After a few car shows and meet and greets, I’ve come to the conclusion that I should learn to properly care for the paint and trim myself.

Got the basics in my Amazon cart.
Dual speed Orbital buffer/polisher.
Already have a stack of microfiber cloths.
Have Drill attachment brushes of all shapes, sizes and coarseness.

What I’m looking for is info on chemicals used.
Chemical guys seems to be popular these days and good ole Maguire's is still around. Anything you guys swear by?
Then ceramic coating. Any brands that come recommended in 2025? Application types?
Is a clay bar really a thing if my paint is fairly flawless?

Looking for recommendations, learned experiences anything you long term owners can share.

Also curious, can I use the same stuff on the interior leather as I do on my Saddleback Leather bags?

 

The clay bar will help more than you might think…so yes.

I have very few scratches and swirls to content with and

use Meguires 210 with a heavy (16lb) orbital polisher.

Followed by Turtle Wax Hybrid Solutions Ceramic Wax Spray Coating.

Then I continually use the turtle wax as a dust remover instead of a spray detailer.

If I pick up a scratch or swirl after washing etc I’ll touch it up with the orbital+210 and back to the turtle wax. I probably wash my car 3 times a week.

So many choices these days.

My polishing cabinet is so full of various grits (of Meguires) it is almost silly but if one has deep scratches it is best to approach them properly.

wj

 

Thanks WJ, added to the list of potentials.
So you don’t do the ceramic coating thing?

And for the love of God, is that your garage!?!?
Amazing.

 

I like to stroke the finish rather than touchless.
probably do the orbital thing every 3~4 months. The turtle wax has a tiny bit of ceramic and is super easy to apply, inexpensive, glossy, beads well and since I'm always spritzing it the durability is not important to me.
yeh built the place 30+ years ago but messed up. Didn't allow for the drop of the trusses so my planned lift install never happened...short by 12".
Definitely my bad!
wj

 

Autogylm products were design for use on Aston Martin and Jaguar. Those are what I use on mine. I jet was to remove the loose dirt etc, then snow foam blanket, then a hand wash as the shampoo has cermaic coating in it, then aqua wax, then get in to the polishes, paint renovator on any areas that need it, super resin polish and then finally the ceramic finish.

This is all done by hand, I have a polish machine but after I bummped the paint on the car with it stopped using it but that is just me. Thing it you get a good work out for 2+ hours.

Acid free cleaner on the wheels, and if needs be wheels come off to clean the insides. I treat all the vynl and rubber door seals with the respective product and then the glass as well.

Now this is where alot of people fall down and dont go to town cleaning and especially feeding the leather seats. No point having a nice out side if the interior looks like crap. Equine leather and saddle soap (used for cleaning saddles and bridles for horses) is the best, then I use the UAto glym leather cleaner and then the copnditioner.

This is just me, and what I do. I am looking into the clay bars and have a great car specialist near me that offers detailing advice for free.

 

I quite like using the Autoglym. Products myself.

 

There is much to learn here - For paint correction, yes clay bar is a must do process but it is fairly easy. As you rub your hand across your paint now, you will feel some slight roughness. Clay bar will remove that. Then I use an iron remover. I'm amazed at the amount of pollutants that are embedded in the paint and it's incredible to watch it come out.

Then comes the fun part, Dual action polishers and paint correction to remove swirls and light scratches. There are many a You Tube video on the proper technique and patience is your friend here. You want to use the right pad, compound and polisher speed to remove the swirls. An LED flashlight is your friend here too. You want enough to take down the swirls and not cut into the clear coat. I use Meguiers Ultimate compound with a Rupes yellow pad. I've also used SONAX but less impressed.

Jaguar paint is relatively soft so start with light cutting/polishing pads. Color of pad is determined by the manufacturer. So yellow or black or white from one company, doesn't mean the same thing across all companies.

Ok you finally got that bad boy polished and looking new. Now comes decision time - to ceramic coat or wax. This is a personal choice frankly. Ceramic coating is hardened glass. Nothing more or less. It will scratch just as easily as a waxed car. They have great hydrophobic properties and are easier to keep clean.

My first time I used Kamikaze Miyabi finish. It lets you apply it in larger areas at a time. Mine lasted 3.5 years. This summer I re-did the car using Kamikaze ISM 3.0. It's harder to apply in that you have to work smaller areas but you don't have to tape off plastic. It works on plastic as well. About every three washes, you apply a sacrificial coat which is a light spray and wipe.

Part of the process of ceramic coating requires several towels. I use laser cut towels. One color for the first wipe and then another color for the final. Then all towels go into the trash. You will never wash out the hardened glass and if you reuse them, you'll be the one scratching your car. I used 16 towels.

Before moving to Ceramic, I used Turtle wax Black wax. I don't think they make the wax anymore but they make the black polish. I hate waxing cars so my choice to go with ceramic was three fold. Car is not a daily driver, I hand wash my ride, and I hate waxing my car...

If you're just learning, I recommend honing your skills on the front end of the process - paint correction, then go with wax this year. You can research ceramic coating in the meantime. They will all lay a lot of BS claims.

