how often??

[princess]

How often do you detail your car? I mean more than just a wash!

[princess]

Doesn't anyone detail their car????:confused:

[according2me]

Used to wash mine by hand weekly and wax every 4-5 months, but never really detailed it. Now it's lucky to get washed monthly, but I do keep it in the garage. Once I got 50K worth of road rash and rock chips I got lazy, but it still looks good and shines when clean.

Fortunately, we don't need salt/sand in the winter, we get snow every 10-15 years or so. Then the state just closes the roads for a winter holiday. :)

[princess]

according2me,

Maybe mud flaps would help to prevent the "road rash" on the bottom anyway.

Yesterday I noticed that my '03 has a little tiny chip right in the front on the hood! I always lag back from trucks, but somehow it still happens!:(

Salt from snow isn't a factor for us. Instead we have "pollution fallout"! If you don't keep a good coating of some sort on the paint, it will eat away the clear coat!

The Accord is garaged. The Pilot has a covered carport. We bought this stuff that's supposed to be as strong as bullet proof "glass" & has UVA & UVB protection. It's clear/smoked. I like not losing the light in the carport. We ran it high enough & long enough to also cover the boat. Whenever we have the boat out no one can believe it's so old. It's an '88. We've always used Rain Dance wax on it.

When ever I wash my car I always wipe down the door jambs. We traded in the '02 on a whim & it was nice that they couldn't try to give me guff about how she'd been maintained! She had a light coat of dust, but that's all! I got 18k for her as a trade in! She had 11K miles on her in 2 years of driving. I got a good deal when I bought her, so I drove her for 2 years for only 3K. I was happy! ( She was an EX-L , V6)

[jbuffethed]

i've been washing mine every weekend since I got it. I love havin that clean look. I detail it at least once a month. waxing it today

[princess]

The shinier the better!!!

where's keesler AFB??

[jbuffethed]

Biloxi, Mississippi

[princess]

just curious. My prince is ex-AF. We were at Davis-Monthan(10 mos.), then Beale(3 years). He was with the U2's. He did a TDY in Korea for 2 mos.

[jbuffethed]

Those U2's are sweet, TOP SECRET stuff. I just got in this past March, been at Keelser since May and going to Minot, ND. I am in Ground Radio Comm. work with air traffic control and AM radios

[princess]

At the time we were at Beale both the SR71's & the U2's were there! I got so I knew the sound of his plane, not just another U2. The SR's are beautiful to watch at night! Those "after burners" glow in different colors for each stage.

His tests for rank were always on all other 1 & 2 engine jets, because they weren't allowed books on the U2. Which meant he actually had to look at the books!

Are you planning on a 4 year stint?

[jbuffethed]

I signed up for 6, got a bigger bonus :D I would love to see those things fly. we have C-130 here at Keesler and B-52 bombers in Minot. I might get to work with the ICBMs too,

[princess]

We got to see a titan II up close & personal! When we were at Davis-Monthan in Tucson we had a buddy that was a "gopher". He got us special permission to tour all 8 stories, the computers, keys, quarters.... When we got to the top I found a question he couldn't answer. On the cone it was green with purple stripes. My question was: why don't the stripes line up? I know it sounds stupid, but the thought that crossed my mind was if they can't line up the stripes, how do they know the important parts are all in the right places? (My mind is NEVER "inside the box!")

It was a VERY interesting tour! Good luck with your 6 years. My prince only got out because we already had all 3 of our kids & would have been up for a year of isolated tour. We didn't want to deal with that! But really did enjoy the 4 years in!

[according2me]

Jbuffethed...Kessler AFB---Home of the "Hurricane Hunters".

I used to repair computers for DEC at this site for 20 years.

Good luck with your tour of duty.

[CatchMe]

Usually detail the car every week or so in the summer, but the weather is so bad here right now, during the winter, it only gets washed maybe once a month if it gets above freezing long enough for a wash and dry. Damnit I hate this part of the country.

[Inspector1]

Wash weekly in summer and have been washing 2-3 times a week lately due to snow(salt).... Clean interior weekly or more often as needed..... Leather gets cleaned and conditioned every
month.... Major detail= once a year, includes removing seats and center console.. Shampoo all carpet, clean headliner, treat all rubber with silicone.. (sunroof gets silicone once a month, helps cut down on wind noise).. Polish all plastic light lenses once a month as well as license plate covers.....

I1:)

[princess]

The carpet needs shampooing every year? We don't eat in ours, so I only high pressure wash all the mats in the Summer, if needed. All year round I'll spot clean the mats with foamy carpet cleaner. We try not to walk through anything that will track in, but sometimes it's unavoidable.

Which leather treatment do you use? I use the Honda one & the Zaino one alternately. Both Hondas still smell like a new car! Especially when parked in the sun for a bit.:) ahhhhh....

We NEVER use any air fresheners. Some can have a chemical reaction to the interior over time. I don't know which ones, so we avoid them all.

[benjamming]

The Honda one being...?
I use Lexol cleaner twice a year & conditioner every 3 months. The local Honda dealership has now started carrying the Lexol.

[princess]

"Pro Honda" vinyl & leather treatment, bought at the dealership. Comes in a black, white, red & gold squirt can. It even has the old red wing!

They have several brands in the parts dept. but I liked the smell of this one. It doesn't smell soapy or perfummy. I wanted the leather to smell like leather. The Zaino one has a stronger, but basically same scent.

[raff]

i wanted to give everyone a heads up on this new line out by meguiars called NXT (stands for NXT generation) it's a polymer and supposed to last longer than regular wax. anyways i did the meguiars 3 step substituting the 3rd step with the NXT and i must say the shine the deepness of color and the smoothness is like none other. it almost gave me goosebumps running my hands down the hood :) check it out at meguiars.com.

[princess]

Sounds a lot like the zaino stuff! We'll have to check it out! Thanks.:)

[Inspector1]

I picked up a bottle of the NXT Vinyl/rubber dressing today and just finished interior and door seals.... WOW .. Impressive stuff ...

I may try the others but rumors are that they may come out with a pro line of NXT later this year....

Here's a link to Meguiars site for anyone interested...

http://www.meguiars.com

They started their own forum too...

http://www.meguiarsonline.com/forums/

I1:)

[BenjiBoy650]

I've seen pictures of "Einzsett" (sp?) wax that look really nice, it had such a deep shine. As for Meguiars I'm going to try and wait for the pro-line, if the regular is already that good then the pro should be awesome...no?

[princess]

It was so sunny & warm today that I got myself outside & washed the Accord. She's all shiny again!! I only did the final spray of the Zaino today, but I did go over the tires with treatment & all the leather. She's ready for the Valentine's trip to Disneyland! Me too, I feel like I have "cabin fever"! I hope this Springy weather keeps going! Then I'll be back to the weekly car detailing.:D Now the Pilot......

[princess]

It's been raining pretty much since we returned from the southland....today I finally washed off the road grime. (Ididn't feel like getting wet) Tink's interior was still nice, so I just washed, dried & buffed. We had collected quite a few bugs & it rained when we were about 50 miles from home.....so the door jambs were yucky again. Usually they only need to get dried, but the rain/wet road grime seems to collect in there! This body style holds an unbelievable amount of water in it's seams! I keep going in circles trying to get it all dry, then there's always that one spot in the back that dribbles after I think I'm done!

If anyone else uses a polymer product & finds the windows don't windex well after washing & drying try cleaning them with alcohol first. Then you can clean & treat them without so much effort.

This time I actually remembered to move it when I was done.... half the time I don't & the brakes are noisey the first time out, first application.

I did find some grease on the right front rim. It's probably just something that got ran over, but the prince will check it out for me this weekend......:(

It's still too wet for the Spring & Summer routine, but I really don't like riding in a dirty car. I've even washed her in the rain before, then pull her into the garage for drying. My neighbors think I'm loony, but what else is new?!:rolleyes:

[BenjiBoy650]

I find that my 6th gen tends to hold a lot of water at the trunk/rear bumper seam, and also in the rear taillight gaps (taillight/metal on trunk).

As for washing in the rain...haven't but I've washed it then have it rain? LOL that was fun get up at 6:00 on a weekday to wash it before going to school because it was so dirty, but have it rain at 8:30 lol

[princess]

One Spring it rained EVERY TIME we washed our cars! It was during a drought year & we just kept washing! That way everyone could benefit! Our neighbors we're actually disappointed if we skipped a week! It wasn't enough rain to make a difference with the drought, but at least the yards got watered & at the time our water use was being monitored.

Washing in the rain isn't bad, but you do still have to rinse!:D

I don't remember the '02 holding water as annoyingly as the '03. Maybe being lighter it was just less noticed.....:confused: On a dark one, every water spot must go!

[BenjiBoy650]

I just washed my car today after school, sure nuff I dried half the car and it started raining. Only light rain though, and the sun came out and it wasn't so bad, only a few drops. I had a hard time figuring out what the hell could get all over my car...got some brown stuff and black spots and they're all pretty hard to remove. Drives me nuts.

[princess]

So you're the one that made it start raining again!!!

[BenjiBoy650]

Originally posted by princess
So you're the one that made it start raining again!!!

Don't worry I hear we're getting some 50-60MPH winds and heavy rain comin in Wednesday. Damn, luck has it this week I don't have Chinese class so I won't be on the freeway this week. Damn...woulda been fun :(

[princess]

So when the storm starts & gets blowing really good, take a cruise on the San Mateo Bridge! That should should put some fun in your day!!:D

[BenjiBoy650]

I've been royally surprised by the Accord. I drove it in some strong wind and rain and it's damn stable compared to the '97 Camry. At one time I was driving the Camry in freeway traffic on 280. It was raining hard with heavy gusts and the traffic actually slowed to 35MPH because of the weather. It was so nerve wrecking because each time a gust blew, I was blown halfway into the next lane already. No such luck in the Accord :) Stayed in the lane and worked damn well.

[princess]

and you're surprised????It's an Accord!!

As great as yours feels, the '03 is just plain rock solid! We've had it in some really nasty winds on I5 & she doesn't move. She's just a pinch lower & wider than the '02 was.

Seriously, since not all the other cars on the road are Accords, be careful out there!!