The Car Doors and The Dash. What is the best product to use to bring out the color. Have you found anything that really works.

 

I just use Armor All protectant wipes, the kind that come in the plastic can. I stick a thing of them and the glass wipes in the pull-through compartment in the trunk.

They leave things a little greasy feeling, but it goes away with ample airation. I did a poor job on coverage when I first applied them, and two weeks later I can still easily see the difference.

I also used them on the engine cover as well as the black sections at the rear with the tail pipes.

 

sometimes armorall can let off some fumes that end up making a haze on the inside of the windshield, i hate it. I dont use armorall. I use mothers.

 

I also use ArmorAll. Just apply a liberal amount to nake sure it gets in all the nooks then wipe down with a damp cloth to even things and gives the surface a sharp matte finish. I don't worry about the haze on the inner side of the windshield since I wipe it down everytime I wash the car (which everybody should be doing, IMO) :D

 

I don't use any vinyl protectants of any kind. Specially not Armor All.

A damp, clean rag does it well. I'll use Lexol or mink oil on the leather, and that's it.

Why no protectants? Imo, they do more harm than good. STP's Son of a Gun shrunk the vinyl on my MIata's top, and Armor All accellerated the demise of a Mitsu Mirage's dash I had way back when. At least that's what three different upholsterers told me when I asked "why did it go bad?"

It was stupid of me to put the stuff on the top, as the freakin' owner's manual said DO NOT PUT ANY PROTECTANT on the top.. advise which I ignored.

The miata got no armor all (and no other protectant) at all on the interior. Survived 10 years without cracking or fading. The mitsu, in contrast, had a cracked dash inside of 4 years.

 

303 Aerospace Protectant. A marine-grade plastic and vinyl protectant you can also use on leather that works like a suntan lotion for your interior. Best place to find it is at a marine supply store.

 

You should be careful of which Armor All products you use. I read some labels of their products, and it seems alot of it's really meant for older vehicles that have faded or sun damaged interiors. The armor all actually draws pigment up from under the surface and brings out the color to look more like new. This process is detrimental to the material though.

 

I by no means was trying to imply that I used armor all on my leather...

I hope no one does that...

As for using armor all on your rag top... i don't really know what to say...

My dad has used armor all for all of his cars and has never had a problem. You'll probably see that leaving indoors/covered vs. outdoors/uncovered has the greatest effect.

And I agree on the potential of hazing, if you're not wiping down your windows inside and out each time you clean, you're not really cleaning.

I end up always having to clean up fore-head marks from me trying to see who's in that really cool car in the store-front's glass windows.

 

http://www.armorall.com/prodcat/pages/wipes_2.1.html

This is the product I use. It specifically says right on it interior only, though.

 

Don't they still make the "low gloss" version? I have not purchased any in AGES, but for a while they had the normal old style and the new low gloss version. The low gloss (IMHO) looked a lot better.

As others folks have said, I normally use nothing now on the non-leather parts of a car. Just keep it clean and the "new age" junk they make the parts out of now seems to last and last.

I purchased a used Subi for a snow day car from a local (small) used car dealer. They "Detailed" it before I picked it up. The guy used shiny tire dressing on the inside plastics including the dash. The top of the dash is STILL shiny after 3 years or so in the sun

Dennis

 

I use 2001. It's a high gloss very greasy feeling product. I like the wet look and in the time that I've been using I haven't seen any sun damage or drying/cracking on any of my vehicles.

 

For the plastic such as the dash I use armorall. maybe i should change...
For the leather I use Mercedes Benz Leather cleaner

 

I used Lexol leather cleaner and protectant for the leather and Lexol vinyl cleaner for the dash and other plastic pieces, or just damp cloth with warm water works well too.

 

Mothers for the leather.......Meguires for the tires and just a wet cloth or windex for the dash

 

A microfiber cloth with a few drops of distilled water is all I've needed so far. I'm not a fan of the artificially shiny look, especially on the dash where it would just increase reflection on the windshield.

 

I don't use armor all either,

but you are comparing Mazda quality to Mitsubishi.

Maybe the Mazda dash is little bit better. Just my 2¢

 

Heh, point. That one mitsubishi cured me for life from even considering any future Mitsus.

 

Dont use Armorall anywhere inside the engine bay (atleast if you want it to stay clean). The oils in that product actually allow the dust/dirt particles to adhere more to that surface. Dont believe me....try this: Wipe down one half of the engine cover with a soapy/water mix, and the other half with Armorall wipes. Check back after driving it around for a few days and see which half is cleaner. Also, do NOT use Armorall on any of the weatherstripping. It will dry out the rubber.

 

Weather stripping I avoid, but I just checked my engine cover and it's not dirty at all. It's been 2 weeks, but I guess everyone has their own experiences.

 

Meguiar's has a similar product -- protectant wipes, I mean. It SEEMS to work well but I wonder about long-term effects . . .

 

How about this all-in-one product for the exterior of your car?

http://www.superiorcarcare.net/wg7000.html

Are these any good? Kind of expensive, but worth it?

Thanks.