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Just getting round to coating the inside of the wheels and for anyone doing this in future it seems that the anti corrosion spray they put on at the factory is done after wheels are on and there is overspray on the inside of the wheels. iIt requires a strong tar remove to get it off.
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Years ago I bought a Gallon of WD40 at a silly low price. Works really well for things like this.
Those Silver wheel weights are really going to annoy me when my car arrives. Black wheels need Black weights!
 
What do learned comrades recommend for general wheel cleaning, what with these satin finish dark wheels?

I've got some of the acid free Autoglym wheel cleaner which you can dilute, and some Poorboy's wheel sealant - will these do?
 
rdmsport said:
Just getting round to coating the inside of the wheels and for anyone doing this in future it seems that the anti corrosion spray they put on at the factory is done after wheels are on and there is overspray on the inside of the wheels. iIt requires a strong tar remove to get it off.View attachment 11830
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You are a brave man laying the face of your wheel directly onto concrete!!
 
Silver Fox said:
What do learned comrades recommend for general wheel cleaning, what with these satin finish dark wheels?

I've got some of the acid free Autoglym wheel cleaner which you can dilute, and some Poorboy's wheel sealant - will these do?
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Give it a try. The brake pads don't dust too much in the GR86 (compared to my BMW anyway) so I find even a mild cleaner does its job on wheels. They also don't look as dirty as silver wheels would after a longer drive.

I've used a Meg's APC as well as a dedicated wheel cleaner, both did just fine.

It's definitely worth coating them with some sealant if you can, as that should make cleaning them much easier.
 
beorg said:
Give it a try. The brake pads don't dust too much in the GR86 (compared to my BMW anyway) so I find even a mild cleaner does its job on wheels. They also don't look as dirty as silver wheels would after a longer drive.

I've used a Meg's APC as well as a dedicated wheel cleaner, both did just fine.

It's definitely worth coating them with some sealant if you can, as that should make cleaning them much easier.
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Thanks @beorg , when I do a clean I'll try it out and post back!
 
SJR202 said:
Hi, has anyone any actual experience (not subjective opinion ;)) of the Toyota ProTect - supposedly its a/like a ceramic coating. https://www.toyota.com.cy/owners/parts-and-accessories/accessories/protect
its been offered to me at my dealer & at a good price I feel for the whole car inside and out, but has anyone had it on a Toyota they've previously bought? Thanks.
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The issue normally isn't the product but how it's applied and the car prepped beforehand.

It's probably an offshoot of another popular brand, ceramic coating products aren't that expensive by themselves.

Out of curiosity, how much did they quote you?
 
SJR202 said:
Hi, has anyone any actual experience (not subjective opinion ;)) of the Toyota ProTect - supposedly its a/like a ceramic coating. https://www.toyota.com.cy/owners/parts-and-accessories/accessories/protect
its been offered to me at my dealer & at a good price I feel for the whole car inside and out, but has anyone had it on a Toyota they've previously bought? Thanks.
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I took up the Toyota offer on this when I bought my GRY in September 21. It came with a dealer fitted dash cam as part of a protect package. I wasn’t expecting much from the coating but wanted the dash cam so went for it. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the finish on the bodywork which beaded rain well and helped with dirt removal when cleaning. As a bonus they threw in a car care pack that included the ceramic spray. Recognising that it is probably not a long lasting coating that you would expect from a professional detailer, I have reapplied myself a couple of times. I am no detailing expert but it is really easy to apply, difficult to get wrong and I have been happy with the results. You can even use it on the roof.
 
