alo alo ...Newbie "Jughead" aka "AJ" ..

[Jughead]

Hi All

Never really knew what "detailing" was ... besides that I heard it in a few movies ... "...just had my car detailed..."...

So I decided it was time to upgrade my jalopy...

from a White 2000 VW Polo Classic 1.6i to a Tornado Red 2010 VW Golf Mk VI GTI 2.0 DSG ...

... Big jump for me... since I had the Polo for 9 years...

One thing I knew about dark coloured (red) cars was that it was going to be more maintenance than white.

So when I sent my car to be washed at our work carwash...
The Carwash Manager asked me ... "New Car?...Auto Armor?.. Any Paint Protection ?..."......
Which pretty much drew a blank expression on my face ... and I probably answered with ..."...What?...huh?..What you talking about?..."

And he actually took some time explaining to me a bit about "Paint Protection" ...
He mentioned he use to use "Meguiar's" ... which set the ball rolling as I wanted my car protected ..

So .. Called around .. various "Paint Protection" services...

and found a local (a suburb away) valet company that could do it for me ...
The owner actually gave me a "Lecture" in "Auto Detailing" and Meguiar's Products... which was appreciated!
So I basically told him ... "...If this was YOUR car ... what would you do to it?..."...
After inspecting the car ... explaining what he would do if it was his car ... I agreed.

5 hours later ...

Applied - (1) Meguiar's Clay
Applied - (2) Meguiar's M205 Finishing Polish
Applied - (3) Meguiar's Show Car Glaze
Applied - (4) Meguiar's Synthetic Sealant
Applied - (5) Meguiar's Hi-Tech Yellow Wax

Vehicle looked amazing ... and now it was up to me to try and maintain that look ...

Since I was going on holiday the following week ...
I knew I had to get some products to clean all the bugs and dirt from it ... NO MORE DISHWASHING LIQUID FOR ME!!! haha

So got the following "newbie" products/tools for the trip:

One Bucket
Some Microfiber's
Cheap Microfiber wash sponge
Other Towels (Colibri off-cut's)
Some other Sponges
New Chamois
Meguiar’s Soft Wash Gel
Meguiar's Gold Class Shampoo
Meguiar’s Quik Wheel Detailer
Meguiar’s Gold Class Rich Leather Cleaner Conditioner
Meguiar’s Hot Shine Tire Coating
Meguiar’s Quik Mist and Wipe Detailer

I've been browsing a lot of websites lately regarding "Auto Detailing"... learning a lot ..

Upgraded my kit to a few more items ...
Trying to stick to Meguiar's Products (maybe Meguiar's should send me a T-shirt b'cos of that ne'? haha!)

Meguiar's X3002 Microfiber Wash Mitt
Meguiar's G14422 Ultimate Quick Detailer
Meguiar's X2000 Water Magnet Drying Towel
Meguiar's X2020 Supreme Shine Microfiber - Pack of 3
Meguiar's X3002 Microfiber Wash Mitt
Meguiar's Hyper Wash (5L)
Meguiar's Last Touch (5L)
2 more buckets; and some more microfibers

Hoping to get the following:
Karcher High Pressure washer (not sure which model yet, K 2.9 with the Foam Lance?);
Foam Lance / HD Foam Lance described here (Price and where I can order one please?;
Meguiar's G220 DA Polisher

Also, do you guys stick to one Brand (like Meguiar's) or do you "cross-pollinate" and use different Brands/Products on one vehicle?

And any tips and experience on the VW Golf Tornado Red would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks and Regards

AJ

[Carn]

Welcome Jughead, great to see another car care enthusiast joining the fray


Given your choice of product you will be pleased to know that both Woodie and Starvekos will automatically grant you access into the hallowed Meguiars 'Inner circle'

Seriously though, there are alot of good car care products/brands available these days. For me personally I try various new products on a regular basis and choose to rather stick with what works for me, as opposed to trying to stick to one particular brand.


As far as red's go I am sure Siya, also the owner of a Tornado red GTI, will have some excellent product recommendations for you. From my side I will say that a sealant topped with a carnuaba wax always looks stunning on red's.

