sorry it is wax not polish, as per the brand in my last post (Meguiars Nxt Generation Tech Car Wax).

I may end up spending rather too much money on keeping my car clean after reading this.. There's a couple of shallow scratches and one bad patch of rust on the bottom which I try to avoid mostly when washing..

Only annoyance is some pillock appears to have washed the car with something like Fairy Liquid at some point in it's life, so that rear of the drivers door and front of the rear right door have lost the gloss. Any suggestions?

Also any suggestions for blackening up old plastic bumpers? I can't remember what I used last time, but it's been 6 months or so and they're only just beginning to turn grey again. Some form of oil/wax, I think. And it's had a couple of washes in that time.

Need to have a proper bash at it soon, she's beginning to look grubby again. And a couple of patches of seagull [LIFTED] have scarred the paint slightly. Flying rats. (Not content with crapping on my car, the buggers also tried to steal my pasty the other day. Not a happy bunny.

Ever since I got into detailing, I've spent a total of around £500 (£200 on a polisher, pads and polishes, the remainder on products and microfibre cloths).


Rust is car cancer and you should try and get it sorted. At the very least, smooth it back and paint it so washing doesn't bugger it up further.


As explained above, the thing that takes the damage is the clear coat. Some proper polishing (ie machine polish) would sort it out for you. You can try hand polishing and see if it improves it, though most hand polishes don't have the level of abrasive cut required. This also applies to bird poo - the stuff will eat through clearcoat if left on long enough.


As above, I use Autoglym Bumper Care (NOT the Bumper and vinyl care which is crap). The problem is you need to apply it regularly. Some detailers use a heat gun/hair dryer on the plastic trim which appears to revive the trim. Others have sworn by peanut oil.

Cost is why I've provided halfrauds equivalents to buy when they have offers on. I imagine the bank holiday coming up means more offers as more people might spend it washing the car.

If your car's never been properly detailed before, it has an amazing effect. I've seen a vw polo, red paintwork faded to pale pink brought back to sparkling brand-new look with proper detailing and paintwork correction.

I'd imagine only a professional detailer would be able to tell how good a new product is by comparing it to their repotoire.

+1 I love finding out how to do something right.

Took those recommendations (cheaper options) and added prices and links......

Meguiars Gold Class £15.99
Dodo juice Wookie's Fist £19.95
Meguiars Smooth Surface clay kit £24.99
Meguiars Supreme Shine Microfibre £15.99
AG Super Resin Polish £10.99
Dodo juice Lime Prime Lite £23.95
Collinite 476s £14.95 (small)
Autoglym HD wax £39.99
AG Fast Glass £6.99
AG Bumper Care £6.49
Meg's Next Gen Metal Polish £8.99
Meg's Endurance Tyre Gel £8.99
Meg's Hot Rims wheel cleaner £8.49

3 for 2 on some of the stuff at Halfords right now

Its still looking a bit pricey for me though!

^^^Yes but you can get some things more cheaply or omit items.

The wookies fist for me is a more upmarket wash mitt. You can look at other microfibre washmitts. I think I bought one for about £7-8 which was fine.

You don't need collinite AND HD wax. TBH collinite should be enough for both sealant and wax.

Also most of the products would last you a long time. Collinite is going last me forever and I bought a small pot. The shampoo ahould last around 6 months, maybe longer depending on how often you wash. The clay kit and polish will be used a max of 2-3 times per year.

I tend to used fast glass the most and hence buy it when on offer. The other thing you've mossed out are two buckets for two-bucket wqsh method, and lots of microfibre cloths and foam pads. Foam pads to apply products and microfibre clothsto buff them off.

The other option is to build up your armoury slowly. You could potentially get away without using metal polish and tyre gel. Maybe buy the polish another time.

Detailing isn't cheap, hence why most people spend maybe £20 max and are content with a bucket and sponge.

First thing to do is check with the bodyshop that did the respray as to how long to leave the paint before waxing. Do it too soon and you may end up removing a lot of paint.

Thanks for the info Cloaked Wolf, I'm going to be doing some bodywork to Horace during the first week of September and I will be respraying the rusty bits I need to grind down and treat, so this is a great guide. Also, Horace is a gorgeous classic and I want to keep him protected while I'm driving so many miles and it sounds like a good method of wash and care although I'm not sure I'll have time to do it properly every 2 weeks, particularly during the winter

£206.75 is the total cost of that stuff.

I think I will have the thing fully valeted for £50 which includes a steam clean of the engine bay. Or I could get a the clean and wax for half that. They will come to my house to pick it up and then return it for that price too.

If that price didnt include offers, etc I think I could do it cheaper. As was said before you dont need the Collinite and HD wax, one or the other if I read it properly?? If I take those out and skip the metal polish then I'm down to around £160. Using a cheaper mitt and getting 3for2 offers I reckon I could get it down around £130-ish. It's still a lot for me considering the Sainsbury's car wash normally handles my cleaning needs but I might consider it. If it's enough to do two cars I could even split the cost with my brother.

I'm at work so can't post a huge reply.

After resprays, should ideally leave the paintwork for one month before polishing. A light wash and wax is ok.

I'm sure the cost of items can be brought down. Remember, halfrauds is expensive for a lot of things. Will do a price-up when I get home.

Thanks for that.

Is it weird that i want to buy a car now?

Also, I actually chuckled at Bratty´s Polish joke.