If there is one area of car detailing that I absolutely loathe, it has to be detailing the glass window areas of my vehicles.  The funny thing is that when the windows are sparkling clean, the vehicle absolutely looks its showroom best.

I think that what makes cleaning windows such a chore is that there are two surfaces that must be perfected at the same time, mainly the inside and the outside.  Any remaining finger prints or smudges will ruin the look of the glass.  Couple this with the fact that inside and outside glass surfaces are attacked by different things just adds to the complexity of achieving the ultimate goal of clean, clear glass.
continue reading "It’s All Clear To Me Now!"

We spent a good deal of time talking about car washing and, to some extent, drying your vehicle. If there is a neglected area when it comes to car detailing, it’s got to be the wheels. In the last segment, I briefly talked about how to wash the wheels correctly. I hope to make this blog a little different in two ways. The first thing is to briefly re-discuss the “how and whys” of wheel cleaning and, second, to showcase some of the products that I personally use.

On that note, may I first clarify that I am under no financial duty to recommend or support any product, company or manufacturer. If I like it and it works for me, then you’ll hear about it. I have tried a lot, and I do mean A LOT, of car care products. Some sound good and just don’t keep up their end of the bargain. Those products that I routinely re-purchase and find myself looking to use over and over again are the products that I will recommend to you. Hey, you’re my “loyal followers”. Uncle Vinny ain’t gonna let you down!
continue reading "Hey “Nice Wheels”, Man!!!"

It was one of those few non-rainy June days that we had here in New Jersey and in typical weekend fashion it was time to get some gas. My wife and I pulled into the BP gas station to fill the belly of our BMW X5 with fuel. Our new found friend Ahmed, always seems to be there and always greets us with a genuine smile. “Fill, credit, Super?” he utters in his best english and we politely respond with a “Yes thank you.” It seems to be a little bit a mechanical, robotic routine  but it works and it is highly efficient.

Flanking the back areas of this gas station, is a mini-market, a quick change oil facility, an automated car wash with human help drying off the remaining water from the car wash process.At some point during the fill-up my wife turns to me and says, “What’s wrong?” For the moment I am totally focused on the crew wiping the nice black Mercedes with their blue towels.While still intranced, I responded to her with a grunt that could only be interperted as a totally disgusted reaction toward what I was seeing. I  focused back on my wife and told her that, ” They just brought up all the dirt from the bottom of the car, brought it up to the top and they buffed it into the finish!”  In my mind’s eye I could actually see the swirl marks and scratches now scarring the once pristine paint surface. Gratefully we were done filling as Ahmed popped his head into the car window, BP card a receipt in hand.I was relieved we were leaving.  I try not to look over at the car wash area whenever I frequent this station, It’s just too painful.
continue reading "Car Washing 101"

So you all survived Part 2 of our motor oil discussion…are you ready for more?  I thank those whom have written in asking,” When will you be posting again?”  I will try my best to make this a weekly update, unless I am on vacation, which I will be at some point this summer.  Hang on folks, here comes Part 3!

After having discussed viscosity and the importance of following your owner’s manual, we also discussed API, ACEA and OEM Approvals.  I believe we should start with a brief discussion on Conventional and Synthetic oils.  This topic alone gets people heated and fired up similar to a political discussion on the GOP vs. the Democrats.

My first recommendation is what folks? That’s right. Follow the recommendations required by the auto manufacturer.  If the motor came from the factory with synthetic oil, you must stay synthetic.  Many BMWs, AMG Mercedes, all Corvettes and Vipers plus a whole host of other vehicles come straight from the factory with synthetic oils in the crankcase.  I am sure that there are several car and truck makes that come with conventional oil in the crank case as their initial fill.
continue reading "Let’s Talk Motor Oil, Part 3"

I just wanted to first begin with saying “thank you” for all of your nice comments on my recent posts. Remember my mission is to first teach you something about cars and secondly to entertain you. I love cars and car care! All right, enough of that. Let’s get busy and continue with our talk about motor oil specifications and ratings.

If I haven’t said this once, I’ll say it another dozen times, read your owner’s manual and see what your car’s manufacturer recommends for its oil. We already talked about it’s viscosity requirements, but what else is important? If it calls for synthetic oil, you must stick with it. Remember motors are often  designed with a specific type of oil flowing through it. These oil requirements are called OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) approval ratings.

Let’s take my 2006 Corvette for example. GM calls for a synthetic 5W30 (Mobil 1 is the factory fill). Other 5W30 synthetic oils are acceptable but they must have GM specification 4718M and GM6094M. These are OEM  requirements for high performance/high heat temperature performance required by General Motors engineers. My Jeep SRT-8 and its Hemi require 0W40 or 5W40 that has the MB 229.51 specification. So the point here is that more than the viscosity and type of oil is important to your vehicles engine. Volkswagen, BMW, and Honda are a few other carmakers that have an OEM requirement for the engine oil.
continue reading "Let’s Talk Motor Oil, Part 2"

Have you ever said you’ll do something and then realize the sheer magnitude of the situation? In my last blog I stated that “we’d talk about motor oil”. Well all I can tell you is that this will be quite a feat. It’s like a topic such as “food”. How do you start and where? The sheer size of the topic can make someone nauseous! So, like a discussion about food, we’ll take on this monster topic of motor oil one meal at a time.

If you’ve ever stopped and actually looked at all of the choices of motor oils, you would truly be astounded. Most of us are repeat oil shoppers and grab at the “familiar” packaging before we check out. But the next time you’re at your favorite car parts store, actually take a moment and look around at all of the choices. Oil containers in yellow, green, red, black, and silver (come on Car Guys…Can you name the brands?). Oh, I forgot purple and white colors too. So how do we choose the “right oil” for our beloved machines?
continue reading "Let’s Talk Motor Oil, Part 1"