How Do You Clean Your Car?

[tai_newbie]

At last... Had some sun shine and found some time to pet my bigger ride getting it ready for some family driving for this summer. Spent about 6 hrs this weekend to clean my odyssey. Sorry for the poor quality pics. These are taken in shade with my mobile.

1) Vacuumed interiors
2) Hand washed with Armour All car wash liquid
3) Applied Turtle Swirl and scratch remover all the door handles
4) Hand Waxed with Turtle wax
5) Cleaned the glass with some glass cleaner liquid
6) Wiped down all interiors with wet wipes
7) Applied Black Magic dashboard protectant
8) Cleaned and conditioned the leather seats with meguairs leather cleaning and conditioning wipes
9) Applied Armour all tire shine

Pending
10) RainX water repellent on the windshield
11) RainX Headlight restorer


Also bought turtle Leather cleaner and conditioner but didn't get a chance to use it.
Planning the same for my Camry next weekend if the weather permits.

 

[Vishwas]

At last... Had some sun shine and found some time to pet my bigger ride getting it ready for some family driving for this summer. Spent about 6 hrs this weekend to clean my odyssey. Sorry for the poor quality pics. These are taken in shade with my mobile.

1) Vacuumed interiors
2) Hand washed with Armour All car wash liquid
...
it.
Planning the same for my Camry next weekend if the weather permits.

That's quite a job you have done on this vehicle and the effect has come out really well. Why not an ownership review on this vehicle bro, we will be delighted to read about your odyssey (or is there a report already?)

 

[tai_newbie]

That's quite a job you have done on this vehicle and the effect has come out really well. Why not an ownership review on this vehicle bro, we will be delighted to read about your odyssey (or is there a report already?)

Thanks. Never thought of ownership review. Now that you mentioned, I shall key down one. But it might take some time.

 

[tai_newbie]

Cleaned my camry as well over the weekend. Followed the same steps as I did for Odyssey a couple of weeks back except I didnt vacuum the interiors. There was no mess inside. Just dusted off the carpet mats.

 

[sethumurugan]

Guys due to open space and heavy wind my car cover flying like anything and within 15 min car got totally uncovered so i have purchased the flexible rope tighten the whole cover from bonnet and boot side with the help of clip attached with that rope .Now my concern is whether this practice may hamper the paint in Bonnet and Boot?pls suggest...

Flexible rope

Hey friend. Can you post a pic when you fixed these flexible rope. Looks like I might also might need this.

 

[Sidd7hartha]

Friends, I seek your views regarding car maintenance by self, i.e how much maintenance may be carried by ourselves [without help of mechanic ]? I do not have any garage,the car remains under sky,only a cover purchased with car wraps it. I learnt from this forum and other sites that Air filter,wheels,coolant etc. can be changed without help of mechanic. If my learned friends discuss the matter,it will be of immense help.

 

[TAIDhana]

Hi Siddhartha
Current gen cars require very minimal attention apart from the periodic maintenance to be done in manufacturer specified intervals. It is highly advisable to get it done with authorized service center rather than local mechanics. But if cost is the point of concern, you can definitely keep it optimal by maintaining close contact during service & refusing any value added services.

In periodic maintenance, broadly there are different kinds of activities:

1. Replacement of fluids, filters etc. at fixed intervals irrespective of condition - please don't compromise on this
2. Value added services which service centers 'try to sell' - coatings, polishing, additives, synthetic oil etc. - which can be completely avoided
3. Non-core service like Wheel alignment and balancing - is recommended for longer tire life. But can be done outside also at a reputed place
4. Apart from these, only other thing we might have to do it ourselves is checking tyre pressure periodically (once in 2 weeks if normal air & 4 weeks if nitrogen) & filling water for wind shield washer whenever it get empty

In summary, there is hardly any maintenance which we need to ourselves. And it is best to avoid local mechanics since most of them don't have knowledge of new generation car & very high chances of our car becoming a specimen for him to experiment and learn.

Note: I have left out break down maintenance aspects & also wear and tear replacements like clutch, brakes etc for which also authorized service center is better choice (or reputed multi-car service centers like bosch). Other wear and tear item is tyres, which can be dealt outside.

