Hi all 

 

I have recently (and finally) purchased a 2014 Fabia VRS in Silver, very pleased its been relatively looked after but I want to try to look after it too. Its my first Semi Auto and my first VRS, i have owned a Monte Carlo which was my first car that I basically neglected but never had issues with it but ignored aesthetics because when i bought it the exterior had a few scuffs and marks and i just left them.

 

But anyway, any newbie VRS advice would be very welcomed, also im finding it hard to find some cleaning tips just want to give it a proper wash on the exterior but not sure what's best to keep the silver as good as possible and the black finish too? 

 

Would appreciate any links, hints, tips.

 

Regards

Kas

 

 

 

 

 

 

Welcome Kas,

 

There are many levels to cleaning your car, from basic sponge with fairy liquid in a bucket 😬 to full on detailing.  How far down the rabbit hole you are prepared to go!?

The best question I can ask, is what kind of finish are you looking for, and if you have time weekly to maintain it.

 

You could get the car polished up to make each panel look like it came from factory and freshly unwrapped, then with some sensible practices like "2 bucket method" maintain the finish yourself, and never take it to a automatic scratch and clean car wash.  The middle ground could be using some products with "fillers" to hide most of the imperfections and then clean as above 2BM from then on if you don't want to go down the route of getting it machine polished.

 

 

Here is a red (paint that fades to pink!) corsa I helped polish for a friend

Before you can see a load of wonderful scratches from years of bad washing

 

 

Now after machine polishing it's 95%+ improved at least

Hi 

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, I guess I just want to do the best I can if that means cleaning once a week I will do so. 

 

Mines a metallic silver so im not sure whats best in terms of car, scratch wise it has pretty minimal so i just want to be able to maintain that. Is there any protection i can give it? 

 

Whats the 2mb method? And what filler products are recommended? I will most likely go down the middle route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For in the middle, there are many products of course.

 

 

For beginner "kit" I would recommend 2x buckets, with grit guards and at least 1 soft cleaning mitt

The basics of the two bucket method is one bucket with your shampoo wash solution, and one bucket with plain water for rinsing your wash mitt

 

Then a bundle of microfibre towels to dry off the car, and some smaller ones for general use

 

 

Once washed and dried, you can apply some Autoglym Super Resin Polish (you may wish to get a small applicator)

Less is more, don't use too much.

This contains fillers that can cover up the lesser scratches.

 

Use the microfibre cloths to remove.

 

 

After a few hours, I would say you should be good to use some wax on the car, don't wipe too hard as to remove some filler, and you should be good to maintain with 2BM washing.

Re-apply SRP/Wax as needed, ideally before Winter, and again early Spring at the least.

 

 

Everyone will do things differently to me, use different products etc, so you may get some more answers.

Hi 

 

Thanks so much for the response, really helpful I will look into the above, i do understand everyone has different approaches but im willing to try things until i find 'the solution'. 

 

What kind of wax and what wax would you recommend? Sorry im very much a car newbie too.

 

Also anyone part of the Fabia VRS Club here? I would love to join!

 

 

13 minutes ago, khVRS2014 said:

What kind of wax and what wax would you recommend? Sorry I'm very much a car newbie too.

1,000's of choices for waxes.

 

I have used this, and still have a pot!

Rather an old school wax, has a fair longevity, I think they claim 12 months, take with pinch of salt, but it does do well.

 

You will also need some car shampoo, fairy liquid will strip protection.

 

19 hours ago, khVRS2014 said:

Hi 

 

Thanks for the warm welcome, I guess I just want to do the best I can if that means cleaning once a week I will do so. 

 

Mines a metallic silver so im not sure whats best in terms of car, scratch wise it has pretty minimal so i just want to be able to maintain that. Is there any protection i can give it? 

 

Whats the 2mb method? And what filler products are recommended? I will most likely go down the middle route.

 

As @varooomsuggested, the Autoglym Super Resin polish is great stuff if your paintwork needs a little tlc to remove light swirl marks.

I've tried a load of different products when trying to keep my car immaculate, and a lot of it is down to personal preference. Price/Ease of Use/Performance.

Generally though, I'd say it's best to stick to one brand, as you can be sure the products will complement each other.

