[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

I am a bit confused. You talked of beige interiors which to me means leather on seats/doors. What about fabric (roof, floor) and plastic.

Fabric on roof and floor carpeting is shampoo washed. That also comes out clean.

Plastic on dashboard and doors is scrubbed with 3M all purpose cleaner and comes out like new. No black smudges.

For nearest 3M outlet try looking on 3M car care website or their facebook page

[paragsachania]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Fabric on roof and floor carpeting is shampoo washed. That also comes out clean.

Plastic on dashboard and doors is scrubbed with 3M all purpose cleaner and comes out like new. No black smudges.

For nearest 3M outlet try looking on 3M car care website or their facebook page

I have comfortably used dry foam from 3M and Cyclo on Fabric along with a scrub and managed to keep certain sections clean without any black smudges.

[vasudeva]

yes got it. They have Green Park, Kailash Colony, and Rajouri Garden. the first two are convenient.

So, just yes or no to this final query (a simple yes or no will suffice as I understand that 3M will not make it new but will definitely improve on the present situation):

Visit to 3M will make a material difference on leather, fabric, and plastic.

I will then arrange this when my car comes back from paint work on Fri/sat. I had budgeted around 80-90K on paint and leather, but it seems I can manage with around 30K for the time being (23-25K for paint and 4-7K for 3M).

[VeluM]

Originally Posted by GTO

I don't believe in this. When the weather is nice, I'll roll the windows down and enjoy the breeze / engine noise.

WRT clean interiors, what am I paying detailers for?

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Fabric on roof and floor carpeting is shampoo washed. That also comes out clean.

The weather is usually quite nice in BLR. Much better than Mumbai at any rate, but then pollution and noise (not the engine's) are still major problems. Rains take care of the pollution for a while

The detailers will clean your car's interiors, but in vehicles like my old Spark, the roof lining looks like it is made of a felt-like weave that gets pulled out and rolled into small "bobbles" by their cleaning equipment. It looks worse in the areas that they make an effort to clean - not the effect I was looking for. Due to the prevalence of lighter interior shades in cars and growing pollution levels in the metros, over time the roof lining near the windows turns an indeterminate, dirty grey colour.

Not sure about the lining of newer or more expensive cars, but the Rapid has a more densely woven fabric-like liner. While it should hold up better to the cleaners' efforts, I still don't want to take a chance though.

[hellmet]

Or, like me, you use an old car and don't care what happens to it's exterior , as long as it is mechanically sound

[chintu_91]

Thank you for coming up with such a useful thread.
Before buying the Vento, I used to hook up on many threads related to detailing by our fellow Bhpians.
Now that I have bought, the tough part is to maintain the light colored interiors. The exterior isn't much of a problem since mine is white colored.

[MunnabhaiMBBS]

Originally Posted by paragsachania

[*]Use additional material over OE Floor mats during rainy season - This will keep the floor mats clean and you may not have to wash that quite often

I always use the Brown color grain bags over my OE floor mats during the rainy season. They absorb water pretty well. Plus floor area does not look dirty. Just dust them once a day and you are good to go.

* In case you are exploring this option, just make sure that it does not fiddle with clutch or any other pedal.

Also make sure that you are not wearing any bracelet or rings while cleaning the vehicle.

[Vitalstatistiks]

Superb thread, very print-out worthy.

Just one question- everyone seems to agree that "Don't wash the car daily or too frequently". At the time, we seem to be advocating wiping the car with a wet microfiber cloth (unless I read it wrong). What is the difference, as far as car condition (medium term-long term) goes ?

[chaith.turbo]

Originally Posted by GTO

Broadly, you have two options to keeping your ride clean & shiny.

GTO, Thanks. A very useful thread for lazy bums like me.
I have a quick question. My Black Fortuner has got few tiny paint cracks. It looks like some Acid has fallen on it and small cracks have appeared.

Any idea how this might have happened? The Service adviser said due to black smoke from Trucks which I highly doubt.
Also any suggestions on how to remove it?