For reference you can see these threads...

http://www.waxon.co.za/showthread.php?tid=866
http://www.waxon.co.za/showthread.php?tid=775
http://www.waxon.co.za/showthread.php?tid=461


Finally regarding the foam lance's. They are available from me with fittings to suit both the smaller Karchers with the plastic bayonet fitting, as well as the larger ones with the universal M22 fitting.

More details on the lance's can be found here and here


I look forward to seeing some pics of your shiney new car

[calypso]

Welcome to the forum. Nice kit you got there for a newcomer.
You normally find most start with Megs, as it has a name and is easily accessable. After a while though people migrate to other brands, buying the best for the particular task. Nothing wrong with megs though, and they make pretty much everything the home user could need.

[Jughead]

Thanks for the Welcome guys

Thanks for the links … going to study and learn from them …

... Ooh!!! I soo want a Karcher and Foam Lance ... but I think I need to be a "Daniel-son" and go through all the steps before I earn my "belt" ... first.. "wax on ... wax off" ... might also appreciate it (outcome) more then ??? Makro actually has a sale on a few of em Karcher's (ends Mon 15 March 2010) ... K2.21 R699-00 ; K 2.900 R999-00 ; K298M R1,290-00; K 3.68 R1,990-00 ; K4.68 R2,290-00 ; K3.8 R2,490-00
PS!!! Apologies if I'm not allowed to post these prices here ... !!!!

Which Karcher model does most of the forum member’s use?
and since I don't know (newbie) which fitting goes with the Karcher, which Foam lance?

... waiting in anticipation for your products/online shopping section of your website to be up and running Carn... should be another place to feed this "addiction" building inside ... hehe!

1st thing I look at nowadays when seeing cars are “swirls” and whether I can see “reflections” back from the paintwork …

Is it wrong of me to “squirm” at “swirls” … hahaha!

[dood786]

welcome

nice to see you show interest and passion already

[Jughead]

Thanks Dood786 ... I "worry" that my car will get dirty/dusty as soon as the LSP (Last Touch) is applied ... Eish!!! ... Started opening and closing doors with microfibers ... haha!

[springbok]

Welcome Jughead, and compliments on a very good "first post". I look forward to some pics of your car.

I too saw the specials from Makro so I'm interested in any replies as to what ones are recommended. There seem to be sooooo many models available, it just boggles the mind.

David, what model Karcher did you end up buying? I can't see it in any of your threads.

[onyx]

Welcome AJ!
A day too late... Woulda been cool for you to join the rest of the OCD crew at the event yesterday
I'm using the Karcher 4.68 at the moment and whilst I can't compare it to anything being my first PW, it surely is a worthwhile investment (be sure to get the Foam Lance from Carn)

Also have a look on Gumtree, the last I checked there was an HD model going at a steal (or maybe it was stolen)

[Jughead]

Thanks Springbok & Onyx...

Yeah it woulda been cool to be there ...
But I am in CPT ...
... I know ... I know ... Poor excuse!!! ...
a true "OCD" woulda flown up ne'? ... or ...
Driven up and used his vehicle in all the demo's ... haha!
+/- 1600km of dust, dirt & bugs would put any product to the test ...hehe!
Maybe next time!!!

"Seeing" that most of you can handle a Polisher ... (or maybe this should be the newbie test?)...
...Mmm... Maybe someone could make a video of the events and either make it available on DVD (to buy cheaply) ... Or ... Upload to Youtube and start "Our Own Waxon Channel" ...

Hopefully next time I'm up in JHB ... I'll pop around the store(s) ...

[Carn]

As far as pressure washers go I was torn between going for a more robust unit like the K3 or K4 series, or something smaller and more portable like the K2's.

In the end I settled on the K2.9M which I picked up at Makro on promo for R999. Considering I do alot of mobile work, the smaller machine made more sense than something more robust. So far so good and the 'littl' K2.9 hasn't missed a beat

[Woodie]

Hi AJ and welcome to the Waxon forum.

