* The Car Cleaning Thread *

Havana_UK · 12 Nov 2016 at 09:59

A friend who recently bought a new RS3 had the paint protection thrown in as part of the deal, but when he brought it round for me to have a look at the paint underneath was wrecked. Literally swirl marks over the whole car.

I encouraged him to take it back to the dealer and request that they pay for a professional detailer to put it right. They agreed eventually and the car looks much better now but the detailer had to polish the whole car to correct the paint before properly sealing it.

chroniclard · 12 Nov 2016 at 12:22

Bah, car needs a clean but its either ball freezing cold or bloody raining.

Need to rent some kind of detailing warehouse for a day.....

Raymond Lin · 12 Nov 2016 at 12:27

Not cleaned it, for what must have been like 10 weeks to 3 months.

I am sticking to my Collinite and Sonax BSD combo, I can't fault it.

below is a day or 2 after at the beginning.

adam cool dude · 12 Nov 2016 at 12:59

My new toy arrived. It makes ultimate lazy cleaning possible for the winter months. I just simply snowfoam the car. Bilberry the wheels then use this to get them spanking. Great on wheel arches as well.

Tinders · 12 Nov 2016 at 14:18

Raymond Lin said:
Not cleaned it, for what must have been like 10 weeks to 3 months.

I am sticking to my Collinite and Sonax BSD combo, I can't fault it.

below is a day or 2 after at the beginning.

Its still that clean after 3 months? Im guessing you dont do many miles, i use the same combo and in this weather, i'll be lucky if it stays clean for a week!

Raymond Lin · 12 Nov 2016 at 14:30

Tinders said:
Its still that clean after 3 months? Im guessing you dont do many miles, i use the same combo and in this weather, i'll be lucky if it stays clean for a week!

Oh, the back of the car and lower half between front and rear wheel axel is covered in dirt. The bonnet, the roof and from archways up is surprisingly clean.

Looking at my app, since 4th July I have done 5,000 miles, been to Essex, Sussex twice, Tenby last week, North of Birmingham the week before that, Cirencester a couple of times, on motorways, A-roads.

grudas · 13 Nov 2016 at 20:15

Cleaned it and dumped a layer of poor boys wax.

Steedie · 21 Nov 2016 at 10:32

Gave the car a proper going over yesterday, it has paint protection on it anyway from the dealer but I don't trust it so did it myself. Collinite 476S with SONAX Xtreme Brilliant Shine on top is a brilliant combination, definitely recommend it for anyone looking for a new wax or detailing spray

RSR · 21 Nov 2016 at 14:12

Raymond Lin said:
Looking at my app, since 4th July I have done 5,000 miles, been to Essex, Sussex twice, Tenby last week, North of Birmingham the week before that, Cirencester a couple of times, on motorways, A-roads.

Holey Cow! I'm lucky to cover that in a year. :eek:

Raymond Lin · 21 Nov 2016 at 14:27

RSR said:
Holey Cow! I'm lucky to cover that in a year.

I personal miles in a year is much less, it's the business miles in the summer that makes up a bulk of it.

VaderDSL · 22 Nov 2016 at 09:21

With the salt on the roads, do I need to address the underside of my car? Or will it be fine?

Cookeh · 22 Nov 2016 at 09:24

Depends on the car. Is it made out of cheese, like most 90s jap cars, or is it a more modern Germanic/British effort?

grudas · 22 Nov 2016 at 09:30

Cookeh said:
Depends on the car. Is it made out of cheese, like most 90s jap cars, or is it a more modern Germanic/British effort?

I'd say jap/french cars in general

my mazda 3 is early 2007 and is covered in surface rust underneath.

robj20 · 22 Nov 2016 at 09:30

Been given some carpro Perl is it any good, thinking of using it as a tyre dressing.

Snookums · 25 Nov 2016 at 08:06

After a decent glass cleaner, any recommendations? Tempted by RainX as it seems to be excellent at first but I think I remember reading further back in the thread that it's terrible after a while.

And for wheel cleaner Im gonna change up for the hell of it, had megs before but I think Im gonna go for the autobrite purple rain stuff this time.

baron02 · 25 Nov 2016 at 09:42

Hi,

Just asked for a quote to have my Q5 winter prepped etc from a local detailing firm.

"Hi, winter prep starts at £175, the actual price is hinged on the current condition of the vehicle, heavy duty wax/sealant used as standard ( exterior ) koch chemie products used for interior, upgrades are available at extra cost."

I have asked for gyeon cancoat as a upgrade which is £50 on top..

Is this a good fee?

Cookeh · 25 Nov 2016 at 10:18

Sounds fairly reasonable for what will likely be 7-8 hours work.

@Rob, in one word, yes. Perl is just fine.

dacads · 25 Nov 2016 at 11:41

Similar to Raymond really, BSD is doing a great job still with beading but lower parts of car have understandably got dirty.

Think a quick rinse should solve that though, maybe a wash

Lakeland · 25 Nov 2016 at 20:20

What screen wash products are people using?

I've just topped up with 1:3 of autoglym and it's not frozen yet (-3oC) but it has refrozen on the screen until I squirted more on.. Quite expensive at £29/5ltr

Si105 · 25 Nov 2016 at 20:59

Snookums said:
After a decent glass cleaner, any recommendations? Tempted by RainX as it seems to be excellent at first but I think I remember reading further back in the thread that it's terrible after a while.

And for wheel cleaner Im gonna change up for the hell of it, had megs before but I think Im gonna go for the autobrite purple rain stuff this time.

For wheel cleaner ez car care also have their iron remover on £25 for 5l at the moment for black friday.

Nilco nilglass from B&Q or Wowo glass cleaner are great.

*** The Car Cleaning Thread ***

* The Car Cleaning Thread *