ALLROAD detailing questions...

[Brett Dikeman]

At 3:59 PM -0400 8/2/02, RM wrote:
>I need some tips on detailing my new Allroad. It seems this car defies
>typical logic when itcomes to keeping it clean.
>
>#1 The paint will get Maquires

No liquid waxes, just fyi...they're not as durable/pure.  If this is
going to be the MommyMobile, Blitz wax is supposedly the most durable
wax around and would be a good choice(preferably more than one coat
:-)  Don't forget to wax the wheels!  Clean with P21S; I recommend
the gel, and I recommend spraying it onto a wheel brush and then
brushing the entire wheel, not coating the whole wheel with it by
spraying; its a royal waste of the stuff, way overkill.  Every few
months, pull each wheel off and clean/wax it inside as well- its not
hard at all, just need a decent floorjack and torque wrench to
properly torque the lug nuts.


>, but what about that flat black roof? What to
>use there? Dealer said no wax!

Flat black roof?!?  Yikes.  Thats pretty odd...I'll have to look at
some allroad pictures.  What kind of surface is it?

>
>#2 how about the plastic, flat black bumpers and fender trim? I'm not
>worried about keeping it clean, just keeping it protected and pretty.

3M used to make a protectant that lasted -forever- on the big rubber
wing on my father's 944.  We searched around the garage for it a
couple weeks ago, couldn't find it for some reason...I'll see what I
can dig up.  Mother's comes in second.  Lexol's Vinylex is worthless
for protecting external surfaces; its great for interior
plastic/vinyl surfaces, however; you can control the amount of shine
you want(and lexol is by far the least shiny of the interior
'treatments'.)  That said, it works -great- for -cleaning- plastic
and vinyl surfaces...just don't expect it to last through, say, some
rain(its water based.)


>#3 I've never had a decent car with leather before, what's the trick crap to
>keep it nice?

Lexol cleaner, followed by Lexol conditioner, is my strong personal
recommendation.  Many, many people use it- inexpensive, easy to use.
Use wet cloth wrung very hard to foam up the cleaner, one seat at a
time- dry with a big fluffy towel.  Move on, do all seats..come back
to the first one, set the sprayer to a very fine mist and mist the
areas.  I use a small piece of foam to spread it around evenly.  Do
another seat, then come back to the first and buff it with a dry,
fluffy towel...then go back to the second, buff that one.

If the seats are very 'grippy' for a few days, that's normal, just
put up with it, it will go away as the leather soaks up the good
stuff.

Pay particular attention to the outboard areas of the seats; bolsters
get a LOT of abuse and need to be kept in good shape to avoid
cracking.

Don't forget the leather on the steering wheel...just give it another
buff with the towel after an hour.

FYI- lexol encourages doing the cleaning and
conditioning(particularly the conditioning) when the leather is
warm(say, from the car being in the sun.)

Last word of advice- dealers and bodyshops now offer plastic film
protection for the front end as well as headlights and foglights.
Headlight and fog light protection is an EXCELLENT idea, as is
protection for the leading edge of the hood.  The allroad's plastic
parts certainly do help things.  Oh, and lastly- mudflaps work
wonders at keeping the car clean and protecting the rear bumper
covers on cars.  I'd kill for a set for my car(type44 flaps are
supposedly NLA.)

Brett
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