edge1217

What does everyone use for cleaning and shining the chrome exhaust tips? Mine are getting a little dull but I don't want to do anything that might scratch or discolor the extensions. BTW, I just washed my 2013 Edge again today. A month ago I posted about how I clayed it and then polished and waxed it using DG 501/601, DG 105/601, and Collinite 845 as recommended by Richy and Edgieguy. Two washings, a ton of pollen, and a month later, the Edge still has a smooth as glass feel and a really deep, highly reflective glossy finish. The water still beads and sheets beautifully, and the finish seems to be holding up really well. I recently did the same treatment on my wife's neglected 7 year old Honda and it looks amazing too. Really happy with the results!

I suspect this is the same type of product/protection plan as Auto Armor, and having had it applied to my 2013 Edge, I'd be inclined to pass. My dealer "threw in" Auto Armor after my wife and I had driven him crazy with mutiple visits, test drives, price negotiations, etc. We went back to the dealer late one Sat at the end of the month to finalize the deal, but I asked him another question or two and I think he just wanted to stop the madness so he said he'd throw in the interior and exterior protection for "free" if we'd sign the papers (and go away!). That's what we had gone there for anyway and I felt I had already gotten the best price I was going to get from him, so I said sure. He showed me the slick side by side half-hood demonstration to show me how smooth the Auto Armor side was, and even told me I wouldn't have to wax the car for 5 years (a Honda dealer told me that too, which is BS). I was mainly interested in the stain and rip protection for the interior, and was skeptical about the exterior treatment. To me, it was more about the "insurance" of fixing interior rips or stains than it was about the interior or exterior treatment products they used. The exterior was really smooth for about a month or so, then it lost that slick feeling. I still got chips on the hood, which I never really expected I'd be able to avoid. After 6 months of being lightly driven and garaged when not on the road, the surface of my Edge was so rough that I could actually hear my hand when I ran it over the finish. I ended up stripping, polishing, and waxing the Edge myself and it actually looks better now than when I first took delivery with the brand new Auto Armor finish. As for the interior, I have the light stone color and I do get dye transfer from jeans every now and then, but it comes right off with a quick pass with a Meguiars leather wipe. I'm not sure if the product they used on the interior is actually adding any protection. So personally, if they're charging you $600 I'd pass. Like you said, it's almost pure profit and you don;t really know how well the product was applied by the prep man or how good the product is. I'm not sure how the warranty would work for paint chips (how many, how big, how long in service, etc) and after seeing my prep man put the finishing touched on mmy Edge when I picked it up I don't think I'd want him doing paint repairs. Your better investment might be the clear bra. As for the interior, I'm not sure if his plan offers rip and stain protection, but even at $600 it sounds like a lot of money if you're not prone to ripping the leather seats in your cars, or if you're getting the black interior. Just my two cents. Good luck with the Edge!

Hey Joehio. I'm no Richy by any stretch, but if I was, here's what I'd probably say: http://www.carpro-us.com/ultima-interior-guard-plus-12-oz/interior-care-and-protection/ Been looking into this myself based on prior posts I've seen here.

I have one on my 2013 Limited. It's surprisingly low-tech, just a piece of soft vinyl that you can roll up or fold up and store in the spare tire/undefloor cargo area when not in use. It attaches by elastic loops that fit around the rear seat headrests, and a clip on each side that fits into the space between the rear side glass and the rear interior vinyl trim, and there are two more elastic loop fasteners that attach to anchor points on the vinyl trim at the very rear of the cargo compartment. Very quick and simple to install and fold. I take mine off when not in use, because I seldom have cargo to conceal in the back. It's made from soft materials so there's no noise to be heard. My old Honda CR-V had a cargo cover device that was a little more sophisticated, like a canvas shade that rolled like a window shade into a hard plastic housing that stretched from wheel well to wheel well. The case had a tension mount that held it into two pocket recesses in the side trim just above each rear wheel. It was probably better made, but a real pain to store when not in use because it wouldn't fold and was really too long to keep out of the way inside the car. The Edge system is probably better perhaps because it's so simple and flexible, and like I said, it does the job just as well.

