My wife's getting a new car! We just placed the order today

I

Inzane

New member
We decided on a 2005 Nissan Altima.



Its a 3.5SE with 5-speed manual, Majestic Blue, Charcoal Interior, Leather & Sunroof Package, w/ optional spoiler and 3M Clear Bra.



The only unfortunate thing is we had to factory order it as there were none available in Western Canada of that exact configuration. Not only is the color one of the rarer ones, but apparently only ~10% of 3.5SE's are sold with a 5-speed manual. I guess my wife is one of the rare breed that actually prefers to shift for herself.



Here's a couple pics I found online of what our car will look like (same color, same rims, spoiler, grill, etc.):



05.nissan.altima.500.jpg


ns2005altima883865m.jpg


Altima-2005-07.jpg


2005%20Nissan%20Altima%20Black%20front%20right%20800.jpg




I'm looking forward to having a new car to detail. This is the first brand NEW car to come into my hands since I started getting serious about detailing. My wife thought she was nice by not picking black, but this color will probably be 2nd worst to maintain. Oh well, I like a challenge!



From the Autopia/detailers standpoint, I like the fact that the rims look like they'll be easy to keep clean. My only concern is the plastic grill in the middle of the fascia, around the Nissan emblem. Anyone here with experience with washing & detailing '05 Altimas? Any tips for dealing with that grill?



Also, I've never had a car with that 3M clear bra protection before. Is it a pain to wax and polish around it? (ie. will I always be cursed by having a line of wax, etc. stuck along the edge of the film?)



Thanks!
 
Nice car! With a sweet color to boot!



I know what you mean about the low percentage of M/T cars nowadays. To my understanding, only 5% of 4th gen Maximas came with a 5spd M/T. Even less with the 5th gens.



I'm fortunate to have grabbed one of the 5spd 4th gens. :)
 
Looks very nice. Who is installing the ClearBra?



For the grille, just get some smaller brushes. OXO and Meguiar's make some nice spoke/small brushes that will work for this application as well.



Congrats!
 
pigeonbus said:
Who is installing the ClearBra?

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A 3rd party shop that does work for the dealership I'm buying from. I've seen other cars done there and it appears they do good work. I also checked with a good friend of mine who bought a Murano from this dealership recently and also got the clear bra, and he was very happy with the job they did.



But this is a first for me, so it will be a bit of an experiment I guess. What should I expect? I would hope no one is stupid enough to install clear bra over "dealer installed swirls"? :shocked
 
Yes, it could possibly be real bad, hopefully it won't. Check some more of their work and if it's good you should be fine. Is there any way you could get to the car before the installer does? :p
 
Nice ride- can't wait to see pics of hers once it's in!

The grille looks similar to that of our Sentra's; keep it well dressed and it should stay clean relatively easily.
 
Why not get the car from the dealer and clean up the swirls and then have a 3rd party of your choice do the bra?



just wondering.
 
Regarding the 3M Clear Bra film, and based on the pictures I provided above, any suggestions on exactly what area(s) on the front of the car I should expect to have covered by the film? I think the standard package is really only the hood, maybe back as far as the outer tip of the headlights.



Should I be trying to get the fenders, fascia and headlamps covered as well?
 
Congratulation Jason !!!



New toy to detail! :woot:



I do believe you will dress that "bad boy" with a Zaino suit and Z8 Top Hat. ;)



Tell the wife - "You go girl, Nice Ride"!!! :bounce
 
SilverLexus said:
Zaino would be great but so would AIO and Souveran or just good ole Souveran. :)
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I have both AIO and Souveran, which I still haven't tried yet. As soon as I get my 300ZX on the road this spring (which is black) I was definately going to try that combo on it. I did put a coat of AIO on my rims though.



As for Zaino, I'm not currently a Zaino user. Other than Z-16 Perfect Tire Gloss, and Z-10 Leather in a Bottle (again, haven't tried it yet).
 
Inzane said:




I would hope no one is stupid enough to install clear bra over "dealer installed swirls"? :shocked
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Count on it! I would not let the dealer lay a hand on the car. Don't even let them remove the plastic protection on the car. Than you detail it to perfection and then bring it in to have the clear bra installed over the perfect paint. If you let those clowns detail your car it's almost a sure thing they will make a mess of it.



Consider yourself fortunate that you are getting the car straight from the factory. You can get it before the dealer has had a chance to get their hands on it.
 
Tell the dealer that if the car doesnt have full shipping plastic on it when it falls into your hands, the deal is off. I've seen dealership guys turn out brand new cars with terrible buffer burn, holograms, scratches, you name it. Hell, my '97 with 107,000 on the clock looks better than some of the cars I've seen come straight out of a dealership.



Take the plastic off it yourself, make sure to clay it (rail dust) then go for a mild SMR (SSR1, or PO85RD if you want to spend the cash) to fix any marring from the clay. Take it to the film guys the next day, then wax/seal the whole car.
 
Congrats. I test drove the 3.5 SE with automatic - that thing flies. I did not like the torque steer but it was a fun car nevertheless. The one thing I did not like is that ABS was not standard. But, a great car nevertheless. If ABS had been standard I would have bought it I think.



I ended up with a Grand Prix GTP - which was not too bad :-).
 
Congratulations on the purchase! A couple of guys from my Sentra club (www.gtasentra.net) recently upgraded their 2001 SE's (both 5-speeds) to 2005 Altimas -- one (cajun spice Sentra)got a majestic blue 3.5SE automatic (pictures do not do the car justice) and the other (ebony Sentra) got a smoke 3.5SE 5-speed.



I would definitely detail the car before getting the 3M put on. I don't need to tell you how fragile the Nissan paint is.
 
Nice choice. One good thing about having to order is that it hasn't been sitting around a dealership getting messed with.



Our Audis have grills like that. I just use the Klasse twins on them. I cut a piece of wood down to size and wrap my MF around it to get into the slots with the AIO. Once everything is clean, you can use a foam swab to apply the SG. A BHB will do for regular washes, but every now and then it pays to get in every slot with a wet MF and really *clean* things.
 
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