mavin
05-09-2013, 04:20 PM
Hi All,
I drive a 2008 Audi A4 with 56,000 miles. Daily driver, sleeps uncovered outside most nights, and has never been properly taken care of (shame on me). Gas station car washes, hand washing with old rags, the works...
With the seasons warming up, I was looking into getting my car shined up and looking proper. The more I read, the more I figured, hey I can do this. In total I probably spent ~$200 on pads, DA, products, towels, etc. I could have gotten a local detail for that price, but now Im half convinced they would have swirled it up for me! I apologize for the lousy pics, just used an iphone for convenience. I also was worn out by the time I finished and do not have a lot of after shots yet. It slept outside and now has nice layer of pollen/dust on her that I need to go QD off!
First, here is some before pics. I took these a few days before I planned to start, and yet to my horror things were about to get much worse. Pre-wash shots:
http://i.imgur.com/Pg423JT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/78OnPDW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qbzucJy.jpg
Huge scratch down the back
http://i.imgur.com/J1YBZ4E.jpg
Another angle
http://i.imgur.com/CmVzyUu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Dcnf4YV.jpg
I don't have a fancy swirl finder, best I could get to capture my swirls.
Bad enough right? So a few days later the seasons really start to change, and I get a coating of little white dots all over my car. No worries I thought, that will wash right off....
Here are the shots AFTER being washed with Gold Class. My car was COVERED all over with these white dots. I dont know if this was rain damage, pollen, demon spawn or what, but it was stuck on there good.
http://i.imgur.com/gRaNxFo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RTlg7MD.jpg
At this point, Im starting to panic a little. I have never done more than hand wash and spray on some wax. Can the mythical clay bar save me...?? DEAR GOD THIS THING IS AMAZING. It took me around 3 hours to clay out the entire car, as it was in terrible shape from whatever that stuff was.
http://i.imgur.com/bufa21G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qbSMWhu.jpg
Here is the car post-clay. I have already cleaned but not dressed the tires at this point, did not take good pics of that part, sorry!
At this point, I fire up the DA for the first time in my life. I follow everyones advice and start low and work my way up. I dont know what Audi coats their cars in, but it is some hard stuff. I tried UC on an orange LC flat 5.5 inch pad, nothing. Kicked it up to a Cyan, nope. I was glad I had ordered some FG400, and put that baby on a Cyan, and I was in business! I had some trouble with this to be honest, as I had a ton of dusting. I posted another thread over in the detailing 101 asking maybe why. Regardless, FG400/Cyaned the car. I then went and did a round of UP on a tangerine pad, not sure if I needed to do this, oh well. I then put on a layer of BWFD and topped it with 845. Sorry for the lack of final shots, I was tired, and now the car is covered in pollen/dust already :P
http://i.imgur.com/rjyO71Y.jpg
Those horrible back corner scratches cleaned up nicely if I do say so myself!
http://i.imgur.com/3OVRITf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GrQrWXP.jpg
Thanks to everyones help along the way. I participate in a few forums and this one is top notch. I will try to get some better after pictures soon.
I drive a 2008 Audi A4 with 56,000 miles. Daily driver, sleeps uncovered outside most nights, and has never been properly taken care of (shame on me). Gas station car washes, hand washing with old rags, the works...
With the seasons warming up, I was looking into getting my car shined up and looking proper. The more I read, the more I figured, hey I can do this. In total I probably spent ~$200 on pads, DA, products, towels, etc. I could have gotten a local detail for that price, but now Im half convinced they would have swirled it up for me! I apologize for the lousy pics, just used an iphone for convenience. I also was worn out by the time I finished and do not have a lot of after shots yet. It slept outside and now has nice layer of pollen/dust on her that I need to go QD off!
First, here is some before pics. I took these a few days before I planned to start, and yet to my horror things were about to get much worse. Pre-wash shots:
http://i.imgur.com/Pg423JT.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/78OnPDW.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qbzucJy.jpg
Huge scratch down the back
http://i.imgur.com/J1YBZ4E.jpg
Another angle
http://i.imgur.com/CmVzyUu.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/Dcnf4YV.jpg
I don't have a fancy swirl finder, best I could get to capture my swirls.
Bad enough right? So a few days later the seasons really start to change, and I get a coating of little white dots all over my car. No worries I thought, that will wash right off....
Here are the shots AFTER being washed with Gold Class. My car was COVERED all over with these white dots. I dont know if this was rain damage, pollen, demon spawn or what, but it was stuck on there good.
http://i.imgur.com/gRaNxFo.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/RTlg7MD.jpg
At this point, Im starting to panic a little. I have never done more than hand wash and spray on some wax. Can the mythical clay bar save me...?? DEAR GOD THIS THING IS AMAZING. It took me around 3 hours to clay out the entire car, as it was in terrible shape from whatever that stuff was.
http://i.imgur.com/bufa21G.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/qbSMWhu.jpg
Here is the car post-clay. I have already cleaned but not dressed the tires at this point, did not take good pics of that part, sorry!
At this point, I fire up the DA for the first time in my life. I follow everyones advice and start low and work my way up. I dont know what Audi coats their cars in, but it is some hard stuff. I tried UC on an orange LC flat 5.5 inch pad, nothing. Kicked it up to a Cyan, nope. I was glad I had ordered some FG400, and put that baby on a Cyan, and I was in business! I had some trouble with this to be honest, as I had a ton of dusting. I posted another thread over in the detailing 101 asking maybe why. Regardless, FG400/Cyaned the car. I then went and did a round of UP on a tangerine pad, not sure if I needed to do this, oh well. I then put on a layer of BWFD and topped it with 845. Sorry for the lack of final shots, I was tired, and now the car is covered in pollen/dust already :P
http://i.imgur.com/rjyO71Y.jpg
Those horrible back corner scratches cleaned up nicely if I do say so myself!
http://i.imgur.com/3OVRITf.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/GrQrWXP.jpg
Thanks to everyones help along the way. I participate in a few forums and this one is top notch. I will try to get some better after pictures soon.