Product Selection Dilemma for a Newbie

[ILUVMYA4]

Help, I need some advice. I want to start taking proper care of the extorior of my `02 A4 (aside from the monthly hand washing and basic waxing once a year) and need some guidance on which direction I should take from a product standpoint.



Yesterday, in perhaps a rush to judgement, I went to Autozone and bought a bunch of stuff.



Deep Crystal Paint Cleaner

Deep Crystal Polish

NXT Generation Tech Wax

Quick Detail Spray

Eagle One Tire and Wheel Cleaner

Gold Class High Endurance Gloss

Eagle One Metal Polish - used last night on my tailpipes and it worked great.



Now, after reading up on car care on Autopia-carcare.com and properautocar.com I feel I may have acted to hastily.



Should I take the Maguiars stuff back and get what many percieve as "higher quality" products such as:



Klasse All In One

P21S Carnuba Wax

303 Aerospace Protectant

Einmann Fabrik Hi Intensity Cleaner



I am definately not an enthusiast but I do want to do the right thing for my A4. If you were in my shoes what would you do? TIA for your thoughts.

[Accumulator]

ILUVMYA4 - Welcome to Autopia! I`m pretty experienced with Audis so I`ll give you my $0.02.



Based on what you got and what you`re considering changing to, and what I read into your post as far as what you want to do, I`d do the following:



Return the Meg`s Deep Crystal stuff. *I* would also take back the NXT.



Get a claybar system. Most all of them work fine.



Order some 1Z polish (Paint Polish if you have significant swirls, Metallic or Wax Polish Soft if you don`t). Get some Meg`s #16 to top it. This approach works well on Audis, especially for people who aren`t looking for a new way to spend all their time ;) It`s user-friendly, and you`ll like the results even if you don`t get things "perfect". It`s the approach I recommend to Audi-owning friends who aren`t fanatics about detailing.



The AIO might be worth having to use on the black plastic on the bottoms of your bumper covers and the black paint on your rocker panels. AIO is a good product to have around, lots of uses. But I think the 1Z/#16 approach will be better for the "regular", painted parts of your A4.



FWIW, yeah, I use Klasse on some vehicles and other sealants on other vehicles and you can get as complicated as anyone would like about this stuff, I`m trying to keep it simple.



The EFHI is another good thing to have around. It`s a great all-purpose cleaner. I use it to clean the wheelwells and undercarriages of my vehicles and sometimes the wheels and tires.

[Bill D]

I`m a fellow A4 owner, brillant black, I use the 1z polishes and Menzerna IP and FP. ( I have other polishes as well) I see how difficult Audi clear can be to polish, I spent 45 mins alone on a single 6 inch scratch with my PC! So I`m going to be learning the rotary. Nothing can beat the highest quality polishes used with a rotary. My choice of last step products are Klasse AIO and SG

[ILUVMYA4]

Accumulator - Many thanks for your input. I appreciate you taking the time to weed out all the products and identify what would work well for me and my A4.



Two quick follow up questions:

1) What Quick Detailing Spray would you reccomend to use over the Maquiars #16 when the time calls for one?



2) Is it OK to hand apply and buff the 1Z and Mequiars? I feel better about doing it by hand rather than by machine. Maybe at so point I feel comfortable enough to explore a PC.



TIA for your thoughts.

[PFDarkside]

The PC is incredibly easy to use. Plus, it can really help you to achieve the results you are looking for much easier. It takes a lot of elbow grease to be nearly as effective by hand when using a polish like Menzerna IP, Meguiars DACP, etc.

[Bill D]

1z is probably the easiest to work by hand but on Audi clear it can get quite difficult. The PC can`t harm your paint unless you go to unprecedented measures to try to do so. You will be very happy if you do get a PC :xyxthumbs