I just picked up an '07 Passat 2.0T with 8 miles on it this past Saturday. It is the Black Metallic (almost got the Blue Graphite, but they didn't have the all black interior...). Before I had the chance to say don't touch the car, they did their quick detail job... a cursory removal of the remaining transit stuff, a run through their car wash (hey, I get free car washes there now! :lol ), and then another walk-around with some stuff designed to remove the transit residue.
I have always taken relatively good care of my cars' paint, but I want to take it to the next level here, especially since I have a black, metal flake car (what the heck was I thinking?) and it is brand new. The paint and chrome appear to still be in perfect condition, despite the dealer wash. I just stepped outside to look, but since we've had rain here the past few days, the car is pretty dirty, so I can't really see any imperfections. They did still leave quite a bit of transit residue, though. Bums.
Anyway, here is the situation... this Passat was made in May '06, so the paint has had plenty of time to breath, I believe. The car will spend 99% of its time outside as I have no garage. I have been considering a car cover but haven't started the research on the best cover to get yet. I live in downtown St. Louis... thankfully, I have my own place to park off the street, but have to travel down a dusty brick alleyway to get to it. No trees hang over the parking spot. My daily drive to work is 20 miles, mostly highway.
I pretty much have the entire weekend to detail this car for the first time, and I want to do it right, give the car a terrific running start with a perfect paint job, and prep it for the winter. (Praying that it doesn't rain...) So... where do I start? Assume I have no cleaning products or supplies at all right now. Wide open question, I know, but given all the info above, what is my best route? I see the use of the PC mentioned an awful lot... I've never used one, so a little concerned about any damage I could do. Yada yada yada... you guys get the picture. Thanks for your help! :2thumbs:
I have always taken relatively good care of my cars' paint, but I want to take it to the next level here, especially since I have a black, metal flake car (what the heck was I thinking?) and it is brand new. The paint and chrome appear to still be in perfect condition, despite the dealer wash. I just stepped outside to look, but since we've had rain here the past few days, the car is pretty dirty, so I can't really see any imperfections. They did still leave quite a bit of transit residue, though. Bums.
Anyway, here is the situation... this Passat was made in May '06, so the paint has had plenty of time to breath, I believe. The car will spend 99% of its time outside as I have no garage. I have been considering a car cover but haven't started the research on the best cover to get yet. I live in downtown St. Louis... thankfully, I have my own place to park off the street, but have to travel down a dusty brick alleyway to get to it. No trees hang over the parking spot. My daily drive to work is 20 miles, mostly highway.
I pretty much have the entire weekend to detail this car for the first time, and I want to do it right, give the car a terrific running start with a perfect paint job, and prep it for the winter. (Praying that it doesn't rain...) So... where do I start? Assume I have no cleaning products or supplies at all right now. Wide open question, I know, but given all the info above, what is my best route? I see the use of the PC mentioned an awful lot... I've never used one, so a little concerned about any damage I could do. Yada yada yada... you guys get the picture. Thanks for your help! :2thumbs:
