Nasty S600, GS300, CL500, Acura TL

**Scottwax** · 07-10-2006, 10:21 PM

2002 Mercedes S600. Absolutely a huge POS. Driven by one of my customer`s wives. She regularly drives it across a field (instead of her F350) to feed her horses.

Horrendous spotting on the roof and passenger side and the interior reeks of stale cigarettes and beer, although it wasn`t as filled with debris as the last time I cleaned it. No way to treat a $130,000 car!

Anyway, the husband wanted it cleaned up enough to trade in. The car constantly needs repair (gee, wonder why) so he is getting her a Lexus GS430 to replace it.

Before interior shots:

After cleaning with Woolite/water and dressing with Optimum Protectant Plus. We took the pics at 4:50 pm and their office closed at 5:00 so yes, we did revacuum the front driver`s side after we took the pics but didn`t have time to pull it back out again. Those spots to the left of the steering wheel are gouges in the vinyl. The leather looks a bit washed out too because we had to use flash to compensate for the shadows the sun was casting compared to the befores which we took when it was overcast. Just another reason taking before and afters doesn`t always turn out perfect.

Took a quick before shot of the exterior after washing:

I have no idea exactly what the spots were all over the roof and passenger side. I tried everything to get them off. Claying, Compounding, Optimum Water Spot Remover and razor blades, Mr. Clean Sap Remover and razor blades, Dentured alcohol and razor blades....the best I could do was shave them all to the same level as the paint with razor blades and even then, I couldn`t remove them completely even with heavy compounding. I offered to wetsand them out and he said he didn`t want to spend the money, he`d just drive through some puddles on the way to the dealer.

Anyway, I did all the above steps plus Optimum Hyper Compound using yellow Cyclo cutting pads, Optimum Compound using orange Cyclo cutting pads, Optimum Polish with white Cyclo finishing pads and topped with Optimum Car Wax. Like with the interior, due to time I was very limited on picture taking, so I just got this one shot.

They were basically waiting on my son and I to finish so I had to pull it right back into the warehouse so they could set the building alarm. I was out there later in the week but the PDR guy he used left hand prints all over the car, plus the main boss had the keys so I couldn`t have backed it out anyway.

BTW, took my son and I a full 7 hour to detail this car.

**Scottwax** · 07-10-2006, 10:30 PM

2002 Lexus GS300. No power here to use but the car was in such overall excellent shape, all the minor defects came out using Optimum Polish by hand. Followed with Werkstatt`s Prime and Acrylic Jett. The interior was cleaned with Woolite/water, the vinyl dressed with Optimum Protectant Plus and the leather with Turtle Wax Leather Conditioner.

===========

1998 Mercedes CL500. Regular wash customer, last deep polished in the fall. The paint was still in excellent shape so I went over it with Prime using white Cyclo finishing pads and topped with Acrylic Jett. Sorry, no outside pics, the owner was out of town and I didn`t have access to the keys.

**s2skimon** · 07-10-2006, 10:32 PM

wow , that was some regiment and then with OHC with yellow pad wooaaah..

but very nice glow resulting with the OC , OP and OCW..

**Scottwax** · 07-10-2006, 10:34 PM

2004 Acura TL. Pretty good shape overall, just needed Optimum Polish and green Cyclo polishing pads on the hood and on one door that had a light scratch in it. Whole car got Prime with white Cyclo pads and Acrylic Jett. Oh yeah, Optimum Car Wax topped with Acrylic Jett Trigger on my car in the background on a couple of the pics.

**LucentTeg** · 07-11-2006, 05:50 AM

Beautiful details as always. I love those white TLs especially after you are done with one.

**gmblack3** · 07-11-2006, 06:39 AM

Scott, Nice work on all as usual. If it took you guys 7 hrs to do the S600, I am sure I would still be working on it. :nervous2:

**SilverLexus** · 07-11-2006, 06:49 AM

Quality work Scott.

**imported_Picus** · 07-11-2006, 08:33 AM

OCW can be topped with AJT? Very interesting!

Cars look great; what`s up with the S600 owner? I don`t get how people can step into cars like that every day and not throw up a bit in their mouths.

**awahl63** · 07-11-2006, 09:38 AM

Verynice details

**stilez** · 07-11-2006, 10:17 AM

Scott:

That S600 looks dynamite...Too bad it was such a mess. I did a black on grey S500 yesterday (same style). They really clean up beautifully

.

:lol at the "drive through some puddles on the way to the dealer" comment.

**Rickrack** · 07-11-2006, 01:47 PM

The cars look terrific Scott!

That S600 looks amazing.

Question: You mentioned that your car was wearing OCW topped with AJ trigger. Do you apply the AJ right on top of the OCW? I always thought that Prime was needed underneath the AJ for proper bonding, etc..

Another thing... How do you like the Optimum Protectant Plus? Do you dress all the interiors you do or only a select few?

Thanks, ~Rick

**GrayHawk** · 07-11-2006, 03:29 PM

S600--What a pain, but I bet you`re glad your son likes to do interiors. :chuckle:

CL500--Inside shots or not, it looks terrific!

Have you ever had a problem with pinstripes? Take any extra precautions so they don`t chip off?

**awahl63** · 07-11-2006, 03:41 PM

+3 on the AJT bonding over OCW?

**Scottwax** · 07-11-2006, 05:27 PM

Originally Posted by Picus

OCW can be topped with AJT? Very interesting!

Cars look great; what`s up with the S600 owner? I don`t get how people can step into cars like that every day and not throw up a bit in their mouths.

So far, it appears OCW topped with AJT works extremely well (I will have pics of my car up later after a second application of AJT) with no bonding issues. However, at least on my own car, I applied AJT about 10 days after I had applied OCW. I just don`t have time to jack with my carand since we`ve been so busy and I figured since OCW and AJT are both so easy to use and I like how they look I`d just stick with them until the fall. I did put AJT directly over OCW on my brother`s mother-in-law`s car and I see it every couple of weeks when I am at my brothers so I can monitor how well it holds up. She definitely likes the look more than she did when I used Collinite 845 on it the last time. Says it looks more clear and dark (that is how she put it).

As far as the S600 goes, the husband lives in one town, the wife lives in another. My understanding of the situation through the grapevine is it is too expensive to divorce her from his prospective and from her`s, he won`t die (he is about 20 years older). A real love-fest, I tell you. Anyway, she has always been this way, not taking any care of her vehicles. Same S600 I found a Doc Johnson`s Sex Toy catalog in one time and an actual toy another time....no lie!

I am glad I don`t clean her cars very often, usually only when the husband uses one of her vehicles for some reason. He can`t stand the mess either.

Sean-thanks, I was amazed at how many of the scratches and swirls I was able to get out of the paint...and still not remove the spots completely on the roof and side.

He`s just going to splash the car up real good when he trades it in so they can`t tell those spots are going to probably be a bodyshop issue to correct.

RickSee my response to picus about AJT/OCW. I really like Optimum Protectant Plus. Now that my distributor is carrying it by the gallon, I will be using it exclusively. Has a touch more sheen than Meguiars Interior QD (which pretty much leaves no sheen) but a lot more UV protection. Seems to soak in very quickly too.

GrayHawk-those pinstripes are painted on so I try not to run the buffer over them with a lot of pressure. Never had a problem and I`ve been taking care of that one since it was new.

**Brian_Brice** · 07-11-2006, 05:33 PM

scott you are a true pros pro, lemme know when you feel like having a tag along/helper to watch you in action for a few days, id love to take a few notes.