jaycee Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 Alex - good luck keeping it clean in these conditions - all the crap on the roads gets kicked up in the first 100 yards you drive. BTW, I don't know this from experience but I've heard some say that Dawn is too harsh for a car and might take the wax off - something to consider. Search for wax or some such in the exterior forum and you'll find lots of references. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scans007 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 1) DRLs? i dont seem to have them on... also wen i turn the car off if my lights are on.. will; they turn off too/ i dont want my battery to go dead during the night cuz i didnt turn the nob back to the off position.... 1) The DRL"s will always be on, it will have a lil green light displayed in the lower left of the dash when they are on...all the time. You can EASILY disable them....search for DeerKillers instructions....or read them in my hid install. 2) Becareful of the switch on the top of your steering columb, if you flip that on THEY WILL NEVER SHUT OFF....until you flip the switch again........ ENJOY...and yes, mine is black to...real tough to keep clean....good thing I have a pressure washer =) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 I LOVE DRIVING AROUND AND SEEING PEOPLE LOOK AT ME LIKE IM DRIVING A FLYING CAR its amazing that no one knows what it is really hahaaaa!!! That's a great feeling, but I only got it for about the first week. I think the Legacy is played out in this area. Either that or all the freaking yuppies in the NW burbs are too busy looking at themselves in their vanity mirrors while talking on their cells that they don't notice anything besides their own "superiority". I was next to a WRX yesterday and tried to wave to him. He never saw me. I was basically with him in traffic half the way home, and not a single glance...GRRR...Where's the Subie love? Sorry, rant mode off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted February 18, 2005 Share Posted February 18, 2005 hose was turned off so i used a bucket... i put water and Dawn soap in the bucket and threw it on the side of the car... then i refilled the bucket and took a cloth and wiped the dirt off making sure the cloth was wet.. then i threw clean water on it and let it dry... seemed to look ok.. i havent seen it in the light since it dried cuz i just got off work... buuut its an amazing car!! i loved coming out to the parking lot where i work and seeing my car by itself and having those stock rims glitter at me!! A couple things...dish detergent is pretty harsh and will strip your wax. It's great when you're about to wax, but for a quick wash, I wouldn't use it. Also, you're using microfiber towels, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1 Posted February 18, 2005 Author Share Posted February 18, 2005 uhmm... well they were soft dish towels!! lol great so did u mess up my car the second day i had it!??! i know i can search for this stuff but can someone list quickly the 5 main supplies i should buy if i want to do these quick car washes... im going to go to autozone or some where tomorrow... so i have no wax on my car now?!?! is that bad?!?! lol -alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 uhmm... well they were soft dish towels!! lol great so did u mess up my car the second day i had it!??! i know i can search for this stuff but can someone list quickly the 5 main supplies i should buy if i want to do these quick car washes... im going to go to autozone or some where tomorrow... so i have no wax on my car now?!?! is that bad?!?! lol -alex You didn't hurt anything, other than the microscopic scratches in the paint from the dish towels. Nothing that anyone would notice, but after years of using those kinds of towels, it can start to have an effect. It depends on how much detergent you used and how hard you scrubbed. It sounds like it wasn't too dirty, so you probably didn't get all the wax off. I'm by no means an expert at cleaning cars, I just talk to people that know way more than I do. Go here for some nice walk-throughs: http://www.autopia-carcare.com/ There is so much good advice on that page. If you're serious about keeping your car looking nice, there's a lot to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 A lot of people like the Mr. Clean Autodry system: http://www.homemadesimple.com/mrcleanautodry/index.shtml I don't have access to a hose, so I usually just go and do the touchfree, and then come home and follow-up with some quick detailer to get the spots out. Only when it gets bad do I bust out the towels and soap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 The Mr. Clean system is a joke really. Any waxed car will sheet water off the car when it is waxed. All the Mr. Clean system does is slap down some wax that beads the water off. Its not that revolutionary. You'll never see someone really serious about car care using one. That thing is all about short cuts and cutting corners. The jury is still out on dish soap. Zaino actually says in their instructions to wash the car with Dawn. Out of all the soaps, dawn is the harshest. It is also the best one to use because it is free of the hand lotions and perfumes that other dish soaps have in them. Dawn is