The Car With The X Factor

[Gen2]

The owner has been doing self maintenance of this car since the day he collected the car, the car looked pretty shiny but there were scratches, swirls and spider webbing found on the car.

Since the defects were not too serious, here’s my procedure,



1. wash and clay

2. Intensive Polish/Red Moose Machine Glaze mix (70/30) + Orange pad + DA @ speed 5



Below is a picture showing the before and after of a panel I worked on, on the left is after and the right is before.

After the polishing stage, I proceed with the next 2 steps,



3. Vanilla Moose Wax/Red Moose Machine Glaze mix (50/50) + Green pad + DA @ speed 4

4. Carnauba Moose Wax applied with foam applicator pad by hand



By the time I had finished with the detailing work, the sky was basically covered with dark clouds so the photos cannot really show the shine on the car but the depth and wet look on the car is really impressive.

From some of the close-up shots you can actually see how dark the sky was when the photos were taken and it also clearly shows the depth of the paint work.

Last but not least,

 

[Thomas Dekany]

that is one wet looking car. Excellent detail. :bow

 

[Ben Kenobi]

That is beautiful work you've done. The paint is very deep and wet looking. Very interesting Toyota Mark X, I've never seen photos before. Are these very common in Singapore?

 

[TeutonicCarFan]

nice looking detail...is that analagous to a LS or ES Lexus?

 

[BigAl3]

despite the dark pics, it still looks great! :up

 

[Mark77]

Strange looking car, like a small Maybach or something. Nice detail though

 

[TeutonicCarFan]

i wonder why he blacked out the emblem on the back trunk ?

 

[Gen2]

Hi guys, thanks for all the compliment .



Ben Kenobi - Hi Ben, I find this new model Mark X looks much better than the previous one and there seems to be an increasing number of people driving this car in Singapore.



TeutonicCarFan - This is a Toyota Mark X and if I am not wrong quite a number of the features are shared with the Lexus design, even the engine too. Btw I blacked out the emblem on the request of the owner. The owner and a few other Mark X owners came out with their own design emblem for the rear, so to make it more 'exclusive' he requested that I mask out the special designed emblem .

 

[imported_Picus]

Looks great. Man, check out the Bangle-influenced trunk. 5 years ago everyone hated him, not everyone's copying him.

 

[92MX83]

Oh-oh...



The Mark X is the next-generation Toyota X-platform car following the Verossa, which was preceded by the Mark II, Chaser and Cresta variants. These three were sold as the Toyota Cressida in other parts of the world, with a choice of engines ranging from the venerable 22R-E truck engine to a range of powerful single- and twin-turbo inline sixes. Unfortunately, the U.S. marketing strategy positioned the Cressida as a Buick competitor, and it was hobbled with soft suspension, a normally aspirated 3.0 dohc I-6, and lots of luxury features. The X-cars are midsize rear-drive sedans slotting in the Toyota RWD sedan hierarchy between the Toyota Altezza (Lexus IS-series) on the lower end and the Aristo (Lexus GS Series). Toyota, in its infinite wisdom, decided after 1992 to stop importing the Cressida to the U.S., replacing it with the portly FWD Avalon.



/couldn't help it

//X-car owner and fan

///Superb detail on an awesome car, Gen2!

 

[EBPcivicsi]

Great detail--if Toyota would bring that car here with a RWD/turbo V-6, I would own my first Toyota. Even without the turbo, I would buy one.

 

[imported_Yal]

Beautiful pics!

The Cressida was one of my all time favs Toyota.



Bangle did come out with all these ideas. Now the clam shell trunk and hood are the new wave. Go figure! Just goes to show that the Japanese aren't going after the US manufacturers they are going after the Germans and doing it well, GM, Chrysler and Ford are just collateral damage

 

[FidoAUTO]

Looks great. Man, check out the Bangle-influenced trunk. 5 years ago everyone hated him, not everyone's copying him.

LOL... exactly what I was thinking!!





Great depth on the paint very nice.... there are so many cars that N. America misses out on..... so sad.

 

[Scottwax]

Incredible depth and wetness! Hard to get much deeper than VM, RMG and CMW!



...your skill at polishing the paint to perfect sure helps too.

 

[Ben Kenobi]

Gen2 - You're quite welcome, Scott's right when he said you polished it to perfection. I had a look at the Mark X Japanese website and it was quite interesing. I think I'd go for one too if they were available here. :waxing:

 

[imported_Picus]

Gen2 - You're quite welcome, Scott's right when he said you polished it to perfection. I had a look at the Mark X Japanese website and it was quite interesing. I think I'd go for one too if they were available here. :waxing:

I agree; very cool car - and this thread makes it look even more interesting what with the awesome detail and all.

 

[Gen2]

Hey guys, thanks again for all the compliments and I appreciate them very much .



It seems this Mark X is quite well received by you guys too, maybe I can try to chip in some information on this car too (our local model, one and only one )



Toyota Mark X 250G



Engine: 2,499 cc V6

Gearbox: 6-speed Super ECT transmission

Max power: 215 hp @ 6,400 rpm

Max torque: 260 Nm @ 3,800 rpm

0-100 kmh: 8.3 secs



This front-engine rear-wheel-drive saloon shares the same basic platform as the Lexus IS250 and GS300 models, with an overall length somewhere in between the two more premium cars. But while it has the same 2.5-litre V6 engine of the IS250, it has the exact wheelbase of the bigger GS300 (the Mark X also has three-litre and all-wheel-drive versions). The longer wheelbase is significant because it means the Mark X has better rear legroom than the more upmarket IS250.



Back to detailing, today I just tried using JW CJ to remove the residue of CMW. The result is great, the car not only looks wet and deep but it also has the shine that comes from CJ :2thumbs: .