TTQ B4U

Drives like it to. Really. We did some video for his for-sale posting and I was privileged he let me spend 30 minutes behind the wheel. Have never driven one like this but if this is what an 18yr copy drives and handles like I very much understand why they have a cult following. I thought of you for a 4 seat vert when doing this one since IIRC, you had an older BMW Vert or something at one time.

So Larry aka MACE here on CR picked up a really nice and clean E46 in Topaz Blue Metallic but due to having a bum knee the 6spd portion of the car, while fun, is a bit of wear and tear for the joint and as per him, he just won't be able to enjoy it nearly enough to justify keeping it. It's a 2003 with just over 82k on the clock and overall a beautiful example for a car with that age and miles on it. To prep it for sale we decided on a Basic Polish & Protect for the exterior and the Premium Interior Detail for life inside the cabin. In this case the money was spent cleaning and conditioning the leather and providing the fabric/carpeted areas with a super deep dry cleaning. While it was here he also decided to have the convertible top thoroughly cleaned and a 2-3 year marine grade water repellent treatment applied as it looks new and he wants it to stay that way for the new owner. Overall the car turned out great and I wish Larry the best of luck selling it but I don't think it's going to take much as the 30 or so minutes of fun I with the car while he road shot-gun proves there's a solid reason why these are so sought after and how nice they really are. It absolutely drives like new. Thank you again for the trust in my work Larry!

^^ common sense for anyone regardless of race. most all the shit that goes down and makes news and gets hype however involves actions that lack common sense. stupid people, doing stupid shit and they win the stupid prize. in the recent Cbus case, the 16yr old girl did some pretty dumb shit with several LEO's on scene and she won the prize. Sad but it was no doubt a rough life and she paid for it unfortunately. poor to no parenting, lack of a good family, etc. is the cause of most all of it. their economic situation is no excuse. there are no excuses for shitty behavior. people can continue to point fingers, cry foul, etc. but until they take action on making things in their own life better day forward, they are living on a hamster wheel full of piss and shit and it will continue to hit them as they run. The system and the people running it are very little to blame, the accountability and actions lie within each person not just the system.

Yep. He's a great guy and keeps care of his vehicles like no ones business. I'm bugging him to sell me his latest Lexus. Next year possibly. Says I have first-dibs. Should have bought his last one. I will continue to prod him to buy that Audi Q7 or Q8. LOL.

LOL! Tim's attempt at a knock-down stipple brush garage ceiling. I gave myself a 8/10 all things considered.

My son's Corolla identifies as an Infiniti

Thankfully mother nature held off on rain this morning but unfortunately she didn't pop any sunshine out to help with the lighting. No fancy ceramic coating on this one. Just a great cleaner wax and sealant All in One Product along with a machine polisher.

So a friend of mine who is a broker for private planes had me work on his loaner vehicle that customers use. Very cool set up as he's a former military guy who purchased this Chevy Tahoe from the Secret Service after only 7,000 miles of use. Still has the Kevlar lined doors and 3 layer bullet proof windshield along with some nicely done mounts for guns and radio equipment in the console area. Anyway, it's a vehicle he lets prospective and current customers use as they land at the airport and being it's a 2014 with now close to mid 60's on the Odometer it was time for an inside and out spruce up. Good news is he's pretty meticulous with keeping the vehicle clean. No trash or dirt at all inside. In fact it was pretty dust free too. However, years of dirt and grime turned the carpet to a dirty grey and the seats were layered with grime too. Goal here was to fully clean the interior from top to bottom as in a full Elite Level Cleaning covering carpet, seats, and headliner along with the all the interior panels, console, dash, doors, etc. Basically a nice steam extraction and leather cleaning and treatment plus some other goodies that together make the interior look brand new. Exterior wise it goes through car washes all the time to keep the dirt off it which means swirl city but that's okay as at least he keeps it clean. Goal here was to remove all the layers of car wash waxes and embedded grime and while not worrying so much about swirl, but rather give it a good polish to shine it up and make the paint smooth as glass and ready to be the limo it is set out to be. Overall it turned out great and even the exterior saw a huge 75% plus reduction in swirls and outside a few stone chips up front, the vehicle is like brand new. Wheels are all perfect and even the underside came out like new. Let's look at the interior shots first. Note, I've definitely seen worse but the good news is while the leather in Tahoe's isn't he most supple and it definitely holds onto dirt, it also does come clean pretty well and stands up to wear and tear far better than a lot of interiors I see.

So Eric aka ECE92 here on CR waited patiently for a deal to be had on a beautiful 2017 BMW X5M from California. It's an amazing car in a very cool dark blue metallic called Carbon Black Metallic. It lights up in the sun and goes dark in the shadows. Overall the car was pretty clean but swirled up as expected for having just under 40k miles. Not wanting to go crazy on correction given it's a daily driver and ultimate family vehicle that will last a while, we decided to move forward with my Premium Enhancement Polish and a dual layer ceramic coating including paint and wheels. Overall, it turned out extremely well with darn near a full correction in many areas and perhaps a good 90% reduction in the deeper marks that aren't worth chasing to perfection. I love how the color changes even in the shadow let alone as the sun sets. It's called Carbon for a reason. Continued thanks to Eric for his trust in my work!

