Driven Auto Detail: 2007 Saturn Aura

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Driven Auto Detail

New member
This car belongs to the wife of one of my good friends.



The vehicle was first washed with Optimum Car Wash. After the wash, it was apparent that it needed a good clay bar treatment. There was a lot of very noticeable rail dust stuck in the paint. After claying, I turned on the halogens to reveal virtually no swirls. Fortunately, my friend makes sure that his wife does not run it through the automatic car wash. The paint received Optimum Poli-Seal via my new Flex. After polishing, I applied Optimum Opti-Seal (x2) to all paint and glass surfaces. Tires received Optimum Tire Shine.



Moving to the inside, all plastic & leather surfaces were cleaned with water & Woolite and then dressed with Optimum Protectant Plus. The carpets and mats were vacuumed, pre-treated with Folex, and then steam cleaned.



Sorry, no before pictures.



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Comments, questions welcomed. Thanks for looking!
 
Beautiful!

I have an '07 Aura also, Techno-gray. I detailed it this past weekend and it looks great too....except.....the whole car is orange peeled! Is the white one you detailed orange peeled also?

When I bought it, unfortunately, I wasn't on these forums and........didn't know then what I know now.

Is that fixable? How could one tell if the orange peel is in the clear coat or the color coat?





Stero87 said:
clean work

and as a side note, Saturn has definitely been stepping its game up recently
Click to expand...
 
2KLS1 - The wife chose that color. Gives it a unique look for sure! Much better than the typical drab grey that a lot of vehicles have.



Pats300zx - Thank you sir! :)



walnuts - Thank you! The Flex is a great machine. Definitely well-built. One thing I didn't like about it is that the speed dial seemed tough to turn. Sometimes I would actually stop the machine so that I could get a better grip to be able to turn the speed up/down. I have a Makita rotary and the speed dial on it is much easier to use while you're actually working. Maybe it'll loosen up after I use it a few times? The only other thing I noticed is that it's kind of loud. After using it, my ears were ringing more than what I've noticed with other machines. Besides that, I'm glad I purchased it. I was using a Soft Edge green light cut/polishing pad that is made by American Buffing. It's the green one from this pic:

SoftEdgeSixes.gif




American Buffing Company



Stero87 - Thanks! You're right about Saturn. I'm very impressed with the Aura and their other new offerings. Night and day difference between the old Saturns. The Aura is a GREAT drive. Very solid-feeling car. The 3.6 V6 is a beast of an engine. Lots of great torque. Not great on gas though. Also, very quiet inside the car.



Heatgain - This one had its fair share of orange peel as well. Wet-sanding the clear coat is the only way you'll be able to fix it. If it were me, I'd probably just live with it on a daily driver.
 
Stero87 said:
clean work

and as a side note, Saturn has definitely been stepping its game up recently
Click to expand...



Ha, I was going to reply with that exact same comment. I usually don't like domestic cars, but I have to say, this car looks really good, and so do the Sky and Astra...hell, even the new Vue looks nice now. I especially like the interior. If you saw the interior of this car a few years ago, you would've thought it was an entry-level German car, like an Audi or something (no surprise there, since it's based off an Opel). Wood trim and leather seats in a Saturn? Man, what will they think of next?



Oh, great job on the detail, by the way.
 
First of all, great detail and I love that Opti-Combo



Heatgain said:
Beautiful!

I have an '07 Aura also, Techno-gray. I detailed it this past weekend and it looks great too....except.....the whole car is orange peeled! Is the white one you detailed orange peeled also?

When I bought it, unfortunately, I wasn't on these forums and........didn't know then what I know now.

Is that fixable? How could one tell if the orange peel is in the clear coat or the color coat?
Click to expand...



How long are you going to keep it for? If it's a lease or you turn your cars over every 2-3 years, 2500 or 3000 grit on an air sander will make a mirror out of it (search for recent threads by tdekany and you'll see what I mean).



If you're going to keep it for more than 3 years, paint failure due to UV becomes an issue, and I'd just live with it.
 
It is great for windows. I don't think there's anything easier for glass protection than OS. I would definitely recommend it to anyone that hasn't tried it.
 
My last Saturn, a '96 SC1, I kept for 12 years....so...chances are I'm keeping this one a while too.

But..how would one ascertain if the orange peel is in the color coat or the clear coat?

None of this bothered me until I was afflicted with OCD!



themightytimmah said:
How long are you going to keep it for? If it's a lease or you turn your cars over every 2-3 years, 2500 or 3000 grit on an air sander will make a mirror out of it (search for recent threads by tdekany and you'll see what I mean).



If you're going to keep it for more than 3 years, paint failure due to UV becomes an issue, and I'd just live with it.
Click to expand...
 
Looks great! That leather looks real nice -- similar to the King Ranches.



Did you get to drive it? The XRs are a bit of a sleeper (0-60 in 5.9). You'd probably surprise a lot in that.
 
kkreit01 - Thanks! Yes, I drove it about 30 minutes to drop it off to my friend. I would agree that with 3.6 V6, they are somewhat of a sleeper. It's a very solid driving car.
 
Heatgain said:
My last Saturn, a '96 SC1, I kept for 12 years....so...chances are I'm keeping this one a while too.

But..how would one ascertain if the orange peel is in the color coat or the clear coat?

None of this bothered me until I was afflicted with OCD!
Click to expand...

Its in the clear coat thats just how the paint process works and if some odd reason some how that it was in the base your looking at more trouble that would just be scary to even imagine:nervous2: . If you know how to use a buffer then I would suggest looking further into the process of wet sanding the number of grits of sand papers on so on.



Great job on the Aura looks good!
 
mshu7 said:
2KLS1 - The wife chose that color. Gives it a unique look for sure! Much better than the typical drab grey that a lot of vehicles have.



Pats300zx - Thank you sir! :)



walnuts - Thank you! The Flex is a great machine. Definitely well-built. One thing I didn't like about it is that the speed dial seemed tough to turn. Sometimes I would actually stop the machine so that I could get a better grip to be able to turn the speed up/down. I have a Makita rotary and the speed dial on it is much easier to use while you're actually working. Maybe it'll loosen up after I use it a few times? The only other thing I noticed is that it's kind of loud. After using it, my ears were ringing more than what I've noticed with other machines. Besides that, I'm glad I purchased it. I was using a Soft Edge green light cut/polishing pad that is made by American Buffing. It's the green one from this pic:

SoftEdgeSixes.gif




American Buffing Company



Stero87 - Thanks! You're right about Saturn. I'm very impressed with the Aura and their other new offerings. Night and day difference between the old Saturns. The Aura is a GREAT drive. Very solid-feeling car. The 3.6 V6 is a beast of an engine. Lots of great torque. Not great on gas though. Also, very quiet inside the car.



Heatgain - This one had its fair share of orange peel as well. Wet-sanding the clear coat is the only way you'll be able to fix it. If it were me, I'd probably just live with it on a daily driver.
Click to expand...





Where can I find these pads for sale?
 
ajbarnes - Thanks, much appreciated.



monte - Thank you!



shadybreal - I bought mine through Anthony Orosco's store: Optimum car care detailing products



I don't think it's very up to date right now so you might just email him or call him and specifically ask for those pads. I also have the blue light polishing/finishing pad. I really like both pads that I received. I know Scottwax uses the orange pad which they classify as a "one-step" pad. If you talk to Anthony, ask him if he stocks all of the pads. I'd like to get some of the others.
 
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