JohnL said:
I took up the Toyota offer on this when I bought my GRY in September 21. It came with a dealer fitted dash cam as part of a protect package. I wasn’t expecting much from the coating but wanted the dash cam so went for it. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the finish on the bodywork which beaded rain well and helped with dirt removal when cleaning. As a bonus they threw in a car care pack that included the ceramic spray. Recognising that it is probably not a long lasting coating that you would expect from a professional detailer, I have reapplied myself a couple of times. I am no detailing expert but it is really easy to apply, difficult to get wrong and I have been happy with the results. You can even use it on the roof.
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If it's in a spray bottle I doubt it's the real ceramic stuff. They sell ceramic sprays which work very well as well but it's not the same as a full ceramic coating. Do you have a picture of the product by any chance?
 
I spoke to a detailer before xmas who used to work at a dealership doing this kind of work, he left because there wasn't enough time allocated to thorough enough prep work and with detailing it is more about proper prep before applying the stuff. The stuff will look impressive initially because it will just bead like it is supposed to but it won't last or at worst the paint will have swirl marks showing due to lack of prep.
 
JohnL said:
I took up the Toyota offer on this when I bought my GRY in September 21. It came with a dealer fitted dash cam as part of a protect package. I wasn’t expecting much from the coating but wanted the dash cam so went for it. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the finish on the bodywork which beaded rain well and helped with dirt removal when cleaning. As a bonus they threw in a car care pack that included the ceramic spray. Recognising that it is probably not a long lasting coating that you would expect from a professional detailer, I have reapplied myself a couple of times. I am no detailing expert but it is really easy to apply, difficult to get wrong and I have been happy with the results. You can even use it on the roof.
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Thanks that has given me some confidence - I tried to cancel it but it has already been done so will see what it looks like when I pick the car up today and let you know, being Silver it will mask some imperfections but I want none on a brand new car.
Im concerned that the prep wasnt very sufficient given it was all done in an afternoon which I know from detailing a good clean and general polish alone can take hours. Too late now anyway.

@beorg Well they wanted £600 and given I said I bought 2 cars from them in 3 months I'd pay £300 and they said ok.
 
I'm looking at buying a leaf blower to make the drying process contactless as well. Are there any cons to this idea? I've already have PPF installed so I think I would need to be careful around the seams, but that also applies to using pressure washer.

Second question - would battery powered leaf blower be sufficient for the task? I'm looking into Bosch's range, so that I can reuse batteries.
 
Can't imagine there will be, just odd looks from the neighbours I suppose. Small, compact, wireless is what I'd go for, it won't need to be anything too powerful.

This looks like a bargain to me;

cheapy cheap
 
Picky detailers will tell you there's no dust filter in leafblowers, that you will blast your car with pollen, dust, sand and whatnot, that you're crazy and you need a 500£ car dryer instead that blows hot air and flowery smells on your car.

I say go for it, but stay off the ground especially outdoors, the leafblower exit can indeed blow up sand that gets sucked in :) and it won't be as powerful as professional equipment so you'll most probably still need some MF towels to get the job done. Perfect for crevices though (maybe not for you with PPF in these areas).
 
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I took advantage of the Black Friday 50% price reduction at Soft99, so have a load of products that I'm itching to use when I finally get the car. I'll be using them in conjunction with my other arsenal of detailing products that I've amassed over the years. I've asked the dealer to just remove the transport film and I'll do the rest myself - I can see me using quite a bit of Koch Chemie all purpose cleaner initially!
 
kacpr said:
I'm looking at buying a leaf blower to make the drying process contactless as well. Are there any cons to this idea? I've already have PPF installed so I think I would need to be careful around the seams, but that also applies to using pressure washer.

Second question - would battery powered leaf blower be sufficient for the task? I'm looking into Bosch's range, so that I can reuse batteries.
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What I'd go for is a water purifier like this. I didnt think it would work but you do all the washing, and then as a final rinse put the hose through this and the water is purified, therefore nothing is left behind, not even a slight water mark or evidence of water. Ive some black / dark cars and its ideal, it even works in summer/sun as it leaves nothing behind on the evaporation :) https://raceglaze.co.uk/shop/race-g...-drying/refillable-0ppm-water-filter-7-litre/

Other option, I have a second hand air compressor and bought a number of draper accessories one of which is a general air blower. The compressor has a filter though I dont know how good it is for tiny particles.
Anyway, I dont really dry the car with it but i do go around the folds/channels where water sits and get rid of that.
 
