Detailing the hard stuff on your Stinger, after hundreds dollars worth of products tested.

[wootiown]

I've spent way too much money on detailing products trying to find the absolute best way to detail the Stinger, which is definitely the toughest car to detail that I've ever done (other than SUVs). The dark chrome trim, the dusty wheels, and all the body lines make it tough. Here's a quick guide of products I've found are the very best for making your stinger shine!
And I'd love to hear your thoughts, if you've found a product you like better than what I listed, please do share so I can try it too!

Dark Chrome Metal Window Trim
The dark chrome trim above the windows is a total bitch to clean. It seems to fade and tarnish super easily and when I bought my 2018 GT2 the trim was super ugly.
I found the best and most cost effective way to polish it is with Mothers Chrome Polish and a small polishing pad. I'd recommend you put a quick strip of painters tape on the roof, since you're probably going to smear a bit and metal polish is harsh so you don't want to scrape your paint or ruin your sealant.
Follow up the polish with a good sealant, not wax. A wax will stain it again and stain the rubber trim around it, sealants won't.

Dark Chrome Plastic Grille Trim
This stuff was hands down the hardest to detail on the entire car. The beautiful chrome trim around the grille and lower grille ALWAYS looked tarnished after any amount of scrubbing, because water drips down from the grille and spots it.
There are probably plenty of ways to clean it, but the easiest and cheapest I found was Meguiars Cleaner Wax which is dirt cheap and works like a charm. I found a microfiber towel worked better than a polishing pad because of the geometry of the trim, but either way just buff it on a lot (Like buff it 3x as much as you would for normal wax/polish, especially the first time to get all the crap out), then wait for it to try and buff it off and it looks perfect. The cleaner wax does provide a seal as well, but just as before be sure to hit it with a good sealant to keep it protected in the future.

Steering Wheel
The steering wheel is beautiful, but it has a ton of little cracks and holes dirt can get in, and Carmax did a crappy job of cleaning it when I got my car and it bothered me for weeks. Easy solution- Grab a set of car detailing brushes and use them to clean all the crap out of the steering wheel and other interior bits. I keep a trash can in my back seat that has little pockets on the outside, so I just keep a rag and a brush in those pockets for easy access.

Sealants
Sealants are, of course, up to you and every detailer will have their own sealant preference. I set out to find the absolute glossiest sealant because I wanted to REALLY bring out the shine of the beautiful Micro Blue paint, and I ended up finding Nova Lustre. It's definitely not cheap, but it provides an absolutely incredible shine and 6ish months of protection, and it can go on everything. For the winter where I want more and longer protection, I'll be using Turtle Wax Graphene Spray Sealant- I hated turtle wax for the longest time but this stuff is incredible.

Wheels and Brakes
The GT wheels aren't all that tough to clean, but brake dust does suck. I've tried a few different wheel cleaners and honestly they all work about the same, but I've had great luck with Sonax Wheel Cleaner which also has an iron remover to dissolve brake dust. I use a Wooly Wormit Brush to get the wheels and the brakes, and its flexibility makes it very easy to curve around and give the calipers a quick scrub. Just do your best not to get the wheel cleaner on the rotors- iron remover on iron rotors isn't a good combo!


Hopefully that helps some folks, and feel free to ask me for more recommendations! Those are just the hardest parts I've found about washing my car, but if anything else has been a huge challenge for you I'd love to hear about it.

 

[MerlintheMad]

Hi. The great secret is frequency: do not allow grime to buildup in the first place. My car gets washed each time it gets rained on (sometimes this results in two washings in a single day). And even if that doesn't happen, I will usually wash it each week: two weeks never go by without a car wash: air grime will buildup: you can test this by lightly running your fingers over the surface, and if anything but silky smooth to the touch is felt, then you have air grime.

For the last year and a half, all my washes are by hand only (got thoroughly disgusted with having my rims rashed against the guiderail). Such frequent washing requires a speedy method, which I call the "half-hour car wash". Religiously keeping any grime buildup off makes washing quick and easy. I've never had to resort to getting gunk off, not even the brake calipers, since nine times out of ten I will wash the calipers and wheel barrels each time.