@Clay, I was thinking of you as the future owner of this vehicle while I worked on it. LOL! He's an Upper Arlington guy too.

So a second time visitor to my garage with the second Volvo he has brought me presented me with a challenge. Could I do anything with his 17yr old wagon that would make it look presentable so he could keep it for another 3 or 4 years. I'm not one to turn down a challenge so here's what it was. He's an avid Volvo fan and has already had a wagon go close to 400k miles (one prior to this one) and swears by changing the oil every 3,000 is the key. Considering this one runs like a champ and is just shy of 300k, he just might be right. The key to this restoration was reviving the trim, but not just in color, but removing some of the random scratches that plastics get. You'll see some key photos showing the restoration work, even colored trim that is now back to what it was from the factory. This type of detail was also about cleaning up some really badly etched wheels so they aren't yellowed and reviving a metallic silver that currently doesn't have any gloss and what oxidation is present is certainly covering up the metallic flake. Another request he had was that I order some touch up paint and fix up some scratches and chips, some of which were pretty large and blend them as best I could. NOT my favorite thing to do but I'm getting better at it and anything done will look better than black plastic or primer showing. As bonus and something that while not asked for needed done, all the glass was polished and new Sealant / water repellent from GYEON that they provided me to try was applied. Before I begin, a sincere shout out to everyone for the referrals that you send over to me. This is yet another one from a previous CR Member who I have done some work for and continues to send people my way. Many thanks for that trust and as always, I treat them and their vehicles like they are my friends and my cars as they do indeed become good friends and their rides are mine for 1-2 days. Thank you again. Here's what I had to start with. Badly faded and sun-dried trim, globs of glue, dull paint and chips and scratches. Proof you don't need a ceramic coating to look good and glow. Key is in the prep, to get the paint FULLY decontaminated and ready for the polisher so that regardless of the product, the pad and product are indeed the only thing touching the paint and doing work. This car was done with a basic one-step All in One (AIO) product. As part of my Basic Polish & Protect package, the goals here are removing oxidation Road grime build-up and scuffs from heavily weather-worn finishes. It is not a paint correction package, but the use of a machine polisher combined with its super-micro abrasive technology polishing agents will smooth out fine blemishes greatly reducing the appearance of swirls & imperfections while brightening the paint’s color to enhance the gloss of the protective sealant. Shout out to Mother Nature for some great sunshine and blue sky for pics too!

I've worked on a several newer ones and both have been good. They measure fairly even , are not difficult to correct but also not soft.

I know right? I love wagons like this. This one has some really nice touches too. Full digital cluster, white/brushed aluminum trim vs plastic cladding, etc. Seat wise, it's common on lighter colors from Infiniti, Mazda, German Brands too. Ironically, Tesla's "vegan" version doesn't seem to be as sensitive to transfer. Either way, it's fixable and today's products allow for a barrier seal to be added that makes clean up a snap and no change to appearance or feel. Thanks for the kind words. I slick wagon isn't off my possible options as a daily either. I don't know exactly what I want yet but a used AllRoad would be cool for sure.

So Tim aka RCode04 here on CR picked up a new 2021 Audi Allroad in Ibis white with Atlas Beige interior as a great daily driver. With the size of the vehicle, the main goal was to shine it up, eliminate the factory installed light swirls and provide a basic Ceramic Coating to help aid in keeping it cleaner longer. Having just over 2k miles it still fell into my New Vehicle Polish & Protect Package and with that for CR Peeps it includes a 12mo ceramic coating. In addition to a basic ceramic on the paint we also coated the wheels as German Brands, especially Audi, tend to generate a lot of brake dust from stock pads. Lastly, even with only 2k miles, the Atlas Beige Leather soaked up a lot of dye transfer from Tim's blue jeans and it needed removed and the seats sealed. If caught early enough, it isn't too much trouble to remove and I can then seal up the seats to aid in removing the transfer far easier or dare I say with just a few wipes. It's a lifesaver on light interiors for sure. Mother nature didn't cooperate much at all providing some horrible weather for photos of a white car but with a couple peaks of sun, not all was ruined. Many thanks to Tim for the trust in my efforts here and I hope to see you with that beautiful Mustang later this year. Starting off you can see the level of dealer installed swirls in the pillars. The pillars and paint cleared up to near 100% full correction though. Without that clarity, the super fine metallic pearl would not be visible at all. Blue Jean Dye Transfer BEFORE: Seats all cleaned and sealed up:

Worth a follow... https://carsandbids.com/auctions/92m5JjZx/1991-nissan-figaro?fbclid=IwAR0Qph748Mmi1kSrwh-bwKDtMAlvbKj5E1miNwcL8wPjG4CdSWSB07OQhVo

fixed

Sad to hear this all went down yesterday. Since I usually detail on Saturdays I've not been able to get out nearly as often but they were good times from the very early onset of the get togethers. Here are a few early day shots from the first couple events. CC&C Meet #1 Meet #2 Meet #3 Meet #4

