CaymanSinAR

My Boxster has just enough minor imperfections from the previous owner that it needs a light cutting polish followed by a finishing polish. At least I'm hoping that is as heavy as I'll need to go. I'll start with a wash and clay treatment and follow the cutting and finishing polishes with a sealant and wax.

I'm wondering what to do about the GTS stickers on the doors. Should I tape over them with painter's tape and handle the small spots between the letters by hand?

Truth be told I don't like the stickers at all. Stickers on a friggin' car of this caliber? Come on. I'd be fine taking them off but was a bit worried about the possibility of paint fade given that the car is three years old.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

Marine Blue

CaymanSinAR

Thanks!

I'll think on the stickers in the meantime. I loathed them when I saw them but they are pretty much invisible to me now.

CaymanSinAR

Might need a new thread with a better title, but if you were going to remove the GTS stickers from a car what method would you use? My first thought was a heat gun.

steve9

If you don't like the stickers I'd take them off. Fairly sure decal delete was / still is a factory option so it would still look authentic. And you or a future owner can always replace them.

I'd be careful with a heat gun unless you have it on a low setting. For removing decals or anything that's glued (like wheel balance weights) I use and old hair dryer with temperature such that I can comfortably hold my hand in front of it for three or four seconds. Isopropyl alcohol solution to remove the residue - there will be some.

Have you thought about a ceramic coat? I have used Feynlabs products to good effect and they are not difficult to apply. The cleaning, claying and the cutting is the time consuming part and you will be doing that anyway.
Good luck with it.

CaymanSinAR

Thanks! I'll start with one of my wife's hairdryers and go from there.

I'm not really familiar with ceramics.

All I ever did was wash my cars with cheap Walmart stuff until about 2015 when I decided my BMW deserved better. I bought a bunch of nice new stuff but still punked out on the clay bar and paint sealant treatments. When I bought my Miata the previous owner had done a masterful job of detailing. The car was 15 years old at the time but the paint still looked brand new and was so smooth and slick to the touch. After 18 months it was starting to lose its luster and smoothness. Last September I finally manned up and did the full wash, clay, and paint sealant treatment on the Miata and BMW. Holy cow what a difference. So glossy and smooth to the touch. I washed the BMW for the first time since then last weekend. It was so slick I went to close the door for the first time and my hand just slipped right off the surface! Time for the Porsche to get a similar treatment.

I'd swear ceramics weren't a consumer thing in 2015. At least I don't remember reading about them. Paint sealants were the big thing. At least on the BMW forums. Hurt a little bit to spend $30 on a 16oz bottle of Menzerna Power Lock but I had no idea you could do so many cars with a bottle that size. What a bargain!

Is ceramic basically a competitor to a paint sealant like Power Lock? If so I'd certainly consider using it once all my Power Lock is gone. I've already done three vehicles with Power Lock and still have half a bottle left!

I've read putting wax on top of a paint sealant is really unnecessary, but since this is my first Porsche, and my 40th birthday present, I want it to look as perfect as possible; that's why I bought the Zymol Glasur.

manifold danger

Relevant timing as I'm literally going to drop off both of my Porsches tomorrow for some serious detailing work. I hadn't even thought about the GTS stickers. I wasn't a fan of them at first either but they've grown on me. That said I don't think I'd miss them terribly either.

I've heard of coatings for quite some time but not necessarily in the context of ceramics. I even bought some Opti-coat two years ago and was going to apply it myself to my M4 but quickly realized I didn't really have the time, patience, or risk tolerance... so I will be leaving that to people who do it for a living for these cars.

I was going to discuss with the shop owner, but I'm leaning towards getting both cars coated and still on the fence on what to do with the paint protection film on my Boxster. This shop uses Ceramic Pro, which has several different grades of product. I was going to do the 9h. You may get a variety of mixed reviews from the various products, but as accurately as I can assess from a "review aggregation" perspective, all of the products are just about the same after you decipher all the bias and marketing.

As for the clear bra, the Boxster has one on it already that was apparently put on at the factory/dock, but it needs attention. It's begun to peel on the lower right bumper; barely noticeable but I know it's there so I can now not unsee it. It's also only half of the hood so I can see the line where it ends (my car is white). I was considering having the shop remove it and not replace it with another film. The car is 3 years old at this point, and I bought it to drive it, not show it off at concours so I don't really think the investment is worth it. From what I can tell an adequate degree of protection (including full hood to get rid of the visible line) would run about $1200. The coating is supposed to help protect against scratches but not so much against rock chips... even assuming the rock chips pile up, I'm thinking that getting the front bumper resprayed every 5-7 years may actually be cheaper in the long run?

All that said I'm still considering getting the film, wondering if anyone on here's anecdotes could steer me one way or the other...

Marine Blue

NightRyder

Naked is the way to go! And I'm pretty sure less stickers means quicker 1/4 miles! ...... Or do I have that backwards...

GregWormald

I'm a real fan of the professionally applied Opti-Coat Pro+, but as mentioned above I suspect that most of the top line coatings are similar.

My previous vehicle had the "plain" Opti-Coat Pro (no + at that time) and after 5 years in the Australian sun, and coated with concrete dust weekly from the factory across the road from work, the paint was still better than new. Part of the professional application is a clay bar and polish to remove all swirls etc. The better the paint condition at the time, the cheaper the polish. I had the Boxster done 3 days after delivery! On new cars there is a life-time guarantee, I think it's five years otherwise. No wax needed for a great shine and the car washes really easily.