Once you properly wash and wax your car, you should consider a custom fit cover. This will protect all your hard work from the elements of the weather. I had my Audi professionally detailed, then purchased a custom fit cover from carcoversdirect.com. The best money I ever spent, the cover is almost totally dust proof, very water repellent, and UV resistant. When you remove the cover your car still looks awesome!

 

Yes, I personally recommend a PPF (Paint Protection Film) like a clear bra. Just google it and you'll see. It is a layer of plastic that is very thin over your front bumper and a part of your hood. It can cost anywhere from $200-$800 to install depending on the type of car. PPF protects your car from stone chips, bugs and all outside elements as said above. It is also unnoticeable unlike its sister the leather bra.

It is highly recommended to detail a car professionally to ensure the paint is immaculate before putting the clear bra as if there are defects the clear bra will not mask them and they will be an eyesore that will not be able to get corrected.

Waseem

 

What is the best stuff to get the sun baked tree sap off? Short of a chisel. jk

 

Try a 3:1 ratio of a good All-purpose cleaner (APC). If you go to Home Hardware you can buy some Zep Industrial (Purple) APC. It's pretty cheap and that diluted 2:1 should get the tree sap out. Let it dwell on it for a bit and use a microfibre cloth to remove.

Alternatively,

Try a 1:1 ratio of vinegar and (distilled) water mixed together and that may loosen it up as well.

If that doesn't work we'll go to step 2

(Always best to try the least abrasive method first)

 

How about a glass cleaner with butyoxethanol?

 

Can't tell you whether that would work or not as I am not familiar with that alcohol and its concentration levels of the glass cleaner you speak of.

 

so i recently had my car detailed by who i believed to be a professional, but turns out he's not. He buffed my car either using too much force or without the proper equipment, which left swirl marks all over my A4's black paint job. I looked some stuff online but was wondering if anyone had a good suggestion as to how to at least minimize the appearance of the marks. Mother's vs Meguiar's vs 3M Perfect.

 

Swirl marks are caused by improper washing techniques. Majority of detail shops claim to polish all they really do is put a coat of wax on it thinking that will remove the scratches when really it doesn't. The detail shop you took your A4 to likely did the same. Go back and get your money back and pay a real professional to take care of it. If your agreement with them was to get the swirls and scratches out then that was the agreement and they didn't hold up their end. You deserve your money back.

To remove scratches and swirls the most efficient way to do it is with a buffer (DA or Rotary). Polishing by hand will yield minimal results.

Waseem

 

What do you recommend for windows? Is Invisible Glass any good?

 

WOW! Great write up. Very professional. I wondered what I was supposed to do with my paint sealer i bought a few years ago. It seems I need to wash the car well, dry it carefully and then seal it BEFORE I wax, correct?

That way the sealant sticks to the paint and not some layer of wax or polish, right?

Great stuff!

Oh, as for glass, I've heard you can get bug juice off easily and quickly with kitchen cleanser like softscrub. Just make sure to keep it off the paint and plastic and rinse really well.