Z06Seal

Hey everyone! I bought a 2011 CL550 about 3 weeks ago from Texas Auto Direct. It was fully equipped and had 48K miles. The car was great and we got it for a good deal at 38K. They gave me a 7 day buyback guarantee on the car.... After taking the car on a road trip right after we bought it, I fell in love with the car's ability to drive on the highway. What a car! It really drives like nothing I've ever driven. So quiet for a coupe too! Well on the 6th day (Sunday) we were almost back home from our road trip, the car died. I suspected alternator had gone bad (battery drained) and had it towed to a mechanic. Everything was closed Sunday so I got a rental car and drove the family home from Orlando to Palm Beach, FL. Monday I called the dealer I got he car from and told them what happened. I was told to just have the mechanic send them the bill and they'll take care of it, or I can be reimbursed for the repair. Great! Well I called the mechanic and apparently it was a lot more than the alternator. Somehow the main nut that holds the harmonic balancer had loosened and caused the belt to stop spinning. The front main seal had ripped and there was visible damage to the crank. It practically needed a new engine or an internal overhaul. My world shattered when I heard this.... I called the dealer back and they were very good about it and initiated a buyback right away (this was on the 7th day which was the last day!!) Close call! I guess god was looking out for me. I'm not sure... Fast forward couple weeks, I found a local '11 CL550 (fully loaded again) with only 9500 miles on it! Car was owned in NY and barely driven. Clean carfax with all service records. I paid 47K for this one and went over budget, but this thing is practically new. The independent dealer who also runs a European car mechanic shop threw in the next 2 years of service in for free (So I guess couple Service A and Last year, the dealer tried to sell the car as a CPO, but wasn't able to, so it went to an auction and this current dealer got the car. It has brand new tires on it as well. This time I got the USAA warranty with it, so I will have warranty covering it for the next few years. Pretty excited! Car pulls hard and drives great. I can't say it puts my Stingray to shame in performance, but it does in class and luxury. I'm hoping this one will be trouble free and be a great addition to my collection! The car MSRP'd for $127K in '11 when new, so these things depreciate like crazy. People don't want these things because they are very expensive to fix. You really need warranty on these from what I can tell. the paint is in good condition, but with 6 years worth of swirl marks from machine washes and brushes. I plan on taking 3-4 days to slowly work the car with the FLEX and paint correcting polish. Not sure if I will do finishing polish. I will see... Even though a coupe, this car is HUGE lol. Thinking I take my time and just work few panels at a time in a 5 day period or something. Little upset that they drilled into the front bumper to install the front license bracket which I don't need in FL. so there are 4 small (but very noticeable) holes in the front bumper now. It also distorted the bumper slightly from drilling near the holes. No way of fixing it really unless I have it sanded fixed then have the whole thing painted and cleared

Oops, forgot to mention. I use a Flex. Yeah I usually start with the least aggressive (usually start off with PCP and foam) but I always reach for the MF pads instead. I just feel like the orange foam pads don't cut much unless the car is practically new (and I buy all my cars new except this CL because I can't afford a new one LOL) which goes to say something because I still go get the orange mf pad lol

Hey everyone, Been awol from here for some time. Actually just clayed and sealed the Stingray and cleaned up the wife's car yesterday and today. Well I just bought me a 2011 CL550 that I'm picking up from TX Monday and I'm pretty excited. I had the car checked at a third party mechanic and he rated the car 8/10 with some white specks on the paint (paint overspray?) I will see the condition when I go on Monday to get it. I'm not too worried about it. Car is 5 years old and has about 50K miles. It was also a lease so I'm expecting the paint to be in "car washed couple times a month" condition. Probably lots of swirl marks etc. It's a black car too, so it will be obvious to see... anyways... Got me thinking. I usually never achieve where I want to be unless I start off with the orange mf pads. I can never go right to the orange foam pad and do my thing. so it got me curious. Do you guys usually go right the MF pad too when the car needs that 1st time good polishing on dark colors? Ever get away with just starting on the orange foam pads? I'm not sure if I'll do PFP because I've usually had enough after 1 step lol. orange mf to foam already is 2 steps and just too much for me. I start to lose interest and just usually want to finish the job. but we will see. Goal is to make the car look like new from outside. edit to add: I forgot to mention I use a flex and a PC for the smaller spots

I'm off that day, so I'll be there! Maybe I'll enter the Corvette to the car show this time

Thanks guys... That is an insane bird poop etching if that's the case. Never seen something like it. I thought I did a good job with the pic too lol.... it looks like a layer of paint was taken off (the clear coat portion) the edges also resemble chipping. I'll take it to the dealer next time I'm off and see what they say.

2014 Chevy Volt. Claying the car today (going to put paint sealant) and realized the clay bar was catching on this spot... closer inspection looks like the clear coat is chipping off the paint or something? Going to take it to the dealer and request a re-paint of hood, but I'm not sure if that's something that would be covered in the warranty. Granted car is a lease and is going back next year, but still annoying... is this indeed clear coat chipping off paint? and is it something warranty should cover? Thanks!