Hmmm, never noticed it before but I have a little play in mine too, about 1/8" maximum travel left to right, maybe a little less. My 2013 Edge is only 6 months old, so I'd think what you're experiencing is pretty normal.

Here ya go, Edgieguy, the all-new 2013 2-Door Edge LImited AWD Coupe. Not yet available in Sport, not available in NJ, coupons void where prohibited. Front doors extended to allow access to rear seat, rear "C" pillar eliminated and rear side glass extended forward. Front windows tinted to match rear windows. Sail panel and roofline unchanged. (See how rumors start????)

Oh, at 300 miles your Edge is still a baby! Don't worry, that gas mileage will quickly improve. At 300 miles I was in a mild panic because I was seeing 13 MPG and I was convinced a Sherman tank could get better mileage. Not to worry about your Edge. If you're not already doing so, you might want to drive with the MPG fuel efficiency screen visible so you can see how the MPG is responding to your foot. You'd be surprised how backing off the gas just a hair and taking some of the load off the engine will pick up those MPGs. It's kind of like driving around back in the day with a vacuum gauge attached to the base of your carb. But of course no one here knows what I mean by that I'm sure! Using the fuel economy gauge will help you drive more efficiently if mileage is a concern. Plus it's cool to look at. Enjoy your Edge and welcome to the forum!

How new is your 2013 Limited? That's what I was getting when I first got my Edge Limited 3.5 AWD and I almost died when I saw it. Before my first fillup I was seeing 13, then it inched up to 14, then 15 by the time I had to fill for the first time. My tank readings (not cumulative lifetime readfings) for the next 4 fillups were 18, 18.8, 20.0, and 25.6 (the latter being comprised of a lot of highway miles). Then it settled down to 20-21 with my normal around-town driving routine. I now have about 6,000 miles on mine and I'm getting 20.2 as a "lifetime" average so far and that's been pretty stable for the last few months. Not great, but then again I do mostly all around town driving with very little highway miles, and the weather has been generally cold in the 6 months that I've had the car and I'd imagine that will affect mileage too. Most people with a mix of highway and city are reporting better than what I'm getting, but their conditions are probably more favorable than mine. Very early on I was doing a lot of idling in the driveway as I tried to learn the features of the car, and keep in mind that when averaging your fuel against your miles the amount of time spent idling is a big percent of run time. So when you're sitting still (0 MPG) it brings down the calculation pretty quickly. But when you get more miles on the car, that driveway idle time is spread over more miles traveled, and therefore will have less impact. When I was just sitting in the driveway idling I could literally see the MPG reading go down about 2 or 3 tenths of a mile in one sitting (I think I was programming in NAV points or upgrading Synch so I was out there idling for maybe 45 minutes or an hour at a clip). So if your Edge is new, give it a little while and you'll see things improve a lot from what you're seeing now. Don't pay much attention to the early readings. If your Edge isn't brand new, then I'd suggest getting it back to your dealer because something isn't right. BTW, some people have questionned the accuracy of the MPG dash reading, but I find it's really close on my Edge. I keep a manual log the old fashioned way and have been comparing that to my dash reading. Usually it's right on, but when it's off it's only off my a tenth of a mile and it quickly gets to the "correct" level in a few miles, so I think it's just a rounding thing. On the other hand, people here have said that around 5,000 miles their mileage went up dramatically, so much so that they were questionning whether Ford had programmed in a change in engine settings after some pre-determined "break-in" period of around 5k. At 6,000 miles I'm still waiting for the magic to happen.....

Good around the corners!

