I enjoyed reading through all the posts you all put up while I was asleep. I guess I am towards the top end of OCD with my Jag, but I see there are others who are as bad, if not worse than me. Phew

Here are a few more of my guilty pleasures I indulge in tucked away in the garage where nobody can see:

- wooden toothpicks to get the wax out from around the door handle rubbers
- compressed air gun for blasting away any dust on the paintwork and/or inside the wheels and/or dash, etc.
- folding the mirrors as I switch the engine off, so the car looks neater when it's parked
- carrying the French road-worthiness disc (which you normally have to stick in the windscreen) in my wallet so it doesn't mess up the windscreen and make it look like an old car
- aligning the Jaguar's chin on the wheel centre caps with the valve (I was given this tip by another member, so not too ashamed about this one)
- two sets of overmats, one plush for the winter and one super plush for the summer

And so it goes on.

I hasten to add that I can only behave like this because my XKR is most certainly not a daily driver. I have only done 8000 miles in over 2 years' ownership.

The first time I got my XKR professionally detailed, he hit the inside of the exhaust tips with Sonax (look for my thread in the Detailing section). After seeing the results I always clean them whenever I wash it. So, no, you're not OCD. I think of it as making the car look great coming AND going!

Mike

Guilty as charged... I just did these with new red caps last week after thinking of it myself... "Hrmm, which spoke alignment would the cat look best positioned at?" Spent 5 minutes deciding...

Hehe I'm jealous of the centre caps on the RR Phantom that constantly remain upright.

Frog, please confirm, the legal source for this. (in French/gov would be good).

Any French registered car, will show it's age on a routine check and the lack of a window sticker will trigger further enquiries by the roadside cop.

Yes I know that computers should show the info' but I'd rather get waved by, than stopped and asked to discuss.

I have to say I am always much more impressed with someone who actually drives the car and also manages to keep it looking good versus those types who put the car away in some garage under lock and key only to be driven maybe once a year to some show. What the hell is the point of owning something like this unless you are going to use and enjoy it.

Doug

People don't buy paintings other than to admire them for pleasure.
Cleaning your 'pride and joy' is a good equivalent, however, you still get further pleasure when you take it for a run...it is called 'having your cake and eating it'

when i get a new car, im super **** about it. ill clean every crevase atleast once a week.

but towards the end of my lease, i stop caring and throw it in automated washes :X

So yes... I drive my 02-8 daily. I only live 5 miles from work and 15 from my kids. I keep a microtowel within hands reach to wipe off everything inside daily (even polish the wood while at stoplights )

It's still kinda cold here in Sac at night and I only have a carport - (divorce took its toll) so I get home, go in to change and say hi and to let the car cool, then back out for a wipe with a micro that has Quick Detailer on it, then cover her up for the night. EVERY night. (my 01 Acura CL-S cover fits almost perfectly and it was $400 back then - see attached)

On weekends I try to give it a few hours to wash, polish and detail. Then a nice 20-30 min top down ride along the river - NOTHING like a drive in a freshly cleaned car.

One last wipe afterward... a quick look around to see if anyone else is staring at it like I do... and done.

OCD stuff? Removing the buildup in the Jaguar letters on the trunk,
Q-Tip the inside of the wheel bolt area since taking them all off is a pita.


A question... I've looked and can't seem to find Jaguar floor mats that actually say Jaguar... so I don't use them at all. an even cleaner look and the rubber Jag portion of the carpet catches most everything and easily cleans off. But if they had some I'd be interested...

Any help?

Cheers... and I agree... NOT OCD but L.O.V.E
DJ

ps... looking at 8's from my era it seems ALL the gearknobs are that light wood, unless replaced, that doesn't match the burl??? wut up wit dat?



pps... for all you purists... having it say ACURA seems to me a bit safer than JAG... well, that's my reason and I'm sticking to it. lol

See if this helps. w/ pics. Or did you want OEM?
https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/i...acement-69749/

Here's a really long thread on floor mats with some great pictures.

https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/x...D-19408/page4/

My reasoning is that if I'm stopped by the police, I'll just pull the CT disc out of my wallet and show them. When I had my windscreen replaced last year, they had to peel the disc off the old windscreen and hand it to me as it was in such a mess it couldn't be stuck back on the new screen. The CT station refused to give me a duplicate. I was also told by the CT guy that the most important bit now is the little rectangular sticker they stick onto the carte grise.

The green insurance vignette is another matter: even when in a carpark, your car has to have proper insurance, so I always leave that in the screen (as you can just make out in my sigpic below). But I object to that less, because new cars have those as well

9miles...I 'made' these for my xk8. Industrial looking. No more discolored and dirty logos!

What a good idea. Where did you find those little plaques and what are they originally intended for?

Cleaning the lug nut wells using Q-Tips ??

Sorry fellas, but some of you guys are nuts. I'll wash and wax our vehicles but I'll be damned if I'm going to sit out there for hours with a box of Q-Tips. Who has that kind of time, anyway?

Keeping your car clean has advantages besides the obvious pleasure derived from the job well done and its improved looks. It also gives you time to really "see" your car and makes it easier to spot trouble areas early. So I do tend to keep it clean and tidy.

However, long before the Q-tips come out, I drop the top, admire the nice day, and find myself going down the road while the sun is still out. Better use of my time, IMHO.

But I appreciate those of you who really get serious with the rags, brushes and swabs. Whatever floats your boat.

p.s. the truly compulsive obsessive refer to it as CDO. This puts the letters in correct alphabetic order.

As I was wiping down my car this morning I could not get that little post in this thread out of my head about cleaning the inside of the exhaust tips. I tried every which way to ignore it, but it was burning a hole through my cranium. I tried to walk away after I finished drying the car, even tried to be satisfied wiping the dust and grime off of the outside of the exhaust tips, but to no avail. The next thing you know I'm degreasing the inside by spraying a paint roller and twirling it inside. But that only took off surface dirt and would not remove 11 years of baked on grime, and I couldn't let some of you more obsessive types out obsess me, so out came the 0000 steel wool and some metal polish to really bring the shine back. I've not yet finished as I have to go to a function this morning, but I am already figuring to finish this afternoon. Reading these threads can sometimes be hazardous to your spare time!

OK, well I don't clean the "inside" of the exhaust tips, but I have noticed that there gets to be a little bit of discoloration right at the bottom of them, and I do clean that.

I do use Q Tips to get at some spots in the interior that are hard to reach, especially the air conditioning vents and some of the nooks and crannies on the dashboard and console.

I wipe the seats down with leather cleaner/conditioner every time I use it and every so often I clean the wheel wells very well and then spray them with flat black paint.

I guess it goes without saying that I open up the doors, the hood and the trunk (sorry brits) after I wash it and wipe and detail all of those areas along with the engine.

I have always been annoyed by the brake dust in the lug nut area and I have a small brush that takes care of that for the most part, but I have not used Q Tips there......yet.

One last thing, the car has to SMELL good when I get into it, and I have found some of those "little trees" car scent in New Car smell that I really like and keep one on the floor behind the driver's seat.

I don't know if that qualifies me as OCD, but I have ALWAYS kept my cars very clean whenever possible and I have been doing these things for years.

Yesss, I've converted someone.

I did the steel wool/metal polish treatment about 6 months ago, but it exposed the bare metal and then the tips began to rust (well, go brown). That's why I decided to buy some brand new ones from Jaguar ($135 a side) a few weeks ago. Mad, but they look so good when they're all clean inside.

See how nice new ones look

He's right... THE TIME I HAVE WASTED REFERRING TO IT INCORRECTLY!