So a friend of mind Greg Hinds brought me a third vehicle to work some magic on. This time it was the replacement to his AMG Wagon that he sold on BaT for nearly what he paid for it a few years back. His new ride is super sexy 2019 Porsche GTS LOADED with over $52k in goodies including the upgraded Chalk Paint Color. Purchased about 3 weeks ago with only a little over 8k miles on the Odometer one of the first things he wanted done was a correction and ceramic coating. This vehicle was bought sight unseen from a dealer down in the Carolina's that had it on their showroom floor, hence all the swirls and scratches from being dusted and likely wiped down without much car. The Project was simple, Premium Enhancement Polish and Ceramic Coatings on Paint, Wheels and Trim. Pictures don't due it justice due to it's color and lack of mother nature really giving me any dynamic lighting or clouds to work with but I think it looks fantastic. Many Thanks to Rick Schnipke for introducing me to Greg and to all those that support my efforts. Now onto the pics! FYI as I've had a few questions about my camera, it's a Canon EOS R6 and these were taken with the Canon 24-70L f/2.8 MKI Lens.

Depends on the product. The 911 I just coated and am putting pics up of soon pales in comparison to the product on my wife's Mazda. Use the right product and it's 100 as good as bare paint. I'll post up some nice pics of hers soon. I still have to ceramic coat the PPF on hers. Maybe this week.

^^ FWIW Same Julious

Paint Protection Film aka PPF or Clear Bra is indeed what you want. You can do a "bikini cut" where the leading 18" or more is done on the hood or you could spend a bit more and do the whole thing. What's best care wise will depend on the hood shape and if it's prone to chipping. Costs will vary depending on how much. Here's a link to the gallery of my wife's CUV/SUV and a pretty all inclusive coverage of it.FULL Hood Entire bumper/front clip Bikini Cut on the Fenders A-Pillars Leading edge of roof (in front of sun roof) Side Mirrors Headlights Costs will likely be in the $900-1,200 range. Product Wise, there are a number of well known brands and some high quality lessor known ones. I have been using the latter, Premium Shield and their EliteBrand. Top notch, SUPER Clear and SUPER Glossy. Dare I say it rivals what I do via detailing and ceramic. Very noticeably better than many other brands. You're welcome to stop by today as I have that 911 I'm doing with XPel on it and my wife's right next to it. Premium Shield is noticeably better all around. I use a local friend I've known for nearly 30 years, Julious Poa. He does work for dealers and local installers on a contract basis all the time. Like me however, he also does it on the side via cash and offers significant savings. I rave about him as his work is top notch. All free-hand custom cuts. That means no cheap templates thus NO VISIBLE LINES. He wraps ALL Edges so you can't see them. He stands by his work too. I've personally used him on at least 8 cars and he's done over 25+ likely closer to 50 of my referrals. I'll text you as I do owe you a call about getting some scratches out of the Rover. Just been slammed in my day-job but I'll get you taken care of ASAP.

so what national gun related policy would prevent a deranged individual from doing what exactly?

The Bronco here is Avalanche Grey The original Fiberglass roof was badly faded and aged. It had been re-dyed years ago but it needed re-done. IMO it's just getting so darn old that it will eventually need a full re-finish. He likes the satin look so I re-dyed it for him. Personally, I'd strip it and paint it next time but he's working on the interior next.

Now onto the After Pics: I love the color, the stance and the mix of gloss and matte finishes The original tire cover restored nicely and is now coated and protected from the elements. Matches my house perfectly but he wouldn't part with it. The front bumper, air dam and grill all restored nicely. The gloss on the black trim will tone down a bit over time as the coating cures and settles in. Our friends at Pickups Plus Cars Supplied him the wheels The depth and clarity of the finish turned out really, really nice I think Many thanks to Jason for his trust in my work and allowing me the opportunity to work on his favorite project car and continued work in progress.

So a good friend of mind, Jason who is an avid Ford Guy who is General Manager at Chapman Ford has a couple really nice rides and this is the old school one and my favorite. Meet his 1994 Ford Bronco. He had it painted (I'll grab the color and update) about 2 years ago but hasn't had it detail to really bring out the gloss and reflectivity of the clear coat. Goals here were to create a light gray mirror, obviously correct any marring and then restore the chrome bumpers and black trim. He wasn't initially looking at fixing the original fiberglass roof that was re-stained 2 years ago but I couldn't let it sit faded and not popping out. To protect it going forward, we decided upon a 2 layer system of CarPro's latest offering that is a Carbide Infused Silicon Dioxide which is fancy terms for their Tried and Proven Ceramic combined with an extra contaminant and water spot resistant product built in vs having to lay it down separately. Overall I know he's very pleased and anyone interested in seeing it next week, he will be attending the Marysville Muscle Car Connections Event next week. I'll introduce a couple before shots here and then reply with the after. Overall, the vehicle is really clean given it's 27+ years old. The bumpers while oxidized were good and the plastic trim able to be restored and coated. The roof faded and in need of a re-dye came back nicely too.