fastnfurious

In preperaton for taking delivery of my 2007 SLK350 within the next week, I'd like to invest in some Zaino products but don't know which ones to get. What would you all suggest as the minimum required products for regular maintenance of both the interior and exterior of your car? Thanks!

MCFaisal

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Zaino is good but I personally thinks Meguiars is better, I use it on my car and it makes my car shine like its new. I reccomend you use Meguiars Professional Mirror Glaze Shampoo and Conditioner. It runs around 25 bucks for a gallon of it an provides a unbelievable shine.
This is process I use:
1. Start with the hood, water it down and get all the debris and dirt off
2. Water it down again
3. fill bucket w/ 4 lid fulls of meguiars car wash solution and fill the bucket to the top w/ water
4. I use a wash mit and gentle scrub over the hood then wash off the soap
5. Scrub again and wash of the soap( repeat 4x)
6. water the hood down
7. repeat around entire body of the car
8. make sure you constantly water areas that you aren't cleaning to avoid sunspotting
9. Apply wax( every month)

etyu

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I'd recommend Zaino Ultimate Protection Show Car Kit at $117.00, mainly because it includes leather care (cleaner and leather conditioner) and tire gloss otherwise the Total Protection Kit for $85 if you mainly want exterior work only.

I feel someone's heartbeat is increasing as delivery time approaches. Congratulations in advance!

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Eddy

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Pewter/Beige, PIII package, Airscarf, Hands-Free Communication System, Lighting package
Designo Black Leather Cover on e-brake handle, (
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Bill T), SmartTop v1.0, Kleyman 3BFM (NoRegret Custom), Green Air Filters, Mod. R170 ant., EuroClear sidemarkers w/PIAA PlasmaIon lamps, chromed front & rear turn indicator lamps, PIAA SuperPlasmaGTX front parking lamps, bilateral rear fog lamps enabled.

DesignoSLK

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I use Zaino's 9 & 10 for the leather...I love it! Make's it look, feel & smell better than new!!! And it makes my hands soft...oh wait...that was supposed to be just b/w my wife and I.

Post pics when it arrives

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Kevin
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'00 SLK230 Designo copper, '06 Saturn Vue, Cessna 172 (pilot)

dsb

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I use Zaino and like it's results

I have/use:

-Z18
-Z7
-Z6
-Z2
-ZFX
-Z9
-Z10

For the most part, I use all Zaino except for the tires. I think I initially purchased a package, now I simply buy Z7 as I run out. I also use all of Zaino's recommendations regarding car washing. There's a lot of good advice on the website.

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06 Mercedes Benz SLK55
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VitaminT

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I might give the Zaino leather stuff a shot. I used Lexol (separate cleaner and conditioner) last time and liked it a lot.

I need to wax my slk before it gets 99deg F and 100% humidity.

412driver

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Man Im mad,,,, Tried that draino stuff ya'll keep ravin about, cleaned tha tyrs guud but near bout ruined tha paint. Im stayin wid Johnsons Floor wax, anyone figured how to keep the buffin machine on tha hood yet? I fell off twice yesterdy, bout broke tha mirror ofin tha door. :far t:

MCFaisal

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have you guys tried to use meguiars?

dsb

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Have not. Once you get invested with Zaino and start building levels of wax, it's hard to justify switching. Maybe I'll try Meguiars with my wife's X3.

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06 Mercedes Benz SLK55
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hou1tsj

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I used Meguiar's for a long time on various cars. It is decent stuff. I would always get compliments on the shine on the black Trans Am. But Zaino really does out-do the Meguiar's. As reflective as the Meguiar's made the TA, it paled compaired to the Zaino. However, I do still use Meguiar's gold class tire gel on the TA - the black car with the super glossy shine on the tires is pretty sweet, and it stays on the tire longer than the Zaino. I use the Zaino tire gloss on the SLK, gives it a nice shine, but not overly so - looks good on that car.

jfsully

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Zaino is porimarily a sealant and not a wax. Its chemical makeup allows for a long lasting but many (including me) belive its almost dead looking.

