Vryali

Hey folks - first posts and first time I've owned a car I liked enough to want to take care of it. I'm 30, but have always driven junkers, more or less, and finally was in a good enough financial situation to afford a nice car and went with a 2008 GT/California Special Convertible that I'm terribly happy with.

Couple of simple and ignorant questions:

1. I've never taken care of a car more than vacuuming and washing it at a 1.25$/5 min wash place down the road. I just did my first full wash/wax/armorall the interior etc bit and got wax in quite a few places it has become apparent it wasn't supposed to be. There's a black plastic skirt bit that I have it on in a lot of places and it looks tacky, any tips for getting it off there, or just scrubbing with something that has thick bristles? In all the little niches around the brake lights and emblem where the wax dried and is now hard, is it safe to just use a normal toothbrush, or will it scratch the paint? Any basic advice here would be appreciated, and again, I just missed all the man lessons on taking care of a nice car, so I just want to make sure I'm doing it right from here on out.

2. I really like the look of the hood scoop, but does it do anything positive other than look sexy when you buy an add-on like they have here? I think it'd just create resistance, not knowing much about anything, is that not the case?

3. I noticed the light on the cigarette charger didn't go out when I turned off the keys and noticed this was the case with both the armrest and the console chargers. I'd like to leave my phone charger plugged in the armrest with the cord dangling by the cupholder so I can charge my phone while driving, but don't want to do something stupid and end up having to get a jump because I left it plugged in. Is the draw on a basic phone charger w/o the phone plugged in enough for that to be a realistic concern, or should I just leave it in at all times and not worry about it?

4. When I look through the wheels the brake rotor has a lot of rust on it, so I wanted to try to clean those off. Any input on the best way to clean those up and keep them clean? A quick google pointed me at vinegar, but it also pointed out that vinegar continues to eat away even after you clean it off.

Sorry for the very ignorant questions, but the only thing I know is computers, so all the car stuff is new to me. Thanks!

07 Stang

Check out this section, it is full of info on getting your car to that show room shine;

https://mustangforums.com/forum/detailing-46/

kput

Leaving the charger plugged in shouldn't hurt the battery at all..it's a very small amount of power.

As for the rust on your rotors, it's going to be there whether you like it or not. Only solution is to switch out your OEM with ones that don't rust.

Nuke

1. Depending on where the wax is that shouldn't be, do NOT use any type of brush on painted finishes.

2. Hood scoops are for looks. There are many other things on the vehicle that create drag so it's not even an issue.

3. As long as you don't have anything plugged into the charger it won't draw anything substantial. The parasitic power draw for the factory electronics is much higher than what the pilot light on the charger draws (but be aware that the charging system in these S197's are sub-par to begin with).

4. Brake rotors will rust unless they're made of stainless steel and since we bought Ford's, it ain't gonna happen. As soon as the OE (and most aftermarket rotors) get wet, they develop a film of rust. But it'll be removed upon the first application of the brakes so don't sweat it.

Vryali

Thanks a lot, I'll give it thorough read when I have a few this week!

With regards to the power, I figured it probably wasn't a big deal, but thought I'd ask to be sure, thanks!

Sounds like the rotors thing is a non-issue, but if I have to replace them for any reason I'll keep stainless steel ones in mind. Are there any other benefits to stainless steel (or cons) as compared to the factory shipped ones I'd need to be aware of?

Thanks a lot, looking forward to poking around on here and being not as car stupid in the future.

Art161

You mentioned you used ArmorAll, but you didn't mention where you used it, and which product it is. If you have leather interior, don't use an ArmorAll product on the leather unless it is designed for use on leather. If the container says it's for plastic, vinyl, and rubber, then it's not for leather. Plastic, vinyl, and rubber protectants seal the surface; leather needs a protectant that lets it breathe.

If you have some hardened wax you want to remove, you can try softening it with some spray wax and removing the residue with a cotton swab. If that doesn't work, try Dawn dishwasher liquid. If you get any of the liquid on a surface that you do want waxed, then wax it again, because the Dawn will strip off the wax.

Vryali

I used a leather specific ArmorAll for the leather, but that actually answered a question I'd forgotten about wondering if I'd wasted money and could have just used the normal ArmorAll on the seats, so thanks!

QUOTE=Art161;7965332If you have some hardened wax you want to remove, you can try softening it with some spray wax and removing the residue with a cotton swab. If that doesn't work, try Dawn dishwasher liquid. If you get any of the liquid on a surface that you do want waxed, then wax it again, because the Dawn will strip off the wax.[/QUOTE]

I'll try using Dawn, sounds like exactly what I'm looking for where I got wax on the side scoops/skirt.

07 Stang

Even though we were told our seats are leather, is partially true. Because only the actual "seat" part is leather and not a very good grade.