Oh man...was thinking of this thread today when I did a little work on my wife's A8. Not too dirty other than the wheels, but it'd been rained on quite a bit over the last two weeks, so by Autopian Standards I suppose it was filthy. Just for kicks, and after checking that she didn't care whether I "really" cleaned it up or not, I did the following:
-Cursory job of cleaning the tires- spritz with Rubber Cleaner, scrub briefly, rinse (still dirty but no mud)
-Quick cleanup of the (5-spoke) wheels- spritz with shampoo mix, go over quickly with BHB, smaller BHB in valvestem and lug pockets and around the rim edge, cursory job doing spoke-backs and barrels (might not've gotten them 100% white-glove clean, didn't do follow-up from underneath the car)
-Hosed out wells, quick pass with mitt and shampoo mix, rinse again, wipe with IUDJ-damp cloth (maybe a minute each max)
Note I did not jack the car up or do the undercarriage. The wells would not pass a white-glove inspection but looked OK with the car at its normal ride height.
-Pressure-rinsed car with regular water
-Gently cleaned off several bug-splats with 1Z Anti-Insekt
-Pressure-rinsed with DI water
That was the extent of the cleaning. No doorjambs, didn't open the trunk or hood. No "real washing" period other than the wheels/wells and those weren't done to Autopian Standards by a long shot. Didn't clean the back sides of the wipers, didn't....etc., etc.
-Blew mostly dry with AirWand
-Blew out nooks and crannies with air compressor (including jambs, did open the trunk for that)
At that point the car was mostly dry and I said "good enough". I then drove the car around the block to knock the surface rust off the rotors and blow a bit more water out of nooks and crannies (this took maybe four minutes). It was still wet in places, but good enough.
-Quick-dressed tires with an old MF damp with dressing (really just wiped them each one time)
-Wiped wheel faces with IUDJ-damp rag
-Cleaned windshield (outer only), sideview mirrors, and front door glass (outer only)
-Vacuumed out driver's footwell
The above took me... [EDIT: upon reflection it only took me 90 minutes, not the 105 I thought, didn't set a stopwatch or anything
]....and I was working as fast as I can imagine possible; think "sprinting" as opposed to "jogging". Both hands working most of the time, shop set up before I started and not tidied-up after I finished. I'm at a loss as to how I could've done it faster and I didn't even really *wash* it!
