What have you done to your MK 7 today ?

[Cossieian]

Bought another set of wheels to cheer myself up

Wow! More? Any pictures?

Pics will come eventually dude as per usual

Gonna need to book that holiday to LA now to apologise to the wife for spending more money

[Booth11]

I was behind a black R a few days ago on the road and the swirls on it were just horrendous. It looked terrible, just reminded me how dedicated you have to be to maintain a black car. My black TT used to drive me insane cause as much as I tried I just could not avoid the dreaded swirls and after 3.5yrs of ownership my dedication to keeping it immaculate started to dwindle.
There's no doubt a swirl free black car is by far the best colour but it's just too difficult to maintain

I cringe when I see black cars looking like you describe. But I have to admit the reason I got into detailing was because I was guilty of having a car that bad once upon at time. Year's ago when I traded in a previous black car, I looked back and it and saw it in all it's swirly glory and felt utter shame at the state of it.  And from that day forth I decreed to look after my cars!  But black is not for everyone, it does take effort if you like a clean car.

A quick wash indeed. A mornings work more like😀

I call 55 minutes a quick wash.  Don't you?   And that included double snow foam stage, polishing tailpipes and dressing tyres. Limited time is no excuse for cutting corners on the detail.

Not when you've got half a million quid's worth of detailing equipment and the best products money can buy hidden under all the dirt!!! 
When a car is that well cared for it doesn't take much to get the dirt off and the deep shine restored.
Ms Booth and a few others on here put mere mortals like me to shame.
Getting my car clean in 55 minutes - now that would be a challenge!!!

A million quids worth of detailing gear helps but it's useless in the wrong hands. Prep and technique is everything. 

The secret to it is SNOW FOAM, it's power is not to be underestimated.  In winter I snow foam twice and by the time that's been jet washed off the car is 70% clean  before the 2/3 bucket wash commences.

If I lived anywhere near to you I would gladly accept the challenge of restoring your white goods to perfection.

[Booth11]

I agree, having good products on your car is well worth it.
I paid quite a bit of money to get my car ceramic coated in December as I was told it would make washing a doddle.....well in simple terms it just hasn't lived up to expectations

Seriously considering getting it removed and going back to a good old fashioned wax .

PS yes prets at last mate

Ian, Prets at last!  Congratulations    Can't wait to see them on, but as you say you'd better spend some time and money smoozing Mrs C first. 

Stone chip   It is awful finding the first one.  I've got on on my bonnet along with a peculiar scratch that will be polished out in the next month.  Such is life!

I had a ceramic coating on my second Mk5 GTI and it was complete rubbish.  That's why I never bothered with the Mk6 and decided to do it all myself using just sealant and wax protection and it's was a million times better.  I know coatings have moved on since them and some extol the virtues of stuff like Gtechniq Exo, but I am not remotely tempted by it.  Wax may be currently out of fashion, and sneered at by some, but I have yet to see anything coating wise to make me jump ship. Whilst they may offer 9-12 months of protection (which may be perfect for some), for me they simply do not match up in terms of finish - only wax can give you a certain look.  And not having anything to do with my car for that long (apart from wash it) would drive me nuts. 

If you do decide to polish off the coating (or whatever is required to remove it) and go the wax route, I don't think you would be disappointed.  What coating did you have on it? - some can only be removed by wet sanding. 

[Booth11]

Great work as ever Ms B.
Have a safe journey. I'll be interested to know what you'r MPG's are on a long run like that.

You'll be able to just swap the pics around and do a "before my trip" and "after my trip"  post with the clean car then the dirty car!

I'm heading off in the opposite direction in the country and heading further South and West either Sunday or Monday. My car preparations will include checking air and fluids but no cleaning. I've not cleaned it since October. 
Mind you I've barely done a few hundred miles since October.

Haha, yeah I'll just swap the pics round. 

I did the pre-journey checks too. Coolant check - ok; oil level check - ok, tyres topped up with air - done. The garage has a new air machine which costs double the price of the old one.  Yesterday, unaware of this (no indication of price on the machine) I put my usual 50p in and started with the first tyre, and watched, at first bemused then slightly alarmed, as it let air of the tyre until it got down to 30psi???   Panicking that I would be left with a nice set of flat tyres I ventured into the garage shop to see if there was a problem with the machine, only to be informed that it was now £1. I've never been so relieved to ripped off in my life.   

