Arizona trip #6, Saab 9.4, 911, Genesis coupe, Mustang, C230, Murano

[Scottwax]

This is the 6th detailing trip to Arizona now, weather was terrific this time. Mid to upper 80s (contrasting with cold fronts in north Texas that won't end, it was 28 in the morning the day we left for AZ), light winds, mostly sunny skies, low humidity and no rain at all. Ate a ton of good Mexican food (Filbertos, Some Burros, Valle Luna and Chino Bandidos, plus found a great burger place/brewpub called OHSO. Also able to hit up Hole in the Rock by the Phoenix Zoo.



We did more vehicles than I'm posting, the cars we've done on previous trips I didn't take any pictures of (other than some cellphone shots to post on facebook), these are all vehicles we haven't done before other than a couple shots of a Mustang we hadn't detailed in 18 months. The 1989 Porsche Carrera we did, I already wrote up, my digital camera has a real problem with red paint so I took cellphone shots of that one here: http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-brag/144422-1989-guards-red-porsche-911-a.html



2003 Ford Mustang. This was the only car we had in Tucson (last stop), we were supposed to detail it last fall but he hit an javelin and tore up the front bumper. Just a basic detail, plus wet sanding a headlight and coating both.



ONR wash, Opti-Raser Pink to clay

Optimum Power Clean @ 3:1 and ONR to clean the wheels and the tar on the sides of the car

Meguiars 2000 Uni-Grit paper to wet sand the headlight

Meguiars #105 using a Meguiars 5" MF cutting pad and my Meguiars G110 v2 to remove sanding marks

Optimum Hyper Polish with an Optimum MF cutting pad and my G110 v2, whole car including headlights

30% alcohol wipedown on headlights

Optimum Lens Coating on headlights

Optimum Opti-Seal

3D Trim Protectant on the exterior trim (owner liked how it worked the last time so much he also had a bottle on hand!)

Armor All on tires/fenderwells

Great view of the mountains in far northeast Tucson

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2003 Mercedes C230 Kompressor. Main focus of this detail was the interior, my guess it has been a really long time since it was properly (if ever) detailed.

Woolite/water @ 20:1 to clean the vinyl and leather

3D Carpet Shampoo @ 16:1 to clean carpets

Optimum Power Clean @ 3:1 to clean a few tougher areas

ONR dampened MF towel (wash dilution) to clean the steering wheel

Optimum Protectant Plus to dress the interior

ONR Wash, Opti-Clay

Optimum Hyper Polish with an Optimum MF cutting pad and my G110 v2

Optimum Opti-Seal

Armor All on tires/fenderwells

 

[Scottwax]

2004 Nissan Murano. Didn't have to go far for this one, owner lives across the street from where we stay in Queen Creek. My friend had told the owner all about us so he wanted us to clean up his wife's Murano while she recovers from foot surgery. Other than some paint overspray on the top half of the Murano, it was in great shape for being 9 years old.



ONR Wash, Opti-Clay

Optimum Hyper Polish with an Optimum MF cutting pad and my G110 v2

Optimum Opti-Seal

Armor All on tires/fenderwells

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2011 Hyundai Genesis Coupe. The owner is a single Dad, so the interior needed more work than the exterior. Overall it was still in pretty good condition, mostly light swirls and a few scuffs/scratches. He is considering having us fully correct it and Opti-Coat it next time we come out but for now, just a basic full detail.



ONR Wash, Opti-Raser Pink

Optimum Hyper Polish with an Optimum MF cutting pad and my G110 v2

Optimum Opti-Seal

Armor All on tires/fenderwells



Woolite/water @ 20:1 to clean the vinyl and leather

3D Carpet Shampoo @ 16:1 to clean carpets

Optimum Protectant Plus to dress the vinyl

Duragloss #221 to dress the leather

 

[Scottwax]

2012 Saab 9.4. One of about 537 made before Saab went away. Based on the Cadillac SRX, but it looks a lot better and the interior is more upscale. Owner also has a white 9.3 and a white 9.5 (detailed and Opti-Coated those last trip) and recently picked this one up. He had planned on having us also detail a 9.3 sedan but the check engine light came on while the transport company was getting it ready to ship down to Phoenix and its still up in Washington. It had sat a long time at the dealer, who started it infrequently and didn't run it long enough so the plugs were fouled. So that issue had to be corrected and the car is probably still a week or so away. Guess we will be doing that one this fall now.



The 9.4 had a lot of marring, light to moderate spider swirling, hood and front fenders were pretty bad, probably due to sales people leaning on the front end while it sat in the showroom for a year. And to top it off, the clear coat was a lot harder than the 9.3 or the 9.5. Spent a good 2.5-3 hours on the front end alone when compounding. Wheels also came off to be cleaned and coated, between me working on the exterior and my son detailing the interior, we had about 15 hours into it when all was said and done.



No good before shots other than this one. The one day the sun stayed behind the clouds all day was the day I spent compounding the 9.4 and my halogen light wasn't doing a great job picking up swirls. But you can see a straight line scratch in this shot:

Spent the rest of the first day after removing the wheels compounding the 9.4, then the next morning, about 2 more hours before finally finishing. Pulled it out in the now sunny skies to inspect:

ONR wash, Opti-Raser Pink to clay

Optimum Power Clean @ 3:1 to clean the wheels (which were removed from the vehicle)

Optimum Coating on the wheels, center caps removed and clocked with the valve stem

Meguiars #105 using a 5" Meguiars cutting pad and my Meguiars G110 v2, some sections like the front end took multiple upon multiple passes to remove.

