Just thought I'd share a few all in one thread.
Lexus LS430:
Mom is very active in the community, so this is another car from a member of her networking group.
Goal was to do a one step polish and add protection.
interior wasn't that bad but needed a good vacuum and I cleaned/conditioned surfaces.
This car is nicely equipped. Radar cruise control, rear seat upgrade with massagers/recliners etc..don't get to drive these often at the dealership much anymore..fell in love with it again.
Collected these golf tees and vacuumed out the spare tire area.
Sticky substance on one of the trunk panels underneath the cargo mat:
Steam took care of it
shifter gate cleaned out
I reclined the back seats to check for hidden issues, found these green stains on both passenger and driver side seat bottoms.
Steam took care of it
someone used the cooler box!
working my way around, remembered to check the lil storage boxes on the bottom of the front seats
tool kit was not properly stored in the trunk, and covered in grease/grime.
Cleaned it up and properly stored it later
outside was in ok shape, metal trim hella oxided, both bumpers need paint...as well as the hood most likely since the front edge around the grille is peppered bad with rock chips.
needs paint
Engine wasn't bad, I just steamed it.
Propped up the sunroof to clean that, and then opened it all the way to clean the trim area and metal edges.
tire degreasing then wheel cleaning
I just like the way it looks with a lot of foam on it.
decon gel, next I autoscrubbed and dried.
50/50 strip trying to show a lil bit of clarity restored to the trunk with polish. not 100% corrected.
I spent a long time trying to deoxidize trim. Some of it cleaned up well...like the front and rear bumper strips. This is the front bumper...as evidenced by the tag bracket hole. The trim around the back window and front windshield didn't correct as well.
Going around removing tape and wow I was surprised at how good it looked, even though 100% of imperfections weren't removed with just polishing.
Hit all the crevices with steam to make sure they were cleaned out.
After crevice cleaning, then I gave the car a wipe down prior to powerlocking.
I hit the tires with dressing after powerlocking so I could get some sun shots real quick before sunset. Afterwards I waxed it and dressed wheel wells, exhausts, etc. Outside windows were also rain-x'd. By that time sun was down and getting good photos was impossible with my camera.
Had to make sure the battery was charged up before bringing it back.
Overall it turned out pretty good.
---
Update 12/30/12: Customer is returning from vacation tonight and will see the car for the first time since I took it home to clean it. I decided to stop by her place and redress the tires due to rain and snow we had over the past week so it would have the freshly done look. Heavy wind was blowing leaves and debris all over the paint so it really wasn't worth trying to safely wipe down the paint again. Getting protection on the paint really helped though, car still looked amazingly clean. I was also able to get a few more pics.
Here's a before pic of the exhaust, never posted it before since I didn't get a good after pic. Fine steel wool and CG metal polish. Now I can post it!
Lexus LS430:
Mom is very active in the community, so this is another car from a member of her networking group.
Goal was to do a one step polish and add protection.
interior wasn't that bad but needed a good vacuum and I cleaned/conditioned surfaces.
This car is nicely equipped. Radar cruise control, rear seat upgrade with massagers/recliners etc..don't get to drive these often at the dealership much anymore..fell in love with it again.
Collected these golf tees and vacuumed out the spare tire area.
Sticky substance on one of the trunk panels underneath the cargo mat:
Steam took care of it
shifter gate cleaned out
I reclined the back seats to check for hidden issues, found these green stains on both passenger and driver side seat bottoms.
Steam took care of it
someone used the cooler box!
working my way around, remembered to check the lil storage boxes on the bottom of the front seats
tool kit was not properly stored in the trunk, and covered in grease/grime.
Cleaned it up and properly stored it later
outside was in ok shape, metal trim hella oxided, both bumpers need paint...as well as the hood most likely since the front edge around the grille is peppered bad with rock chips.
needs paint
Engine wasn't bad, I just steamed it.
Propped up the sunroof to clean that, and then opened it all the way to clean the trim area and metal edges.
tire degreasing then wheel cleaning
I just like the way it looks with a lot of foam on it.
decon gel, next I autoscrubbed and dried.
50/50 strip trying to show a lil bit of clarity restored to the trunk with polish. not 100% corrected.
I spent a long time trying to deoxidize trim. Some of it cleaned up well...like the front and rear bumper strips. This is the front bumper...as evidenced by the tag bracket hole. The trim around the back window and front windshield didn't correct as well.
Going around removing tape and wow I was surprised at how good it looked, even though 100% of imperfections weren't removed with just polishing.
Hit all the crevices with steam to make sure they were cleaned out.
After crevice cleaning, then I gave the car a wipe down prior to powerlocking.
I hit the tires with dressing after powerlocking so I could get some sun shots real quick before sunset. Afterwards I waxed it and dressed wheel wells, exhausts, etc. Outside windows were also rain-x'd. By that time sun was down and getting good photos was impossible with my camera.
Had to make sure the battery was charged up before bringing it back.
Overall it turned out pretty good.
---
Update 12/30/12: Customer is returning from vacation tonight and will see the car for the first time since I took it home to clean it. I decided to stop by her place and redress the tires due to rain and snow we had over the past week so it would have the freshly done look. Heavy wind was blowing leaves and debris all over the paint so it really wasn't worth trying to safely wipe down the paint again. Getting protection on the paint really helped though, car still looked amazingly clean. I was also able to get a few more pics.
Here's a before pic of the exhaust, never posted it before since I didn't get a good after pic. Fine steel wool and CG metal polish. Now I can post it!