(as an aside to the other forum members, AJ and I actually work for the same company and first met on an incentive trip to Hong Kong last year, although at the time he wasn't an addict yet, so it's great to have him on board.)

As Dave has mentioned, Siya and I are the Meguiars sluts around these parts. Calypso rightly mentioned that many detailers start with Meguiars, and for good reason. They make quality products which span almost the whole range of goodies that a detailer would need. Generally, however, most detailers (Siya and I included) do not stick to one brand, but will experiment with various options along the way. Although I use Meguiars as the basic foundation for my detailing arsenal, it is supplemented along the way with other products that I have used and liked. Mike Phillips, ex-Meguiars employee and now with Autogeek summed it up best with his mantra of "Find something you like and use it often".

As far as the Karcher is concerned, I do not own one, but have one on a long term lease (thanks to Siya's storage constraints and recent switch to ONR). It is the K2.9 model which I have now been using regularly for more than a year. I find it a good balance between portability and performance. At the current special of R999 at Makro, I would suggest you get yourself one before COB today . Once you have the Karcher, drop Dave (Carn) a PM and get yourself a foam gun shipped down to CT in time for this coming weekend. Don't worry about the fittings, Dave ships it with everything you'll need.

Lastly - get the camera out and post photos of the new wheels.

[Jughead]

Alo Alo ...

Just popped into Makro now ... Got Myself the Karcher K2.900M as recommended as the entry level one .... Will be sending Carn a PM now for details regarding a compatible Foam Gun/Lance delivered to CPT ...

Thanks to all for the warm welcome ... and all the information that will help me maintaining my wheels...

Regards

AJ

[Carn]

(18-03-2010 06:30 PM)Jughead Wrote:  Just popped into Makro now ... Got Myself the Karcher K2.900M as recommended as the entry level one ....

You'll dig the K2.900M as it is compact for storage and works really well IMHO

You may want to consider saving up for a 9M hose for it. The included hose is a little short and you end up having to move the pressure washer around to reach the whole car. Since I bought the 9M hose I just set the machine up in front of the car and off I go...No hassles

[Jughead]

Hi Carn

I was actually looking at the (optional extra) 9m hose ...

Just a Q to those that have the 9m hose...

Does it replace the original 4m hose that came with the Karcher?

or does it fit onto the 4m hose i.e. 9m + 4m = 13m?

if not ... (and if possible) anyone try an adapter type fitting to do so?

Although I do think 13m would be "overkill" and the pressure from the machine might be affected???

Just a thought.....

Regards

AJ

[Carn]

The 9m replaces the 4m.

The 2 pipes can't screw together directly (they are both M22 female threads). You could buy an M22 nipple (male male) and use that to join the 2 but it may affect the pressure

[Jughead]

Tempting to try .. but ... but reading what happened to Lambchop's Karcher due to incorrect lance ... will give it a skip...hehe!

[springbok]

Some really usefull info about Karchers and fittings etc in this thread, but it's in the new member section so will get lost. Any chance of transferring/copying the latter part to a more relevent section?

BTW the cost of a 9m hose is about R649

[Jughead]

Hi Springbok

I guess you asking the admin/moderator's to move the karchers info ? ... cos I don't think I have that control functions to move it???

Yeah .. 9m hose R649 ... was R599 last week on special at Makro, but no more... Will have to save up a few bucks ...
... the standard 4m hose just does not cut-it.... might as well strap the Karcher to my back .. hahaha!!!

Tried the karcher out yesterday for the first time ... just plain old water pressure ...

must say ...

less dirt coming off afterwards when washing with the wash mitt ... ( I inspect after every swipe!!!)
...therfore less chance of swirls ...

Just need to get some decent buckets and a grit guard or two ... (but the prices are a bit high)

[Carn]

(22-03-2010 10:45 AM)springbok Wrote:  Some really usefull info about Karchers and fittings etc in this thread, but it's in the new member section so will get lost. Any chance of transferring/copying the latter part to a more relevent section?

As you wish my liege...

Let's talk about pressure washers...

[springbok]

Shot!