I received a call from Chris who had recently brought a brand new Audi TT Convertible from Audi Wolverhampton and was not entirely happy with the dealership prep. Chris explained over the phone that the TT Convertible had been back to Audi Wolverhampton on two separate occasions to remove swirl marks which were in the paint when the car was delivered and on the second occasion that it was returned, was in a worse state than when he had handed it over to them. Eventually, Chris told Audi Wolverhampton that he would have the car professionally detailed and that he would present them with the bill.

So Chris arrived on Saturday morning at 9.30am; a little later than planned due to satnav problems. The TT Convertible was booked in for two days, as it was receiving the Gold Waxxx Detail, so I had plenty of time to get the car back to showroom condition. Chris explained the car was simply suffering from swirl marks and wanted me to work my magic so he could present Audi Wolverhampton with an invoice and to show the valeting bods how it should be done. Chris left the car with me and said he would return the next day upon my phone call.

I began the detail by rinsing the wheels and applied a new product in my artillery; Chemical Guys Blue Rim Wheel Cleaner and left it to stand for a couple of minutes. The wheel arches were treated with Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner diluted 4:1. The alloys were then worked with a range of wheelbrushes and a microfibre wash mitt and the arches with a long-handled brush. Overall, the wheels and arches took around 30 minutes as they were clean to begin with and they clearly had some form of protection as the loose dirt came away very easily and the droplets of water beaded very nicely indeed. The wheels were then rinsed clean and the car rinsed over ready for washing. The car was washed using the two bucket method and Meguiars Shampoo Plus and rinsed clean. The mohair roof was left untouched.

Onto claying and the CYC Yellow Poly Clay bar together with Meguiars Last Touch diluted 1:1 acting as lube removed quite a lot of contamination from the bodywork which was surprising since the TT Convertible was only machine polished a month ago by the valeting team at Audi Wolverhampton. The car was rinsed and dried with the Miracle Dryer before being wheeled into the garage to see the paintwork under the halogens.

The bonnet was home to a few light swirl marks and minor holograms and did not look too bad at all. However, the same could not be said for the rest of the car as the doors, wings, roof and bootlid were full of deeper swirl marks and more distinctive holograms. It seemed the valeting team at Audi Wolverhampton had made a concerted effort on the bonnet and then proceeded to pay less attention to the remainder of the car hoping the owner would not be too vigilant when it came to showtime. However, cracking on with the detail and today's choice of polish was my newly acquired 3M range which consisted of Fine Compound, Extra Fine Compound and Ultrafina. Fast Cut+ was not required on this particular detail.

I taped up a test area on the door as this was the worst affected area and proceeded to hit it with the Metabo Rotary housing a brand new 3M Polishing Pad and Extra Fine Compound. The polish was worked at 1100-1500-1100 and broke down extremely quickly indeed; just a few passes were required. A quick wipe over with a microfibre revealed a good level of correction. However, I felt a more abrasive polish would achieve a quicker level of correction and proceeded to hit the same area, this time with Fine Compound. The polish once again broke down effortlessly and following a wipe over 100% correction was achieved. However, I found the Fine Compound leaves virtually nothing in terms of gloss and the next stage was to work Ultrafina on a Meguiars Softbuff Finish Pad. The Ultrafina took a little longer to break down but left a crisp glossy finish.

Onto the bonnet, and I taped up another test area and hit it with Extra Fine Compound with a blob of Ultrafina on a 3M Polishing Pad as a fellow pro-detailer had suggested. Full correction was achieved and the Ultrafina worked fantastically well in conjunction with the Extra Fine Compound to leave a lovely gloss finish in one hit. The remainder of the bonnet was polished using the same pad and polish combination. However, the remainder of the car was worked using Fine Compound on a 3M Polish Pad followed by Ultrafina on a Meguiars Softbuff Finish Pad with 100% correction all round.

Overall, the machine polishing stage took just over 6 hours and I was pleasantly surprised at the softer paint the new Audi TT wore in comparison to the earlier Audi TT's and Audi's in general. The 3M polishes were an absolute treat to use and produced very little in the way of dust residue. Working time is far quicker than both the Menzerna and Meguiars polishes and the finish is just as good. I found the Ultrafina was excellent when worked in conjunction with Fine Compound on the same pad but on its own it was on the same level as Menzerna Final Finish PO85RD in terms of gloss and overall finish. And after the polishing stage I decided to call it a night at around 7.30pm.

The following morning began with the car receiving a wash to remove dust residue from the bodypanels. The wash was conducted with the Super Spray Hose End Sprayer which is becoming a favourite of mine due to its simplicity. 2cm of Chemical Guys Maxi Suds II and the bottle topped to the brim with hot water was all that was needed and thereafter followed a rinse and dry using the Miracle Dryer. The panel gaps and sills were then cleared free of dust with APC diluted 10:1 with the aid of a microfibre for a completely dust-free finish ready for finishing. Although washing a car after a machine polish is a lengthy process say, compared to a dust up with a feather duster, but it means the car is completely dust-free and with the aid of the Super Spray Hose End Sprayer is a breeze to do.

So onto finishing. The TT Convertible was cleansed with Dodo Juice Lime Prime applied with an applicator pad and buffed immediately with a microfibre by hand. This was followed by a coat of Victoria Concours which ticked all Chris' boxes who had requested a wet-look finish with good durability. This was applied with an applicator pad and buffed immediately panel by panel. The car was then wiped over with Zymol Field Glaze to remove any wax residue and prevent holograms from the finish.

Onto the wheels and the alloys were treated to a coat of Chemical Guys Wheel Guard and the tyrewalls dressed with Chemical Guys New Look Trim Gel. The same was applied to the exterior plastic and rubber trim and the arches received a spray layer of Meguiars All Season Dressing. The twin exhaust tailpipes were polished clean with Meguiars NXT Metal Polish. Finally, the windows were polished inside and out with AutoGlym Fast Glass and the detail was complete at 2.00pm.

Chris arrived just after 4.00pm as he had to arrange a lift and was absolutely delighted with the finish. He said the machine polish looked to be spot on as he closely inspected the paintwork to see if he could see any swirl marks. The wax had left a brilliant finish and brought out some great flake to the paintwork when the sunlight hit it at the right angle and Chris was delighted with the sharp finish. Chris explained the detail had exceeded all expectations as 100% correction had been achieved throughout and couldn't quite understand why the valeting team at Audi Wolverhampton were unable to achieve a similar finish. He went on to explain that they had talked him into Supaguard with the expectation that he would not have to touch the car in terms of polishing and waxing for 3 years but was then presented with a cleaning kit to keep on top of it which kind of negates the need of not needing to polish and wax. He also said that had he known beforehand that a valet from the dealership involved free swirls he would have asked for the car to be presented untouched but that he had learned a valuable lesson. He explained he would now be attending Audi Wolverhampton to present them with my invoice so they could pay up for what they should have done in the first place. Chris duly paid his invoice and left with what he had paid for in the first instance; a showroom condition Audi TT Convertible.



The photos - click thumbnails to enlarge