Finally Here! Hybrid Maverick & Gtechniq Detail

Hello everyone! I wanted to start this post off by thanking everyone here at MTC. I have been a long time lurker of the forum and all of the posts have helped keep me sane during the long waiting process.

I FINALLY picked up my Hybrid XLT w/LUX & 360 on 7/7/22. After placing the order on 7/2/21, just a cool 372 day wait! So far I LOVE the truck. The versatility, fuel economy and overall design are perfect for what I was looking for after my Taurus died. The only thing I still need to get used to is the dial shifter and not having a place to set my hand when driving lol ... I also had no communication with my dealer most of the time, but at the end of the day they came through with MSRP, no add ons, no extra fees, etc. If anyone is in the Albany NY area, Depaula Ford is highly recommended.

I pretty much used Gtechniq items throughout. I used the Crystal Serum Light topped with C2V3 for the paint, C4 for the trim and G1 for the glass. On the interior, Smart Fabric and Matte Dash. These ceramic products were incredibly easy to apply really added some nice gloss to the paint after my one step polishing process.

Thank you guys again and to anyone who has yet to receive their truck, hang in there. The wait is certainly worth it!

This is why we wait.

Welcome, and enjoy your new XLT LUX!

Did it come with a fire extinguisher? /s

Congrats op!

tomahawk72 said:

Did it come with a fire extinguisher? /s

Congrats op!

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LMAO ... I can store that under the back seat just incase!

wow, you work for DI? how cool!!!! gotten a few things there so far!

Fix4Dirt said:

wow, you work for DI? how cool!!!! gotten a few things there so far!

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Fix4Dirt said:

wow, you work for DI? how cool!!!! gotten a few things there so far!

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I do! Thank you for the support! If you ever have any detailing questions just let me know. I can do my best to help for sure.

Reece @ DI said:

I do! Thank you for the support! If you ever have any detailing questions just let me know. I can do my best to help for sure.

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Congratulations. One question you could answer better than most on the forum. What do you think of the factory paint job?

YOBY said:

Congratulations. One question you could answer better than most on the forum. What do you think of the factory paint job?

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Thank you! Overall there is some minor orange peel but really nothing that bad. I've seen much worse in higher end cars like lambos and Ferraris. In speaking to the clear coat thickness that I have seen some in the forum worried about, I have not seen anything out of the ordinary. The average from what I have seen for basecoat/clearcoat surfaces is around 3.0-6.0 mils thick, with the clearcoat being around 2.0 mils. I have seen anything from high 3s to low 6s on most vehicles and all of my readings on this before polishing fell mostly in the mid to high 4s. Simply put, it seems very average in terms of thickness. For chipping, swirls, scratches, etc. I am interested to see how easily these pop up over time with proper paint care. Hope that helps!

this should be interesting...

no experience with the mav specifically, but in general imo newer clears seem to be getting softer, but thickness seems to be staying somewhat consistent. orange peel seems to be lessening over the old vehicles in general (there are exceptions, looking at you tesla) but seems like in general paint seems to be getting more consistent, but they seem to be softer clears recently. however, soft, hard, etc only means so much, as only time will tell! want to see how these all hold up! imo best we can do is keep em waxed, coated whatever you use

Fix4Dirt said:

this should be interesting...

no experience with the mav specifically, but in general imo newer clears seem to be getting softer, but thickness seems to be staying somewhat consistent. orange peel seems to be lessening over the old vehicles in general (there are exceptions, looking at you tesla) but seems like in general paint seems to be getting more consistent, but they seem to be softer clears recently. however, soft, hard, etc only means so much, as only time will tell! want to see how these all hold up! imo best we can do is keep em waxed, coated whatever you use

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I have seen softer paints hold up pretty well, so as you said time will tell. All we can do is protect the paint as best we can in the meantime.

Reece @ DI said:

For chipping, swirls, scratches, etc. I am interested to see how easily these pop up over time with proper paint care. Hope that helps!

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hey man. thanks for the detailed write up on your website.
i see you picked carbonized grey as the color. in your professional opinion, which is a good color to get to minimize the showing of swirls, scratches and dirt best?

sweet ride

Reece @ DI said:

I have seen softer paints hold up pretty well, so as you said time will tell. All we can do is protect the paint as best we can in the meantime.

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yep! seen both soft and hard hold well, but soft has a tendency to develop stuff like swirls earlier, but who knows!

adsandiego said:

hey man. thanks for the detailed write up on your website.
i see you picked carbonized grey as the color. in your professional opinion, which is a good color to get to minimize the showing of swirls, scratches and dirt best?

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id say either white or gray imo, both dont show it too much. beyond that is pretty much preference imo. that being said hes got way more experience than I, so want to hear what he says
what hides the best though imo is glaze! on anything but black

adsandiego said:

hey man. thanks for the detailed write up on your website.
i see you picked carbonized grey as the color. in your professional opinion, which is a good color to get to minimize the showing of swirls, scratches and dirt best?

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The darker the color, the easier it is to see imperfections in the paint. Any lighter, more matte finishes will look better in terms of showing imperfections. This is why black paint looks fantastic when polished and protected, but if cared for incorrectly it can look dull and swirled up quickly. My last car was black and I loved it, but I wanted something that would hide imperfections more, which is why I opted for CG. If I wanted to pick the best at hiding imperfections in the clear, I would recommend white.