My 98 Audi A4 is Aluminum Silver Metallic. I just bought the car about a month ago...and the car looks great...but i really want to try and revive the silver. I am hoping to make it come out as a glossy, deep silver, that turns heads. Now i understand that the car is 8 years old and there is fading etc, and I am not a professional. I don't have a buffing wheel and I don't really know that much about these types of car products...

I hear people talking about claybars, zaino, polishes..but i'm not sure what's right for me. I was talking to a friend and he said that some of this stuff is real hard to get off...and by no means do i want to hurt my finish.

Before I take my car and get it detailed professionally...i'd like to try and do it myself....so could you guys point me in the right direction

 

If you're willing to spend the money and the time, I'd highly reccomend detailing the car yourself. In the end, the results will be very rewarding and worth the time/effort/money.

I just finished a half-detail on my "clients" car, and it's the same color as yours (I believe), and it looks sharp to say the least. I clayed the front clip (rest of the car was in good enough shape to skip claying), and there was minial scratches so I buffed them out by hand with some Sratch-X, followed by three coats of P&S Longevity sealant. Take a looksy...






There's plenty of depth in the shade and the metal flake really pops in the sun. You can find everything you need to know at www.detailcity.com

 

I would highly recommend trying Zaino. I've been using it for 5+ years and it's by far the best stuff I've tried, waaaaay better than any "wax". Since Zaino is synthetic it has better properties than wax and not only does it protect the paint better, it lasts longer. Zaino also has a stacking effect, the more you put on the better the paint looks. Once I get my digital camera working I'll take some good pics since I have a silver A4 also. I've only got one coat on it so far(only had it 2 weeks) but once I get at least another coat I'll get the pics up and show you how it looks. Just for reference, when I had my 94 Z28 it very routinely would get comments from other Camaro owner's with much newer Camaro's asking me where I got the car painted. I told them it's the factory paint with 130k miles and they honestly didn't believe me! It took alot of convincing and some of my friends vouching for me for them to finally believe it.

Basically, Zaino rocks. It's a little expensive, but very well worth it. You bought an Audi, don't skimp on the detailing.

 

There's plenty of Sythetics like Zaino, the sealant that I used is a synthetic

I need to polish the damn thing again, her cats really tore up the hood and it needs a light polishing BADLY. I'm going to reapply 3 coats of Longevity, then I'm going to "spit-shine" 2 or 3 coats of Meguairs #26. On silver, a good sythetic topped with a carnuaba ROCKS! My daily is a silver Saturn SL2, it's wearing the exact combo that I just described and it looks incredibly wet, all over the car. Zaino provides great shine and more than enough depth, but there's tons of products in the same league or even better than Zaino. One thing Zaino does have over others is durability, it does last a while after you slap a few coats on.

I'll get some pics after I do the light polish on all the horizontal parts and get my LSP's on there. It's in need of a good clean-up, so maybe this will be my opportunity!

 

I would like to vouch for Zaino too. I know there are probably many other polys out there but Zaino Bros. is the system I used and had great results with. I used it on my wifes carbon grey pearl Acura TSX and I can say it did a fantastic job of sealing the paint and keeping a nice luster. I will say though, if you're looking for that glossy wet-looking finish, you may be disapointed. "Luster" is the key word here and that's what the Zaino delivered. I've heard of guys waxing over the Zaino to get a glossier look but I never tried it. It's all what you're into I guess, but I was looking more for protection over super-glossy shine. The shine from Zaino is very sharp but not wet, I would compare it to a hi-rez computer graphic of a car body, almost like a super high plasticene shine. At any rate, it's quality and not super expensive. If you do go with this system or something similar, be very careful when claying the surface. You need plenty of lubrication when you do it. I used a detailer spray and that worked well. You have to keep picking the contaminants and bits of debris out of the clay bar and only use light pressure otherwise it can scratch the paint. It becomes a little tedious to keep remolding the bar to get a fresh edge but it's absolutely necessary. Also, plan on not driving your car for 2 days when you attempt this. You actually need a garage or shelter for your car when you do it because you actually leave one stage of the polymer on overnight. Like I said, it's a pain in the a$$, but well worth it in the end. I'm a novice though and I'm sure Norcal could tell you much more than I can. Good luck with your car and btw, silver is the best color IMO.