Before and after detailing, graphite pearl tourer

[Tourer owner]

Hi everyone, I've finally taken the time to work out how to up load photos So, I thought I would start a thread, might not be in the right place so mods/admins please feel free to move the thread if needed.

We've had our car now for nearly three months and I've still not polished the exterior. I've been reading and reading what to buy and I've still not got my head around which polishes will give my car a shine.

The following pictures are all before shots, how we bought the car, dull and not that good at all. I'm going to decide which polishes to buy and then treat the car and post some after treatment pictures. Thought it might be useful to see bad lack lustre paintwork "hopefully" transformed.

I did try a small area of Turtle wax ice, didn't touch it, no shine, that's how bad this car is.

 

[Tourer owner]

 

[Stevearcade]

Am I missing something :unsure: ? You think that's bad!? You ought to see my 2.4 tourer. Not only is it filthy all the time, but it's paint truly is rubbish. I mean it has a deep tone, but once you're within 2-3 metres of the car, you can see it's terrible. Loads of marks and damage caused by bird poo and hedges and stuff. Honestly, that first photo of your car looks lovely. Have you considered just giving it a nice sponge clean and going over it with Mer or something? It's under a tenner from Halfords, comes in a blue bottle. Will clean and shine a treat. But it isn't a paint restorer, just a cleaner/waxer.

 

[Tourer owner]

LOL, the photos make it look way, way better than it is believe me! I've just cleaned it a couple of days ago so it isn't covered in muck or anything. I've got some Mer left from my last car, tried it, didn't bring it up very much at all, slight bit of a shine, nothing out standing. I've used that wash/wax shampoo on it plenty, turtle wax again, just not polished it yet. It isn't shiny, you should see it next to my Husbands 8 year old Peugeot 206, looks bad, real bad lol.

 

[Chriseybaby]

I've been meaning to phone Honda to see what colour my car is (says silver on the log book ) but turns out its the same as yours

Im in the same boat as you, I've never done more than a wash and t-cut on a car before so am interested how to get the best out of it.

 

[Tourer owner]

I've been meaning to phone Honda to see what colour my car is (says silver on the log book ) but turns out its the same as yours

Im in the same boat as you, I've never done more than a wash and t-cut on a car before so am interested how to get the best out of it.

Yep, yours looks like Graphite Pearl. I know what you mean about the log book saying silver, it is nothing like silver in my opinion.

Did the T-cut help your car at all?

 

[Chriseybaby]

I've not done it on the accord, Ideally I need to get the gunk off thats decided to weld itself to the front door panels first

 

[iar1980]

It looks ok! from the photos

Got exactly the same colour Graphite Pearl, But Saloon of course!!!

I only bought my car about 4 weeks ago!

Still having got round to posting any pics!

 

[Tourer owner]

Yes, I know what you mean, I had lots of sticky tar to get off my Hubbies car, I could easily see it to remove it because the cars a metallic red though. I'm like you by the sounds of it, I've only ever used T-cut in the past where needed and that was many years ago and normal Turtle wax stuff, I've never needed to use anything else. It's funny but this is the least shiny car I've owned. I'm not after a mirror shine just a nice shine, so it doesn't look like it needs a good polish lol.

It's a shame the above photos don't show the lack of shine lol, thought I'd try a before and after to help anyone that has a car like mine, the non shiny version lol. There's so many beautifully polished cars on this forum, I cannot ever imagine they were ever non shiny

 

[Tourer owner]

It looks ok! from the photos

Got exactly the same colour Graphite Pearl, But Saloon of course!!!

I only bought my car about 4 weeks ago!

Still having got round to posting any pics!

Thanks, these are the first photos I've posted on here, I just wish the photos showed the lack of shine though and all the fine scratches, especially the swirl marks. Prior to me owning the vehicle it seems to have only ever gone though car washing machines. The bonnet photo shows the lack of shine the best but it still looks different to actually seeing it.

The photos remind me of when we were trying to find this vehicle, we kept seeing wonderfully shiny cars which looked perfect showroom condition, especially a Passat was looked at. Turned up to view the vehicle and it was a total dog, nothing like the photo, no shine, covered in scratches and stone chips. Hopefully when I've got the polish and done the work you will be able to see the difference.

 

[Tourer owner]

Cleaning weapons chosen and ordered:

All Autoglym products.
Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner
Super Resin Polish
High Definition Wax

I also treated myself to their Concours collection for the interior products and cloths etc. Well, I'm hoping this car will last me ten years or so, that's my excuse lol.

Just trying to work out if I need to buy their High Definition Cleaner to use after the shampoo and before the super resin polish. I know claying would help clean the paintwork but I really don't want to use it.

