I have a Tacoma, and am selling it to buy an S2000. Something tells me that the S2000 owners here can give me better advice on getting my truck to shine so i can sell it. Anyways, I bought Meguires Paint Cleaner, Polish, and Tech wax. I have a whole bunch of those small applicator pads, and a bunch of 100% cotton towels. A few questions for ya:
-How much should I do at a time before I wipe it off? I mean, should i clean the whole truck, then wipe it all off, or is doing the hood good, or should i just do like 1'x1' sections?
-How much truck can I do with one side of a pad?
-Rub back and forth or in a swirl motion?
-How hard should I press?

Thanks guys! I really appreciate your help!

 

Question 1, how bad is your finish? Is it oxidized or hairline scratched everwhere?

Using the products you have purchased it's preferrable you do this out of direct sunlight, and you need to do it a section at a time, do the whole truck w/ each product in succession. You kinda need to judge for yourself how far you can go depending on weather you are in a garage or out in the sunshine, if in a garage you can probably do half the truck then wipe off. If you are in the sunshine and the surface is warm to hot you need to do a lot less at a time or it will be a royal pain to get off (I usually do maybe half the hood, then a front fender, then a door, etc.....)

Take your time and the paint will look great. But don't forget all the other little things that make a car look REALLY well taken care of (most of these aren't actually noticed if they are clean but are VERY noticed if they are left dirty),

-clean all door jambs
-clean your bed out
-get dirt/wax out of all the little cracks, rubber, crevaces all over the truck w/ an old toothbrush
-clean your engine and engine bay
-shampoo your carpets if they are stained
-do a really thourough job of cleaning the whole interior
-scrub your tires and shine them
-if you have wheels that you can see through the spokes easily try to get to as much of the inside as possible
-polish any chrome you may have

All the "little" things are what makes a car look amazing, forget them and it will just look like you did a nice wax job Good luck w/ the sale and we will be waiting on your "I finally got my new S2k" post

Travis

 

tkeedy (travis) got it!

i would just emphasize the under the hood and interior details... and make sure that the potential buyer sees under the hood-
if an engine compartment looks new, the whole vehicle looks new!! when i do an engine detail, i do it before doing the rest of the car.

use a citrus based degreaser for the engine area... spray on, let it soak a bit and if really dirty, agitate a bit with a long handled brush, then rinse off. might need to do it a couple times. follow by drying and then spraying on some 303 or other vinyl product on the hoses and black parts. be careful not to get water into areas such as distributors (you prob dont have one) or carbs or other exposed electrical areas. i always start the car after i have finished and let it warm a couple minutes (maybe drive it aournd the block) to make sure that it runs well and that all standing water is gone.