[benzinblut]

Originally Posted by nirmalts

Mithun,

These were bought in Germany. Don't know if it helps if I mention the price. Nevertheless, here are the prices in EURO for each.

Meguiar´s NXT Glasreiniger 10,90
DODO JUICE® Supernatural Glass Towel 11,20

Meguiar´s Natural Shine Vinyl & Rubber Protectant 13,90
COBRA Super Plush Deluxe Gold Mikrofasertuch 7,90
Meguiar´s Slide Lock Detail Brush 9,99
California Mini Car Duster 9,90
Meguiar´s Carpet and Interior Cleaner 11,49

Pinnacle Wascheimer mit Siebeinsatz und Deckel 37,90
Meguiar´s Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner 9,90
Meguiar´s Supreme Shine Mikrofasertuch, 1er Pack 9,90
Meguiar´s Water Magnet Drying Towel 18,90
Chemical Guys Bug Bugger & Tar Remover 8,90
Meguiar´s Motorreiniger 13,90
Meguiar´s Ultimate Wash Mitt 18,49
Meguiar´s Ultimate Quick Detailer 18,90

Meguiar´s Hot Rims Felgenreiniger +
Meguiar´s Speichenbürste +
Meguiar´s Endurance High Gloss +
Meguiar´s Pads 43,99
COBRA Guzzler Satin Edge Trockentuch 10,90

Whoa!! thats indeed quite a lot of money in one go.

Its kind of funny when people call us crazy and cant understand why are we so obsessed with our machines. I'm sure your wife must be telling you: Bist du verrückt?

Do post your reviews of the products. My bro is in Berlin. I will ask him to bring some recommended stuff if he can can accomodate it in his allowed baggage. He should be visiting India in about 4 months time.

[Garipagol]

Originally Posted by nirmalts

Mithun,

These were bought in Germany. Don't know if it helps if I mention the price. Nevertheless, here are the prices in EURO for each.

Meguiar´s NXT Glasreiniger 10,90
DODO JUICE® Supernatural Glass Towel 11,20

Meguiar´s Natural Shine Vinyl & Rubber Protectant 13,90
COBRA Super Plush Deluxe Gold Mikrofasertuch 7,90
Meguiar´s Slide Lock Detail Brush 9,99
California Mini Car Duster 9,90
Meguiar´s Carpet and Interior Cleaner 11,49

Pinnacle Wascheimer mit Siebeinsatz und Deckel 37,90
Meguiar´s Gold Class Car Wash Shampoo & Conditioner 9,90
Meguiar´s Supreme Shine Mikrofasertuch, 1er Pack 9,90
Meguiar´s Water Magnet Drying Towel 18,90
Chemical Guys Bug Bugger & Tar Remover 8,90
Meguiar´s Motorreiniger 13,90
Meguiar´s Ultimate Wash Mitt 18,49
Meguiar´s Ultimate Quick Detailer 18,90

Meguiar´s Hot Rims Felgenreiniger +
Meguiar´s Speichenbürste +
Meguiar´s Endurance High Gloss +
Meguiar´s Pads 43,99
COBRA Guzzler Satin Edge Trockentuch 10,90

Hmm.. That is quite a shopping bag. You will need a detailers cupboard to keep all the stuff. You will surely need more towels.

Did someone advice you to create this list? A Pinnacle bucket for 38 euro?
Check the small print on the Meguiar Hot Rims. They have different products for different rims. There is one for "all" rims though. Hope thats the one you got - gives you flexibilty.

About the car - congratulations. But do not assume that since the car is new you do not need to protect the paint. The cars are transported and stored in dusty conditions - often open air. The dealer will QD it and deliver. Do the plastic bag test and you may be shocked to see (feel) the level of contamination !! Get a good polish restorer and sealant. You may need them sooner than you think.

BTW, these products all the way from Germany -- but not one German product among them !! don't like the germans or what ?

Rgds

[Garipagol]

Check out this information :

"Melting Point (Fracture/evaporation temperatures): Polymers 350oF, Silicone oil 350oF, Mineral oils 200oF, Synthetic blends (Carnauba wax / polymers) 200oF, Carnauba wax 180oF, and Bees wax 130oF, in actual practice the high temperatures frequently encountered by vehicles from the radiation causes wax compounds to melt, for example, a painted surfaces exposed to ambient temperatures of 85oF in direct sunlight, will obtain a temperature of 195 degrees or more."

By this yardstick if you park your car out in the sun during our indian summers (which is now !!) all that wax may disintegrate !!. Polymer sealants seem to to weather better in the heat.

Regards

[f1head]

In other news, 20north has stopped replying to emails about my order status on the order they messed up.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by f1head

In other news, 20north has stopped replying to emails about my order status on the order they messed up.

