Auto Butler

[Marauder57]

Have any of you guys heard of this....the LM dealer that I bought the car from had this new program....which is basically a huge car washing, waxing and detailing machine that is supposed to detail and seal your clearcoat etc to refresh the car to looking brand new. Something like $85 a shot and they recommend it every 6 months.....I guess the dealership has to purchase the machine etc....

Anyone heard of this or can offer any input as to whether this thing is any good or just smoke and mirrors...

Thanks!

[engine23ccvfd]

Man that would be sweet but I doubt it is as good as it sounds otherwise commercial car washers would already have the machines! Right?

[jgc61sr2002]

I don't think I would put my MM the any type on machine to clean it. The only automatic machine wash I would consider is a laser wash. Not one part of this machine touches the car . The laser beam follows the outside of the car and high power jets of water do the washing. Used it once on my GM and it came out clean.

[Marauder57]

I just found some info on it here:
AutoButler (http://jonhallchevrolet.com/flash/Auto_Butler.html)

More Auto Butler (http://www.tenvoordeford.com/auto_butler.html)

Don't know looks cool...I may try it once.....

[vaderv]

Dude, bring your car to me. I'll do it the right way for $75 U.S. Seriously no havnt heard about it...

[MI2QWK4U]

VaderV.....where in Michigan?

[Bigdogjim]

Some body always has a better idea! I don't think I will be first to try this one???

Hand wash is the best??

leaf blower to dry it works great :lol:

[engine23ccvfd]

leaf blower...dang never thought of that and I wash a 35 foot pumper every week....

[looking97233]

Run Away, Run Away. Else if your car ever needs any body work, you'll be sorry. Teflon is great, untill your car gets hit. New paint will not stick to it. It's a real pain in the ass for a body shop.

[LincMercLover]

I'm actually thinking about sealing after I wax next time. The wax I use is Meguire Gold Class paste. It does wonders for the shine and gets rid of all swirl marks, it just seems it doesn't last long. I'm thinking Zymol? Anyone?

[martyo]

^^^What LML said about Meguire's^^^

I like it but it doesn't last long. The detailing spray is some handy stuff, especially after an attack by a dive bombing bird....Try it, you'll like it!

[jgc61sr2002]

What wax does last for a long time? I've used Zaino, Maguires, Mothers and a host of others. I think the longevity of the wax depends on the weather conditions the car is exposed to. IMHO.

[Paul T. Casey]

IMHO, Turtle Wax lasts the longest, it's also the toughest to apply and remove. I've heard a lot of good things about Zaino, again it's work. I've used Meguire's, about the easiest, Turtle Wax, lots of work, and the color-cure from Turtle Wax. Color cure is messy, but easier to apply and remove than "hard shell", and it does really good in covering swirls, and enriching the color. I put it on last in early May, and even with the past few weeks of rain up here, the water is still beading. I'll redo it again this week just for the added shine. It still will shine good now, but I want more for the upcoming holiday cruises.

[Fourth Horseman]

How often are you guys waxing your Marauders? Seems like my wax only lasts a few weeks, and the car is garaged constantly, too. :depress:

[mdmarauder]

LML,

I use Zymol and I love it. It last longer than all the others I've tried. The only down side is a little powder. But for $12.00 you can't beat it.

[LincMercLover]

OK, I've gone to Fast Lane, Auto Zone, Advanced Auto, Wally World, and NAPA. NONE have any Zymol sealer. Hell, none have any brand of sealer! Not even Mothers Seal and Glaze. WTF? Fast Lane used to have it, but they're out right now. Now what?

PS: Went to Fast Lane and the owner saw me and asked if I was the guy in the big black car who did a burnout in his drive. :D Oppss...

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Fourth Horseman
How often are you guys waxing your Marauders? Seems like my wax only lasts a few weeks, and the car is garaged constantly, too. :depress:

After every wash, use the instant detailer. If I remember correctly, you use Mother's products (hopefully the 3 step program). I posted a couple of links to my GTA's birthday pics showing a 1 year old coat of wax on it with tons of reflections and I can assure you it is still easy to sheet water off the body (to avoid having to dry manually). (the car does not see rain and is always garaged, but is washed every second week or so because of dust...)

In fact... if you check out the tips on the Zaino web site, you'll find they apply to any of these multi-step products. ie. apply gloss enhancer after every wash (or in this case, instant detailer), etc. However, I haven't tried multi-coats of the Mother's 2nd step but I might within a week or two... I'll post my findings.