 

[anshuman8]

Friends, I seek your views regarding car maintenance by self, i.e how much maintenance may be carried by ourselves [without help of mechanic ]? I do not have any garage,the car remains under sky,only a cover purchased with car wraps it. I learnt from this forum and other sites that Air filter,wheels,coolant etc. can be changed without help of mechanic. If my learned friends discuss the matter,it will be of immense help.

Well for periodic maintenance like Oil change , oil filter, fuel filter please stick to MASS as you have a new car and to keep warranty intact you have to get it done from them.

What you can do yourself on weekly/monthly basis is like -

Checking Air Pressure (buy a gauge for same)
Cleaning/Polishing/Waxing
Coolant level/Oil levels
Bulb replacements
Battery check up etc.

As mentioned in above post, stick to professionals for bigger works.

 

[swiftkolkata]

Guys yesterday i polish and waxed my Red Angel.Used 3M Wax,Waxpol Silky touch polish.

 

[ERTIGA_ZMR]

Hi Friends,

Please advice on maintaining matte black of my new Vespa - Black Birdie? Can I apply Sonax wax which I use for car. This product is good repellent of dust and gives a good look.

Thanks,
Alok

 

[CRACING]

Hi Friends,

Please advice on maintaining matte black of my new Vespa - Black Birdie? Can I apply Sonax wax which I use for car. This product is good repellent of dust and gives a good look.

Thanks,
Alok

You don't need waxing for Matte black colour since it hasn't got any shine, If you still do then you may end up with a pretty blotchy looking finish, which isn't good (obviously). However, if your wax doesn't add shine to the surface then you can try it but any waxes are not meant for matte finishes (Except Swissvax which is very expensive).

Do some test spots and see the results.

 

[saurov]

In Kolkata there is so much dust, it is must to wash our cars daily , atleast with plain water. I use max 1-2, 15ltrs bucket of water for cleaning. Waxing with Rs115 a black bottle 3m wax every 20-30days and washing with plain water daily is good to keep paint shining for 5 years. For waxing first I wet the car body with plain water using red colored cloth's we get in kolkata for specially car cleaning, then dry it up using the same. Now the wax is being applied with hand allover the body, a fully bottle is okay for a small car. Dry the wax for a hour and then i polish it off with old ganjee (or baniya), it will give dazzling shine for 15 days atleast with regular washing. I like to keep my wheel covers clean but keeping wheels clean is nearly impossible, so tries it only if i have enough time. I use colin for inside cleaning, the foot mattress are being cleaned everyday by our chauffer, also he does the regular water washing job. I don't touch engine bay for cleaning , only occasional lookout for coolant and oils levels or any leakage. One thing to mention the 3m wax if used on glass or the lights gives great looks to the car for 3-4 days, though it get's lost after that .

 

[anshuman8]

^^ Please post some pics of your car after the cleaning.

 

[Kichu]

Pending
10) RainX water repellent on the windshield

My advice is to go for "Proklear NGS" water repellent instead of RainX.

 

[rnharish]

In Kolkata there is so much dust, it is must to wash our cars daily , atleast with plain water. I use max 1-2, 15ltrs bucket of water for cleaning. Waxing with Rs115 a black bottle 3m wax every 20-30days and washing with plain water daily is good to keep paint shining for 5 years. For waxing first I wet the car body with plain water using red colored cloth's we get in kolkata for specially car cleaning, then dry it up using the same. Now the wax is being applied with hand allover the body, a fully bottle is okay for a small car. Dry the wax for a hour and then i polish it off with old ganjee (or baniya), it will give dazzling shine for 15 days atleast with regular washing. I like to keep my wheel covers clean but keeping wheels clean is nearly impossible, so tries it only if i have enough time. I use colin for inside cleaning, the foot mattress are being cleaned everyday by our chauffer, also he does the regular water washing job. I don't touch engine bay for cleaning , only occasional lookout for coolant and oils levels or any leakage. One thing to mention the 3m wax if used on glass or the lights gives great looks to the car for 3-4 days, though it get's lost after that .

Hi,

Have you tried Jopasu duster? Its brilliant in removing dust. I use it daily and saving water a lot.