(As for undercarriage washing: that was my sole reason for resorting to car wash tunnels in the first place: since swearing off all automated washes, I've taken to the expedient of using the hand wand car wash to reach in underneath and spray it out by hand: this is a workout! and yet I do it each time, during the winter, that my undercarriage gets plastered from the salty roads, i.e. each time it storms and turns the roads to guck. If I lived in a salty environment, aka seaside climate, I'd be doing this monthly, year-round)

My washing tools are the simplest imaginable: rubber/latex/vinyl household cleaning gloves (the object here is to keep your hands from getting chapped), six 14x24" white terrycloth towels and a bucket, a pair of 2x3' microfiber drying towels, a cotton rag (sleeve of a white long-sleeved T-shirt), and a "California duster" and boars hair brushes. Washing solutions: hot soft water to add up to half a gallon to one gallon of distilled water (or all distilled, on road trips), with Optimum No Rinse (ONR). If the car is super grimy from the weather, I'll run down the road to the hand wand car wash and spray everything off, then finish up with my method: which is: drop a pair of folded, saturated/dripping terrycloth towels on the windshield, (sun)roof and hatch window: move top to bottom in sections, first one side then the other, turning the terrycloth to a clean section the instant that it starts to look dirty: dry off in sections as you go: wheels last (my favorite part). I do door sills as needed. If I'm not in need of the spray down first, I'll dust my car off first. I have a boars hair brush for the outside (around the exhaust stubs and getting brake dust, etc., off the wheels): and another one in the center console for dusting the interior (which I do to pass the time when my wife is running an errand inside a store).

As for the bitchy dark chrome window trim pieces: I didn't even see the first spotting until earlier this year (c. three years into ownership): having read all about that on the forum I was prepared to do battle. So far: going over all six pieces with Meguiar's rubbing compound, then polishing compound, then finishing up with Meg's paste cleaner wax, has worked to my satisfaction. I'm prepared to bag this battle if it gets too repetitive, and just wrap or spray the pieces gloss black (I'm not aware of a wrapping or painting option that will adequately match the dark chrome finish): since quite a few accent areas already are gloss (piano) black, it seems a natural way to go to address the headache of constantly being on the lookout for returning spots and discoloration.

The other dark chrome has never spotted on me: I don't need anything for the grille chrome except a timely drying off with the microfiber. Don't let water dry on and you won't have to battle with spots.

(Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going out to wash NAV: it's been eleven days ...)

 

[AtomicGTL]

Its so hard to avoid the faintest swirl marks on my micro blue paint.

 

[MerlintheMad]

When I see a noticeable swirl mark, or scuff, I hit it with polishing compound. But the best preventive is to only make a straight pass over a section with a perfectly clean, saturated towel, look at the towel and flip to a fresh section if any discoloration shows: in other words, reduce grit to an absolute minimum: for sure, do not rub to get the section clean.

 

[AtomicGTL]

When I see a noticeable swirl mark, or scuff, I hit it with polishing compound. But the best preventive is to only make a straight pass over a section with a perfectly clean, saturated towel, look at the towel and flip to a fresh section if any discoloration shows: in other words, reduce grit to an absolute minimum: for sure, do not rub to get the section clean.

Thanks for the info!

What polisher/pad do you recommend for taking those pesty swirls away? Im super anal about them, maybe abit too much. I run my light over the paint atleast once a day for no reason lmao.

And yes by hand I normally just do a quick straight pass.

 

[MerlintheMad]

I don't have a buffer: I use hand rubbing/polishing only. If your clear coat is actually scratched to the point that using a terrycloth with rubbing/polishing compound won't remove the damage, it's time for paint correction, in my opinion. I would rather work by hand on any damaged spot than hit it with a buffer. But then, I am a Luddite.

 

[wootiown]

I don't have a buffer: I use hand rubbing/polishing only. If your clear coat is actually scratched to the point that using a terrycloth with rubbing/polishing compound won't remove the damage, it's time for paint correction, in my opinion. I would rather work by hand on any damaged spot than hit it with a buffer. But then, I am a Luddite.

What polish do you that gets you great results by hand? I rarely if ever get any good scratch removal results with hand polish and a one step polish/compound. Totally agreed though, I always keep my car way too clean! When I washed my girlfriends car, which wasnt even that dirty, I forgot other cars could ever be not super clean haha.

 

[MerlintheMad]

What polish do you that gets you great results by hand?

So far, I've just used Meguiar's rubbing and polishing compounds; start with polishing, and if that doesn't take it down, then go to rubbing, then back to polishing, then finish with wax. It's been working so far. A drastic step that I've used a handful of times is to LIGHTLY go over the aggrieved spot with 2000 grit wet sandpaper, using LOTS of water: sand crosswise, never along a scratch: if the scratch is into the paint (through the clear coat), this is highly risky, as you can (and likely will) cut through the paint and make the damage worse: then all you have left before professional intervention is touchup paint, which is never invisible.

 

[LordShadow]

@MerlintheMad
If you have a pressure washer, pick up the undercarriage sprayer attachment. Works wonders and and has small casters on it as well so you literally just walk alongside the car with it underneath. Saves my back for sure. Hope this helps! (FYI, they are cheap and only run about 30-40is dollars on Amazon. : )

 

[nhcowboy28]

Once you clean the bLack chrome bits once… and use a hybrid ceramic. You won’t have issues cleaning again.

yes, the first time was a lot of work.