 

No. Search this Forum for "polyurethane coated leather care". All the genuine leather used in the X150 models is spray painted with a color coat and then finished with a clear protective coating of PU. Aniline leather is not PU coated.

My 2009 XKR Portfolio convertible came from the factory with this small spray bottle of leather cleaner and conditioner in the trunk. (boot).




It's a very thin liquid with a pleasant scent of leather. The closest similar product I've found and have used for years is Griots Leather Care Spray.


I looked on Amazon and didn't find the identical product. Any non-silicone thin viscosity spray leather cleaner should work.

 

@Circumnavigator , regarding leather cleaner I'd recommend considering "Leather Master Leather Soft Cleaner" as it is the same as what Jaguar labels as "Jaguar Luxury Leather Cleaner" (Jaguar part number C2D18424). Here's an earlier post of mine describing this product (https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/xk-xkr-x150-33/xkr-xk-accesories-290533/#post2853988). Leather Master also has a leather conditioner. Their products seem very reasonably priced.

Also, the previous owner of my car had a ceramic coating applied by Feynlab in late 2020 at approximately 46,600 miles. Although the car has only 1700 additional miles since then and is always garaged, the finish still looks like showroom. Water rolls off it and it is extremely easy to wash. There appears to be two Feynlab installers in your Charlotte, NC, area and one of them is likely where the previous owner had it done since they were northwest of Charlotte in Denver. This is the first car I've had with a ceramic coating, but I'm sold on the results.

 

Awesome feedback guys! Taking notes.

Feynlab I’ll check out.
Another thing I’m considering is PPF, which is basically a self-healing clear plastic film over the front half of the car. Friend of mine who has a lot of exotics recommended.

 

Let’s be realistic, ceramic coating isn’t magic. It won’t make your car bulletproof, fireproof, or immune to stone chips, door dings, scratches, key marks, or water spots.

PPF has its limits too. It generally lasts 5–10 years, then needs to be removed and reapplied. If the car has had a respray, there’s also the risk of the paint lifting when the film comes off. On something like the XK, the cost of PPF can be close to the car’s market value, so whether it’s worth it really depends on how you see the car.

Ceramic coating’s real benefit is making the car easier to wash and slowing down damage from bird poo, but if you leave the mess sitting there long enough, it’ll still etch through. Personally, I only use ceramic on the wheels to make cleaning simpler.

Since my car isn’t a daily driver, I don’t bother with ceramic on the paint. A good wax or sealant works fine for me, and it’s easy to reapply when needed.
Ceramic coating on certain paints will make it look artificially bright and has a plastic shine look, not the warm wet wet look of traditional waxes. Some people like that look thou.

Like Sean W said, the XK/XKR paint is really soft so go with the least aggressive compound/polish first and don't chase every minor defects/scratches it is nearly 20 year old paint after all. When you are compounding/polishing you are removing clearcoat and once the clearcoat is gone its gone forever.

 

hmmm a plastic nose...
Do you cover your couch in plastic too?

:-) Couldn't resist.

 

Wifey's prior Lexus had factory PPF. It was flawless four years later when she sold it to the neighbor, and still flawless another almost six years beyond that. Now I don't know, neighbor sold it on a few years ago.

 

PPF is fitting for a toyota. ;-0 and a tesla.
Sorry... caffeine high kicking in. ;-)

 

The more posts I read, the more I feel I don't fit in with pretty much anyone here. This is all insanity to me. I couldn't possibly imagine having the time to spend on all this work or care so much about how others perceive me or my things. I mean, not knocking any of it. People are allowed to like what they like and do what they do. Probably explains why no one ever interacts with me here at all. It's not that it's an unwelcome place, because clearly it is, but this thread has made me realize the reason is because one of these things is not like the other lol, guess that's me. Sorry to derail. Only thing to add unless someone else did and I didn't see it, but PPF doesn't have to be applied everywhere. In fact, most PPF is not full wrap, but instead where the majority of damage occurs. So a combo of things could be better value.

 

Sorry you feel that way. Sounds like you need a hug. People do respond to your posts here on the X150 forum, but fully understand if you move on because you feel the fit isn't right. Yeah I think the PPF thing was covered above, but to your point, I don't think "what" gets covered was really addressed.

 

Got the PPF free on my F250, but it is only on the front edges and surfaces on the front of the truck, where most rock chips would occur.

 

Thats where I was thinking.
Front bumper, hood, front fenders.
Retail runs about $2000.
place my buddy uses on all his exotics will do soup to nuts (proper clean, paint correction, ceramic (3y guarantee) then PPF for around $3k.

 

I'm currently using Autoglym super resin. Nice shine. I wash with Meguiars gold soap, and the polish lasts through about 4 baths on my Glc300, black in color. I paid to have my F type ceramic coated, I wasn't overly impressed, it was ultimate black metallic and I was constantly chasing light scratches. I was top coating with Collinite insulator wax, old school but a nice deep shine on black. I used Collinite 476 paste in the fall for my E class, and it went through at least 6 touchless washes . Just my 3 cents.

 

Use a local product JAXWAX Products.

Wax once a year..leather Products same company..american made..



Paint is pristine