I had the same Bluetooth problem a while back and a master reset took care of it for me. The process is very simple, just follow the instructions here: http://support.ford.com/sync-technology/perform-master-reset-sync-myford-touch#reload HTH

Thanks for this, Richy. Yeah, that 501 is really tough stuff for sure! Question: What do you use for solvent? Would you consider the Griot's Pad Cleaner that I used a solvent, or is that more like an APC? I remembered that you mentioned soaking pads in an earlier post and I did give that a try yesterday but forgot to write about it. After I washed and wrung out the pads by hand and spun dry them on my DA, I sprayed them liberally again with Griot's and put them in sealed ziplock bags and let them sit overnight. This morning I rinsed them really well with warm water, wrung them out by hand, and spun-dried them again on my DA. Put them back in new ziplocks (dry bags, with no Griot's solution in the bags) and left the bags on my workbench with the pads facing up and the ziplocks open so any remaining moisture would dry out. I draped a couple of thin plastic shopping bags over the open ziplocks to keep any stray dust from getting into the open bags and onto the pads (pollen is a killer lately!). I hope that they will be totally dry by the end of the day so I can zip up the bags and store them. Ziplocks and pads are labeled as to which chemicals they were used for.

My Griot's Garage Microfiber & Foam Pad Cleaner arrived today so I put it to work. The label says the product is actually designed to be used in the washer or sink, so I assume it is safe to go down the drain. The bottle has a QR code and the link goes to a Griot's video on Youtube showing it being used in the washer and also in the sink. The guy is using gloves though, which is probably a good idea. There are no special "dispose of" instructions. I had read a complaint somewhere online that the Griot's stuff smelled like alcohol, but to me there wasn't much of a smell at all, which gave me mixed emotions -- it seemed safer than I was expecting, but would it be strong enough to clean well? Actually, I think it did a pretty good job, but keep in mind that I'm a novice and have no frame of reference for judging the results. I polished the car with one pad for DG 501/601, another for DG 105/601, and another for Collinite 845. After I finished, I washed them first with Zep Orange and then with Dawn, with several applications of each and some hot water rinses in between. Not sure why I used both Zep and Dawn, I suppose that's like wearing a belt and suspenders and coveralls all at the same time. I wasn't sure if one was as good as the other, so I figured as long as the mixture didn't explode, two had to be better than one. The pads seemed clean the other day after Zep & Dawn, but the 501/601 pad struck me as especially stubborn and I wasn't sure if it was completely free of polish. I was, however, pretty satisfied that I had given it my best shot. Today when I used Griot's, I first wet the pads as directed and I noticed that there was still some wax holdout on the 501/601 pad, since the water took a couple of seconds to sink in. This was noticeable on the 501/601 pad, but not really an issue on the 105/601 and Collinite pads. But after spraying on the GG stuff, the 501/601 pad gave up a LOT of blue polish, even though the other day it was wringing out clear after using ZEP and Dawn. I was surprised at how much the GG stuff took out today. I got a little more junk out of the 105/601 and Collinite pads, but not much, but then again I think the Zep and Dawn had worked pretty well on them the other day. I wrung the pads out pretty well after using Griot's and then spun them dry on my DA, and they definitely feel softer after the Griot's treatment. They seem pretty clean now but just to be safe I've marked the pads and will dedicate them to the same chemicals that they spread on their maiden voyage. There is no visible dirt or polish on any of the pads, and there doesn't seem to be any more wax holdout on that stubborn 501/601 pad. BTW, I used pretty hot water for Zep, Dawn, and Griot's with no ill effect to the foam or the backing. Hot water seemed to help break up the polish and wax better than warm water. This is the link that was embedded in the QR code on the bottle: Hope this helps!

