Making the company car presentable

**Scott P** · 06-24-2002, 10:42 AM

I have to take one of the company Tauruses (or is it Taurai?) on the road this week. Due to a change in plans, I will have time to wash and wax it. Being a company car driven (and owned) by people who could give a crap, what should I put on it? I use the car a lot and therefore have to make it acceptable for me to drive. The windshiled has a thick film on the outside while the paint hasn`t seen a lick of wax or poilsh in probably two years.

I`ll most likely have my choice of the marroon 2000 or the champagne 1999 to drive. I`m going to clean the inside up with the wet/dry and the dash with some Armor All car cleaner. I just need to find somehting I can apply to the outside that is low effort, but tough enough. I will most likely use this product on the Mt Bike, my Weber Grill

), and anything else I need a quick coat of wax on.

I`m thinking along the lines of NuFinish or Meguairs for the paint and some sort of polish for the windows. I think I can find my needs at Parts America or Target.

Any ideas? I`m not about to use my Zaino on the car, much less dedicate too many hours to it.

TIA

Scott P

(This car will be lucky enought o even see my good MF`s)

**imported_BretFraz** · 06-24-2002, 10:50 AM

Nufinish would be fine. Armor All car polish is also a very good cheapo product. Eagle One Wet polish is excellent and easy to use.

I bought some cheapo stuff at the dollar store so maybe look at those places for a decent wax. Why spend $5 on NuFinish when you can spend $1.99?

**Scott P** · 06-24-2002, 07:11 PM

I headed down to the Advance Auto in da `hood next to my office for supplies. They were out of NuFinsh (lord knows why), so I bought Mother`s Carnauba Cleaner Wax and an applicator to put it on with. To justify the purchase, I also bought some E-1 A2Z wheel cleaner too, for my car.

I got to spend two hours this evening on a 99 champagne Taurus that hadn`t been thoroughly cleaned in probably two years. I washed the car and was amazed by the sheeting action of the water. There wasn`t a droplet to be formed. It really needed to be clayed, but I didn`t feel like exerting the extra effort and using my Zaino clay on this car. I applied a coat of the California Gold to the whole car using my $0.99 terry applicator. The surface was as rough as I`ve ever seen on a car. I buffed it all with one of my 100% cotton towels from my pre-MF days. It looked better, but was still rough. I applied a second coat to the hood and it got a little better. I ran out of ambition to do the rest.

I spent the rest of my time vacuming the interior and cleaning the window glass. If it wasn`t for my Viper Glass towel, I don`t think I would`ve gotten the inside of the windows clean. I cleaned up all the vinyl and plastic with some Armor All AP cleaner to get rid of the dust and scuff marks. The car looks 1,000% better. Too bad it`s that damn champagne color, or I could really see a difference for all my effort.

Of course, the minute I find any fries, popcorn or pretzel bits in it from a co-worker or boss, I`ll probably kill them...

**imported_dl9589** · 06-24-2002, 09:33 PM

Champagne is a very difficult color to work with, but you can get good results out of it...with the right producst, and a good amount of time (probably a lot more than you are willing to put into a company car).

I own a Champagne Aurora, and have gotten a pretty good shine, IMO, out of it...although it took alot of work.

Champagne is an excellent color to trick your eye into thinking it`s clean when it`s not. About the only thing that shows up on it is tar, and really big, dead bugs. Dust and everyday dirt don`t show up.:up

**C. Charles Hahn** · 06-24-2002, 10:15 PM

Originally posted by Aurorav8

Champagne is a very difficult color to work with, but you can get good results out of it...with the right producst, and a good amount of time (probably a lot more than you are willing to put into a company car).

I own a Champagne Aurora, and have gotten a pretty good shine, IMO, out of it...although it took alot of work.

Champagne is an excellent color to trick your eye into thinking it`s clean when it`s not. About the only thing that shows up on it is tar, and really big, dead bugs. Dust and everyday dirt don`t show up.:up

which is a killer...... my wife hasn`t washed her car in a month (and Lord knows I haven`t been taking care of hers like I should be...... I figure, why bother when she doesnt care??) :scared

**imported_dl9589** · 06-24-2002, 10:24 PM

Originally posted by Shiny Lil Detlr

which is a killer...... my wife hasn`t washed her car in a month (and Lord knows I haven`t been taking care of hers like I should be...... I figure, why bother when she doesnt care??) :scared

It is a killer...but I don`t let the car get that dirty to begin with.

My wife has a white Chrysler that she doesn`t take care of. And I kind of thought the same thing that you did...no point in spending the time and putting in all that effort for something she doesn`t care about.

But I couldn`t handle it after 4 or 5 months of neglect. So I decided to take it Sunday morning, and spend about 4 hours on the thing.

**YoSteve** · 06-25-2002, 11:39 PM

Get a bottle of Klasse All In One from www.tacscar.com (don`t know if Tim at Tacscar carries the $10 bottle anymore) and use your PC to work out 3 coats, leaving the last on on a tad longer. Then use QD to remove final coat.

It`s quick and easy, AIO goes a long way and it will give you a shine that is not only easy but will offer protection better than any carnauba wax.