Personally, after using the Super Resin Polish, I'd seal it with Autoglym Rapid Aqua Wax. It says you can use it wet or dry, but the stuff really does work best on a damp car.

 

Assuming you're hand-washing, and not using a foam lance, this is the process I use:-

1) Rinse off any surface dirt/grit with jet washer or do as best you can with a hosepipe. Now is the time to get under the wheel arches with a jet of water to clean out that crud.

2) Wash car roof with car shampoo and soft mitt. Mitts are very much down to personal preference, but I like something like the Gtechniq, Meguiar's or Glart microfibre mitts, rather than the chennille-type wash mits, mainly as I find them less prone to holding on to dirt/bits when rinsing. That said, that holding on to dirt shows how good they are at cleaning the dirt off the car. It really is a personal preference thing. After each use of the mitt on the car, rinse the mitt in the clean water bucket before loading it up with soapy water again. Talking of buckets, aside from the rinse bucket, I prefer a smaller shampoo bucket to a large one as it means halfway through washing the car, I use a fresh load of shampoo and water. Again, it's a personal preference, find the way that works for you.

3) After shampooing the roof, rinse it off with hose or pressure washer.

4) After the roof, I work my way down the car, load, wash, rinse repeat. I try and keep the bits of the car I've already washed moist, so as I rinse the fresh shampoo off, I give the bits above another spray too. Remember to clean the sills, the guttering and all the hidden nooks and crannies that suddenly expose themselves when a door or boot is opened. I try and keep under my bonnet clean too, but that's just me being a bit OCD. A detailing brush is helpful for getting into awkward spots like door handles, window rubbers, etc. Don't forget to drop the windows a bit and clean the top bit of glass.

5) After all the bodywork is done, finally I do the wheels. I've tried a load of different brushes and mitts, as well as the spray on "Wonder Wheels" type stuff. The spray on wheel cleaner works really well, but is pricey IMO. At the moment, I use a fairly small microfibre cloth to clean my wheels. How appropriate that is for your wheels depends on your wheel design and whether you can get your hand in. (Now and then I go mad and take the wheels off to clean them with proper wheel cleaner.)

6) After your car is cleaned and rinsed, if you're not going to use any Aqua Wax or other product that requires the car to be wet for application, then dry the car. A microfibre drying towel flung over a panel and then dragged towards you works very well for coarse drying. After the drying towel shifts most of the water, then I buff to a complete dry shine with a soft microfibre fleecy cloth. If I've used a shampoo with wax, I might want to clean my glass separately to remove the wax from the shampoo, or drying the glass might be good enough depending on my mood and how knackered I am at that stage. Sometimes I use a finishing agent like Demon Shine after a wash, as it's quick and easy to use and gives decent (if not long-lasting) results.

 

That's what I think of as my basic "proper" wash. You can throw in decontamination on top of that, which can be a chemical thing such as fallout remover (which I use), or claying (which is not something I've tried). The chemical fallout remover is harder to use in hot weather. Tar removal is also sometimes needed. Tyre dressing is a thing too, if I'm in the mood, as is treating the rubbers on my car with Gummi-pflege.

 

Note: That is just what works for me.

 

What I've described is how I like to keep my car clean and shiny, with a balance between the amount of time I'm willing to spend doing it, the amount of money I'm prepared to spend doing it, and the amount of elbow grease I'm willing to expend in the process. I don't claim it is what gives the ultimate result, but it does for me.

 

Tips:

While you're working out what products work best for you, buy smaller quantities of cleaning product as if it's not right for you, then you'll waste less money.

If you're washing your car regularly and keeping on top of cleaning, you don't actually need the really expensive fancy products IMO, you can get decent results with most car shampoos.

Using a foam-lance and snow-foam is pretty expensive, and works best on really dirty cars. If you're keeping on top of your cleaning, the two bucket system works fine, IMO.

There are loads of really good detailing channels on YouTube. Personally, I'm a big fan of this guy. https://www.youtube.com/c/ForensicDetailingChannel/videos

Finally, if you look out of the window and your car looks great, you're probably doing a good job.

Edited 30 August, 20223 yr by EnterName
corrected wheel dressing to tyre dressing

Thank you both for your responses, i really appreciate the details and feedback, super useful, i will be sure to let you know how i get on.