Advise needed please for bring my Merlin Purple Audi A4 to "sparkling" life!

[JIGGY C]

Hi there. i have a 97' Audi A4 2.8 Quattro in Merlin Purple. Its done 135k on the clock and is in pretty good condition. It does have a number of hairline scatches - the sort of stuff that comes with ages (and idiots in the car parks).

I normally wash her at home once a week and apply autoglym polish from the bottle - it cleans up really really well however im not happy as i feel its a basic way to wash and polish so i'd like to get more involved and use one of these power polishers (rotary?) - what advise can people give me?

I can budget for upto £100 for the polisher and polish but i have no idea whats what!! The end result i'm after is basically to maximise the car/paint as it is at the moment, i don't feel what im doing now is really getting the best results and the colour is so gorgeous i just want to get her looking as good as she deserves!

Any advise would be great, many thanks

[Plife]

Rotary polishes will give the best results but are dangerous in the hands of a novice! Unless you know what you are doing there is the chance that you will take off more than your were trying and end up needing some parts resprayed!

A porter cable type polisher (something like Meguiars G220 DA Polishing machine) is much more friendly for the novice and it works at lower speeds, but will require more effort to get the same results as a rotary. However by the time you buy the polisher, pads and polishes you are going to be knocking on the door of 200!

Ideally the shopping list would inlcude a paint depth guage so you can ensure you do not take off too much, but this alone would blow your 100 budget! The problem is the paint is likely to have different depths all over the car, and so what may be accpetable on one panel would not be on another.

Maybe worth looking to a pro detailer to do it for you?

[JIGGY C]

Rotary polishes will give the best results but are dangerous in the hands of a novice! Unless you know what you are doing there is the chance that you will take off more than your were trying and end up needing some parts resprayed!

A porter cable type polisher (something like Meguiars G220 DA Polishing machine) is much more friendly for the novice and it works at lower speeds, but will require more effort to get the same results as a rotary. However by the time you buy the polisher, pads and polishes you are going to be knocking on the door of 200!

Ideally the shopping list would inlcude a paint depth guage so you can ensure you do not take off too much, but this alone would blow your 100 budget! The problem is the paint is likely to have different depths all over the car, and so what may be accpetable on one panel would not be on another.

Maybe worth looking to a pro detailer to do it for you?

I agree to be honest, does anyone know any detailers in the Midlands area??

[kite]

you could have a look over on detailing world..

[Hex69]

I agree to be honest, does anyone know any detailers in the Midlands area??

Forum Sponsor - Elite Detailer (http://www.elitedetailer.com/forms/contact/contact.htm)

[Eshrules]

you could have a look over on detailing world..

good luck with that, most of the 'pro detailers' are too busy clawing each others eyes out.

[elitedetailer]

Hi there. i have a 97' Audi A4 2.8 Quattro in Merlin Purple. Its done 135k on the clock and is in pretty good condition. It does have a number of hairline scatches - the sort of stuff that comes with ages (and idiots in the car parks).

I normally wash her at home once a week and apply autoglym polish from the bottle - it cleans up really really well however im not happy as i feel its a basic way to wash and polish so i'd like to get more involved and use one of these power polishers (rotary?) - what advise can people give me?

I can budget for upto £100 for the polisher and polish but i have no idea whats what!! The end result i'm after is basically to maximise the car/paint as it is at the moment, i don't feel what im doing now is really getting the best results and the colour is so gorgeous i just want to get her looking as good as she deserves!

Any advise would be great, many thanks

Hi,

If you would like to remove the swirls by machine then you will be have to spend nearer the £200 mark to get a beginners "hobby" style kit.

The machine alone will be about £130 before you get to the various compounds and pads. http://elitedetailer.com/cgi-bin/hcat_catalogue.cgi?fa=list&crid=&categoryid=11&cmrid=1&cmpid=2&lowlimit=10

To be honest, if your doing it by hand your Autoglym Super Resin Polish isn't bad for getting ok results.

Regards
EliteDetailer