[Jaggu]

Originally Posted by chaith.turbo

I have a quick question. My Black Fortuner has got few tiny paint cracks. It looks like some Acid has fallen on it and small cracks have appeared.

Is it cement water seepage from building? Can you post a pic of this?

For cement marks, if it is not a very old mark one trick is to use harpic (yes the bathroom cleaner), soak the area with harpic for 30 seconds and then brush with a fine tooth brush. Wipe off immediately and then rinse with some water and dry

It works and as long as you don't do this to a hot car body or leave it for long duration it is absolutely safe.

[Y@SH]

Great Thread!

Nothing Helps more than personal interest in your car. You have to be present atleast once a week when the cleaner cleans your car. Tell him what needs to be cleaned and tell him how to do it. My cars are cleaned/dried with Microfiber's, once a week shampoo and once in 6 months detailed at home.

Recently detailed my 2010 City, here are the results. The city doesn't have a covered parking space as a result it got few paint spots which were hard to remove. Didn't want to damage the paint, so just left it.

[Zinda]

Some lazy sunday when I wake up really late and miss the gym, I would simply wash my car with mild Vim Liquid solution and then wipe with microfiber.
Interiors cleaning include wiping with wet-squeezed microfiber, followed by a thin layer application of dashboard polish.
Then cleaning of glasses by sprinkling water drops and wiping with newspaper,
and finally I clean the wheels by rubbing the tyres using a tyre brush with remaining dishwasher solution, washing them and application of tyre polish.

It takes good 2 hours, but at the end I have made for missing the gym and my car is ready for entire week without spending a penny or minute at service station.
This is particularly very nice practice I believe because it also saves my time if nearby service station has a queue.

I must add here - feeling of complete ownership does not comes until you maintain you car (I believe) .

[RGK]

I use Amway car cleaning liquid.

I do this:

1. Take two buckets of water
2. Clean interior first.
3. Close all doors and windows.
4. Wet wash from the top, windshield, bonnet, doors and boot (I use wet
cloth to wipe all windows and never pour water).
5. Squeeze the cloth thoroughly to avoid swirl marks.
6. Use the remaining water to wash all wheels.

It takes 45 minutes to wash my car.

I have seen people store rain water to wash their cars in Pollachi (a fertile town near Coimbatore). Washing with rain water will give additional shine.

[SLK]

Originally Posted by GTO

• Use a car cover to protect the body from the elements. It takes less than a minute to put on or take off. I can't stress enough on the advantages of one. A cover greatly helps in protecting your paint. Get one built of tyvek material; Dupont (preferred) & Polco are both good. Related thread (The Importance of a Car Cover in India). Cost = Starting at Rs. 2,000.

I cover my car daily, basically to save them from unskilled cleaners! Who do more damage than anything else!

My Red GT is most susceptible to paint damage just because the colour which shows the slightest loss of shine.

All I can confirm is that covers always do some damage to the car and a cover is always supposed to be put on a very clean car, just after a wash (after drying, of course)

Covers basically scratch the edges of the car where the covers rest, and there is possibly no cover that doesn't scratch or rub against the paint work.

Depending on the quality of the cover, some maybe better off than the others. I bought the best available for Polo GT (space for mirror, antenna and spoiler).

My car has done only 3k kms and I can already see edges slightly fading (only visible in dark! day time you can't notice). On the flip side, the cleaners put so many swirl marks on the car (and some minor scratches too) within 1 week after delivery that I find the cover a better bet.

Just my contribution so that people take informed decisions with covers!

A few links with people having issues with covers.

http://www.clubscuderia.co.uk/forum/...p/t-17631.html

http://www.6speedonline.com/forums/d...-good-bad.html

http://www.solsticeforum.com/forum/f...b-marks-70764/

[Ravich]

If you use hard water ( typical of borewells) to wash your car, take care to wipe completely dry, the alloy wheels and any chrome trims. Leaving hard water to dry on the wheels may leave hard to remove whitish deposits.