Black...

[duneslider]

When we were looking for an expedition I had three things I wanted. 1. Not black. 2. Leather 3. Tow package.

Well, I got the tow package and I don't miss the leather seats. We actually really like the fabric seats.

Somehow we ended up with black again. I have tried my best to keep the black looking good but it appears to be near impossible.

What tips do you all have for black? I have waxed it and put on a self applied ceramic coating. This has helped I think but I still have a number of scratches already. We bought an unlimited pass to the local car wash and hit it often.

Anyway, this is probably more of a rant than anything else. I am not a professional detailer and we spend a lot of time doing outdoor activities, so its expected to get scratches. Is there anything else I can do to help keep the finish half decent?

It does look fantastic when clean...for 5 minutes. I have a love hate for black paint.

 

[shane_th_ee]

We bought an unlimited pass to the local car wash and hit it often.

Unless it's a touchless wash, that's part of your problem. How often do you think the sand/grit/dust gets cleaned out of the brushes and wipers at the car wash place?

 

[duneslider]

It is a touchless wash. Scratches are totally not from the car wash. Definitely from the kids and outdoors (desert pin striping, etc). Our previous suv was black and had its fair share of scratches but I didn't do much to take care of it either.

I do feel that the ceramic coating has helped a little with making it smoother/slicker and less likely to get scratches. Really just curious if there are any good products out that I am not aware of. Those first couple of scratches and dings are always the hardest.

 

[Deadman]

Black is Black, will always be dusty and show every spec of anything on it. I specifically bought white because of this!

 

[Gumby]

Totally agree with the love / hate on black for this truck. The rear window is a friggin magnet for dirt and muck. The spoiler doesn't help at all.

Since it's black and I really don't have a ton of time to get down to detailing it, I typically use the black spray wax from Turtle wax. Its quick and removes most swirls and light scratches. Bonus is that its tinted black so it helps with the paint. It doesn't last that long but it suits me just fine. Literally spray on wipe off, quickly buff.

That being said, I also said I would not get black again and my last two trucks were black.

 

[Wayne Decker]

I would never get a black vehicle. Saying that I never wanted a black interior but ended up with one. That's because the only other option was practically white. Give me tan/light brown for the interior

 

[16plati]

When we were looking for an expedition I had three things I wanted. 1. Not black. 2. Leather 3. Tow package.

Well, I got the tow package and I don't miss the leather seats. We actually really like the fabric seats.

Somehow we ended up with black again. I have tried my best to keep the black looking good but it appears to be near impossible.

What tips do you all have for black? I have waxed it and put on a self applied ceramic coating. This has helped I think but I still have a number of scratches already. We bought an unlimited pass to the local car wash and hit it often.

Anyway, this is probably more of a rant than anything else. I am not a professional detailer and we spend a lot of time doing outdoor activities, so its expected to get scratches. Is there anything else I can do to help keep the finish half decent?

It does look fantastic when clean...for 5 minutes. I have a love hate for black paint.

Ceramic coat or 3m wrap after paint correction

 

[WJD_xlt]

Ceramic coat or 3m wrap after paint correction

This. PPF is the best option.

If PPF is too pricey, A quality ceramic coat does wonders. Especially if you get a DI filter, you really can just rinse off the car and walk away without spotting.

 

[duneslider]

I have never seen a full clear PPF on a car, that I knew anyway. My Sister in law has a full wrap on her cayenne and I am not impressed with the look of the finish, I have always assumed the clear would look that way but not change the color.

Is that a PPF on your expedition? @WJD_xlt If so, it looks pretty darn good.

 

[WJD_xlt]

I have never seen a full clear PPF on a car, that I knew anyway. My Sister in law has a full wrap on her cayenne and I am not impressed with the look of the finish, I have always assumed the clear would look that way but not change the color.

Is that a PPF on your expedition? @WJD_xlt If so, it looks pretty darn good.

No it’s Gyeon Synchro; I applied it on my brother in laws Tahoe. I personally use a sealant and wax combination on my car because I don’t have anywhere to park my rig while the ceramic coat cures.


Fast forward to 2:00 to see his wash and review

 

[16plati]

I have never seen a full clear PPF on a car, that I knew anyway. My Sister in law has a full wrap on her cayenne and I am not impressed with the look of the finish, I have always assumed the clear would look that way but not change the color.

Is that a PPF on your expedition? @WJD_xlt If so, it looks pretty darn good.

Go look at highenddetail.com. tons of PPF full vehicle apps this guy does outta Miami. Might be the best in the US

 

[carymccarr]

I have never seen a full clear PPF on a car, that I knew anyway. My Sister in law has a full wrap on her cayenne and I am not impressed with the look of the finish, I have always assumed the clear would look that way but not change the color.

Is that a PPF on your expedition? @WJD_xlt If so, it looks pretty darn good.

Xpel ultimate is the best there is. I always have my entire hood and fenders wrapped as well as rear gate and lower half of doors. If I ever got black (I wouldn’t) I’d wrap the whole thing.

Beyond that:


-touchless washes are hard on vehicles. You’re hoping the owner changes the filters often (they recycle the water and it picks up dirt). They also use very strong chemicals which will strip coatings quickly.

