Hi ALL

I am sure it depends on how often it needs detailing and how much time or money you have, but how often should I have my car detailed per year? I can't do the work myself, so I was wondering. What you be a reasonable amount of times to have the car detailed or waxed? Thanks. happy driving.

joe moon

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joe moon/95Benzman

Assuming it's a daily driver I would try to wash the car at least once every two weeks and more frequentyl during the winter. I would wax the car once in the spring, once towards the end of summer and once in the middle of winter. Make sure whoever waxes the car uses a sealant wax with good durability. If you have leather in the interior I would make sure the leather is conditioned every 2 to 3 months to insure longevity.

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Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Consumer Reports and Meguiar's have both reported that any wax doesn't last longer than 3 months.

Therefore, I wax my car every 3 months, and coordinate the timing with the change of season. Why? Because it's easy to remember. I also change the furnace filter in my house on the same schedule.

I also like the idea of conditioning the leather on a similar schedule, too.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

How often you do you guys use the Meguiar's cleaner (#6)?

Is once a spring overkill? Every spring-- I usually do the 3-step process: Paint cleaner #6, polish #7 and the Gold Class wax.

Then wax again in summer and finally in late fall.

Paul, you should replace smoke alarm batteries as well per your schedule.

I only use Meguiar's professional line in the tan bottles, and buy them buy the quart.

My cars are generally highly detailed.

Whatever scratches / defects are present in the paint when first purchased used are either completely buffed out by the DeWalt rotary buffer, or minimized by the Porter Cable random orbital polisher.

Once / year I might have to pull out the DeWalt rotary buffer and remove any RIDS (random incidental deeper scratches) in the paint. I rarely use anything stronger than Meguir's yellow polishing pad and #83 DACP (dual action cleaner polish).

I then follow up with the PC and #83 again, then #82 (similar to #9 in the retail tan bottle).

Last, I apply the LSP (last step product), which is now Meguiar's NXT tech wax, which is a synthetic engineered polymer, and puts out as much depth and gloss as gold class, but has the incredible durability as any polymer product.

I change the batteries in my smoke alarms twice / year, again at the change of season, but only at the summer and winter solstice.

I also flip and rotate my mattress at this interval as well.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

I had a local place do a full detail on my car just last week, they completely wash the car and strip any and all old wax etc off the car. they then do the clay bar twice over the car, getting ht paint nice and clean. after that, they do 3 passes of swirl remover, 3 coats of polish, 3 coats of glaze, and 3 coats of wax. the end result, is a deep deep high gloss shine, and melted butter feeling paint.

I got a special deal on it, normally it's a $400.00 detailing job, of course, I managed to get it down to $100.00 at wholesale cost as I worked out a deal with the detailing shop.

Too bad I can;t pass that deal on to others, but at least my car's paint is as good as it can get right now without a respray needed.

Alon

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Wow, you don't fool around. Have you ever entered the 124 into car shows or an MB event?

I've yet to buy an orbital polisher, will get around to it someday. My right arm is good enough for now --- I'll detail my 126 next weekend utilizing the "lowly" 3 step process . It takes me about 3 hours and looks better better than most cars on the road. I've had people ask me the age of my car, I'll tell them that it's 13 yrs old and they can't believe it.

No, I've never entered the car in a show. It's a daily driver, and the paint is really far from perfect. It probably looks like a "10" to the average person, but in a garage under the lights, you can see some areas where the clearcoat shows some crazing, as well as some scratches that I've decided not to remove (too deep). Sometimes it's best to leave some scratches because it would cause you to reduce the thickness of the paint to a point where you would remove the clear coat, which is your only UV protection.

If you buy a polisher, I can only recommend the Porter Cable random orbital polisher. It can be purchased for around $110 on the internet.

I'd rather not sacrifice my right arm detailing my car. With 7 month old twins at home, I feel like I married to a nun. I need to save my right arm for other purposes....

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Boo yaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!! :p

While we are on the subject, how soon after taking delivery of a new car should you bring it in for it's first detailing?

As soon as you'd like. The paint has already cured and is ready to be polished and waxed.

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Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

Hi

I guess I can work out a good deal with the detailing shop since I have three cars for them to work on.
Anyone know any good detailing shops in the Atlantic City, NJ area? Thanks for all your imput. Happy driving.

joe moon
85-380Sl
94-E320Sedan
95-E320cabriolet

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joe moon/95Benzman