 

[RedCal]

Wheels and Brakes
The GT wheels aren't all that tough to clean, but brake dust does suck. I've tried a few different wheel cleaners and honestly they all work about the same, but I've had great luck with Sonax Wheel Cleaner which also has an iron remover to dissolve brake dust. I use a Wooly Wormit Brush to get the wheels and the brakes, and its flexibility makes it very easy to curve around and give the calipers a quick scrub. Just do your best not to get the wheel cleaner on the rotors- iron remover on iron rotors isn't a good combo!

Nice write up

My Wheel cleaning tip...
Use an iron remover (like the sonax one) and let it to it's magic for a bit, rinse off, then follow it up with P&S brake buster and your wooly brush, let it sit for a minute or so then rise and wash the wheels, on the final rinse hit them with Gyeon Wet Coat, and rinse it off... keeps them cleaner, and easier to clean the next time (you can skip the Iron remover)

 

[NS_Stinger]

Hi. The great secret is frequency: do not allow grime to buildup in the first place.

Bingo, if you hand wash your car weekly or bi-weekly and apply a spray wax while drying you're golden.

 

[5tinger]

I agree the Stinger is defiantly harder than average to clean.
Especially black paint, which makes it a genuine pain to keep well maintained.

 

[dimwit]

Bingo, if you hand wash your car weekly or bi-weekly and apply a spray wax while drying you're golden.

The detailer who installed my window tint and ceramic coating showed me how to maintain the exterior. One relevant piece of advice was to wash the car less frequently, about once a month. He told me that every time you wash/dry the car, you have to rub the surface, which gradually breaks it down over time.

 

[RonNSoCal]

So far, I've just used Meguiar's rubbing and polishing compounds; start with polishing, and if that doesn't take it down, then go to rubbing, then back to polishing, then finish with wax. It's been working so far. A drastic step that I've used a handful of times is to LIGHTLY go over the aggrieved spot with 2000 grit wet sandpaper, using LOTS of water: sand crosswise, never along a scratch: if the scratch is into the paint (through the clear coat), this is highly risky, as you can (and likely will) cut through the paint and make the damage worse: then all you have left before professional intervention is touchup paint, which is never invisible.

I am also a fan of Meguiar's polishing compounds! The rubbing compound does not cut too much and polishes as well.

 

[nhcowboy28]

The detailer who installed my window tint and ceramic coating showed me how to maintain the exterior. One relevant piece of advice was to wash the car less frequently, about once a month. He told me that every time you wash/dry the car, you have to rub the surface, which gradually breaks it down over time.

That is the dumbest advice I’ve ever heard.

 

[MerlintheMad]

The detailer who installed my window tint and ceramic coating showed me how to maintain the exterior. One relevant piece of advice was to wash the car less frequently, about once a month. He told me that every time you wash/dry the car, you have to rub the surface, which gradually breaks it down over time.

Not exactly. The method you employ makes a big difference. Optimum No Rinse does not require rubbing. With ONR I will do a single pass with a folded white terrycloth towel (14" x 28" folded three times into a square), look at the cloth to see if it is showing dirt, and if it is, then flip to a clean surface: never rub, and never make a pass with a soiled towel. The same applies with a microfiber trying towel: never rub, simply pass lightly over the wet area, or just lay the towel on the area and slowly drag it off, letting it wick the water away.

If, before the ONR wash, the car is filthy, I will employ one of two prep steps: either fill a bucket with hot soft water and drop in a couple of towels, then go over the grime with a sopping towel, top to bottom in a single pass, flipping the towel over if a second pass is needed, swapping towels frequently to let the soiled towel release grime (I don't have a two-bucket system going, but that would be better): usually this is only required on the lower skirts: the upper sides and top are not dirty enough for a pre-rinse-down. Or, I will take the car down the road to the hand wand car wash and thoroughly spray it down, underside to the windows, then return to my carport and finish up with the ONR wash.

 

[dimwit]

That is the dumbest advice I’ve ever heard.

Well, he is an experienced professional, and what he says is absolutely logically true. His advice pertains to making my expensive new ceramic coating last as long as possible. My car is not a daily driver, and is garaged, so once a month works for me. You do you

 

[killinghall]

A regular fortnightly wash + Turtle Wax Wax & Dry + Hybrid Solutions (also by Turtle Wax) Ceramic Spray Coating (twice a year) is really all that's needed to keep your car clean and shiny.

 

[antonini311]

Not sure if this has been said. But if you are having tarnishing/oxidation issues with the chrome window trim, Kia will replace pieces under warranty. I had one panel that was bad and they didn't balk at my request. They just replaced it with a new strip that hasn't had any issues. Since it's a knowns problem with this car.