Keeping your used car clean and spotless

18/12/11

Have you ever driven past a dealer’s forecourt and wondered how they get their cars so shiny and gleaming? There’s a reason they spend so much time (and money) ensuring their cars are in top condition before displaying them to the public – a car’s cleanliness has a massive impact on how a potential buyer views the car’s quality. To give yourself the best shot when selling your used or second hand car, ensure it’s spotless. If you don’t want to fork out on a full valet or car wash, or you don’t fancy having your car scratched by a couple of kids with a cold bucket of grey water, follow our expert guide below and you’ll have a motor to be proud of.

1.       Wash the body. First, wash the body of the car. To start, rinse the car with a bucket of clean water or a hose pipe, starting from the roof. This will get rid of and debris and prevent scratching. Then, using car shampoo or car wash, wash the car starting from the top. Avoid car shampoo with polish added in as these will leave streaks. The shampoo will also leave streaks if you under or over dilute it – always follow the instructions on the bottle for the best results. Also, don’t use the final quarter of the bucket of water as this will mainly be grime and dirt.

2.       Rinse, repeat. Always rinse your car thoroughly after applying the shampoo. The best way to do this is to either use a hose pipe or to throw buckets at water at the car – the velocity will make the shampoo rinse off quickly and prevent it sticking. You’ll then need to wipe the car down with a large cloth – leaving the car to dry naturally will again result in streaks. If your car is dirty, or you want to sell it used or second hand, you might want to repeat this process.

3.       Nooks and crannies. Use a small car brush with a concentrated amount of cleaning product on it to go over all the plastic, lights and grill, as well as any other hard to reach places you might have missed. When selling a used car, the devil’s in the details, so this is an important step.

4.       Polish. After you’ve given your car a thorough once over, polish with a big applicator sponge, but be careful to avoid any plastics as this may leave stains.

5.       Tyres. To clean the wheels and tyres, first use some neat wheel cleaner on the wheels, buffering with a regular dishwashing cloth, then rinse with water. Then spray tyres with tyre dressing, but put newspaper down to avoid staining the drive.  

And that’s it for the outside of your car – soon it’ll be the envy of all the other second hand cars up for sale. Next in our series will be the interiors, so keep your eye out for that on the blog soon.