After the hand wash and detail of my Jaguar XKR, I decided to do a quick photo shoot of the "cat" since it looked so nice and clean, shiny and such a beautiful day here in New Mexico. I did a hand wash with new foam sprayer, DA (Dual Action) buff with Meguiar's Swirl-X 2.0, hand buffed the Swirl-X, applied Meguiar's Paint Sealant 2.0 and hand buffed again. It was just under 4 hours to complete. All interior leather conditioned with Lexol. My sports cars are my passion, as they are all fantastic driving machines and works of art in design and function. Click the thumbnail view for full screen images.

Here's my 2009 Jaguar XKR Portfolio Edition Convertible 17,230 miles as of 10/25/2015.

 

Richzak - Fabulous car, wheels and detail. Looks great!!

 

Nice Job!!

 

Looks pristine. 2 questions - where did you get the rotors, and how do you keep the exhaust tips clean?

 

Richard,

Do you make house calls?
Looks great!

Stuart

P.S. The Braelins really show off the Alcons!

 

Bruce:

The rotors and calipers are the Alcon UK rotors and calipers that came as an option on the 2009 XKR Portfolio Edition. Since I only have 17,000 miles on the XKR I have not had any need to make any changes so far.

These Alcon rotors 400mm and 350mm are the largest that Jaguar ever put on an XKR.

As for the exhaust tips I use SimiChrome paste polish.



I am sure you can find it in Aussie land. Great stuff for metal.

 

Richard,
Your car is simply stunning! Great job! I do all of my waxing by hand as well as I think I'm too nervous to use a buffer.

Bruce,
To clean my exhaust tips, normally I take 0000 steel wool with a bit of metal polish on it, and that will take away all of the dirt and polish them quite well. (Did it yesterday as a matter of fact)

 

tberg:

A dual action buffer is a key to successful detailing. I use a Meguiar's 6" DA buffer and have a 3" random orbital Griots Garage buffer that both work great.

Just let the tool do the work with moderate pressure and I use a medium speed. Also, the key is using the proper pads for applying the products and the proper pad for buffing. Usually yellow for the product and black for the soft buffing.

The finish is excellent and I also highly suggest a Nanoskin Fine Grade Mitt. This is a great alternative to using a clay bar.

 

I am also a big fan of the NanoSkin, but I have been using the medium grade. I plan to buy the fine one soon. Blows away the clay bar in every respect.

 

just ordered the Simichrome through Amazon. Thanks

 

The proper tools and products are key to doing a good detail job without causing damage. A dual action buffer with the right products is a weapon and should not be over looked. When I first bought my car with only 300 miles on it I found the paint in need of a good detail. I'm sure most new cars left in the hands of dealer wash boys will have many paint problems--they simply don't know how to detail a car and actually cause a lot of damage. I bought over $1,000 of detail products when I got my car home. A dual action buffer, clay bars, 3 levels of compound, swirl removal, sealers, wax, many different colored pads, liquids, spay bottles, etc. I went to work on the car and the results were amazing. However, this process is very time consuming. I had my car redone in the spring in my garage by a professional detailer who used most of the products I originally bought. My car is black and every time I carefully wash it I see new swirl marks which I caused by washing it. These marks are easily removed with a swirl removal product during a full detail.


I could not believe all of the imperfections and damage in the paint of my car from the factory and caused from dealer wash boys and dealer abuse. It is too easy to get OCD with paint detailing. Lately, I have not been as attentive to a well detailed car as before, but I will have my XKR's paint in pristine condition in the spring again. I learnt a lot about paint care through this process and realize a cars paint is not finished until it is properly detailed and this includes new cars.


I never heard of nanoskin. It looks like a good substitute for the cay bar to remove micro environmental deposits. Richard, great spec XKR and it looks great.

 

I just detailed a friend's new 991 that had like 450 miles on it and it was quite a handful to bring it up snuff. And that was without polishing. I just wanted his car to be at least sealed and waxed for now. Dirty as could be! Porsche and Jaguar do a good job on the paint, but stuff gets into all paints and without wax; even more so.

 

WOW, not just the beautiful Jag but also the surroundings, mountains, greenery etc. Love that part of the country!! Great Job!!!

 

Best Jaguar Movie Scene Ever!
From the Dudley Moore movie "Crazy People":


In the above scene, Dudley Moore, the salesman, is explaining to Paul Reiser, the buyer, that this ad tells Jaguar owners to have their cars polished by hand, preferably by a woman with a soft touch, in order to keep the paint like new.

Compared to a machine buffer, a hand job beats it every time!

 

Is that with or without a micro fiber cloth.

 

ROMALOL!

 

A day without a good laugh is a day wasted!