Optimum Hyper Polish using an Optimum MF polishing pad and my G110 v2

ONR wash

Optimum Coating to protect

30% alcohol solution to clean glass

Optimum Opti-Glass on windshield (also did the same to the 9.3 and 9.5)

Armor All on tires/wheel wells

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A few pics of our trip to Hole in the Rock. And yes, my son and I both went up the front, not the wimpy way around the back...

25x zoom

Good views

Back side:

How we went up:

 

[maxepr1]

Looks like a successful trip, Scott. Little work, little fun, lots of good food! Saab looks like a Envoy to me? Paint hard as a rock?

 

[Kevinch]

Great work as always Scott; what a treat to look up from swirled paint & take in the scenery! I've been in Arizona twice to visit friends in Tempe; one of those trips we cruised up to Sedona & spent 2 days there. I think that is one of my favorite spots in the USA. Two additional times I passed through on my bike while on The Run For The Wall (a cross country motorcycle ride to bring attention & healing for our MIAs & vets). Our route passed through northern Az. I rode right past Winslow; no time to go into town & stand on a corner though...

:rockon:

 

[Scottwax]

Looks like a successful trip, Scott. Little work, little fun, lots of good food! Saab looks like a Envoy to me? Paint hard as a rock?

The Saab is based on the SRX, but does have some Envoy influence as well. Might be the same basic chassis for all three. Yeah, the paint was really hard, the 9.3 and 9.5 weren't nearly as tough to polish out and the 9.5 was a lot more swirled up than the 9.4 was.



Actually, it was a lot of work, moderate amount of fun time, and so much good Mexican food I won't be eating at something like On the Border for a really long time. Mostly because it pales in comparison!

Great work as always Scott; what a treat to look up from swirled paint & take in the scenery! I've been in Arizona twice to visit friends in Tempe; one of those trips we cruised up to Sedona & spent 2 days there. I think that is one of my favorite spots in the USA. Two additional times I passed through on my bike while on The Run For The Wall (a cross country motorcycle ride to bring attention & healing for our MIAs & vets). Our route passed through northern Az. I rode right past Winslow; no time to go into town & stand on a corner though...

:rockon:

If my business wasn't so well established and my family here in the Dallas area, I'd move back to Phoenix even with the higher sales tax and them having a state income tax. Roads are a lot better, traffic flow is much improved (lights are timed to the speed limit), HOV lanes make sense there, 26 mpg city (with a V6!) there vs 21 mpg city here, much better Mexican food than the white-washed stuff here called Tex-Mex, bike lanes everywhere and the weather is a lot better. But I'd miss my family, customers I've had for years, Texas BBQ and my Texas Rangers and Dallas Stars. But odds are I will end up back there at some point, even if its when I finally hang up my buffer and retire.

 

[Thomas Dekany]

Great work as always Scott!!!!!

 

[stevecherv]

Finally a Genesis Coupe!! I have a 2013 3.8 and have been waiting for one to pop up on here.

 

[Scottwax]

Great work as always Scott!!!!!

Thanks!

Finally a Genesis Coupe!! I have a 2013 3.8 and have been waiting for one to pop up on here.

They are pretty nice! Build quality seems to be decent. Only problem is this one is a 2011 so it doesn't have the extra power added to yours.

 

[Hey Moe!]

Thanks for sharing! I always like to read about your AZ trips. And, as much as you like to ride your bike, I'm thinking that a handful of days away from it was good. It will get you fired up for a nice ride again.

 

[Scottwax]

Thanks for sharing! I always like to read about your AZ trips. And, as much as you like to ride your bike, I'm thinking that a handful of days away from it was good. It will get you fired up for a nice ride again.

I'd be fired up to ride if it wasn't 39 degrees at noon today and raining. In the Dallas area, in April.

 

[Driven Auto Detail]

Great work on all the cars Scott! I'm always impressed.



One quick question for you. How long does it typically take you to do a wash/clay/hyper-polish/opti-coat a car like a 3 or 5 series BMW?

 

[(901)]

Hey, thats pretty cool Scott. I have a customer in the Ozarks I visit and detail for; and I always look forward to the trip



That Mustang got hit by a Javelin?!?!? I bet there's an intresting backstory there



Count me down as taking the (SMART) wimpy way up to that Hole in the Rock you visited

 

[-Josh-]

Scott, I've been lurking in the shadows lately and have always enjoyed your threads. Those cars look fantastic.

 

[Scottwax]

Great work on all the cars Scott! I'm always impressed.



One quick question for you. How long does it typically take you to do a wash/clay/hyper-polish/opti-coat a car like a 3 or 5 series BMW?

If it needs just one polishing step, takes my son and I about 3-3.5 hours.

 

[Scottwax]

Hey, thats pretty cool Scott. I have a customer in the Ozarks I visit and detail for; and I always look forward to the trip



That Mustang got hit by a Javelin?!?!? I bet there's an intresting backstory there



Count me down as taking the (SMART) wimpy way up to that Hole in the Rock you visited

I didn't press for details on the accident, think it just ran out in front of him. Lots of desert around where he lives.



Going up the front of Hole in the Rock is the only way to do it.

Scott, I've been lurking in the shadows lately and have always enjoyed your threads. Those cars look fantastic.

Thanks!