Hopefully I will get good results from the above products, if anyone has any suggestions regarding to use the high def cleaner or not or any other suggestions please comment. Thanks

 

[pekay]

Mines the same Graphite pearl as yours, the product i use and find gives brilliant results on darker colours is pure yellow carnuba wax by Harley, there is i guy on fleabay sells it for approx £16 a tin with an application pad.

I find it doesn't really matter what shampoo i use its the finishing product that counts, and trust me you cant get anything better than pure carnuba.

For the interior/dash and door trims i use Autoglym rubber vinyl care. again, awesome stuff.

A nice spray of tyre black finishes it off nicely.

 

[Tourer owner]

The wax you use sounds great, I've bought mine already though lol. Better not tell Hubby, the whole lot has cost me a small fortune.

I don't know anything about detailing cars, so I was at a loss to know what to buy really. All I've ever used is Turtle wax products on all my cars over the years and Mer on my last car.

Hopefully it will all arrive in the next week, I will post photos after the work.

Just trying to work out if I need to buy the high definition cleaner prior to putting on their super resin polish, or will the polish clean the paintwork enough lol...........................tough choice, there's way too much choice out there lol.

 

[pekay]

The wax you use sounds great, I've bought mine already though lol. Better not tell Hubby, the whole lot has cost me a small fortune.

I don't know anything about detailing cars, so I was at a loss to know what to buy really. All I've ever used is Turtle wax products on all my cars over the years and Mer on my last car.

Hopefully it will all arrive in the next week, I will post photos after the work.

Just trying to work out if I need to buy the high definition cleaner prior to putting on their super resin polish, or will the polish clean the paintwork enough lol...........................tough choice, there's way too much choice out there lol.

If your car is covered in swirl marks from car washes then chances are it has put fine surface scratches in the laquer, you may even have to lightly t-cut a panel at a time to remove them but beware T-cut is an abrasive for bringing really dull paint work back to life and removing bird lime marks and scratches, a softer product is 3M hand glaze which is a paint finishing product and will also remove swirl marks but is ****** hard work.. the super resin polish from AG is a great product, i use it on my Dark metallic blue motorbike, but i find the Harley wax enhances the shine even further and protects better, the Harley wax is very easy on and easy off a panel at a time and does not leave any polish swirls like some inferior polishes, provided you regularly shake out your buffing cloth to prevent it loading with wax.
Incidentally, Halfords are currently promoting a 20pack of large yellow microfiber polishing clothes for £14.99, these are the best for applying/removing polishes and waxes.

Have fun.!!

 

[tbourner]

Cleaning weapons chosen and ordered:

All Autoglym products.
Bodywork Shampoo Conditioner
Super Resin Polish
High Definition Wax

Are you not going to clay or Carlack before polishing? If your paint is that bad (doesn't look it) and needs all the grime removing, then polish to get rid of some of the swirls, then wax over the top.

 

[Tourer owner]

If your car is covered in swirl marks from car washes then chances are it has put fine surface scratches in the laquer, you may even have to lightly t-cut a panel at a time to remove them but beware T-cut is an abrasive for bringing really dull paint work back to life and removing bird lime marks and scratches, a softer product is 3M hand glaze which is a paint finishing product and will also remove swirl marks but is ****** hard work.. the super resin polish from AG is a great product, i use it on my Dark metallic blue motorbike, but i find the Harley wax enhances the shine even further and protects better, the Harley wax is very easy on and easy off a panel at a time and does not leave any polish swirls like some inferior polishes, provided you regularly shake out your buffing cloth to prevent it loading with wax.
Incidentally, Halfords are currently promoting a 20pack of large yellow microfiber polishing clothes for £14.99, these are the best for applying/removing polishes and waxes.

Have fun.!!

Cheers for the info I will buy a 20 pack of the large yellow microfiber polishing clothes for sure. I purchased some of their stockinette stuff on a roll last weekend, microfiber would be better for the super resin stuff. The other HD wax comes with cloth and pad so that is OK.

 

[Tourer owner]

Are you not going to clay or Carlack before polishing? If your paint is that bad (doesn't look it) and needs all the grime removing, then polish to get rid of some of the swirls, then wax over the top.

I don't want to clay it in case it makes the spraywork that has been done to the car stand out. I did think about Carlack and I've also thought about the Autoglym High Definition paintwork cleaner, that is supposed to clean the paintwork and remove all old polish etc. Just don't know if I need it because it says that the super resin polish removes rubbish as well. The paint doesn't look bad on the photos, it is dull and scratched, lets put it this way, if you see the car in the flesh you instantly see that it needs a darn good polish and some of the scratches might not polish out. I did buy some Turtle wax black colour magic to hide the scratches, so don't know at what point I'd use that now lol.

I don't need a showroom perfect car, I already do my own head in with being over fussy in the house without extending that to the car as well. I used to be really, really bad with cars, trying to recover lol..................not very successfully either.

