A farewell detail

[Oneheadlite]

Hey gang. Got this posted on the sister site, thought it might be worth throwing up here too.

Well, after just shy of 9 years and nearly 200,000 miles on the road together (nearly 300k on the odometer), I’ve decided it’s time to move onto a new daily driver.


As is tradition, it was time for one last shine before we part ways.


This was a 2 part’r, the interior done Saturday with the exterior saved for Sunday. It was a very Griot’s weekend, as it’s what I tend to reach for when I just want things to work.


Interior was done with Interior Detailer, Leather 3 and 1 Spray for the seats. Wood trim was chased with Rinseless Wash and Wax.


As mentioned when I put it in the “What have you been doing detailing related”, despite being a dog hauler, commuter, and ride service for my 8yo daughter, I didn’t need to reach for anything deeper reaching for most surface cleaning. I did step it up to Multi Surface Citrus cleaner for some tar spots on the driver’s dead pedal, and Interior Cleaner for the pedals.
The all weather mats got hit with a pass of Interior Cleaner (scrubbed with a soft tipped bench brush), rinsed, and chased with Interior Detailer. Quick wipe with a microfiber after and they’re clean but not slick.


Full confession - the carpet only got a thorough vacuum (yes, that’s salt crust you see in the drivers footwell…). A friend is buying the car, and for what he’s paying for it I’ll let him close out the relay race. It’s nice to know he’s the type to pull seats to really do carpet right, so it’s going to a good home…










For the exterior, it was a solid hand wash with Duragloss car wash (just what I had on hand). Clayed with soapy water from the bucket with a boost of N914.


Wheels hit with one of Sonax’s heavier cleaners (I forget which one). In case he wants to take the wheels the rest of the way, I just chased them with Sonax BSD to not leave them naked. Tires I used Mike Phillips trick of Pinnacle Vinyl and Rubber Cleaner/Conditioner on a drill brush.


Door jams/fuel filler done with Ech20.


Paint correction /protection done with Griot’s Ceramic All in One Wax and Orange pads, GG9 and G8. They say not to use it on rubber, so I cheated and hit some areas with Blackfire One Step since I haven’t had trouble with it in those areas.
Blackfire One Step for the glass.


Grills and lower trim hit with Optimum OptiSeal.


By the time I was done, wasn’t the best lighting for dramatic final product photos, but here’s what I got.








Through the years, the car treated me exceptionally well, helping me financially with a couple insurance payouts.


One was a deer strike to the RF that crossed over to the drivers side, bending the RF fender and hood, breaking the headlights, blew off the drivers side mirror, put a little crease in the drivers a pillar. Only cracked the bumper and front grill. “Totaled” the car.
Junkyard (same paint color) hood, pulled the fender back up, new headlights, junkyard mirror (if you look close, only the driver’s mirror is black).


Another incident that left bigger scars was the morning I got to meet a 19yo on my way to work one morning. Turns out while traffic was stopping, she was looking over her shoulder to change lanes, blasting my LR corner. Did my best to leave them room for braking/get out of their way (as well as flashing my rear fog lights to alert to the slowdown), but she got me anyway. Folded my LR muffler out until it made contact with my LR tire, for the first time rendering my unstoppably reliable car immobilized.


Brought the car to a frame shop for inspection after hanging new exhaust on it to make sure it was still safe to have my daughter in. After his blessing, it got a new bumper reinforcement and all 4 taillights (only 2 got blown up, but this way they matched). Got lucky, and force didn’t transfer into the LR quarter.
I spent a good while searching for a replacement bumper cover that matched, but to be honest I needed the money more than the appearances bothered me.


Side note, I’m also a little superstitious about replacing rear bumpers after going through something similar with my wife’s last car. Hers had rear bumper repair done before she bought it, and the bumper condition always bugged us. Searched around and found a really nice black bumper cover. Got it cleaned up and installed, and 3 weeks later she got tagged in the back by someone not paying attention at an intersection. I was then convinced if I found the unicorn matching color rear bumper cover for my avant (not a lot of wagons in the states…), it was going to be a target on my backside.


And so, she spent some time on the road like this:





Anywho. Thanks for reading this far, I don’t often have a chance to sit down and do write ups.







Time for this one to go off into the sunset, soon I’ll do a post when I get my new Daily up to Autopian snuff.

[Accumulator]

Oneheadlite- Ah, that sure turned out nice, and *WOW* regarding how clean you`ve kept that interior even if you can still find things like the salt to nitpick. Glad it`s going to a good, appreciative home.

Oh, and I`m really glad it came through the damage/repairs OK! My wife`s beloved S4 was just never the same after it got rear-ended, no matter what the specs said about it being good as new (hence her A8, which she never wants to part with).

[Oneheadlite]

Oneheadlite- Ah, that sure turned out nice, and *WOW* regarding how clean you`ve kept that interior even if you can still find things like the salt to nitpick. Glad it`s going to a good, appreciative home.

Oh, and I`m really glad it came through the damage/repairs OK! My wife`s beloved S4 was just never the same after it got rear-ended, no matter what the specs said about it being good as new (hence her A8, which she never wants to part with).

Thanks for the kind words!

Yeah, I was really glad to be able to keep driving it after the hit. I could see where one control arm adjustment point got tweaked from the force of the muffler getting wrapped into the wheel, but it didn`t even move the subframe (common to see witness marks of the subframe getting shifted in it`s bolts from the lateral force of an impact). Having it on the alignment rack at work which can do a virtual view where it checks axle setback/symmetry/etc, all checked out ok. No ill handling effects with everything set back - heck, I just had to move the toe on that corner, didn`t even have to touch front toe (which I had set at virtually zero for tire wear`s sake).

Totally understand though about how it could have been different. When I was talking to the frame shop/body guy, he was warning me about how wild it is how forces get transmitted through a car in a collision. He`s gotten used doors/etc from crash cars (IE: Front door from a car that was rear-ended) that people want to put in that can`t be used because they`re tweaked out of usefulness.

Speaking of the rear end damage, My friend was able to score a clean color matched hatch for $80 (!!!), and he`s on the hunt for a bumper.

[PoisonTheWell]

Damn. I love the Audi Avants. I`m up to 126k miles on my S5.

[Accumulator]

Onehheadlite- Yes indeed, wreck repairs are always a crapshoot even when the damage seems minor.

And, heh heh..your pal might have a tougher time finding the bumpercover than he did with the hatch!

PoisonTheWell- I love `em too! TOO MUCH in fact..I bought a S6 Avant as a dog-hauler and couldn`t bring myself to use it for that, it was just too nice. Finally sold it and got them something more utilitarian that I didn`t feel obligated to care so much about.

EDIT: It occurs to me that Accumulatorette`s A8 has been in some pretty significant accidents, but it still drives 100% fine. Funny it`s worked out so well, but I`m sure glad since she simply loves the thing.