I'd second @SJR202 advice, buying a DI Water filter is a much better option than using a blower, as you basically don't need to worry about drying the car at all, even on the hottest of days.

However you might still get the odd drips down the side of the car, from the likes of the mirrors or door handles, which is where a blower would help.

If your looking to dry the whole car using a blower you'll want the most powerful blower you can find, which you want a filter on.
The small blowers only tend to be good for the details rather than large panels.

I bought one of these for computer cleaning: https://www.itdusters.com/product/xpert/ (it's excellent for that) and have used it on the car several times, and it's fine for the wheels, mirrors & door handles, etc. However for the bonnet, roof, etc it doesn't have enough force or cover a large enough area to make it efficient.

I've also used one of these leaf blowers: https://uk.worx.com/compact-brushle...-leafjet-20v-with-battery-and-charger-wg543e/, that was the same as the computer duster, didn't have the power to clean the larger body panels effectively.

I will say the battery powered option is much better than the cable though, as you need to constantly work around the short power cable.

If I didn't have the DI filter, I'd have probably bought one of these. Whilst they are cabled they have a long enough hose to reach around the entire car, but still doesn't offer the flexibility of a battery option:

www.cleanyourcar.co.uk

BLO AIR-GT Car Dryer

BLO Car Dryer AIR-GT – Powerful, Touchless Vehicle Drying Blo Car Dryer AIR-GT is one of the most powerful Car Dryers on the market, feating twin motors that offer 8HP. This car blower will shoot water away effortlessly, and provide much faster and safer drying method to prevent any risk of marri
www.cleanyourcar.co.uk www.cleanyourcar.co.uk
www.theultimatefinish.co.uk

BlowR Mini - The Ultimate Finish

The BigBoi BlowR Mini is the ultimate touchless car dryer, designed to eliminate swirl marks and scratches caused by traditional drying towels. Powered by a
www.theultimatefinish.co.uk www.theultimatefinish.co.uk
 
SJR202 said:
What I'd go for is a water purifier like this. I didnt think it would work but you do all the washing, and then as a final rinse put the hose through this and the water is purified, therefore nothing is left behind, not even a slight water mark or evidence of water. Ive some black / dark cars and its ideal, it even works in summer/sun as it leaves nothing behind on the evaporation :) https://raceglaze.co.uk/shop/race-g...-drying/refillable-0ppm-water-filter-7-litre/
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Bought one of these a couple of years ago. It is hands-down the best thing I have ever bought for washing the car.

Drying the car is worst bit of washing for me - it's time consuming, tedious, and it's the process where I think you're most at risk if introducing swirls into the paintwork. With the filter, I don't have to bother - wash the car, plug in the filter, rinse with an open hose and that's it - done. So much quicker and easier.

I live in a very hard water area (you can practically chew it), yet I've left the car sitting in the sun after rinsing using the filter, and it's left no water spots whatsoever.
 
Conscript said:
Bought one of these a couple of years ago. It is hands-down the best thing I have ever bought for washing the car.

Drying the car is worst bit of washing for me - it's time consuming, tedious, and it's the process where I think you're most at risk if introducing swirls into the paintwork. With the filter, I don't have to bother - wash the car, plug in the filter, rinse with an open hose and that's it - done. So much quicker and easier.

I live in a very hard water area (you can practically chew it), yet I've left the car sitting in the sun after rinsing using the filter, and it's left no water spots whatsoever.
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On their website they say:
No need to empty vessel of water between washes but advisable to run 2-3 litres through every 2 weeks in summer
What if you don't?

I have similar results with rain water (filtered to 10 µm) but still dry the car. I might give it a try with the wife's car to see what happens when I sun-dry :p
 
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