I have a friend who is looking to get some stuff to detail his car. He doesnt have that much money to spend, but wants to protect his car and make it look good. I would like to see him get meguires, griots or zanio like stuff, but that is outside his budget.

I was thinking about turttle ice of the exterior and meguires quick detailer for the inside. Is this good? is there a cheaper alternative?

Sean

 

What's his budget? Is he looking for just a wax for the outside, or also a polish?

Meguiars has a nice 1 step product called ColorX.

 

use mild soap and water on a towel for interior.

use NXT Techwax for exterior. they're not expensive.

 

Yeah, I went to a local shop with him last night to get beer(the best beer store in town has everything). We looked at NXT, and he was kinda in sticker shock. I told him he should get the wax and quick detailer, and some interior spray to protect the vinyl and leather. He isnt looking for anything perfect...hes to cheap for that right now. Being a college student has its disadvantages

 

tell him to use his beer and pizza money so he can invest in some
real car stuff.

 

Haha, but thats asking him to care about his car. This is a good step that he is even interested in trying to keep it clean. Baby steps. One day he will be like us

 

ok.... NEXT!

 

For a pure cheap and easy cleaner/polish/sealant on a daily driver, I have a hard time beating Nu-Finish. It won a recent comparison in one of the big consumer magazines (they didn't include Zaino... just the stuff you could buy at Target, etc). It has solvents and a slight polish in it to get the nastyness off of the car and provides a synthetic sealant all at the same time.

A bucket, some decent auto shampoo (NXT detergent is $8 for half a gallon), a good chenile wash mitt, a bottle of Nu-Finish, Meguiars 40 (rubber/plastic treatment) and some inexpensive Target microfibers would be a great start for a low-maintenance / low-cost daily driver care package.

 

Buy some NXT for your friend to use on his car, and then just take the rest of bottle to use on yours!

 

What microfibers would you recommend?

There are a lot out their at all different prices.

http://www.waxstation.com/cgi-bin/st...uct=microfiber

 

If you are going the inexpensive route, I'd say just get the best quality ones that Target/Walmart sells. They are not as nice as the high end ones and they generally use nylon thread in the edging which can cause some swirling over time, but they clean better than old rags and make life easier overall.

You will find lots of different types:

1. A generic short nap square for general polish removal and cleaning
2. A shorter, very tight nap towel for windows
3. A long, thick nap for polishing and quick detailing
4. A waffle-weave towel, usually larger than the others, for drying the car.

I started off with #1 and #2... using them for years. I went high-end a while back, buying a range of microfibers from Sonus (www.autopia-carcare.com), but they cost more than your friend will probably put into his whole car detailing kit. I still use the same window microfibers and the #1 generics I still use for random cleaning purposes (door sills/seats/upholstry) and applying plastic/rubber/leather dressings.