last1

Top job Bluey.

And to think most people will have their touch up repairs done and put up with the poor finish :( . It reminds me of a stunning black 350Z I see parked near work every day (I hate the fact that his car has a better gloss than mine) - until the sun drops low enough to side-light the body and expose every single rotation the rotary traveled over his body work. :lol:

Danslex,

Any visible defect on my paintwork (even if you can only see it in the right light), I deem a defect. If it is imbedded in the paintwork - eg a swirl/light scratch or etch, I want it gone! Nearly every polish on the market is abrasive in some way - and therefore cuts into the clearcoat. There is no other way to remove a swirl (light scratch usually caused by the normal process of washing the car) other than removing the surrounding paint to the same level as the deepest point of the scratch (or to the point where it is no longer visible).

I conceed that I may be pedantic at times - my illness I'm afraid. :D

uad,

I'd recommend you do get the car done professionally if you don't feel comfortable doing it yourself or the defects in the paintwork include excessive swirls, scratches or stains.

The website linked by Naz looks interesting. There are a number of products/sealants on the market now which should do similar work, but just keep in mind that none of them last forever! Naz never mentioned if he ever re-applies the product or not - it is certainly not scratch resistant either. Be interesting to know.

Keep in mind that most professionals that 'cut and polish' now refer to their work as 'paint correction', where the idea is to bring the paintwork back to as close to it's origional condition as possible and then further enhanced. The trick is to use the right products/methods to remove as little of the marred paintwork (clear coat on our cars) as possible when doing it - hence why getting it done professionally is a wize choice. Bare in mind - there are plenty of butchers out there who claim to have been doing it for years.

I have tried Megauirs NXT gen tech wax and the clay kit before, they did give the car a deeper shine, but they dont last long as dust tend to stick to the waxed area more easily. and the wax kinda wear off after a few washes. also they do little to the swirl marks or the scratches.

I've used the NXT without any problems on my silver one. Sure dust settles on the flat surface of the rear, but it definitely doesn't stick to it. Sounds like you've applied it too thick or haven't buffed it off correctly. It makes my car real glossy!

some photos for comparison

uad, I assume this isn't your car - the car in the photos has had it's badge taped ready for paint correction.

Waxes can give a little covereage but are not designed for this purpose, for a better result at eliminating these you will need to use products and processes that are designed for that purpose.

Following up on this, I'm about to try some products like Duragloss which is sealant, and is likely to give many months of protection (unlike waxes). As far as others' comments regarding swirls in the paintwork - they have to be removed prior to applying polish and wax, else they might actually be enhanced once the paint work has been made glossy. You'll either have to have it done professionally or us a product designed to remove/fill/disguise the swirls.

^ what a clever piece of software.

Would be good if it did...save me from having to sit it in the arm rest and fiddling around for it every night after work.

I'll second that!

Would be good if the car makers added another button on the dash or steering wheel just for that. There's really nowhere to put the remote other than the centre console.

OOOOOH NOOOO!!!!

I've cursed myself.

Every boomgate I've come across over the last couple of days have involved

THE LORD OF THE RINGS trilogy

I give up - never again will I refuse the DVD option in a car. My curiosity has been more than satisfied. Just please make those extra trains go away.

Good replies!

I guess I'm never really in these type of situations. ( Except maybe the occasional extended boom-gate wait )

Maybe somewhat off topic, but I'm curious, as I've never been able to picture myself sitting in a car to watch a movie. When the salesman originally demonstrated the DVD I asked this very same question; When do you guys have an opportune moment (1 1/2 hours?) to sit back in the car and enjoy a movie?

I know I've sat in the car for a few minutes or so at times when waiting for someone to jump back in, but never long enough to think "boy, I wish I had a movie to watch".

Just curious.

Black for the showroom only!

Black's by far the sexiest of colours for the IS.

Until you drive it out on the road, where it will show every spec of dust, dirt and even smallest of scratches.

I've sworn I'll never buy another black car again. Even sitting in my garage overnight, a black car collects and shows dust particles.

