I get my new black magic octy vrs dsg on wednesday..it's coming with autoglym lifeshine (bargain at £99) Anyway, i want it to look even better, blacker, shinier and 'wetter'..what do you suggest?

Find a young local person (neighbours kid?) who wants to make a bit of extra pocket money and have them on 24 hour stand-by to polish it before (so it looks good whilst you go out) and after (because it will need cleaning) every use.

If it rains it will need wiping over,

if its dry when driven it'll attract dust,

if its driven it'll get insects stuck to it,

if it's left in a garage it'll attract dust,

if you touch it it'll get fingerprints on it,

if it's looked at wrong - it'll need polishing

infact unless it's JUST been polished it'll need polishing.

Have a check of the Stickies at the top of this forum and also a look at a detail on a black octavia vRS I carried out, this is extreme unless you have paint defects but the products in it are useable by hand and I find them my favorite for Skoda black.

http://briskoda.net/forums/styling-car-care/octavia-vrs-estate-detail-nsf-1mb/100798/

i use Autoglym to was mine and have many threads on how clean it looks after its washed. at the moment it is a bit dirty on the drive (but its been a wet week). keep it waxed and it make it easier to clean.

i do the following:

1. rinse the car with a jet wash

2. wash the car with AG shampoo

3. rinse

4. every six months give it a coating of AG resin followed by AG gloss protection

5. then wax with collinite (every 6 months or so)

Between these i will jet wash, AG shampoo and rinse before using once a month the dark color restorer stuff from /AG (cant remember its name) which does well for light scratching and gives its a deeper dark look and after a wash i use aqua wax spray from AG which you need a very light spray (2 on roof and bonnet and every panel one spray) this will help get rid of any water marks and keeps the car protected and can also be used on the windows too.

hope that helps.

Just detailed a Superb with that AG LifeShine on it and I wasn't that convinced with it to be honest.................:(

Jasons one above had some dealership sealant on it and it was terrible, stripped it all off and built it up again but i dont know if that was the result of poor application in the first place or not.

Only one other time have I came up against it and it caused alot of squeal from the pad, can only work out that it was from the lifeshine. :confused:

Mr-E has hit the nail on the head; it will get dirty really quickly!

Bonus is it looks great when it is clean!

I'm still fairly new to this car but I would say the key is keeping a good base coat of polish on it. I find then that a quick wash and dry and it looks great again.

Couple points I have learnt to my expense, make sure you do something like the two bucket method (I do one bucket and a hose) but otherwise you will get scratches and swirl marks all over the shop. Second is dry your car off after a rinse, I find if I don't I get drop marks all over it and it looks cr*p.

That’s my two pence worth anyway.

yes forgot to say about the water drops thus the quick use of the AG aqua wax spray and wipe and remove the watermarks too.

"I would say the key is keeping a good base coat of polish on it. I find then that a quick wash and dry and it looks great again.

Couple points I have learnt to my expense, make sure you do something like the two bucket method (I do one bucket and a hose) but otherwise you will get scratches and swirl marks all over the shop. Second is dry your car off after a rinse, I find if I don't I get drop marks all over it and it looks cr*p."

I totally agree with the above comments. I've had my black magic vRS estate since April 2007 and once it's been cleaned well I still step back and think it looks great.

The watermarks are probably the biggest pain.

Don't be tempted to wash the car if its too hot (especially in direct sunlight) as it will dry faster than you can wipe it over. I did that once (stupid mistake - never again!) and eventually gave up, waited till late evening and had to rinse it over again and dry it properly.

I hope you enjoy the car as much as I am

I'm lucky with the water marks, where i live, the water is REALLY soft, and when i wash my car, i rinse with the old flash auto dry system (not many left now !)..anybody use anything different on the deionised water front?

im getting to trial a britta filter soon which is designed for use in garages for filtering water as i live in one of the worst areas on the country for hard water. so shall be doing a bit of a right up on that for you all.

as for black car just get it done well by someone who really knows what they're doing (look on detailing forums) and get them to give it a good going over and you'll be happy and it'll make it easy to keep ontop of then.

might have to look at that, got any links?

not at the minute its pre production, but ill post up some info once i get it.

In direct sunlight use a gazebo

In direct sunlight use a gazebo

Agree on that one............