I'd tell you my trip MPG if I'd remembered to reset the trip computer.   Must remember to do it properly on the way back.  But even taking into account that the stats include a few days of the crap city traffic, my long term mpg has jumped from 21.9 to 26.7mpg. So somewhere in the lower mid 30's for the 250 mile trip.

[Booth11]

Drove it to West Yorkshire.

First longish trip in the R and what a relaxed drive.  It really is a superb all rounder. And now for a week of fun on some good driving roads with some decent hills and stunning scenery.  Road surfaces up here put the Kent roads to shame - I've encountered only 1 pothole so far, a marked contrast to the 1 every 10 feet back at home.

[Watts]

Drove it to West Yorkshire.

First longish trip in the R and what a relaxed drive.  It really is a superb all rounder. And now for a week of fun on some good driving roads with some decent hills and stunning scenery.  Road surfaces up here put the Kent roads to shame - I've encountered only 1 pothole so far, a marked contrast to the 1 every 10 feet back at home.

I love it around West Yorkshire, such rugged beauty in both the landscape and the architecture. What part are you in? Not jealous at all  I could really do with a good pint of Tim Taylors Landlord right now

[Booth11]

Drove it to West Yorkshire.

First longish trip in the R and what a relaxed drive.  It really is a superb all rounder. And now for a week of fun on some good driving roads with some decent hills and stunning scenery.  Road surfaces up here put the Kent roads to shame - I've encountered only 1 pothole so far, a marked contrast to the 1 every 10 feet back at home.

I love it around West Yorkshire, such rugged beauty in both the landscape and the architecture. What part are you in? Not jealous at all  I could really do with a good pint of Tim Taylors Landlord right now

I'm up here visiting my folks who live in Almondbury (near Huddersfield) but we always stay in rented cottage a few miles away (can't put up being cooped up with my Mum and Dad for a whole week, haha, plus I have my daughter and sister in tow).  I come from round here (born in Halifax) so it's my home county.

The roads are fantastic and the landscape - well it's coming home for me.  I come up here to have a good drive as much as visiting family.  There will be a few good days out this week and they will be partly decided by the drive.

I've lived in many places in UK but nothing beats the hills of home (except possibly the West Country - Bath).  I've lived in Kent for yonks but have no affinity with the place at all - pretty in parts but oh so flat by comparison.     

[Daz2411]

Going to tackle my car cleaning tomorrow as good weather is forecast. Can anyone recommend some good products for snow foam? Wax? Alloy cleaner and any thing else that seems to bring out good results.

[Diehammer]

Finally applied Gtechniq I1 Smart Fabric to the interior and thanks to those that warned me to do it on a good day because it is really stinking. How long does an application protect for?

[Exonian]

Prep and technique is everything. 

The secret to it is SNOW FOAM, it's power is not to be underestimated.  In winter I snow foam twice and by the time that's been jet washed off the car is 70% clean  before the 2/3 bucket wash commences.

If I lived anywhere near to you I would gladly accept the challenge of restoring your white goods to perfection.

The prep and technique was what I was getting at. Once a new car has been prepared as well as yours the dirt can't have too much to stick to!

Is snow foam really that good?
For years I've seen detailer show off their snow foam pics and I've always been very sceptical.
I've lost count of the amount of "miracle" products that I've seen come and go over the years with people almost forbidden to question them for fear of the wrath of the Internet! Snake oil and all that.

Once upon a time long before my hair gained its expensive silver tinge I had a part time job in a garage whilst I was at college studying electronics.
"Get a job in electronics boy, it's the future"
"It sounds boring" (and it was)
So off I went to seek my fortune in electronics only to find all the decent jobs had pissed off to the Far East by the time is taken my exams. Yeah, thanks oh sage like careers advisors.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes.
In the garage we had a diesel powered heated pressure washer with seriously serious chemicals to use.
Even that (despite my boss's misguided claims) on full pelt didn't shift much road grime. In fact it could strip paint and chrome better then a layer of mud.

Henceforth I've always been a bit sceptical of snow foam.

Like DSG, I'd love to be convinced I was wrong.