What do you use to clean your car?

[NicholasP]

i get it cleaned by the Polish boys down the end of the road..they know me now and have got all the tools and power washers to make it look good..and it cost me £20..and car looks decent afterwards

[gramey]

I fell for the salesmans spiel when I recently bought my 2002 Passat and had it done with Safeguard inside & out. It's supposed to stop stains on the interior and keep the shine on the exterior. Guaranteed for 6 years, don't actually expect it will last that long, but I wash the car with two buckets of water with Autoglym shampoo, rinse off and leather and hey presto it's all shiney again!

[Eshrules]

I fell for the salesmans spiel when I recently bought my 2002 Passat and had it done with Safeguard inside & out. It's supposed to stop stains on the interior and keep the shine on the exterior. Guaranteed for 6 years, don't actually expect it will last that long, but I wash the car with two buckets of water with Autoglym shampoo, rinse off and leather and hey presto it's all shiney again!

ohhh those blasted salesmen... when i had a visit to a car supermarket (the carshop i belive), i was looking at a pug 307 (narrowly escaped disaster there!) they were like " yes, yes safeguard does this, it does that, it does the other " how much, i said... they said "as little as £2 a month" until they showed me the actual breakdown and were trying to charge me nearly £300 in total for that crap....

i have very little faith in things that seem too good to be true LOL

[Col]

whats that pic about matey?

What piccy ?

....just felt a profound need to post one up, never mind it's gone now.

[stuart]

Hate car washed.... my car is black, and any swirl marks stand out like a sore thumb I prefer good old fashioned elbow grease, helped by a pressure washer...

Best polish I have ever used is Zymol... not the expensive stuff, but the Cleaner wax, costs around £15.00, and make it shine due to be done soon...

And it make the whole garage and drive smell of coconuts!!

Stu

[RickT]

Wonder Wheels... I hate the stuff... I thought it was a right rip off and didnt work..

Since then i use some acid stuff my mate gives me which he uses to clean the cylinder heads from HGV's..

Only keep it on for about 1 minute and all the dirt wipes off no effort.. it eats the dirt.. ie.. i had not cleaned the car for about 1000 miles, (3 weeks) One spray on the wheel.. left to stand.. dirt just wipes off...

I have never left it on for more than a minute of so and its not friendly on you hands of drive... (the tarmac gone a white white in places!) but it does the job!

RicKT

[Mav2006]

what is the two bucket method i've read about?

[buster]

Wonder Wheels... I hate the stuff... I thought it was a right rip off and didnt work..

Since then i use some acid stuff my mate gives me which he uses to clean the cylinder heads from HGV's..

Only keep it on for about 1 minute and all the dirt wipes off no effort.. it eats the dirt.. ie.. i had not cleaned the car for about 1000 miles, (3 weeks) One spray on the wheel.. left to stand.. dirt just wipes off...

I have never left it on for more than a minute of so and its not friendly on you hands of drive... (the tarmac gone a white white in places!) but it does the job!

RicKT

oerrr

That sounds like either Dichloromethane (The main constuituent of paint stripper) or Hydrofluoric (not Hydrochloric) acid as used to remove road film from commercial alloy wheels.

The former can strip paint and poison you, although it has recently been declassified from "Possible risk of irreversible effects' (This stuff will kill you) to 'Limited evidence of a carcinogenic effect' (This stuff might kill you).

The latter, well don't get me started on that one. If you get it on your hands it makes your skin go red and can make your skin sore. But the main thing is that it can soak into your hands and replace the calcium in your bones with flouride (It will literally turn you to jelly)

Don't wish to scaremonger, but I would be very careful if I were you.

[gramey]

I use Autoglym alloy wheel cleaner on mine and although I wouldn't recommend you drink it, it does not appear to be as severe as using acid!
Wheels get done once week same time as the rest of the car, as for the Safeguard (and were trying to charge me nearly £300 in total for that crap....) yeah it cost me £299.00 but it means I don't have to ***** around polishing, just wash, rinse and dry it off, time after time.
"i was looking at a pug 307 (narrowly escaped disaster there!)", personally I wouldn't pay £299 for a piece of french crap let alone spend an extra £299.00 on it, good call not to buy that one!!!

[new to vw]

AUTO-GLYM all the way......you cant go wrong with it.....it does what it says on the tin...