Car Cleaning

[louise74]

Just wondered of anyone could give me any advice on car cleaning (or rather cleaning my car properly). With my previous car I just took it down the road to the car wash, it eventually died through rust and I want to look after my yaris properly though I don't much relish the prospect of standing outside in the cold cleaning my car, needs must.

Any advice would be welcome, including how often to clean it (with my previous car it was a case of when I could write my name in the dirt) and what with there seems to be dozens of products out there though several people recommened autoglym.

Thamks

[★★★★★™]

Just wondered of anyone could give me any advice on car cleaning (or rather cleaning my car properly). With my previous car I just took it down the road to the car wash, it eventually died through rust and I want to look after my yaris properly though I don't much relish the prospect of standing outside in the cold cleaning my car, needs must.

Any advice would be welcome, including how often to clean it (with my previous car it was a case of when I could write my name in the dirt) and what with there seems to be dozens of products out there though several people recommened autoglym.

Thamks

hi, i would reccomend cleaing at least once a week or once a fortnight, depending on how much you use the car

alos came across this thread which might be of some use to you

http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=98485

[alfiejts]

There's a car washing guide here, explaining what you shoud and shouldn't do

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=4637

and a lot of other info on polishing and other car-cleaning activities elsewhere on that site too....

and a furtther car washing guide here too, by one of the suppliers that I tend to use....

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides_wash.html

There are a lot of good products out there and people will always offer their preferences.

Autoglym make some good products as do Meguirs and other more specialist manufacturers mentioned on the detailing world site.

The first thing to realise though, is that there are different types of products that do different things.

A "polish" is abrasive and makes the paint shine by rubbing some of it away and rubbing away light scratch marks with it - but there's only so much paint to polish away before you wear through it - so you only apply a polish when you want to remove marks you can see in the paint. There are different grades of polish with different abrasiveness - the view is that you can safely use a "final finish" polish that has the least abrasiveness, about once every six months without an issue.

After that or in between polishes, there are other products that you apply on top of the paint to give it protection and more gloss.

A "sealant" or a "wax" provides protection and shine.

Simplistically, you polish your car to make it shine and then you apply a sealant or a wax to protect it.

So you then need to decide whether you're happy spending the time doing this in two stages for best effect, using two different products (a separate polish and sealant/wax), or whether you haven't the time or obsession and want to use one of the products from Maguires or others that tries to do both jobs at the same time with the same product (Meguires do a "cleaner wax" product that tries to do both jobs in one product....)

So in reality, what do I do?

Well the car gets washed every 1-2 weeks. Even if the body isn't that dirty, I don't like leavig it any longer as the brake dust gets baked onto the wheels and gets more difficult to remove...

I jetwash off the worst of the grime and then use a microfibre cloth to wash the car from the top to the bottom.

Every 5-6 months, the car gets a good "polishing".

1) It gets washed.

2) I use a "clay bar" to remove the tar and other grime that gets bonded to the paint that washing doesn't remove

3) I used to then apply two coats of wax to protect - but now I use an acrylic sealant system, which itself has a base coat and two top coats.

4) I apply two coats of wax to the alloy wheels to protect them from acid brake dust....

5) I go over the black plastic bits with a black plactic cleaner/polish.

That takes the best part of a day two or three times a year....

If you think even that's a bit obsessive, there's actually a paragraph in the Toyota Owners manual saying that you should wax your car once a month to protect the paint... I'll bet no one really does that....

The key is to read the product reviews and pick one that's durable.

Some products look shiny but don't protect for long as they wear away. Ohers last longer and provide longer protection...

That's the art to try and pick a product that lasts longer so that you still get the protection but don't have to re-wax it as often...

[toyboata]

Btw alfiejts - I bought some of that werkstat acrylic sealant - very very pleased with it - does what it says on the tin bottle ;)

[alfiejts]

Btw alfiejts - I bought some of that werkstat acrylic sealant - very very pleased with it - does what it says on the tin bottle ;)

Thanks matey.

I sound like a broken record but I've only heard good reports...

My birthday pressie arrived today - a Meguiars G220 random orbit polisher, loads of pads & polish and some Poorboys Glaze.....

I've never machine polished before, but I'll let you know how I get on.