 

[davecmr]

This was just using Autoglym Ultra Deep Gloss Polish Blackberry camera aint the best for taking pictures tho

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/5146-my-standard-facelift-tourer/

 

[Tourer owner]

This was just using Autoglym Ultra Deep Gloss Polish Blackberry camera aint the best for taking pictures tho

http://typeaccord.co.uk/forum/topic/5146-my-standard-facelift-tourer/

Wow Dave, that's a beautiful finish, you can see the real depth of colour in the paintwork.

Hubby has added to my cleaning weapons lol.

The pack of stuff for general cleaning/inside etc as previously mentioned
AG Shampoo and conditioner
AG High definition cleanser (added in, instead of claying the car)
AG Super resin polish
AG High definition wax
Some microfibre clothes

I suspect it is only because he wants to use all this stuff on his own car as well

Just waiting for it to all turn up and then fingers crossed for a good day weather wise.

 

[davecmr]

The AG Super Resin polish works well too but the Ultra Deep Gloss does hide swirl marks and light scratches very well although it is harder to rub off than Super Resin.

 

[shab_the_man]

sweet, looks like it just came out of the paint shop it's so shiny. Good job, when you free, I need mine doing lol?

 

[Tourer owner]

The AG Super Resin polish works well too but the Ultra Deep Gloss does hide swirl marks and light scratches very well although it is harder to rub off than Super Resin.

Ummm, I will see how I get on with the super resin, if I find it isn't very good I will get some deep gloss stuff. There is so much choice, making it nearly impossible to know what to buy. I'm going to be really busy when all the stuff turns up.

 

[CJM]

SRP has a paint cleanser inbuilt, but the HD cleanser is probably a more defined product specifically for the job and will probably clear more.

It is probably the swirls that are making the car look dull (to you) , as the light reflection is distorted by them.


If you want to tidy up the swirls there are a few products that can hide them to a degree, but that soon goes.
Really you need to polish them out there are various nano polishes out there that can help., but it's normally better being machine polished and then your going into a whole different world.

The main thing to remember is swirls are caused by various things, not just automatic car washes, but washing your car with a sponge and using one bucket, drying the car off and dragging the drying medium over the paintwork, you can really go to the n'th degree.

Invest in some wash mitts, use the two bucket method and use a drying towel and always use a proper car shampoo (which I know is in your cleaning armoury) rather than washing up liquid.

 

[Tourer owner]

Many thanks for the tips, not more polish lol.................if the swirls don't go I will get some nano stuff. My bill is through the roof as it is lol, this car cleaning thing aint cheap............ In fact, respray is probably cheaper lol. No, the best bet would have been to have got the car in silver............like I originally wanted to do.

I will go and order a wash mitt now, I've always used a sponge and one bucket, but I don't rub and I always clean the car down with a hose before I go near it with the polish. I never use the pressure washer on it, never found it cleans cars, leave that for the patio cleaning. When I wash the cars I always give them a really, really good rinse off with a hose again before I start to leather and I wash the leather before use and during use. Hopefully all those weapons will be enough to get the car to look half way there. If not I will take it to the next step and nano........

 

[waj1974]

Add some devil shine to your cleaning armoury too, its cheap and the shine you get is amazing!

 

[Tourer owner]

Add some devil shine to your cleaning armoury too, its cheap and the shine you get is amazing!

Devil Shine, never heard of that, is it some kind of detailer? I will go and google it, cheers Waj

 

[waj1974]

Its amazing stuff like a quick detailer...so when you washed your car and wanna rinse it pour 250ml in a bucket add water and pour it on your car then take your car for a drive or micro fibre it dry you will get instant shine...i bought about 5x5 litre cans from morrisons when they were half price....love the stuff

 

[Tourer owner]

Its amazing stuff like a quick detailer...so when you washed your car and wanna rinse it pour 250ml in a bucket add water and pour it on your car then take your car for a drive or micro fibre it dry you will get instant shine...i bought about 5x5 litre cans from morrisons when they were half price....love the stuff

Now that sounds like brilliant stuff, I will get some of that. I've still got some wash mitts to get because I've been using a sponge. So I will add that stuff to my list......................goodness, we've spent nearly £200 in cleaning stuff and polish for this car................. :blush:

 

[waj1974]

Yes but its worth it ppl say I spend too much on my car but when I get compliments I know its with it...if you get the devil shine try to get the big can not the spray as the big can lasts ages...if u need any advice were all here to help

 

[CJM]

Many thanks for the tips, not more polish lol.................if the swirls don't go I will get some nano stuff. My bill is through the roof as it is lol, this car cleaning thing aint cheap............ In fact, respray is probably cheaper lol. No, the best bet would have been to have got the car in silver............like I originally wanted to do.

Silver cars aren't all they are cracked up to be, Jav on here can make it look really good, but he is also in a different league, but no matter how hard you try, a polished darker colour always wins!