20North isn't replying to my mails either - order in 'shipped' status for 2 months!!

[f1head]

Originally Posted by blackasta

20North isn't replying to my mails either - order in 'shipped' status for 2 months!!

Finally got a reply when I threatened a chargeback with my credit card company. Inspite of shipped status, it seems they hadnt even ordered the merchandise :

Thank you for mailing us. We are happy to assist you.


We sincerely apologize for being unable to fulfill and deliver your Order ID : 6xxxxxxxxxxxxx. Hence we will send you a confirmation mail once the refund is initiated. Once again thank you for your continued co-operation and patience.

And the status was shipped for over a month.

[Gill]

Originally Posted by f1head

Finally got a reply when I threatened a chargeback with my credit card company.And the status was shipped for over a month.

Wonder why they are advertising themselves on T-bhp, when they can't handle customers well.

@F1 head, what is "Chargeback with credit card"?

[f1head]

Originally Posted by Gill

Wonder why they are advertising themselves on T-bhp, when they can't handle customers well.

@F1 head, what is "Chargeback with credit card"?

Chargeback is an inbuilt protection mechanism in credit cards mandated by Mastercard and Visa according to which customers must be able to get their money back in case the merchant commits a fraud on them.

Its fairly common in the USA wherein credit card companies do the chargeback very fast, although I have used it 1-2 times in India with HDFC Bank but Indian Banks are lethargic and ignorant mostly about this and put all the onus on the customer to prove the fraud and followup.

Most will say that this facility doesnt exist till you show them a link from MC/Visa.

Also, companies which get chargebacked often, get blacklisted as fraud companies.

Chargeback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Also, where are the ads from 20north on T-BHP ?

[sohail99]

I think this is a reliable option -

- Globeshopper - Online Shopping in USA , Save on Shipping | Citibank India

- Borderlinx - create your own US and UK address and shop online!

Cheaper than 20north.com

only downside is, you need to have a citbank credit card!
seems like I might be getting one then!

+ side -> buy stuff from UK too!

Duties and taxes FAQ - Borderlinx - create your own US and UK address and shop online!

[mkh]

For all the megs fans- wait a while, i have a friend who does exhibitions abroad ( i think i mentioned this before, but here goes again)- and he gets his stuff back too, samples etc. He said he can put in a few things for me in his shipment but he has to pay a little more also. even then it will work out much cheaper than buying from anywhere else. This time i will order through free shipping and adding this cost will still mean its the same as buying paying shipping or buying through meguiars own site
However, i can get limited stuff and its not fixed when it will come, expecting some things in May end and then July.
I have a few things which folks wanted, please be patient, as and when they come, will PM u. It will be much more reliable than 20 north for sure
I will order the usual items, NXT wax(paste and liquid), Supreme Shine cloth, UQWax, Ultimate Compound, Scratch X, Clay Kit
BTW i got an extra set of Meguiars Supreme Shine Micro(set of 3), PM me if any takers, costs Rs 600 odd

Meanwhile- it rained like mad here, and since my car was in a semi covered parking, there were balls of mud that splashed all over, leaving circle marks all over the car today. I had a tough time removing them- saw that with shampoo and wash mitt(just got from US) had to scrub on one car, but on the other where i had waxed just sunday, it was easier using Quick Detailer.
Its better for the car to be in proper rain when it rains!!! These marks are tough indeed and even with car shampoo, they were not going away. Had to then use a micro cloth in water and gently scrub the surface, they will go away with more washing i think. 90% gone but still a few remain, more so cause the car is dark

[thorpe]

Originally Posted by sohail99

@thorpe - You can buy upholstery cleaners from car care product shops!

I have used TurtleWax Interior1 on my dad's old Accent and it literally worked wonders!

Formula1 and Abro also have interior cleaning foams that you can try!

OR

as a 'homebrew' method, you can try some liquid detergent mixed with distilled water in a spray bottle along with a brush(to work up lather)! (soft bristles for plastics(so as not to scratch them) and any soft-hard conventional brush for fabrics)

do get a protectant though! (use it on the dashboard after you've cleaned it!)

thanx for the advice.i've ordered interior 1 from xenos website.

Also, please clear my doubt reg. the exterior paint.

My car is around 6.5 years old and has never been waxed or polished. Got the teflon coating done during delivery. Since then, i've been using borewell water and the paint has become somewhat dull. Now, rear panel and fender got painted and the paint guy is yet to do the rubbing. He says that you need to get the compound rubbed on the car to match the color but the compound he used was a totally watery unlike rubbing compound.

now please tell me what all needs to be done on the car body?