The "glaze" doesn't provide any protection at all - its sole purpose is to provide a very reflective wet-look glassy coat that you then need to top off with a protectant

The polished bliss guys say that if you apply it between the Acrylic Prime and the Jett Trigger, you get an even better finish.

I've probably gone too far and am getting too obsessive with this, but I'll let you know.

Last six months expenditure comes to £150 on polish and polishing equipment and another £150 on the machine polisher.....

But then with three cars in the family, the savings on Valets and car washes by doing it all myself do add up over time....

[toyboata]

yeah the cost does add up - but it will keep your cars looking amazing for years to come.

The G220 seems to be thee best machine to go for, just a bit too expensive for me tho.

Will have a look at that poorboys glaze, often the problem seems to be getting the sealant to stick to whatever you've coated the car with before...so will be interested to hear of your experiance with this glaze.

Thanks

Matt

[alfiejts]

Will have a look at that poorboys glaze, often the problem seems to be getting the sealant to stick to whatever you've coated the car with before...so will be interested to hear of your experiance with this glaze.

Thanks

Matt

I've never used glaze before and I've heard of that issue too - but Rich at polishebliss claims to have tested the poorboys glaze with the Werkstat kit and says its a good bond, with no issues... (had a debate with him on the detaiing world forum...)

Apparantly the Poorboys glaze isn't oil based like some....

So as they've claimed to have specifically tested the two sets of products together and recomended it, I thought for a tenner it seemed worth a try for the ultimate finish....

I'll let you know :-)

Cheers,

Graham

[toyboata]

Ahh yeh.

I did try the Meguiars show car glaze - which as you know is a very oil filled polish!

Needless to say the sealant didnt stick to it very well at all.

They seem a good bunch at polishedbliss - but i always favour a customers review over what the manufacture/shop say.

Matt :)

[Raeman]

Just wondered of anyone could give me any advice on car cleaning (or rather cleaning my car properly). With my previous car I just took it down the road to the car wash, it eventually died through rust and I want to look after my yaris properly though I don't much relish the prospect of standing outside in the cold cleaning my car, needs must.

Any advice would be welcome, including how often to clean it (with my previous car it was a case of when I could write my name in the dirt) and what with there seems to be dozens of products out there though several people recommened autoglym.

Thamks

Hi, doubt you will have any rust issues even if you don't wash it often. ;)

Best thing is get yourself a micro-fibre mit or lambswool mit, some quality shampoo and a micro-fibre towel to dry it.

Wash the car in sections, leaving the bottom half inc bumpers and wheels till last as these are the dirtiest, windscreen included.

You can use an old sponge for the wheels, if the brake dust is quite heavy then use some wheel cleaner (loads available) and brush it in with an old tooth brush or paint brush then rinse off.

Get yourself a bucket too!

Good luck ;)

[louise74]

Hi,

Thanks so much for your helpful replies its given me some really helpful pointers in the right direction. I take it from Raemans comment that Yaris's are not that prone to rust which is reassuring as my Ka ended up with rust so bad it was a wreck, in places it went through the metal ( from what I have read it would appear that older Kas are very prone to rust), the engine was fine but the body work needed 100s spent on it hence why I got rid of it. I have to say though that I much prefer my Yaris to my Ka even though I have it less than a week.

[toyboata]

Louise: My mate had a KA for a few years before buying an Aygo - exactly the same, his KA was brilliant, just the body started rusting away, but the engine was solid.

I think the aygo/yaris is a good replacment for the ka. ;)

[Raeman]

My sister had a Ford Ka on a T plate, that rusted really badly round the filler cap and the rear arches. :(

The Yaris is warranted for 12yrs for corrosion perforation and surface rust for 3yrs from date of manufacture, (have a look in the service & warranty booklet. ;) )

The only rust i have seen on a Yaris was on a black SR i went to look at before we got ours. The sills had loads of plates welded on mostly near the rear wheels, that was on a W plate the same as mine. :(

This actually put me off buying a Yaris but after a search through the internet and speaking to various mechanics, it soon be came apparent that that particular car must have been accident damaged and poorly repaired.

I've no rust on mine but i have still undersealed the sills anyway as mine is 9yrs old now, plus for my piece of mind.

[toyboata]

Yeah - fords are/were bad for rusting - my mates rusted in the exact same places.

Toyotas seems much better - with only the odd one rusting - mostly from accident damage.

You should be safe!