-make sure to use a silica/ceramic based coating booster after a proper hand washing (not after a touchless wash) to help layer on some protection

-never wipe down your vehicle after a touchless wash

-use the two bucket method for hand washes and be fastidious with your microfiber usage (1/4 panel at a time)

-annual detailing/correction to get rid of swirl marks

-don’t buy a black vehicle.

 

[Flexpedition]

You only got 1 of the 3 must-haves? I need that salesperson working for me. Was his name Jerry Lundegaard?

They install that tru-coat at the factory you know. If you don't get it, you'll have all kinds of oxidation problems, and that'll cost you a heck of a lot more than $500.

 

[carymccarr]

You only got 1 of the 3 must-haves? I need that salesperson working for me. Was his name Jerry Lundegaard?

They install that tru-coat at the factory you know. If you don't get it, you'll have all kinds of oxidation problems, and that'll cost you a heck of a lot more than $500.

Lol.

I never really understand why people don’t just get exactly what they want. It’s not difficult to have the dealer just order the vehicle exactly the way you want it.

 

[AAOO]

Lol.

I never really understand why people don’t just get exactly what they want. It’s not difficult to have the dealer just order the vehicle exactly the way you want it.

Because they are cheap and impatient? That's exactly what I did, but it cost a couple thousand extra and took them a week to find one out of state. Also, quit worrying about your paint and enjoy your ride. Do like us other first worlder's and trade it in for a new one every few years. lol

 

[carymccarr]

Because they are cheap and impatient? That's exactly what I did, but it cost a couple thousand extra and took them a week to find one out of state. Also, quit worrying about your paint and enjoy your ride. Do like us other first worlder's and trade it in for a new one every few years. lol

Yeah, I’m willing to wait a few weeks when I’m spending $80k on a vehicle to get what I want.

I highly enjoy having nice paint and taking care of my ride. I never own a vehicle for more than 5 years and it looks just as good in month 60 as it did in month 1.

 

[AAOO]

Yeah, I’m willing to wait a few weeks when I’m spending $80k on a vehicle to get what I want.

I highly enjoy having nice paint and taking care of my ride. I never own a vehicle for more than 5 years and it looks just as good in month 60 as it did in month 1.

Don't get me wrong, I like my paint too. I'm just not going to worry about running through the membership based car wash 3 or 4 times a week. That's another reason I buy white vehicles though... Also much cooler in the summer.

 

[carymccarr]

Don't get me wrong, I like my paint too. I'm just not going to worry about running through the membership based car wash 3 or 4 times a week. That's another reason I buy white vehicles though... Also much cooler in the summer.

I go to the touchless wash frequently. As long as it’s touchless it’s not the end of the world as long as you are waxing/coating it every 90 days.

White will hide scratches well but it will dull and at night everyheadlight that hits it will think you’re an advertisement for a spider exterminating company if you use a wash with ‘brushes’ (aka: dirty Brillo pads)

 

[duneslider]

I keep vehicles until they are done. My jeep has 170k miles, on its second engine, 13 years old, and will probably be getting an LS3 and dana 60's instead of trading up to a new stock model. The last family SUV was 9 years old and had 120k, just wasn't big enough.

Now, if I had wanted to pay 80k for a new suv I would have made sure to get what I wanted but I paid WAY less than 80k. So, I wasn't willing to spend what it would take to jump up to the leather and the wife likes black cars. It is her car so I let her have some say in the color. I personally like white the best and that is what I would have picked, however the all black interior in the black model is really nice I think. All the white ones we saw had the tan interior which we didn't like as much.

By no means am I thinking this will stay looking new, that just doesn't work into our life style. We spend way too much time outdoors for it to never get a scratch. The clear wraps do look interesting but I may just go with a good detail and paint correction a couple times a year for a while.

We just hit the touchless wash to rinse it off frequently. I still hand wash it for a good clean and then wax it.

 

[carymccarr]

I keep vehicles until they are done. My jeep has 170k miles, on its second engine, 13 years old, and will probably be getting an LS3 and dana 60's instead of trading up to a new stock model. The last family SUV was 9 years old and had 120k, just wasn't big enough.

Now, if I had wanted to pay 80k for a new suv I would have made sure to get what I wanted but I paid WAY less than 80k. So, I wasn't willing to spend what it would take to jump up to the leather and the wife likes black cars. It is her car so I let her have some say in the color. I personally like white the best and that is what I would have picked, however the all black interior in the black model is really nice I think. All the white ones we saw had the tan interior which we didn't like as much.

By no means am I thinking this will stay looking new, that just doesn't work into our life style. We spend way too much time outdoors for it to never get a scratch. The clear wraps do look interesting but I may just go with a good detail and paint correction a couple times a year for a while.

We just hit the touchless wash to rinse it off frequently. I still hand wash it for a good clean and then wax it.

One of the reasons I didn’t get black on black is that a black interior shows every speck of sand and a black exterior every micro scratch. We are up north almost every weekend and my truck gets pelted with sand and salt in the winter and dirt road dust in the summer.

Either way I cant say enough about Xpel ultimate. After 50,000+ miles the leading edge of my hood is still flawless.