Eric Jones

Right before I put my car into storage for our wonderful winter, I took it to a local BMW specialist to have a few things done.  When I took the car there it was perfectly clean.  When I went to pick it up I noticed something on the drivers side front fender, door and mirror.  When I returned home I tried to wipe everything off and it was really difficult to come off.  On the painted surfaces it I had to use revive polish but I was able to get it off.  The plastic trim on the mirror was not as successful.  I have tried all purpose cleaner as well as a few other cleaners I had laying around.  I also tried VRT but I had no luck with that either.  I have no idea what he splashed on the car but it appears to have stained the trim or taken color out of the trim.  Does anyone have any thoughts on what product or trick to try next.  I have attached a picture of the issue below.  

OK, this is a really stupid question but I need to ask it.  With the thickness of the car shampoo, what is the best method of transferring the shampoo from the gallon container to the smaller bottle?  Going to buy a gallon tonight and dont know if I should buy a pump or not.  

thanks in advance

18 hours ago, shane@detailedreflections said:

A lot of your questions have been answered regarding sealants, waxes and their maintenance. I guess I’ll dive into the coatings a bit. 

 

My first question is why are you skeptical? You mention that you don’t know how so little product can protect your vehicle. Why couldn’t it?  The majority of any product we apply gets buffed off and ends up towels leaving an extremely thin layer of protection. Sealants and waxes leave a softer protection than a coating. I understand the “more has to be better” outlook on some level, but that’s purely visceral of a reaction and ignores the chemistry behind the protection.

 

Coatings are in fact harder, longer lasting, lower maintenance and more protection than a regular wax or sealant. That being said, coatings do require maintenance (different from a wax or sealant) and they are not impossible to damage. 

 

Coatings work by bonding to bare paint. This bond forms a microns thick layer of hard protection. Ceramic coatings tend to be much harder than your clear coat. They maintain their gloss without fading as long as the coating remains on. Depending on the coating used, there may be different layers (Adams is a single layer coating) to it. A hard base layer with sacrificial top layers that enhance gloss and hydrophobic action. A wax or sealant is a softer, wear layer that’s softer than your clear coat. 

 

To maintain a coating, you need to decontaminate it every so often. We commonly recommend twice per year. This involves iron decontamination of the paint and a light claybar. From there it’s as easy as using whatever topping agent (Ceramic Boost or other) on top. There’s less polishing. Less laps around the vehicle. And it’ll stay looking great.

 

The biggest thing if a client comes back and says their coating stopped working right is that their coating needs to be decontaminated. It’s not coating failure, but contaminated paint. 

 

My daily driver over has been coated in a coating from another manufacturer for over a year now. It’s been washed a handful of times and driven all the time. When washed, clayed and topped it looks like we just gave it the full service. It’s got a small micro scratch here or there, but generally the paint is in great shape. 

 

Hope this helps to explain coatings some. If you want to explore them, we can talk about prep and install practices. 

 

Skeptical only because in all of my reading and watching videos it seems like such little product is used an it sounds like that little product offers serious protection from scratches.  When I think of wax which I have always used in the past, I think more about appearance than protection.  When I apply wax I have usually put a couple layers on and I know its there because the water beads when it gets wet.  I don't really think about the protection its providing so when I now see this thin layer of product going on a car, part of my questions just how much protection it offers.  I am not saying I don't believe, I am saying I want to see first hand.  If I can put a ceramic coating on the Black BMW and get great shine, why would I not want to do that.  

For the two white cars, I will opt for the paint sealant and then maintain that using the various options.  

I read all the responses and watched some of the videos from the link provided in one of the answers.  One thing I am a little confused by.  From what I have read, I believe the paint sealant would be the lowest shine with Wax being the next level and Brilliant Glaze offering the most shine.  I see people are layering them in that order.  If you are putting a paint sealant on first, are you not limiting what the wax and the Brilliant glaze can provide?  It would seem like brilliant glaze followed by wax would be the best for the Black BMW. from a protection standpoint, I would think using the PS first would offer the best level of protection next to going ceramic.  

