Oh no...Schlud cleaned his truck!
I've been using the Meguiars scratch and swirl remover polish (#9, I think) or whatever to remove the debris off my hatch. It has worked well. I imagine the clay bar probably works with less effort though...I should get one.
I agree 100% that most people reporting problems don't really have a problem and I've mentioned that over and over again on the other boards. You tell people to polish and wax and they're like "I paid $25K for this truck, why doesn't Nissan take care of that?" Nissan is NOT responsible for proper paint care after purchase folks! They just don't understand that road debris and improper care breaks down the paint...especially with the new environmentally friendly, water based paints used on new cars. Sheesh!!!
Hopefully you followed up with a good wax coat (I'm sure you did), as it will help keep a lot of that stuff from attaching again...atleast for awhile.
I need to remove my plastic parts too and clean underneath. We all know that dirt traps moisture and trapped moisture is not good for steel, so that's a very good idea.
I usually use the Meguiars #9 swirl remover, the #7 show car glaze, and the #26 paste wax when I do mine. Then, I use the quick detailer to clean things up. Works well. However, I know some people using Blitz wax on black cars and they are getting mirror-like finishes, so I may have to try that someday.
Did you remove your roof rack too when you did this? Since mud doesn't really get up there, I'm not too worried about it, but maybe I'll do that this summer for the first time. Oh, and were the flare pieces hard to remove or reinstall?
Nice work Schlud. now, go get it dirty again!
BTW, it may seem like overkill, but cleaning and waxing in the doorjams and such isn't a bad idea either, along with taking care of the door seals and such.