straight grease cutting power. It was better back when you could get the basic blue formula without any smells, but the new ones still work. The problem with dish soap is that people say it can remove plasticizers from the paint that will cause it to dry out and crack over time. It is best not to use dish soap unless you are intending to strip waxes from the car. Once in awhile isn't going to hurt, but it shouldn't be your primary soap. I've got some reviews of a few products you can use for washing the car on www.ocdetails.com if you want to check that too. I've been on Autopia for more than a few years and know that David's writeups are very thorough, but another opinion is always helpful. If you are looking to just wash the car then the first things you need to get are a good soap and a good drying towel. NXT is my current favorite car wash soap. I can't say enough good about it. You will also need to get a good sheep skin wash mitt. And any waffle weave microfiber towel would be the best choice for drying. I think David has an article about the proper way to wash and dry a car. I'm working on another article that kind of dumbs down my detailing guide that explains washing a little better. Basically if you start out with a good soap, a good mitt, and a good drying towel, then you can at least avoid a large percentage of the swirls that your paint is going to get. Black is super high maintainance and it will start to look pretty nasty if you don't avoid swirls where you can. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S4 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Thanks OCDetails. I knew we had to have SOMEONE on the board more knowledgable than I. From now on, all questions are refered to you. I so want a house so that I can clean my car properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I hear ya about wanting a house.... I lived in an apartment for several years as well and was stuck using the coin op car wash. When we bought our house I used to refer to it as buying a garage with nice living quarters on the side. lol The size of the garage was the driving force behind our purchase. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godwhomismike Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 OMG YOU FINALLY GOT IT!!!!!!!! Congrats and goodluck man. Glad to see you finally made up your mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1 Posted February 22, 2005 Author Share Posted February 22, 2005 haha thanks guys for the info yeah thanks mike aright well i went out friday and bought: 1) THE ABSORBER!! 2) some orange soap that doesnt strip wax and it is UV protected 3) some alloy tire wash 4) wet tire spray 5) microfiber towels and i didnt get any wax for now cuz its to cold , i just want an easy quick clean for the winter.... anyways... waht are swirls??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 These are swirls: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Jngrbrdman/Swirls.jpg And [ame]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v74/Jngrbrdman/SwirlsGone.jpg[/ame] Black cars show swirls right away. They can be avoided, but I haven't found a way to really prevent them yet. The only way to prevent them is to avoid putting them on by using the wrong products for the job. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NonovUrbizniz Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Congratulations... I agree with the body roll... the suspensions arent' tight at all IMO.. .I could barely tell the difference between the LGT and the base... and the base is a sway mobile. stiffer sways or springs would probobly get rid of that though... Car handles great regardless of sway though... it's just not confidence inspiring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex1 Posted February 22, 2005 Author Share Posted February 22, 2005 OCD, im assuming theres a special way to wash the car inorder not to get swirls? im going to read all those articles ppl posted but im off to work, thanks everyone -alex Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OCDetails Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Being careful is the best way to avoid swirls. Don't wash the car like you are washing dishes. Always keep your wash mitt clean first of all. Some use the 'double bucket' method where they have a bucket of rinse water to clean the mitt before they go back in for more suds. That way their wash water doesn't get as dirty. No point in washing your car with dirty water, eh? The next thing you can do is to wash in the direction that the air goes over the paint when you drive. (ie Front to Back) Avoid circular motions. The 'wax on wax off' stuff that you have heard about is wrong. Straight lines are the thing to do. Wash from top to bottom. That way you don't have dirty water running down over clean surfaces. Rinse as you wash. That will keep waterspots from forming with the dirty and soapy water on the surface. I'm sure there is more that you can do. Its all going to be in my guide when I get it done. _________________________________________ “Cleanliness becomes more important as godliness becomes more unlikely.” O C D E T A I L S . C O M OCDETAILS BLOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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