Matt called on Thursday and wanted to book his Audi A3 Quattro in for a Gold Waxxx Detail as soon as possible. Matt had just returned from Afghanistan after a six month term of service and was off to New Zealand for another four months in a few weeks time. With the forthcoming weekend being free I booked him in for the Sunday.

Matt arrived a little earlier than planned at 8.30am and we had a look around the car. Matt apologised for the car being so dirty and pointed out a couple of areas of concern. Firstly, there was a deep scratch spanning across half the bonnet which stood out like a sore thumb, even under the heavy road salts. Secondly, the top centre of the bonnet had been resprayed and Matt informed me it was not a great match. Although this was unnoticeable under the heavy clouds, Matt assured me it stood out in sunlight. Overall, Matt was not too concerned about swirl marks or other minor scratches but just wanted a good machine polish to bring some like back to the dull and tired looking paintwork.

After a quick detour as I dropped Matt and his wife off to the local metro station so they could head into Birmingham City Centre for the day, I returned home and began the detail. The car was covered in heavy winter road salts and the car was showing signs it had not been washed the other side of Christmas. There was no sign of paint protection as water beading was non-existant. So a quick mix of Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II (2cm) and Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner (4cm) and the Super Spray bottle filled to the top with hot water, it was attached to the hose end and the car was given a heavy foam bath. After an immediate rinse, it received another helping of foam and this was allowed to dwell for around 5 minutes followed by a rinse. The wheels were tackled with APC diluted 4:1 and a range of wheelbrushes. The arches received the same treatment and were cleaned with a long-handled brush. The A3 Quattro was then washed using the two-bucket method with Meguiars Shampoo Plus.

Onto claying and it was another outing for CYC Fine Poly Clay with the aid of Meguiars Last Touch diluted 1:1 acting as lubricant. Unsurprisingly, the yellow clay bar did not remain yellow for long as it removed a large amount of contaminants from the bodywork. The clay left a wonderful finish which was glass-smooth to the touch. By the time I had finished, the clay bar was ready for the bin and the car was rinsed and dried ready for polishing.

The A3 Quattro was wheeled into the garage and it was immediately noticeable where the bonnet had been resprayed. There was a perfect rectangular section at the top of the bonnet which was a darker shade than the rest of the bonnet and stood out under natural light. With the halogens set up and switched on, it was pleasing to see the A3 Quattro was relatively swirl-free although there were a few RDS and stonechips here and there. Paint readings assured me the paint was fairly thick all round and knowing Audi paint - was going to be hard as nails. Skipping the soft-soft approach, I went straight for a Meguiars Polishing Pad sporting Menzerna Intensive Polish PO91L. I chose this over Intensive Polish PO85RD 3.02 because I find it works a lot better in cooler conditions and also has a tad more lubricity than the PO85RD 3.02. I set up a test area on the bonnet and gave it one hit with the Metabo Rotary using 1100-1500-1800-1100 to break the polish down and removed the residue with a microfibre. Around 75% correction was reached and so I proceeded to give it another hit using the same pad and polish combination. This time all the swirls were removed although there was a need for a finishing polish to return a degree of gloss back to the paintwork and to remove some minor pig-tailing. I decided to try out my new Sonus SFX-1 Finishing Pad (the new red pad) with Menzerna Final Finish PO106FA. This is, by far, the softest pad I have ever come across and worked wonderfully well leaving a crisp, sharp finish bringing some much needed life to the paintwork. This was worked with the Metabo Rotary at 1100-1500-1100. The remainder of the car was corrected using the same method. All plastics and bumpers were tackled with the Porter Cable 7424 using the same pad and polish combination as with the rotary. The deep scratch on the bonnet was cut back as far as possible as were the other RDS. The resprayed area was corrected to around 95% with the Final Finish PO106FA working a treat in factoring the two levels of paint and blending them together to produce a universal shade.

Onto finishing and with the PO106FA working so well there was no need for a glaze or paint cleanser. So with the owner not being able to wash and care for his car as often as he would like due to work commitments, it was decided a durable wax would be the order of the day. And what better than Collinite 476S. In my opinion, nothing comes close to the Collinite range of waxes for pure durability. A coat of 476S was applied with an applicator pad and left to cure for 10 minutes before being buffed clear. A second coat was applied and left to cure for another 10 minutes before being buffed clear. The car was then wiped over with Zymol Field Glaze. The benefit of using a quick detailer after buffing a heavy wax such as 476S is a very important step in providing a perfect finish. A quick detailer will remove buffed wax residue more commonly known as holograms. And in my opinion, nothing comes close to Zymol Field Glaze for this vital step of the detailing process.

Onto the wheels, and the alloys received a coat of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard and the tyrewalls a coat of Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel. The wheel arches were treated with Meguiars All Season Dressing applied with an applicator pad and the underseals also received a light coat of the same. The twin-tailpipes were then cleaned and polished with Meguiars NXT Metal Polish before being dressed with a generous coat of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard. All exterior rubber and plastic trim was dressed with a light coat of Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel. Finally, the windows were polished inside and out with AutoGlym Fast Glass and the detail was complete.

Matt arrived soon after and was amazed with the finish. The Collinite 476S had left a superb mirror finish which gave fantastic reflections. The resprayed area and scratch was also reduced considerably and Matt was absolutely delighted with the correction work. Matt then said he would be recommending Hotwaxxx to a few of his mates who would be in touch for a detail shortly.



The photos - click thumbnails to enlarge