Car Care... what do you use?

Hey guys just wondering what people use to keep their rig looking pristine?

I have had my rig for nearly two years now and always used Meguiar's Waterless wash between washes when it’s not heavily soiled, has always brought her up a treat even being black. The waterless has never scratched my car at all, I would swear by it.
I decided to go to a wash bay the other day and for some stupid reason (as my rig was covered in mud) as explained at the wash bay I followed the stages of washing my rig and used the fukcen brush after finishing my wash I noticed small swirl lines (scratches) everywhere I had put the brush, I had even cleaned the brush with the high pressure cleaner before hand to make sure there was not grit in it. I spoke to one of my mates the other day who is a car detailer and duco repairer and he put me onto a polish designed just for dark coloured paint T57 made by GELSON in Italy, this is the best stuff I have ever used. My paint came up better than the day I took delivery of my rig. If you own a black or dark coloured car this is the shit for you, I now have no swirl marks and no mirrored polish holograms or whatever you want to call in the paint at all.

Cheerio
Mayzie

where do you by that polish? thanks

Mine looked its best the day it came out of the factory, unfortunately it will be all downhill from there

I love my ute but it is a work and play ute, it gets a wash every week or 2 and a chamois but thats about it. I have got some of that waterless stuff I bought for my Moke (mokes and hoses dont really mix) I might give it a shot on the Navara next time.

woznme said:

where do you by that polish? thanks

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I dont know what retail shop stocks the GELSON stuff but mine came from Hamilton Holden here in Adelaide, I have been told that holden were put onto this when they had problems with there blacks

Indians......... let them do it while I have a coffee, & its a tax deduction!

I'm the same, mine hasn't looked good since october 2004 when i bought it, its had one was in about 2 years, major water restrictions here in vic. and i'm to lazy and tight to go to one of those car washes LOL

I have had good results from meguiars. I have been using their wash, carnuba wax, swirl remover, quick detailer and window clean on my 16 year old HSV for years. The fact that it still looks good despite it's shitty holden acrylic paint job is a testament to that I reckon.
The main part of that car that isn't original paint is the bonnet. Why? coz I was silly enough also to use one of the brushes at one of those car washes. Yes I cleaned it first too but it still scratched it. The only time I ever go to one of them now is to wash mud of the dirtbike

The rain washes mine.

Wash, polish and carnauba wax, comes up pretty good.
Just the generic stuff works well. (cnc/repo)
I prefer to stick to the same brand for all products

Check this out boys....Divine wax at 1500 sterling....bargain...I'll take two tubs please....Swissvax - when only perfection will do!

Check this out lads...Divine Wax at 1500 Sterling....I'll take two tubs please!!!
Swissvax - when only perfection will do!

Brisbanite said:

The rain washes mine.

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You have rain

Mines waxed with some clay to give it a redish glow

envee said:

You have rain

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Haha, yeah only recently though.

Thought I'd tack on to this thread rather than start a new one. What are people using to polish alloy bars? I've just had a new rear bar fitted after being run up the arse, and now have a shiny new rear end and a dull and scratched front. Roll bar could do with a polish too. I'll have some time over Christmas to get onto jobs like this, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

I haven't done it on the Nav cause it doesn't need a wash yet but I used stainless steel pot cleaner on the light bar i had on the Forester, not entirely practical bit it did the job.

Just for the record as far as the rest of the thread goes I use truck wash and gernie on all my cars whenever they get a wash, which isn't very often. If the truck wash isn't available I just make sure to use any car wash stuff that doesn't have wax in it.

For your alloy bar i found brasso works better than autosol. Cheaper too

But elbow grease is the main ingredient

I've started the long task off polishing the allor roll bars and bullbar, started using autosol and a non abrasive, (much) dish scrubber, comes up a treat. Still a lot to do though.

I've started using that new Turtle Wax Ice, for final polish, and Meguirs car shampoo, (the gold coloured one) for washing. Brings up the black and makes it silky smooth. I do have to get rid of the usual swirl marks etc, and really need to clay bar the bonnet.

Hoo Roo

The alloy bars are a pain the proverbial..... I don't know what it's called, but I use this impregnated cotton wadding product that comes in a yellow tin. You remove some of the cotton wadding, and rub the alloy until its shiny. You can reuse the wadding over and over - just stuff the used piece back into the tin when you are done, and it's ready for next time.

I have been experimenting with Auto Glym alloy polish lately. It's a top product that's for sure.

I primarily use Auto Glym products now. Their glass cleaner is about the best I have used, and they do a product (clear sealant) that lasts a very long time on the vehicle. I've only applied the second ever coat to my Merc and it's almost 2 years old. My ute has just had its second ever coat of the clear sealant and it's approaching 18 months old.

I'm not a believer in polishing new cars - polishing removes body from the paint, and unless you are trying to fix a problem with the paint, well, I just don't like removing volume from the paint.

I have a scratch on the bonnet of my merc. Some....person....scraped something across the front of the vehicle. Scratched the paint. Seems to be a shallow scratch, but is highly visible. I will NOT attempt to have the scratch repaired at this stage. Anyway, used some of the magic clearcoat stuff from autoglym - can't see the scratch anymore... Masked it well enough to make it all but invisible.

Mate of mine has a 2005 Honda Accord Euro - a black one. It is COVERED in siderweb (swirling in the paint) from age, washing etc. Anyway, he applied the autoglym clear coat and the result is simply stunning - the car looks amazing.

Their car shampoo is non-aggressive, their vinyl and rubber treatment doesn't leave a horrible greasy residue... I've got a bunch of their products in the shed and none of them have disappointed me on performance.

Price on the other hand...they are expensive compared to the opposition.

Sounds like I should give that Autoglym gear a go for the swirl marks,

thanks for the tip, hoo roo