Well according to Škoda my car (finally) arrived in the UK last Thursday. It's a Superb SE-L Executive 2.0 TSI 220hp DSG hatch in petrol blue (with black alcantara/leather interior) and should hopefully be ready for collection by mid-week coming. Once collected it's booked straight in with Matt at Off Your Marks for a full interior/exterior/glass new car protection detail. I could have done it myself but (1) I'm full of arthritis and recovering from kidney surgery, so he's better placed for the minimal cost and (2) I have no indoor area to get a really good result on the initial sealant with a no-rain guarantee while it cures etc.

 

The happy news of the imminent arrival means saying goodbye to the 'old' car, a 2014 Mazda 6 tourer SE-L Nav 2.0 NA petrol 6 speed manual. The supplying dealer (Alan at Lightcliffe Warrington) has been great, and so I felt bad handing in the car the way it was. It had a few weeks' grime, salt residue, dust etc which was really bothering me, so I spent today doing a goodbye detail of sorts:

• Foam and soak
• Rinse
• Sonax Fallout Remover (bought this week, I normally use Gyeon Iron)
• Rinse
• A thorough 2 bucket wash in pH neutral AG car body shampoo with a pure lambswool mitt
• Rinse
• Two stage pat - not rub - dry with Kent large microfibre drying towels
• A decent coat of Sonax BSD to top off the existing Gyeon Wetcoat (which is still beading/sheeting brilliantly anyway)
• Exterior trim restorer
• Tyre protect & shine

Then the interior was fully cleaned and anti-bacced, sealed and hoovered before I ended with a glass clean, topping up the rain repellent to finish.

 

I think this will be the only new-ish car in England traded into a dealership in better condition than they'll end up selling it in.    I couldn't bear to let the old girl go in dirty (oo er). I wish I'd grabbed some pics now for posterity, and this thread. I've had some really good drives out of the car, including doing my RoSPA/RoADAR advanced driver training, but baby number 3 means we needed bigger wheels (and the extra 100 horses didn't hurt things ether haha).

 

Is anyone else so anal about cleaning they spend time (and money!) prepping a car just to trade it in to a dealer who probably won't even notice the difference? At least the next owners will have the benefit of nice paintwork that somehow just never gets dirty... until the LSP wears off anyway! I must have used about £30 of product etc all in all, just to give it away. It looks nice though! :sun:

 

I have to say I'm in love with BSD, the beading is immense! It was also far easier to work with than some threads/reviews made out. Spray on sparingly, wipe over, buff off. Easy. I picked up a 500ml bottle of Gtechniq C2v3 yesterday too, and apparently if you mix 1:1:1 (or 1:1:2) of BSD:C2v3:distilled water it makes a great LSP; with all the longevity, shine and smooth touch of C2 and the beading characteristics/water behaviour of BSD. We'll see. As the new S3 will be initially detailed professionally by Matt (nano crystal sealant topped with C2v3 for the paint, C5 for the alloys) I reckon if I make a spritzer bottle of that concoction, and also a bottle of 1:10 C2v3:distilled water as a QD/spot cleaner, the base protection should in theory never have chance to wear. I'll only need to spot clean with the QD, jet wash once a week and reapply the mixed LSP monthly to keep things ticking over. Quick, simple and relatively cheap.

 

Anyway I'll shush now. It's not often I chat to other detail fans, and my wife tells people she thinks I'm "obsessed" as I bore her rigid with it! It's funny to think a few months ago I thought car washing meant leaving it out in the rain... This whole cleaning thing becomes addictive - and fairly expensive - very, very quickly! I don't drink, smoke or gamble etc so I suppose I've got to spend it somewhere!

Edited 20 March, 201610 yr by Derv

Well done you i did the same thing on a courtesy car. Said it was better than when i picked her up, been white and november time. A little Ds3 i wouldnt buy a car that didnt look right.

First impressions and all that, i have walked a way from cars without a test drive on the first impression. When i say im going to clean my car, lads at work say whats wrong with it.

And a thumbs up for the Gtechniq, i use C1 and C5 just got a polish product to try.http://showcarshine.pl/home/2087-artdeshine-artdeaaron-h-crystal-9h-ceramic-base-coat.html.

Guy i bought it from in israel, says its a wonderful product. You must watch utube video,on how to use.

Derv,I wouldn't go to those lengths for a trade in but if it puts your mind at ease then good on you.

I'm not far from Matt at Off Your Marks and think I'd like a similar new car detail. Mine is Metallic Brown Business SE and should arrive in next 3/4 weeks (build week 12). I've sent Matt a message for a quote.