I personally prefer a good quality sealant (zaino is fine but overpriced and the owners a bit taken with himself) followed by layers of Carnuba such as Zymol, Ps21, Pinnacle Soveran, Chemical Guys 50/50 etc. This gives a much "wetter" look to the paint with much more depth.

Zaino has almost a cult following and I personally believe its overrated.


Some great detailing sites to learn are:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/
http://autopia.org/forum/
http://meguiarsonline.com/Default.aspx

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2006 Obsidian SLK55 w/030 package
2000 BMW E-39
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MCFaisal

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So your saying Zaino outshines Meguiars? If so, in what aspects? Meguiars adds actual neccesities for your clear coat and provides nutrients for your cars paint which in turn brings out a deep gloss. Also, meguiars has 3 different levels of car wash, gold class is a consumer wash. Professional Mirror Glaze is the next level and Professional Detailers brand is there top of the line products. I use mirror glaze and it is unbelievable, people think my 01 R170 230K is brand new. As soon as my car wash solution is over im gonna try zaino.

VitaminT

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On previous cars, I have used Meguiars Mirror Glaze medium cut cleaner, mirror glaze new car glaze and then NXT wax but have used several different waxes in the past including 3m. All applied with Meguiars "softbuff" pads and taken off with 3m waffle pads using a Porter Cable orbital buffer. The medium-cut cleaner (sounds harsher than it is) takes the place of a clay bar.

The biggest difference in the finish to me is the addition of the glaze and then wax and apply/remove with the orbital machine. It achives shine and gloss that I never could by hand.

Oh well I am sure everyone here has their prefered method and products.

MCFaisal

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Yeah people have their personal preferences of course, good to know your not using armor all, I hate that stuff.

Ynot

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, only used that on cars you don't care about, like a daily beater.

I've used Klasse sealant glaze and it works for me, it gives me a mirror like finish. I have yet to try Zaino but been meaning to give it a try this summer.

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06' SLK 350, Iridium/Ash all pkgs. 6-spd, 19" DCR.


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MCFaisal

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Yeah, armor all sucks. I am still trying to figure out how they actual have a name in the car care product line.

I am currently using Meguiars products but once im done w/ what I have I am going to switch to Zaino and see the difference. I really love Meguiars, they always give the car a new car shine.

ppower

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Meguiars professional series products are great, but their retail products are just that retail and average.

Pp

in2dwww

I use Zymol... every time I break that stuff out I smell guilty. Their ingredients are fairly exotic, and I always smell like I was at the beach, rubbing tanning oils on some fine Puerto Rican women! The car does give off a nice hint of "Hawaiian Tropic" for a few days as well. And the shine is great. The problem I have is that it's not really good for an everyday car... if it's garaged all the time, it will last. Otherwise, plan on spending every month out there. If you caranuba spray after each wash, it should hold up. But I don't have 4 hours to wash my car each week.

I'm going to try Klasse sealant and top it with Zymol Caranuba Spray at some point. Ideally, I'd like to only go through the polish/seal/wax process every six months, maximum.

in2dwww

Zymol claims the same and I use it on all my cars. But come to think of it, what "nutrients" would a paint possibly need? Paint is dead and is not a living organism. That's got to be some Beverly Hills Auto Spa shop talk marketing crap. My John Deere hasn't been washed in 10 years and it still looks new.

ppower

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Just did my car in Zaino and I must say the shine is very nice and the car really gives out a great refection of objects off it now(mirror like). Still use Meguiars for interior stuff, wheels and other detailing items.

Zaino I did, Dawn wash, then with Zaino... Z-7 spray bottle and clay bar, Z-7 wash, Z-5 with ZFX polish and finally a once over with Z-6 detail for final buff.