2016~2023 Ultimate “Grand Tourer”

I like the brushed aluminum look. What products did you use ?

We were debatting what to do with the shifter letters on a different post. I don’t think anyone had found a better solution to it yet.
 
I like the brushed aluminum look. What products did you use ?

We were debatting what to do with the shifter letters on a different post. I don’t think anyone had found a better solution to it yet.

Thanks. I didn’t know how I was going to like it but I also didn’t want just a basic color. I think it looks pretty luxurious. https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned) The satin black was just some existing 3M vinyl I had sitting around.

I ended up using knifeless tape to cut that circle. I may just cover the whole thing because it would look cleaner and you don’t necessarily need the light up indicators down there. You can see on the info cluster what gear you’re in too. The most ideal solution would be to have a laser cutter and cut the letters out of the vinyl before applying it.
 
Chose to give up the gear indicator lights in order to have a more uniform look. You can still see the letters well enough at night thanks to the overhead ambient light

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I agree with you. This looks a lot better. What did you use for the letters ? Are they stick on letters ?
 
The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. I will be moving in 4-6 weeks and have A LOT of stuff to pack up. CX-9 mods will have to wait. They are first on my list when we arrive at our new home though. Interior is almost done to my liking. Next is exterior appearance and then electronics.
 
Finally made it to Texas. Still 11 days until the new house closes, but this heat is ridiculous. Garages are too small to comfortably get two vehicles in, so I installed a Fortin remote start today. I am limited in the tools I have available right now but it wasn’t a difficult install at all. I’ll probably hook up the parking lights later once we settle into the new house so I can see when it’s on. I don’t know why I included a picture, but it’s the first time the CX-9 was running with the remote start haha
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Finally made it to Texas. Still 11 days until the new house closes, but this heat is ridiculous. Garages are too small to comfortably get two vehicles in, so I installed a Fortin remote start today. I am limited in the tools I have available right now but it wasn’t a difficult install at all. I’ll probably hook up the parking lights later once we settle into the new house so I can see when it’s on. I don’t know why I included a picture, but it’s the first time the CX-9 was running with the remote start haha
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Glad to see that you made it there safely! Any hiccups along the way, or did the CX-9 live up to the "Grand Tourer" title?
 
Glad to see that you made it there safely! Any hiccups along the way, or did the CX-9 live up to the "Grand Tourer" title?
I stayed right behind my wife in her 4Runner using the radar cruise control. It was a very relaxing drive even on the long days. Tires are on their last leg at this point and I still haven’t fully decided on wheels yet!

The CX-9 did overheat twice. Or at least I think it did. Coolant got a bit high on the temp gauge and I had no power getting back on the highway in Arkansas and Texas. No CELs though and after about a minute at highway speed, it was fine. I guess the radiator fan can’t keep up with the 100+ degree days
 
Fully committed to this chrome delete. All rear and side chrome is removed (other than window trim) and sitting in a bleach bath. Side note: when you buy a lot of bleach, a tote large enough for a small human, and a roll of duct tape all at the same time, the cashier and the people in the parking lot and your new neighbors all look at you weird 😂
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Work trip interrupted the de-chroming but here’s what they look like after sitting in 60 gallons of bleach for a week! Got them all washed up and it was just plastic left. Of course I didn’t remember to take a picture of that

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And here is the final result:

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I am not sure if I’ll keep the red or change it to bronze when I finally decide on new wheels. Opinions?

Next up is the window chrome. I can remove the chrome around the front and middle windows, but not the rear window. I think I will end up using vinyl wrap for that just to keep it consistent from window to window. I also want to paint the roof rails but I didn’t see anything in the service manual about removing them. Has anyone done that before?
 
Looks great!! Love the tasteful red accents in the grille. Do you know what style/colour of wheels you'll be getting in the future? I think colour-matching the accent pieces in the grille to the wheels would be a nice touch.
 
In the after bleach bath picture, the trims look like they have a lot of texture to them. Or is it just dry water spots?
 
Looks great!! Love the tasteful red accents in the grille. Do you know what style/colour of wheels you'll be getting in the future? I think colour-matching the accent pieces in the grille to the wheels would be a nice touch.

Thanks! I am going to go 20" bronze wheels. I had decided on the M012s from Canada, but all the local dealers either can't or won't order them and it sounds like they are backordered for months. At this point, I may end up just powder coating my OEM wheels. I have found one other wheel that I like, unfortunately it looks so similar to the OEM wheel that it doesn't really make sense to purchase. Right now, I am thinking of putting one strip of red through the whole wheel similar to the Chevy Traverse red line wheels so the accent color carries through the whole vehicle
 
Two things happened today. Firstly, I’m not in love with the solid black accents. Not exactly sure what I am going to do, but a different color is in order. I like metal colors as secondary colors on cars so I may go with bronze. Secondly, I sent an oil sample back at the beginning of October and it got lost in the mail. Apparently it finally arrived and I got the results today. I think they look fine, but I’d be interested to hear other people’s opinions on the results.
 

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Did this a week or so ago now but been busy with house things and a road trip so didn’t get to post it.

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Ended up wrapping the outer parts of the grille and other chrome bits. I didn’t have enough time to paint them so this will do for now. The grille inserts are still painted except the red. I like this more subtle red better than the candy apple I originally went with. The plan is still to re spray all the pieces when I have time or the wrap fails. Went with satin gold dust black which looks black in most light unless it’s direct sunlight or rain; that’s when it really shows the gold dust.

Here’s a closer look:

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Please excuse the bug and hay splatter. I have t had time to wash it from our last road trip
 
Finally got around to finishing the interior chrome wrapping. Center vent was needed as well as the cup holder (not seen here). Also added the same red wrap from the grille to the two best buttons in the vehicle 😬
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Ended up wrapping the window trim chrome since there is no easy way to separate the rear quarter glass chrome from the glass. It would have looked weird half painted satin black and half gold dust. I removed the roof rails and sanded them to bare metal for a satin black paint job. Surprisingly, there is no weather sealing around the bolts that hold the rails to the brackets, just the brackets themselves. I should have inspected the brackets closer, but it looks like the brackets penetrate the roof and the rails just bolt to those. First time I have removed a rack where the rails didn’t have end caps that penetrated the roof.
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Now that there isn’t any exterior chrome (barring headlights), the wheels look out of place. I ordered a new set of wheels a few weeks ago but they aren’t expected until February 2022 so I guess I’ll have to ride like this for a bit
 
Would wrapping the door handles and fuel door be too much? I don’t know, if you’re going all in May as well go for the gusto
 
Would wrapping the door handles and fuel door be too much? I don’t know, if you’re going all in May as well go for the gusto
I might do the mirror caps, but I like the color matched handles and don’t particularly like a fuel door that stands out so probably won’t be doing that
 
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