Silver is the easiest car to hide imperfections.

A Pearl IS with a wild set of wheels and lowered will definitely do the trick too I reckon.

Danslex,

You'll have to hunt around to find out what the best ripping program for that type of disc is, what type of media you need to burn to (brands and -R or +R) and you may actually need a particular type of burner with a particular type of firmware as well as a particular way of burning.

The companies spend a lot of money ensuring that the discs are copy-protected.

Google, Google, Google.

The recommended level indicated in your car manual covers all the different tyre combinations. As Bluey already suggested, the recommended level is also the best all-round pressure. It will generally give you a decent ride, good fuel economy and less tyre wear - so long as you use your car as an average person does. ie many short trips, a few longer ones, the weekly boot full of shopping, driving to work alone but having all the family in the car on the weekends etc.

As far as PSI goes - the aim of the game is to get the the tyre's tread to sit on the road the way the manufacturer designed it to sit.

Now, bearing in mind that inflating too high or low is very bad: Higher inflated tyres will have less of the tread pattern on the road and thereby reduce road traction and increase wear in the centre of the tyre tread. Less tread on the road will however assist rolling resistance and reduce fuel consumption.

Lower inflated will result in too much of the tyre's side rubber on the road surface and will again reduce traction as well as accelerate wear on the sides of the tyre. Less pressure will also lead to more rolling resistance and higher fuel consumption.

Increase the PSI if most of your driving involves carrying passengers in the car or heavy stuff in the boot.

Increase the PSI if most of your driving is highway/freeway.

Decrease the PSI if most of your driving is done on really bad roads/off road (keeping the speed down as well!)

If confused - read your manual and use the recommended PSI. And buy a decent tyre pressure gage (most of the ones at the servo don't read correctly!!!!!!!!!).

Hope this helps.

More than likely, you've driven over something sharp without realizing the damage had been done. Even a steel can cause damage if driven over in just the right way.

The wheel can be repaired. Sand back the scratch till smooth, fill with body filler/putty, sand again, paint twice plus clear coat, letting the paint blend into the rest of the rim's colour, and polish. The hardest part will be to source the same colour paint as the wheel - have a "paint doctor" do it. If you do the job yourself, make sure you mask properly - paint will make it's way through the gaps in the wheel and onto everything else on the other side!

Pure 98 is the way to go IMHO. Anything else runs less economically and less powerfully. Plus, nothing else contains the detergents 98 comes bundled with. There are others on this site that run mainly 95 though, without hassles. E10 unleaded is the minimum permitted fuel. It is not the recommended one. Minimum recommended is plain 95.

I used to alternate b/w 98 and 95 each fill. Now I just stick to 98.

Akuma,

The rear view mirror in my car shakes nearly every time I have the volume turned up, and it's not uncommon for people to look my way when the base is "pumping". I have my presets, bass and treble, set at their default settings.

The only time I'm dissapointed is if I've ripped the music onto a CD and the rip itself was ripped/compressed badly by whoever had done the ripping/compressing in the first place.

What isn't doing it for you? Radio/CD or both?

I've always taken the view that whatever extras/mods I've chosen to do will at best make the car easier to sell, though will not obtain a higher selling price. In other words, I write-off the costs of non oem mods immediately, and expect little or no added return for oem extras/changes. (unless you go for a full bundle like the Enhancement Option on the Prestige - which would obviously add to the trade-in value somewhat)

its like driving a hyandai.

I think the "Hyundai" tag was just meant to be a metaphor for "huge difference". I don't think Pygothian intended to use it as a simile.

Did you Pygothian????

I find that the cooling works on all settings in my car. Both on the seat and back. The hotter the day, the longer the drive and more 'breathable' the clothing you're wearing - the better you'll appreciate it.

I don't usually use the function, but put it on last Saturday. For the first 5 minuites or so, I didn't even think it was working. Then slowly, slowly it becomes more evident. Then at one point, I had to turn it down from the "3" setting to "2" because it was becoming anyonying. - All this with the vents pointed at head level, not foot!

