2008 Pontiac G6 summer clean-up

[GMTruckGuy74]

I spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon & early evening and all-day yesterday to clean the entire Pontiac G6 (I even checked all the fluids and installed a new air filter). The car looks better than 'showroom' new and I got a lot of compliments from people passing by.

I used my dad's driveway & garage yesterday to clean, wash, wax & detail the exterior of the G6, as my dad has a two-car gargae with one door and I have a two car garage with two doors and a wall separating them (it was easier to wax inside in the shade than in the sun at my house or my tight garage space). I didn't get to take too many pictures, but on the way home stopped by one of my local picture-taking spots and grabbed these two:

That's at the regional high school's off-site athletic field and there was field hockey practice. As I pulled up and began taking my pictures, the girls were beginning to leave and didn't like me in their way. I learned a long-time ago not to mess with "chciks with sticks", so I left before I caused a traffic back-up. I'll get some more pictures soon.

BTW, I used the Meguiars NXT Gen 2.0 liquid wax and it went on easy and came off the same way. I'll see how well it holds up and give my impression/opinion after it sees some rain and daily driving time.

Edited July 21, 2009 by GMTruckGuy74

[Z-06]

I think the car looks spectacular. That white color really stands out. The rims look amazing too.

[caddycruiser]

Problems or not, I STILL miss my White Diamond/Taupe '08 GT coupe...really, really do.

What a great looking combo and perfectly detailed :AH-HA_wink:

[gm4life]

Looks great, and I love the color and rims!

[ocnblu]

That's a fine looking Pontiac. Thanks for posting!

[GMTruckGuy74]

I easily spent 45 minutes just removing dead bugs, road grime and God knows what else from the front bumper, sides, and just a little from the back bumper. An old white t-shirt was 85% black by the time I was done!! Hopefully now that it's waxed it will be easier to keep clean from all that gunk.

The downside is that there are at least 8-10 stone chips on the car, mostly on the front bumper but also on the sides too. The good news is that they're small in size, and cleaning out the dirt inside each little hole and then covering with wax reduced their visibility to the eye (at least from a little distance away). I'm not sure if I should buy some touch-up paint and try to cover them up (probably not, seeing as how that paint never truly matches).

I'm not one for modding my vehicles, but spending the time cleaning it did give me some ideas. I'd like to get the mirror caps painted (like on the 2009 models), I'm thinking a performance muffler to bring out a little more sound from the 3.5L V6, a new exhaust tip to compliment the new muffler (I'm thinking something like a dual exhaust tip vs. the factory chrome package's single round extension), and finally the rear doors & rear window to be tinted (it's illegal in NJ to have the front windows tinted too, but I'd like them a little darker myself). I think those slight mods would make the car a little nicer. Now to just find the $$$ to do it!!

On a side note, does anyone have access to a manual for the G6? I'd like to find out how to remove the interior dome lamp. The G6 doesn't have rear reading lamps like my AURA does, and I'd like to find/buy one and install it. Also, how much trouble is it to change out the ISRV mirror? The G6 has OnStar but doesn't have the auto-dimming feature (which my AURA does). It's a feature I'll miss having on the G6 - the AURA, my '04 Malibu, my '05 Envoy, my wife's '03 Rendezvous and her '00 Grand Prix all had this option and I like it while driving at night. I'm thinking even if I do find the part it may be a difficult task to take on.

[ocnblu]

GMTG74, don't try to paint your existing mirror caps, they are textured and will not hold paint well. Best to just buy a pair of the smooth, paintable caps, have them painted, and pop them in.

[A Horse With No Name]

The car looks great...

Chris

[Intrepidation]

Great cleaning job! looks like it just rolled off the assembly line!

GMTG74, don't try to paint your existing mirror caps, they are textured and will not hold paint well. Best to just buy a pair of the smooth, paintable caps, have them painted, and pop them in.

Could they be sanded?

[ocnblu]

Um... GM makes smooth caps. Sanding the texture off his existing ones is a waste of time and it would lead to an uneven surface that would look like crap.

[Intrepidation]

Because I would know what GM makes for a car I don't own.

It was just a thought.

