Bryn

Best place to ask is over on www.detailingworld.co.uk There are quite a few really good (no excellent) detailers who can help you out

Am seriously considering doing just that but not sure what I have to choose from, any suggestions?

I must admit I am thinking exactly the same after changing from a 320D BMW with standard headlights the lexus lights seem very dim compared

what's wrong with black? It is difficult to maintain clean, but this is for every dark color. Got to disagree with you on this one,treat the paintwork with the right waxes/polishes/sealants from the word go and you should not have any problems keeping it looking nice and shiney with very little effort there is a definite to acheiving this :winky:

Try this stuff for your scratch http://www.langka.com/ I have used it in the past with superb results

I have used this place before and they did a fantastic job for me on my Honda accord type R (right on your doorstep as well) Can definately recommend their work top class. It's quite a big shop Called R-Tec (take the turning between the Honda/Nissan dealership) Lyon Way, Hatfield Rd, St Albans, Herts, AL4 0QU | TEL: 01727 790100

B)--> QUOTE(T7RY B @ Oct 11 2006, 01:36 AM) ← MOTHERS is very big in the USA If it was over here I would certainly give it a go. I use Meguirs and think that out of all brands I have tried that is the best and easiest to use. Mothers is available over here and is stocked by quite a big range of detailing suppliers. On the whole their products are a little pricey compared to the megs range but they are very good quality and give fantastic results.

Well if you are anything like me you definately won't regret it! I have the same spec as you have ordered also in Astral black, I have had mine 6 weeks now and the only thing that I have found that I can fault is the rear view mirror vibration problem which I am going to discuss with my local dealer to see what can be done (if anything) A little tip for you and any others who opted for the Black: If you want to give your new paintwork the best possible start in retaining the excellent gloss finish take a look at the Blackfire range of polishes and sealants (bit more expensive than your average Turtle wax type polishes) but definately worth the expense after treating mine to 3 coats of the sealant the finish is absolutely stunning, top that with a couple of coats of Collinite 476s wax and you will be all set for the winter. If anybody wants to know where to get any of the products I have mentioned drop me a pm as I don't want to break the rules by putting a link on here (I don't sell them either I just know a good place to purchase them)

The best thing to use is a lambswool washmit as it works the same wasy as microfibre cloths do i.e. the dirt and debris from the paintwork is drawn into the fibres of the washmit which keeps it away from the paintwork so the possibilty of scratching the surface is greatly reduced. A sponge however will always trap the dirt between itself and your expensive paintwork so that as you draw the sponge across the paintwork you will always drag the dirt and grit across the surface, end result = lots of scratches which stand out like a sore thumb in the sunlight and therefore spoiling the whole look of the car Two Bucket Method (for those that do not know it) Use one bucket for your wash solution (use a good quality shampoo) Then use a second bucket filled with clean water (preferbly with a gritguard in the bottom) for rinsing the washmit in between dips in the bucket containing the wash solution, that way you decrease/virtually eliminate contaminating the wash solution with the debris you have just taken off the paintwork. There is a little bit more to it than this but it'll give you the general idea. HTH :)

All depends on what eventual file size you are looking for, win xp will compress photo's for you automatically just right click on the photo in windows explorer and select "send to mail recipient" you will then be given the option to change the file size, select what meets your requirements and click ok, Your email client will then open up automatically with the resized picture already added as an attachment, just save the attachment to any location on your drive and then go open it up to see what it looks like and see what the file size is, I use this method all the time for email/uploading pictures and it works fine for me. HTH :)

Definately a hand wash everytime (using the two bucket method) and definately not using a sponge, a sponge is the worst thing you can use unless you really want to screw up your nice shiney paintwork. There is a definate method on handwashing a car which will give you the best possible chance on NOT inflicting any damage to the paintwork.

Hehe seeing as you asked here is my favourite piccie just to show the superb shine that you can get if you use the right stuff, I had the car delivered just before going on a pretty long road trip (1800 miles) so the car did not even get a wash until it had covered almost 2000 miles as I wanted to wait until I could get it home and do the the whole job properly by machine and hand, it took 3 days in total to get the finish just how I wanted it. Hope you like :D The wheels in the second pic are awesome!

Just thought I'd say hello to everybody :D as I've just taken delivery of a new IS220d SE in astral black (my first Lexus) had it just over four weeks now and still can't stop grinning to myself everytime I look at it in the drive, I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with it, used to drive a german 3 series before but decided to have a look at the IS before looking at a new 3 series, went to my local Lexus dealership to arrange the test drive and five minutes after getting into the car for the first time decided there and then not to even bother going to look at the new 3 impressed to say the least :D