It's a car!

[155mph]

Just thought I would share with you, car was delivered this afternoon. Both car and owner doing well, although owner walking around office with silly big grin on his face.

I'll be over to the dealership Saturday morning to pick her up on . Can't wait.

Yes, I'll post pics.

[XC60nick]

Congrats!
Do we have a name yet?
Pics, pics and more pics are required...
A good bonding process I find works is to rub a warm wet sponge all over her smooth body....

[Teejay1]

Originally Posted by 155mph

Just thought I would share with you, car was delivered this afternoon. Both car and owner doing well, although owner walking around office with silly big grin on his face.

I'll be over to the dealership Saturday morning to pick her up on . Can't wait.

Yes, I'll post pics.

Arrghh ordering mine tomorrow would love to have seen her in the flesh before then so Icould decide grey or not to grey that is the question.

[mu71rd]

sponge!! no way! has to be a wash mit or you'll scratch her!

see here

anyway - congrats. i also got a call saying my car will be at the dealers in 2-3 days. will be collecting late next week! excited, to say the least!

[XC60nick]

Whilst I am keen to try a wash mitt, I am aware that it is very easy to get sucked into a new trend.
What causes these swirl marks is dirt / grit between the cleaning media and the paintwork. Surely this is the same with a mitt, although I accept a mitt is potentially a deeper / softer surface. I'll see what comes in my birthday box...

[mu71rd]

The 'grit on the surface' point is exactly why a mitt is used - as a sponge holds all dirt and grit on its surface, whereas the mitt allows it to move deeper in amongst the hairs. A sponge can obviously be fine - but it is more prone to causing these problems, because even very fine dirt you can't see (once the car is wet you can't see it) causes swirl marks.

i'm no detailer, but i am finding it interesting reading/research. i don't think you'll find anyone who cleans or 'details' cars as a hobby or profession using a sponge nowadays...

word of warning though - the detailing stuff is seriously addictive - so be careful about opening the birthday box up too much! For example, i've just spent £150 on 'products'. In fairness, i feel should end up with a far better result than if i'd paid the dealer £350 on a supagard treatment that costs £30, and is applied by someone on £5/hour

[Foringo]

When I collected my xc60 on Monday after its quality check it was still wet after they thoughtfully washed it for me. It was absolutely clean when I dropped it off but now is covered in water marks until I clean it again on Saturday. Audi used to clean my A4 for no reason at all...still I know next time to tell them.

They may just have used a high pressure jet washer but more likely the same dirty old sponges & leathers that get dropped on the floor (I think that's how I picked up some unexplained scratches & swirls on my A4

[mu71rd]

yeah i've been put right off having car cleaned by the dealer. read this thread here for an insight into the 'industry':

a particular surprise was this snippet:

"i work for autoclenz/pinacle, i work at a mercedes dealership, and i know that they charge mercedes £25 for a used valet and the valeters take £14 of that, for a new car they charge £15 and valeters take £7.... "the dealer i work for charges £358 [for a supagard treatment]... as a valeter i get paid £7 for this application"!

[155mph]

On the contrary, I paid my dealer to have the Supagard done. Yes, I could have saved myself a 'bucket' and done a better, more satisfying job, but with the demands of a young family on my time, I figured it was money well spent to save on the earache.

[mu71rd]

sounds like a very sensible decision, 155mph. i have a similar situation at home, and am struggling to suggest that i should spend an hour or two here and there cleaning the car.

i'm "on duty" at the weekends!