I just picked one up to try. (the wash mitt one) my plan is to make a rinseless solution and dunk the mitt in that. I will use that rinseless saturated mitt to decon the car. I was thinking also doing a more concentrated solution of rinseless mix to spray onto sufrace to help with lubrication. I was thinking like 32:1 (vs the 64:1 for clay) Thoughts on this? I got the fine one btw. I got a small medium one for areas that are very stubborn like rear trunk and front bumper

I had this happen to me and it drove me nuts. What I didn't know when I was a newbie at this way you do not polish a car under the sun at 12 in the afternoon. For the life of me, I could not figure out why it was dusting like out of this world. This isn't your case, but I had to mention it lol. That being said, I had the polish for about a year now and I hope it's still good and kicking. It's kept in a garage that doesn't go above 80 degrees and recently in a humidity controlled garage

We currently rent and the 1 car garage is just enough to park my car and harley. Not much space on sides. I have plenty of ideas and I like to gather more ideas from these threads for when we buy our house in the next 3-5 years and I get to have my own 2 car garage I can dress to my pleasing. Wife can fix up the kitchen, and I will fix up the garage It will house only the weekend toys. no daily drivers in there (or to detail vehicles)

I had this happen to my '03 Corvette Z06. Not sure what causes it but it was disgusting. I dealt with it for years and finally did some research on it. It is a very long and nasty process but I got it out... I've seen what you had on your VW (and audis) so it's worth a look. this thing was horrible disgusting. Worse than what you had on you. Try on a small area. http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/c5-general/2940129-sticky-air-bag.html

not bad at all. that's barely a 5% markup.

Congrats! put up some pics of the beast. I almost got that car instead of the corvette because I needed 4 seats lol. I would get that car in a heartbeat for a good price as my DD lol

I hate this state during this time. it rained again. I give up. car can have spots on it til I wash it again

Did a waterless followed by detail spray. Did the trick

It was sort of like the corvette. I remember when it 1st rolled out, you had to pay thousands over MSRP and good luck ordering it from a local dealer. I personally ordered over the phone from a dealer that was out of state 9% under MSRP. Perhaps I should take the wife to a dealer to see if she would want this car, then get on the forums and see how people are ordering it. I had my corvette drop shipped from the factory to a local dealer. if you don't mind me asking, what was the mark up?

Thanks Jason, I don't see anything on it. seems very clean. figured just a quick wipe down after a rain at night.I'll use a double soft for it.

I really want to get the wife the Charger Hellcat, but they mark these up so much unfortunately. We might look at the SRT 392. Great looking car none the less. Enjoy it!

Just curious how Quick detail will work under the heat of the sun? I ask because I had rain last night and the newly washed car got wet. I just went out to look and you can hardly tell. I would still like to run it over with QUick detail. My question is can this product be used under the heat of the very hot sun? I figured you probably can because this is something people bring to car shows to wipe down the car after a drive to the show or to shine it up on the spot. That being said, most of the time, cars are probably under the sun and very hot to begin with... The only product I know that can handle under the sun heat is buttery wax. Thanks!

oh man, would love to do a trip like this. but I dont want to put the miles on the corvette!!! lol... I'd probably put a bra on my car too as I'm too anal about getting chips on the front lol. how awesome though! can you draw out your trip on google maps and put up a picture of it here?

Washed wife's infiniti Q50 today (it was getting dark so I figured I take pics tomorrow) well it just rained cats and dogs and now I have to wipe it down tomorrow. Will probably do waterless. Makes me real mad. lol...

jeez man... the state tells you if you can or can't wash your car? Great place to visit, horrible place to live. LOL

So We got this sanitizer bottle cleaning thingy for the baby... I just cleaned out an old adams bottle and I figured I put it in there because it dries them pretty quick. well I put it in with the rest of the baby bottles and I figured I just let it go through the entire sanitizing cycle with the rest of baby bottles. At least it'll come out nice and dry in about 30 mins so I can put it away. well I came back to the cleaner to take the adams bottle out and I realized the wrapping was all wrinkled up. I figured it couldn't take the heat. I opened the machine and I was shocked that the bottle shrank! little mad i wasted a bottle, and little funny that it happened... Funny none the less. LOL excuse the sideways picture. Not sure how to flip them as they're uploaded the correct way?

so you wrapped the entire car? wow. some serious protection lol

Put on the HGG couple days ago and she looks real good. (I'll put up a pic when I pull her out of the garage) I'm still itching for brilliant glaze though. I pretty much have no reason to keep the buttery wax anymore. between LPS and HGG, there really isn't a need for buttery wax.

I started doing my washes towards the end of the day. This way I don't have to rush and I'm not sweating.