[vonVeezelsnider]

GMTG,

MCE'd G6 Sedans had the mirror surrounds with colour in them, you could always buy a pair of '09 spec mirror housings.

[bobo]

Looks good. I still find the G6 to be a handsome vehicle, especially with the chrome accents, and I just love the pearl white color. Doing touch ups with the two-part paint can be difficult, though. Body color mirrors would be a big improvement.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Even when it was dirty, we'd get compliments on its color - White Diamond Tricoat. Now all washed, waxed & detailed, I got a ton of compliments every where I took it today. It pays to spend a day or two to clean-up your ride. My neighbor/friend came over and joked with me on Saturday. He asked if I was trading it in... I responded, "No, why do you ask?" and he replied, "I've only seen you do this level of work when your getting ready for a new vehicle!" That's true, as in the past (last May/June with the Envoy) when a lease was a couple of months away from ending I'd give the leased vehicle this amount of attention (yeah, I know - at the end when I couldn't enjoy all my hard work). I told him since this one will eventually be paid off & owned for a while I need to start protecting my investment

I know not a lot of posters on C&G appreciate or like the Pontiac G6, but it isn't as bad of a car as many think. Yes, Pontiac/GM should have put more $$$ into it's MCE and done it 2-3 years earlier, and yes, Pontiac/GM should have put out a few more bucks at its inital launch for a more upscale interior, but for a daily driver this car is well-equipped and comfortable and has yet to let me, or more importantly the wife, down. Although I wanted the car in Performance Red Tintcoat, I can admit that the G6 looks great in White Diamond Tricoat and has given the car a lot of positive attention from non-Pontiac and GM car owners.

Hopefulyl I can get out and get some more pictures before the rain gets here. I was too busy today and tomorrow's not looking any better.

[daves87rs]

She looks good! Glad the wax worked well!

I'll be using the same in the fall for my cars....

[avant1963]

I rag on the G6 a lot since it was the worst GM car mechanically (most of that due to the panoramic roof), but knock on wood my wife's second G6 GT (2008) has been perfect for over a year and a half.

My wife loved the car (even though she had to drive a Buick Century for 4 weeks when they were trying to fix the roof) which is why we went for another one. I said as long as it has a normal sunroof (by 2008 the panoramic roof was discontinued because it was such a problem) and that it did not have the electric power steering (by 2008, all GTs also had hydraulic steering). At least GM learned. And I haven't had to take the G6 back for anything since I bought it.

And Roger, the G6 looks great.

[GMTruckGuy74]

Thanks Walt! And I totally understand where you're coming from. My wife works with a lady who had a 2006 G6 GT with the panoramic sunroof and besides that giving her problems, she had several other mechanical issues too (GM ended up "lemon-lawing" it and she did stay with Pontiac though - I think my wife said she went with a G5?). That scared my wife a bit but I told her to relax as the panoramic sunroof, as you already stated, was not an option for '08. My dad owns a 2006 G6 V6 Sedan and other than some minor warranty issues in the past 3 years, he's had a very reliable and dependable car - I told her to look at his car as evidence that not all G6s are bad. I'm sure you see it too up in the central part of the state, but down in southern NJ there are a ton of Pontiac G6s on the roads. Pontiac sure did make a lot of these cars and lately it has been their volume seller. If you look at it as the Grand Am's replacement (and I guess spiritually the Alero's too), and not the savior of Pontiac, then you can see that it's not as bad a car as some enthusiasts make it out to be.

daves87rs, the wax was a great suggestion and so far it gives the paint a shiny, glassy appearance. Surprisingly, I had a small container of the Meguiars NXT Gen "ALL METAL" polish (paste) for the wheels - must have bought that for my SKY and forgot about it. It was not as easy to take off on the rims (a lot of elbow grease was needed!), but the rims look great. I also have a bottle of Mothers Chrome Wheel Polish that I'll try in the fall instead and compare the results. I want to take the G6 out int he rain to see how well the wax works, but at the same time I don't want to get it dirty so soon!!

[GMTruckGuy74]

I finally made the time to go out and get some more pictures of the G6 (rain is predicted for the remainder of the week, so it was today or no other time rain-free). Knowing that many would not be interested in all of the shots I took, here are the six I like best:

Enjoy!!