Thanks Joe, I'm just really happy that it wasn't Richy's 666th post..... Yesterday I made a special trip to my local Wally World to get Lestoil. Said a cheerful hello to the greeter (aka security guard), dodged the dreaded electric scooters slaloming at 1/4 mph through the 4x4 displays in the main aisle, ran past the fem-hy section, and headed straight to the laundry section. Denied!!! Lest-oil must have turned into No-oil because they didn't have any of it in my store. Not sure if that's the case at all Wally World stores. I know my store has been out of stock on just about everything except Chinese products ever since about 2003. Maybe yours is the same way too. So you just might want to do what I did and drive to your store first to see if they have it in stock before you make a special trip there to actually buy it (huh?). I'll just go ahead and order Lestoil on Amazon, since I get free shipping with Prime membership. The other day I ordered Griot's Garage pad cleaning solvent from Amazon so I'll try that and Lestoil side by side after I do my wife's car. Ha, now that I've done one entire car and have reached professional status, I'll bet Richy will be dying to have me write one of those highly technical side-by-side L2D reviews of Lestoil vs. GG Pad Cleaner. Maybe I'll make it a 3-way and throw in some Easy-Off Oven Cleaner so we can see how that sucker works. BTW, I carefully selected Griot's Garage pad cleaner after doing some extensive research (i.e., when I searched Amazon for "pad cleaner" it was the first thing that popped up so I figured it HAD to be the best, plus it came in a jug that reminded me of moonshine, and that brings back fond memories of my grandma). Oh yeah, and it was one of the few pad cleaners on Amazon that ships direct from Amazon, so with Prime membership I got free 2 day shipping. Speed was important because I really want to get going on that write-up. :stats:

Thanks Richy, glad you enjoyed it, and thanks for even more new tips and advice. I see that your post to me was your 777th post on this forum, so I'll take that as a good luck omen of more good experiences yet to come!

Too funny, Joe! So maybe I'll hold off on doing the wife's car after all.....

Thanks Edgieguy! Lestoil? Wow, that's a blast from the past! "There's less toil with Lestoil!" I can still hear the jingle. I tried wringing/scraping the pads out with hot water and then using Zep Degreaser. Got a lot out but there's still more, so I'll try some Lestoil tomorrow to finish up. The worst pad was the one with 501/601, really tough stuff! Going around the block tomorrow to see if anyone wants their car polished. This was fun, looks like I have a new hobby!

Thanks WWWPerfA_ZNOW. Yeah, the garage always gets trashed in the winter months with the snowblower brought up from the shed and all the patio furniture and outdoor stuff brought in for storage in the garage. Tiling my daughter's floor a few weeks ago brought a ton of tools out of hiding too, and they're still scattered all over my garage. Not to mention all my new detailing stuff! This spring I hope to paint the garage and install some kind of organizer system. You're right, it never ends....! I also wanted to thank you for your helpful links regarding pad cleaning and image uploading. Really appreciate it!

Welcome, and congrats on your new Edge! I've had my 2013 Edge Limited AWD for 6 months and love it. I switched from Honda and will never go back. I've had no issues with the Edge at all. Does your Edge have MFT? I was a little intimidated by the MFT system at first, but it comes as second nature now. Voice recognition is very good, and it even understands my narrow repertoire of impersonations (I think it understands "them" better than it understands me sometimes!). I did the MFT upgrades myself and they went smoothly. If you do have MFT, while you're waiting to take delivery I'd strongly suggest downloading the My Ford Touch app to your smartphone. This is an interactive app that simulates the controls and commands of the MFT system. It will get you up and running on the basics before you take delivery and it's a great way to pass the time at the office. My dealer didn't even know about the app until I pointed it out, and now all the salesmen use it as a selling/teaching tool for those who are on the fence about MFT. Good Luck!

Here are a few pics that I took of my 2013 Edge after my first attempt at machine polishing yesterday. This is also my first attempt at uploading images to this forum too. Not sure why these came out as small images, but if you want to take a closer look, just click on an image to enlarge it. My Edge is that fairly light Mineral Gray color, so it just doesn't show off the finish quite as well as a darker car would. But still I think you can get a sense of how reflective the finish is now, and the entire car just feels as smooth as glass. Please keep in mind that I didn't have time to do the wheels and tires so they don't look as great as they should. It's a wonder I don't get pulled over a lot more often with plates like this. A dramatic shot of the rear bumper. There's something about the lines of the Edge bumper from this angle that remind me of my '65 Mustang's bumper. Sure wish I still had that car! A reflection of my driveway, looking into my rear liftgate. You'll see a thin white band on the left of this image. That's snow still left over from our 30" blizzard two months ago! Reflections of my stacked patio chairs and garbage bin inside my garage. Sweet. Reflections of "stuff" in my very cluttered garage. That's my next project....