Sorry Cam,

I picked the Camry/IS 250 combination as a bit of a laugh really! My post had become too long winded.

Sorry to hear about the wife's Golf. Mine drives a Passat.

Bluey, what type of random orbital do you use?

Meguiars!!

Thanks. Do you use the Meguiar pads on it as well?

Yes. Thats what I used for the paint correction in the pictures in this thread.

Thanks Bluey

Cam, I think I follow what you're thinking.

The Golf competes with numerous other cars in one of the most competitive segments of the market, also a very price sensitive category (and the lower the price - the more units they sell) and given the much, much, much, much, much larger volume of sales (vs the A3) the small profit on each car add up to deliver a very healty revenue stream. It also comes down to return as a percentage of investment. If I was to open a car yard tomorrow and was contracted to stock both Golfs and A3s, and knowing I could sell a Golf every single day for a $3000 return vs an A3 which could only sell at a rate of one car every 3rd day for $3000 return, I know which car I'd be investing more of money in!!!! Also, seeing A3s are not in a competitive/price sensitive category (when comparing to the Golf's market), I would be tempted to bump up the price of the A3 even higher (say an additional $5000) and only sell one every 6 days instead of 3. ($8000 profit every 6 days vs $3000 every 3 days) This is the type of math these guys have to deal with. (and then a prospective buyer may ask "why is the A3 so expensive?"). Bottom line, if you've got a car in a high sales volume category - price it low and watch it go! If you've got a car in a low sales volume category, you may have to maintain a higher price, even if you may risk selling less, in order to get a better return on investment. I hope this makes some sort of sense. Every business is only there for one reason - profit! They do the math accordingly. If VW could make a better overall return by increasing their prices - I GUARANTEE YOU - they would :)

*disclaimer - the volume figures and profit figures quoted above are for illustrative purposes only.

The fact that the A3 may only be a glorified Golf does not reflect the fact that the A3 may still be significantly more expensive to build (given different components, labour costs, transportation costs etc. etc.) and the need to recover tooling costs associated with setting up in Germany, and appropriating those tooling costs over a smaller volume of sales. etc. etc. (explains part of the higher price)

The regional distributer (franchisee) then has the same decision to make as per the dealership illustration I've drawn above.

Ultimatley - you're right. The Golf delivers far superiour value for money (purchase price vs build cost). But it doesn't carry the Audi badge. Now its it's your decision which one to buy. The Camry or the IS 250? (I'm now going to duck for cover)

Not quite sure you can avoid the LCT though - unless it's already been paid previously by the current registered owner. As far as your pricing goes, I guess if you trade in the Luxury when purchasing the F, it'll just be a matter of "how much will the change over cost me Mr Salesman?". If your comfortable with change over cost - go for it. :D

This mark-up surely must help VW keep their Passats, Jettas and Golfs competitively priced here in Australia. I think its no coincidence that as the VW range has become more competitively priced over the past 5 years, the Audi range has got less so

Sorry Sapphire Cam, I just can't imagine that the Golf, one of the 3 most produced cars in the world, is getting subsidesed by Audi sales. Logic would suggest if anything, it would be the other way round. As for a company producing hundreds of thousands of VWs which are not profitable, and then pumping up the price of Audis (making them less competitive and selling less in turn) to cover the shortfall just does not make business/ecconomic sense at all. Who would bother investing billions of dollars into a venture and be happy for no returns? Tell me that they subsidise the Veyron with Audi/VW money in order to hold onto the mantle of producing the fastest road car in the world (in turn giving the company better engineering credibility and marketing - "my VW is made by the same company that produce the worlds best sports car!") and I'll buy into that, but not a Passat! Last time I checked, if a car wasn't making money it was changed so that it would - or dropped from the line up.

Bluey, what type of random orbital do you use?

Meguiars!!

Thanks. Do you use the Meguiar pads on it as well?

Bluey, what type of random orbital do you use?