10 minutes ago, falcaineer said:

When first starting, it can definitely feel overwhelming. Here's a great article that should help pull it all together:

 

 

I'll also add my 2 cents: PS is a good all around option, especially for the three dailies (Hondas and Acura). It's easy to apply, and you can maintain with all sorts of products...HGG being my preference every 4 washes or so. PS will also give at least 6 months of protection. For the Beemer, aka your Garage Queen, PS would also be a great option, but wax will give you more depth and is a popular option. Note none of these, even the coating, will prevent all scratches.

when in the garage, my Z4 gets pretty dusty within a few days (something I didn't realize on my 2 white cars).  It seems like if you even brush your hand on the car the paint will scratch.  Will any of the products make that less likely to happen?  Seems like the PS would be much easier and cheaper to apply than the ceramic coating but how much of a step down in protection is it.  If you go with a paste wax, what products are you using between applications?  

Well, I am fairly new to Adam's products, that however would be hard to tell from the amount of product that I have already purchased in the last 45 days or so.  As our weather here in Ohio finally starts to warm up, the time will come to start doing some detail work on four different cars.  It seems like I may want to consider different processes and or product lines for the cars and after watching a ridiculous amount of videos on youtube I am now more than a little confused.  

The first car is my (new to me) 2013 BMW Z4 (black sapphire paint) that is a low mileage care in very good shape.  The paint is really good but does need some work to get out some various imperfections.  This car will be a nice weather car, will do my best to not drive it in the rain but it will most likely see some rain at some point.  I assume I will put 5-8k miles on it a year.  I have owned this car since november and while its beautiful, I find that if you look at it funny, it will get a scratch.  

Second car is my daily driver will most likely be a white or silver Honda accord sport.  Will sit outside all the time and will be driven in the winter

Third car is my wife's White MDX which is driven in all kinds of weather and will see the garage when at home.

Final car is a 2013 Honda Accord v6 coupe with beautiful blue paint which really shows well when taken care of.  This car will sit outside 100% of the time and will sit in a college parking lot most of the time.  

As you can see I have a few different situations.  I am trying to figure out the best products for each of the cars.  Based on the videos, it seems like the liquid paint sealant is what I will want to use for the daily drivers, especially those that sit outside.  The real concern I have with the BMW is being able to keep the scratches off of it.  I was thinking about doing the ceramic coating on after doing a full paint correction.  It seems like if I choose Ceramic on that car I will then only use Boost on that going forward?  I am a little skeptical on the ceramic coatings.  Its not Adams specific, I guess I just don't know how so little product can protect the paint like it claims.  Am I correct in assuming that its Boost going forward if that is what goes on the BMW?  Can detail spray be used or H2O GG?  if I go sealant, what are the products that can be used in combination with that and the same goes for waxes.  

Sorry for the long post and I promise I have done a lot of video watching....probably too much because I am now overloaded with product options......glad this isn't chemical guys because it looks like I may have 4X more products to cloud my mind.  I am loving all of the products I have tried so far, I would love to hear what the recommendations are.  

Thanks

Eric

From the pictures, the shorter side seems like it would not do a great job of drying. Interesting that you want to use that side.  

Looking to pick up a few new drying towels.  The towels I was planning on getting are out of stock and not going to be back in stock for a couple of months.  Looking hat the Adams Ultra Plush drying towel and have a couple of questions.  The pictures seem to indicate that there are two very different sides to this towel.  The one side looks like it has no length to the fibers.  Are you able to use both sides on this towel?  Any other towel suggestions would be appreciated.  for the last 10 years I have been using waffle weave towels to dry and they were the best there was years ago, I am assuming there are better now.  

Eric

What is the best product and method to use for water stains inside the door handles.  Sapphire Black Pearl BMW Z4 that I purchased in November with only 7k miles on it.  Car is perfect with only a few paint imperfections.  Inside the door handles are need some work.  

Thanks in advance.