Watery compound by the painter
Rubbing compound by me(to get rid of scratches and blemishes)
Polishing??? (how to do & what to use??)
Waxing

[shamanth]

Originally Posted by sohail99

I think this is a reliable option -

- Globeshopper - Online Shopping in USA , Save on Shipping | Citibank India

- Borderlinx - create your own US and UK address and shop online!

Cheaper than 20north.com

only downside is, you need to have a citbank credit card!
seems like I might be getting one then!

+ side -> buy stuff from UK too!

Duties and taxes FAQ - Borderlinx - create your own US and UK address and shop online!

Another downside is Shipping cost is too high, shipping itself will cost more than double the product cost. The estimation will show something less, but they calculate something volume(volume of packing box of product which is normally big) not just weight and put such a high shipping cost in reality, you will be shocked at the kind of shipping they charge, atleast in 20north and ebayglobeshoppe we know forehand what is the exact price, here we can only estimate which nowhere true to reality.

And Shipping from UK is more than double than that of US.

I have shopped from Borderlinx before i must admit its not worth it, try it only if you want to burn your pocket very deep. Cheapest one is 20north or ebay globeshopee and i don't have problem with them till now.

[sohail99]

Oh! but prob with e-bay global easy buy is that they dont have any listings for any proper car care products! :(


@thorpe - Did he wet-sand the repainted panels properly before rubbing?

Actually most rubbing compounds available here are quite harsh and the paint work being 6.5 yrs old, one needs to be sure about how much clear-coat is left over the base coat of paint!

I'd use some mild compounds like scratchout paste or you can try 3M liquid wax(it has inbuilt polishers)

for polish -
Pure polishes - 3M hand glaze or Amway silicon glaze - it revives the paint oils and brings back the shine!

Abrasive polishes(only for clearcoat) I have used Sonax car polish, it has micro abrasives in it that impart a brilliant shine to the paint! (by cutting the clear uniformly and thus removing surface oxidation etc.)
you might need multiple passes on the same panel! Incidentally it leaves wax behind!

It should be like -

>Thoroughly wash with a car wash sponge or mitt and a quality car wash shampoo(Don't use wash and wax kind of shampoos for when you're going through multiple steps)

>Clay(to remove fallout)

>Rubbing compound on scratches and blemishes

>Polish(first micro abrasive polish and finish with glaze)

>Waxing (If you want better protection of the finish you just created in the above steps apply 2 coats with minimum 12Hr interval between the 2 coats

afterward every month you can apply a new coat to maintain that shine!

[thorpe]

@sohail,

rubbing is yet to be done.
also, on the RHS door panels(which were not painted), Ford's painter applied a coat of some liquid which he called "CLEAR" and the doors were shining like anything.
I was thinking of getting it done all over the body. But, then the waxing and polishing thought crossed my mind. that what if this "CLEAR" was supposed to be done after waxing n polishing.

The dealerships painter says he can do everything at his place which includes waxing, polishing, clear coat, compound etc. I'm very serious about this CLEAR thing coz the doors had regained the shine because of the coat. First I'll get the doors rubbed at d dealership and then i'll move to his place.

Now, tell me what treatment shall i get done from him at his place step by step to rejuvenate the body paint. He says he can do anything.

[sohail99]

Everyone can do anything! Its about the skill with which one does it!


'Clear' is usually used to refer to clear coat paint!

What was the color of the thing he applied to your door?

apparently, these guys apply plastic/vinyl dressing/polish that unusually shines the paintwork and temporarily masks all the sanding scratches etc.

they will come out again if you wash the vehicle!

After a repaint job on a panel is carried out the following has to be done immediately after repainting (when paint dries) :-

> Wet sanding (initial passes by 2000-2500 grit sandpaper and finishing by 3000grit sandpaper (3M wet or dry papers are available here)

> Fine rubbing compound preferably via a rotary polisher (to remove sanding scratches and even out the surface of the clearcoat)

> Fine cut polishing (again via rotary polisher) (to remove the scratches left by the rubbing compound used in the previous step and impart a defect free surface and gloss)

> Glazing (to nourish the paint via special oils, that impart a deep wet look to the paint!
Its an essential step as the clear coat is still a lil' bit porous and glaze can easily reach the underlying paint)

waxes and sealants are not recommended immediately after repainting as the paint needs like a month or 2 to cure!

but personally I like to seal the finish with a very fine layer of sealant!

Actually the bodyshop guys are not perfectionists and all they want is 'just to get the job done'! not with finesse!

I'd suggest you find a proper detailer in your area who knows exactly what to do! he would also be having rotary polishers and would also be trained(I hope)

Do check out their other work before handing the job over to them - Welcome to Carzspa

- http://www.carspa.co.in/