Would you be posting some pics once he has finished?

Yes I'll post some pics up when it's all sorted mate, I'll pop one in here in case you miss it (or don't frequent the S3 section). Tell Matt I sent you, you never know he might give my car extra love to say thanks.

Yes I'll post some pics up when it's all sorted mate, I'll pop one in here in case you miss it (or don't frequent the S3 section). Tell Matt I sent you, you never know he might give my car extra love to say thanks.

Superb

Will do

Well according to Škoda my car (finally) arrived in the UK last Thursday. It's a Superb SE-L Executive 2.0 TSI 220hp DSG hatch in petrol blue (with black alcantara/leather interior) and should hopefully be ready for collection by mid-week coming. Once collected it's booked straight in with Matt at Off Your Marks for a full interior/exterior/glass new car protection detail. I could have done it myself but (1) I'm full of arthritis and recovering from kidney surgery, so he's better placed for the minimal cost and (2) I have no indoor area to get a really good result on the initial sealant with a no-rain guarantee while it cures etc.

 

The happy news of the imminent arrival means saying goodbye to the 'old' car, a 2014 Mazda 6 tourer SE-L Nav 2.0 NA petrol 6 speed manual. The supplying dealer (Alan at Lightcliffe Warrington) has been great, and so I felt bad handing in the car the way it was. It had a few weeks' grime, salt residue, dust etc which was really bothering me, so I spent today doing a goodbye detail of sorts:

• Foam and soak
• Rinse
• Sonax Fallout Remover (bought this week, I normally use Gyeon Iron)
• Rinse
• A thorough 2 bucket wash in pH neutral AG car body shampoo with a pure lambswool mitt
• Rinse
• Two stage pat - not rub - dry with Kent large microfibre drying towels
• A decent coat of Sonax BSD to top off the existing Gyeon Wetcoat (which is still beading/sheeting brilliantly anyway)
• Exterior trim restorer
• Tyre protect & shine

Then the interior was fully cleaned and anti-bacced, sealed and hoovered before I ended with a glass clean, topping up the rain repellent to finish.

 

I think this will be the only new-ish car in England traded into a dealership in better condition than they'll end up selling it in.    I couldn't bear to let the old girl go in dirty (oo er). I wish I'd grabbed some pics now for posterity, and this thread. I've had some really good drives out of the car, including doing my RoSPA/RoADAR advanced driver training, but baby number 3 means we needed bigger wheels (and the extra 100 horses didn't hurt things ether haha).

 

Is anyone else so anal about cleaning they spend time (and money!) prepping a car just to trade it in to a dealer who probably won't even notice the difference? At least the next owners will have the benefit of nice paintwork that somehow just never gets dirty... until the LSP wears off anyway! I must have used about £30 of product etc all in all, just to give it away. It looks nice though! :sun:

 

I have to say I'm in love with BSD, the beading is immense! It was also far easier to work with than some threads/reviews made out. Spray on sparingly, wipe over, buff off. Easy. I picked up a 500ml bottle of Gtechniq C2v3 yesterday too, and apparently if you mix 1:1:1 (or 1:1:2) of BSD:C2v3:distilled water it makes a great LSP; with all the longevity, shine and smooth touch of C2 and the beading characteristics/water behaviour of BSD. We'll see. As the new S3 will be initially detailed professionally by Matt (nano crystal sealant topped with C2v3 for the paint, C5 for the alloys) I reckon if I make a spritzer bottle of that concoction, and also a bottle of 1:10 C2v3:distilled water as a QD/spot cleaner, the base protection should in theory never have chance to wear. I'll only need to spot clean with the QD, jet wash once a week and reapply the mixed LSP monthly to keep things ticking over. Quick, simple and relatively cheap.

 

Anyway I'll shush now. It's not often I chat to other detail fans, and my wife tells people she thinks I'm "obsessed" as I bore her rigid with it! It's funny to think a few months ago I thought car washing meant leaving it out in the rain... This whole cleaning thing becomes addictive - and fairly expensive - very, very quickly! I don't drink, smoke or gamble etc so I suppose I've got to spend it somewhere!

 

 

Sounds like a great detail there

 

Nice write-up too - would loved to have seen photos of the end result! :yes:

Derv, mine has arrived at Emden, so I spoke to Mark at Off Your Marks and booked in, I'll have to call him again with a firm date.  It looks like I'll have to work around him a little though as he advised he has a 7 week lead at the moment.