English Deutsch Français Italiano Español Português 繁體中文 Bahasa Indonesia Tiếng Việt ภาษาไทย
All categories

I have a 1997 Ford Taurus GL 4 door sedan. It is in great condition and has very low mileage. I dont want to spend hundreds of dollars. I already have all new speakers, new CD deck and subwoofers. I was thinking about getting a neon light on the interior? Maybe replace the floor mats? any ideas are appreciated!! Thanks yall!

2007-03-26 16:44:08 · 14 answers · asked by Phil M 2 in Cars & Transportation Other - Cars & Transportation

14 answers

You don't have to spend hundreds of dollars. When a lot of people see things like lots of neon lights, body kits, chrome wheel covers and all that cr*p, they think and sometimes even say "W*nk*r". This particularly includes women.

Pull out the floor mats, place on ground and spray with garden hose. Put a squirt of liquid detergent in a bucket, fill with water and dip a soft nylon broom in the bucket. Scrub the mats with the broom. Then hose the detergent out. Put over a clothesline to dry. If this does not work, get new mats. Don't forget the luggage compartment.

Vacuum the interior. Go over vinyl seats with an upholstery cleaner, scrubbing to remove in-ground dirt. Don't forget the door linings. Use a proprietary leather cleaner on leather and when dry treat with a leather dressing available from saddlers, auto stores or furniture retailers. Allow the dressing to sink in for a while, this is all best done on a warm day, or park in the sun with the windows up for a while.

Use a paintbrush on the dashboard to remove dust from crevices and ventilators. Then wipe over with a product like Armor-All. Don't use ordinary Armor-All on leather or get it on glass. Clean the interior glass, do not use window cleaner spray if the car has tinted film on the inside of the windows.

Obtain a clay bar. These are fairly expensive but do a good job. Wash the car using a little detergent and dry in the normal way. Use a plastic fast-food knife to pop off chrome scripts such as "GL" or Taurus". Sometimes these are glued on and cannot be removed easily.

Give these a gentle clean-up, careful, they are fragile. Then following the instruction on the clay bar pack, go over the car to remove contamination from the paint. If you find it is taking significant colour, best to stop. If you drop the bar, throw it away. You can remove tar spatters on the paint with a rag dipped in kerosene, but don't hold it on the paint for long and wipe it off carefully.

Depending on the overall condition of the paint, use a mild cutting polish or an ordinary one. Polish with a soft cloth taking care to avoid swirl marks. Use a plastic/rubber dressing on exterior plastic parts rather than car polish or Armor- All. Carefully remove remnant polish from crevices and put the chrome scripts back on.

Remove wheels one by one and clean the interiors thoroughly to remove accumulated brake dust etc. Then clean/polish the outside. Experienced show and shine competitors don't use tyre black but a transparent rubber treatment instead.

Since you have the wheels off and have presumably washed under the fenders/mudguards you can paint inside them with any colour you like. Black is good as already suggested but you could get radical and use a tan or beige, which will disguise dust and mud spray. Make sure the car can't fall on you while you are doing this.

Remove the tail lamp lenses and wash them out with a strong detergent and water mix. If they have metallic reflectors inside, don't do this. You can polish the outside plastic with a fine grade silver polish though, which will remove some grime.

All this will take a weekend or more and would probably get you 7 out of 10 at a concourse.

2007-03-26 18:18:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1 1

Both above me are great suggestions. I would buy new hubcaps, get it detailed (have them remove any impurities and scratches/dents in the paint) in and out, new floor mats wouldn't hurt (get some OEM mats, some aftermarkets don't fit 100% or look good.

Remember theres nothing wrong with spending money on an older car. New car payments would be around $400 a month for something reasonable, that's crazy considering you can spend $500 and make your car look new again.

Don't pimp your car or rice it out, body kits/spoulers/neons and all of those other things are too cheezy.

2007-03-26 16:56:07 · answer #2 · answered by Jake 4 · 3 0

Make Your Car Look New

2016-12-17 13:54:32 · answer #3 · answered by ussery 4 · 0 0

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, give it a good detail, or have a pro do it for you. On top of that, the best looking car is one that is back to original. Try to get hold of the original parts such as floor mats and maybe some seat covers. Also look at original outside trimmings to replace the ones that need replacing. But please, DON'T GO TART IT UP.

2007-03-26 17:32:28 · answer #4 · answered by Louwtjie 1 · 0 0

I'd personally be careful with Mazda. In my experience with dealer auto auctions and all...most of them that come through the auction lines are either smoking or just ragged out. The newer one may be a different story, but if I were you I'd stick to what you're used to. There may be a reason you've never heard of the 626's being in the same category as the Toyota and Honda.

2016-03-17 02:54:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

I'm jealous. I have (actually it's the wife's, and I get to keep it together) a 1996 Ford Taurus GL 4 door station wagon. To make it sparkle, I make it start, period. If you want to play, go ahead. I'd save my money for something down the road that has some potential. Oops, I'm picking on Fords again, they owe me a lot of skin. Do whatever you want and please don't do anything to impress others, that is a never winning battle.

2007-03-26 17:01:16 · answer #6 · answered by Lab 7 · 2 0

Go over it and detail it out. Wash wax and use a tire treatment to get them shining. Clean the windshield inside and out. Shampoo the carpets, clean or replace the floor mats. It will look like a new car to you.

2007-03-26 16:52:24 · answer #7 · answered by Fordman 7 · 0 0

The car is what it is... transportation. Like the others have suggested, get it cleaned. Keep it clean and drive sensibly to preserve the car as much as possible. Older cars need to be treated with a little more care to keep them on the road. That means don't abuse it unless you have money to replace broken or worn out parts. Also keep up with periodic maintenance like oil and filter changes. Good luck with it.

2007-03-26 16:57:46 · answer #8 · answered by kevin v 3 · 0 1

Fresh buff job (wax), black out the wheel wells (black rubberized undercoating), black out anything of the under carriage that shows from the size or rear view (black rubberized undercoating). Clean windows inside and out, toothbrush or detail brush to remove all wax residue from edges, giving it a clean look.

Just a good over all clean up, spruce up, wax, fresh floor mats can do wonders to a car.

2007-03-26 16:49:48 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0 0

ok so NO neon light inside, this is not the disco. floormats will be nice and also i agree with everone, a good wax job not slacky one will do alot of good, even of you dont think it needs it, it will give it that glow, and also the wheel well things, DO THAT. make sure if there is any place where you can see dirt undrneath that you get those places too.

2007-03-26 17:19:40 · answer #10 · answered by amanda 1 · 0 0

fedest.com, questions and answers