What I *have* determined so far is that single coats of Zaino don't seem to protect like the Mothers (and I assume Meguiars) single coats. I'm currently attempting multi-coats of Zaino on the MM and will again post my findings (hopefully without more bird dropping damage as a result!).

The Gold Class Meguiars, by the way, comes in behind the full 3 step program. Anyone who's a big fan of Meguiars (and rightfully so) should consider adopting the 3 phase program followed by maintenance with the instant detailer after every wash.

In Zaino's defense, their polish and gloss enhancer don't leave behind yellow/white residue in the nooks and crannies after they dry.

[Bigdogjim]

Originally posted by LincMercLover
I'm thinking Zymol? Anyone? [/B]

Big big bucks. The mother of all waxes.. (according to them)

[Marauder57]

Did anyone find the Zymol on line? This goes to show what a MM nut one can become....I am currently getting ready to go forward with building our first house.....it will have a 2 car garage....and what is my biggest excitement...not first time ownership.....but having a garage to wax my MM inside of.....OY!!!!!! :help:

[jgc61sr2002]

I have used Zymol and the only thing that impressed me was the odor. IMHO.:)

[nomad]

Zymol website:
http://www.zymol.com/phihome.htm

[Racerx88]

Zymol is the best. And yes it DOES smell good.
In the Dallas area, Autozone usually has it.
It does produce a fair amount of wax dust. Clay the car first, then use the Zymol. Works great every time. Then blow all the dust off with that leaf blower.

[LincMercLover]

I looked at that web site, and couldn't find sealer (at least not for the paint). I coulda swore I saw Zymol sealer up at Fast Lane. I think I'm loosing it... :help:

[Fourth Horseman]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
After every wash, use the instant detailer. If I remember correctly, you use Mother's products (hopefully the 3 step program). I posted a couple of links to my GTA's birthday pics showing a 1 year old coat of wax on it with tons of reflections and I can assure you it is still easy to sheet water off the body (to avoid having to dry manually). (the car does not see rain and is always garaged, but is washed every second week or so because of dust...) *snip*

Yup, I use the Mother's 3 step system (good memory!). I'm thinking maybe I'll switch to a better liquid car soap. Maybe the budget stuff I'm using now is stripping my wax.

I'll try using the gloss enhancer after every wash, as well. Thanks for the ideas.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by Fourth Horseman
I'm thinking maybe I'll switch to a better liquid car soap. Maybe the budget stuff I'm using now is stripping my wax.


Oh, if you're not using the specific car shampoo for your wax 'system', you may be stripping off the wax indeed!

The Meguiars and Mothers shampoos specifically claim not to remove wax... I assume they are weaker than most other shampoos in order for this to be the case. They may also contain some additives to replenish the wax on the surface of the car as you wash it... hence why you need to use these shampoos undiluted in order to remove bugs off the bumpers: diluted, it's just too weak.

Zaino is by far the weakest of the shampoos, from what I can tell. After a particularly dirty 2 week period without washing, I found I had to do the car twice in order to really get some dirt off the car.:mad:

[TAF]

Originally posted by TripleTransAm
Zaino is by far the weakest of the shampoos, from what I can tell. After a particularly dirty 2 week period without washing, I found I had to do the car twice in order to really get some dirt off the car.:mad:

Steve,

I must say I am shocked by your experiances with the Zaino products. All I've done for a year (since I did the first complete application of all the products) is a quick wash with the Zaino Car Wash, dry with waterblade and that's it...and it looks like it got a fresh coat of wax every time.

Sorry to hear this...hope the other stuff works better for you.

[TripleTransAm]

Originally posted by TAF
I must say I am shocked by your experiances with the Zaino products.


Yeah, I was kind of pumped up by all the hype. But as I mentioned in the other threads where this has come up, I have an open mind and will continue to layer on the stuff before pronouncing my final personal judgment on the product.

So far, I have to admit the final shine after a wash and Z6 is very nice. Very nice indeed. Feels good to the touch, too. However, the resulting paint damage from the few hours I had the car exposed to two bird droppings has me very nervous. Maybe I'll get better protection after multiple layers, as everyone likes to do. No problem, I'm doing that as we speak (type). If I get better-than-Mothers/Meguiars protection AND a kickass shine out of it, hey I'll be twice a winner, and I'll gladly proclaim it. But so far I'm not getting the 'perfect' sheeting/beading of water I get with the old coat of Mothers on the other cars, so I'm very worried.

Anyways, like I said, the experiment continues.

Funny, Zaino has updated their web site (finally) and I see many references to 'Show Cars' all over the place, underlined and bolded. Makes me nervous, because my MM will not be a garaged show car, that's for sure.

More info to come, be sure of that...