Is detailing worth it for me?

[sharpyboy]

Hi guys

I've never been obsessive about car cleaning on my cars as they have normally been daily drivers used for commuting so have never got into car detailing as I saw it as a waste of time and energy. I have the utmost of respect for shiny immaculate paintwork on a car and really think the colour and light reflections add to the overall shape and contours of the car. I'm new to the z4 and my car is ten years old and does not have immaculate paintwork there are stone chips and swirls and all sorts of problems I expect I've not even noticed but you would so I have to ask is it worth spending a lot of time and energy cleaning, polishing and buffing and protecting the paintwork. I could understand it as a second car only taken out once or twice a month but as a daily driver how do you keep up with the cleaning?

Could anyone suggest a low maintenance cleaning regime for someone to improve the old tired paintwork (jet black) of my car or am I wasting my time if the paintwork is not pristine? I live in a block of flats and have no garage only a covered parking space with no electrical outlets so pressure washers and da polishers are out, unless you can get rechargeable ones.

What do you guys do at places like Zedfest when you show your cars after a 2 to 3 hour drive in a field? How do you clean the dead bugs off and put on the shine?

Looking forward to your response

[Marlon]

I have a similar set up to you - without the covered parking space, so I use buckets of water and a mitt. then finish off with Show Room Shine. Every few months I wash then use a clay mitt then dry and apply a deep wax. Provided the car stays relatively clean I use Show Room Shine & micro-fibre cloths to quickly go over sills, arches and bumpers - its ideal for the likes of Zedfest, or a quick clean if going out at weekend. I'm in the town and work is on the door step so I don't suffer lots of country lane dirt or long commutes in bad weather and so fortunately I don't need a jet wash. I have a bug remover and screen clean for the motorway bugs in the summer.
EDIT: Show Room Shine is a waterless wash - I wouldn't recommend it (or any waterless product) to clean a dirty car, but its great for quickly touching up

[sp3ctre]

Even with old paintwork a black car does look smart when cleaned up... another option would be to take it to a hand carwash every month or so and take it to a detailer for a spruce up every 6-12 months. That option does cost money, but then again shampoo, wax, clay, DA polishers etc aren't free either.

[swilsco]

Selfishly promote my thread viewtopic.php?f=15&t=89682. This might help somewhat.

I am in a similar situation. I have a jet black car, it is my daily driver, and i live in a flat.

A low maintenance and cheap regime could be:
[*] ONR - Optimum No Rinse and Shine - Pre-spray, and bucket solution with several MF towels. Waffle towels for drying.
[*] Pre-wax Cleanser or Light Polish e.g. Autoglym Super Resin Polish, dodo juice lime prime.
[*] Wax - Loads of choices available. Soft99 Fusso is popular.

Cheap and decent range -> Dodo Juice Basics of Bling https://www.basicsofbling.com/

You aren't wasting your time. A polished and waxed black car looks great

[Zero4]

I'd suggest getting the paint corrected first then from there...


You can get buckets with watertight lids. Fill 2 of them and put them in the boot. One for rinse and one with a squeeze of shampoo. Drive to a jet wash and jet off the car then get the 2 buckets out and stick the nozzle in the shampoo bucket, give it a quick blast and you'all have lots of suds. Use the 2 bucket method ( important especially on black as it shows swirls easily ) then once shampoo'D with a washmit just jetwash it all off. I dry the car with a few rung out micro fibre towels ( don't use dry, they're not great when dry but great when damp ) before drying spray some spray detailed on, helps with the drying and leaves a thin coat on the paint. If you want to from there add a coat of wax. Trick is get a wax that is easy applied and buffed off.

Sounds a pain but it doesn't take that long and at least it's done properly. If you have a good petrol station with jet wash bays you can do it Sunday morning and take a little time.

[Roundozo]

If you use the jet wash bays PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE don't use the brush attachment. The amount of crap that lives in those bristles will give you even more swirls than you started with and possibly some nice scratches too!

[Paulr]

Soapy Wash, polish. Drive and get dirty.

Then when it needs cleaning next, soapy wash, micro cloth off, and then use Autogym Instant Detailer. You spray on and wipe off, takes all those water streaks and marks left.

Polish every 6 months.

Or try Waterless Car Wash. Hose your car first though to get rid of the major dirt, best one I have found is the Turtle Wax one as it leaves no white 'overspray' on the trim. About £12 from Halfords.

Works a treat on my black Santa Fe.