liquid glass before?