help with sun battered DD

N

nmxdaven

New member
I had to get the hood on my daily driver repaired lately (04 SVT Focus) and the 30 days have just ended, so I thought I would give it a full detail. I'm a college student with a pretty tough major, and sadly for the past year I have been a horrible owner. Due to parking restrictions, the car has spent its 3 years in direct Texas sunlight allot of the time, and the rubber trim looks horrible! The paint is in decent condition, but the rubber is about 5 shades lighter than the paint. Is this something that I can fix or does the nature of the rubber mean it needs to just be replaced?



If im totally honest, it has NEVER had any sort of dressing on it. I know i know.... :wall



Any tips for taking care of a car that will, in all honestly, never even see a car port would be helpful...









Thanks!
 
I'm certainly no expert at detailing and I have only cared for my own personal daily drivers. I am in no way in the league of the pro's here but I'm working on it.



You don't mention what tools you have and being a student I'm going to guess at none.

Anything you do at this point is going to help to preserve your finish.

So that being said I would start simple and get a Mequires auto soap, Megs cleaner wax, Megs tire stuff and some Megs back to black for all the rubber trim. You might want to also get a tire brush for your wheels. You can prolly get away for less than $50



Using these products will give you a decent looking vehicle and help get it back in shape.

Good luck :)
 
HeadnSouth said:
I'm certainly no expert at detailing and I have only cared for my own personal daily drivers. I am in no way in the league of the pro's here but I'm working on it.



You don't mention what tools you have and being a student I'm going to guess at none.

Anything you do at this point is going to help to preserve your finish.

So that being said I would start simple and get a Mequires auto soap, Megs cleaner wax, Megs tire stuff and some Megs back to black for all the rubber trim. You might want to also get a tire brush for your wheels. You can prolly get away for less than $50



Using these products will give you a decent looking vehicle and help get it back in shape.

Good luck :)
Click to expand...



It got a good cleaner wax at about 9 months old, and I kept it waxed every few months for everything but this last year. (Maybe one total in 07) I'm planning its first clay and light polish later this month, along with the engine, under body and yanking the tires off, but im just worried about the damage 100 degree Texas days has lent it.



So all the plastic trim should still be file with some TLC? Its already cracking in some spots but its not too bad. Does the cracking mean its too late?
 
nmxdaven said:
It got a good cleaner wax at about 9 months old, and I kept it waxed every few months for everything but this last year. (Maybe one total in 07) I'm planning its first clay and light polish later this month, along with the engine, under body and yanking the tires off, but im just worried about the damage 100 degree Texas days has lent it.



So all the plastic trim should still be file with some TLC? Its already cracking in some spots but its not too bad. Does the cracking mean its too late?
Click to expand...

It should be fine, this is not a show car but an everyday driver. Could the rubber be in better shape? I'd have to say yes but lets be realistic all you can do besides replace it is care for it.



Clay it, polish it then give it a good wax. I'm assuming this is done all by hand correct? You could use some 303 on the rubber although B2B should work just fine.



Do a search on products for your trim. I'm sure theres a gazillion different products you can use it'll just depend which one you like, feel comfortable using and how much $ you want to spend.
 
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