New Cars
Leather
When new, it’s not too hard to clean but it really needs to be kept up with as the vehicle gets older and there are certain things that will give you problems.
Child Seats -: Great for the safety of your child but on leather will probably leave marks.

Children -: We know you love them but they do have accidents – drinks etc that might get spilt, those nice sticky sweets, footmarks on the back of the seat.

General -: Sunscreen, Make Up, and even the dye from your jeans (especially on those cream leathers) will get absorbed by the leather and if they aren’t removed early or the leather is of inferior quality (there are many grades of leather) you may be left with these marks as a permanent fixture!

Carpets -: Most new small cars these days (except for the high end sports cars and some of the European vehicles) do not handle “traffic” well. The carpet tends to “fluff up” and are difficult to clean well. The larger the car generally the better the carpet with the exception of some of the cheaper people movers.

Fabrics -: Most fabrics on seats these days are pretty good, although there are a few that are difficult to clean (one that springs to mind are the seats in the X-Trail, sorry X-Trail owners!).

External -: Take a little time to check the paintwork. Most new car makers have got their act together but, a new car is not always as new as it ought to be! They do (during transport or if they are a demo) sometimes get dents, paint chips, scrapes, scuff marks etc. Always check in bright conditions wherever possible, viewing under lights will also show up imperfections more readily than cloudy weather or dappled light.
Check the spare tyre – they are often now days little more than a motor bike tyre masquerading as a car tyre! (it’s all about extra boot space).

Some ways that the above issues can be alleviated; always get fitted mats (they should throw them in with a new car) you can buy generic ones that are just as good as genuine these will always be made of better quality material than your carpets.
On the inside of your car, use leather and fabric protection and add window tint.
Applying paint protection right from the outset will provide good protection for your paintwork.

The dealers will try to sell you all of this DON’T BE FOOLED, they will try to charge you anything up to $3000 for this, sometimes more, they will also tell you that what they put on is bullet proof! We use they same technology (the only thing Car Care cannot provide is window tint unless you are in Tassie) and instead of the kid that wipes over the cars in the yard you will have a professional come out to you.

Used, Pre-owned or, if you prefer, Pre-loved cars

Obviously the above applies to the second hand car buyer and even more care needs to be taken checking the paintwork (a poor decision on this could leave you facing the prospect of a respray) Checking the paint on a pre-loved car is virtually impossible if it is not clean. Try and look along the paint (a decent pair of sunnies is crucial) look for “lines” in the paint this is likely to be indicative of repair, look for slight colour change, “orange peel” (because vehicles are now all painted by machine you will usually get a slightly more dimpled surface where a repair has been made no matter how good the spray painter is), look to see if the clear coat is peeling even the smallest bit shows that it won’t be long until you have a major problem, marks that have been left by bird poop will NOT come off by compounding it will be there for good, as well as checking the tyres also check the rims for dents scuff marks etc.TIP ON 4WD’S ALWAYS CHECK THE PASSENGER SIDE FOR SCRATCHES (when driving thru the scrub the driver tends to pay more attention to there side!)
On the inside all the things spoken about with new cars should be apparent, if you have leather seats look for the things spoken about but also cracking and scuff marks (especially the drivers seat). With the upholstery it is fairly obvious but make sure you put the seats all the way forward and back this may uncover something that might not otherwise have been seen (if it has seat covers insist on taking them off they will potentially hide not only marks but damaged upholstery), take any mats out to see what is under them, remember to look up at the the head lining, check the dash console and plastics in general people might have removed handsets or 2 way radios whatever and left holes or had them repaired, check the window tint (dog salavia can damage it and start to erode it)
If the vehicle is simply dirty don’t despair just allow for a full Car Care detail when negotiating the price!

SAFM Street Crew in conjuncton with PURA CLASSIC MILK paid Car Care SA a work place visit, suppling a morning tea of flavoured milks with DVD and CD give aways….Thankyou SAFM

As you can see from the attached images taken in the Adelaide Hills at Golding Winery, for Ford, this was about showing off the vehicles in the environment that they would be used whilst also wanting to present them in a clean condition.
Four Car Care detailers prepared the 14 vehicles for the event and two went back the following day to spray the mud off so they could be transported to their next destination, in the case Perth.

This partnership is crucially important and it is evident from the very first moment a new franchisee starts with Car Care. Our latest Car Care NSW franchisee Matthew Khoury is testiment to this. Matthew purchased his business in early August 2011.
Matthew was previously a car detailer for a very prestiguos luxury European car manufacturer for 10 years. Matthew’s experience was well intrenched into his day to day operations already, so with Car Care’s initial training programme he was fine tuned on how to detail the Car Care way.
Car Care, because of its longevity in the industry has fine tuned its services to maximise customer satisfaction whilst making sure that our detailers aren’t wasting precious time chasing their tailS. From the very first week of Matthews training he was supplied work which he was paid for. His business has steadfastly grown with him having his first $3000 turnover week just recently.

With the skills Matthew has been trained on with business developement, local marketing techniques (he uses to grow his business), accounts and practical detailing training which coupled with the call centre suppling Matthew work he is on the right road to building a very successful business within a very short period of time.

Oh yes and Matthew financially is earning nearly three times the amount he was earning previously and is his own boss.

The things that count in getting that final WOW finish are getting to the edges of the particular part of the car that is being detailed, making sure the windows aren’t smeary and or streaky, no brake dust left on rims. All these and more are extremely important as these are the things that your eye picks up and makes the difference between a good looking car and a great looking car.

Now there is no doubt that having the right tools with you makes all the difference to being able to achieve the results you want, but the tools with no know how will get you no where fast. Now at Car Care we have all the right tools and this allows us to get great results in quick time, so if your time is important to you then its best you contact us direct and we can do the work for you. However there are things you can do at home, firstly a quality chamios will go a long way, specific glass cleaning microfibre cloths, general purpose microfibre cloths, a quality wash n wax product with a wash mitt (my preference) and or a sponge, should you think your paintwork requires it a quality polish and a polishing microfibre cloth and depending on your tastes some interior gloss (not too glossy more of a satin type is my preference) and some product to blacken your tyres, this comes in various forms and personally I prefer to put this on first. I then blast with the pressure cleaner and this takes off all the excess, if you put it on last and then drive away and not enough time has elapsed it tends to flick up on the car and then the dirt and dust will stick to it spoiling the look of your car in no time.

With these products and some time you can achieve some great results, some tips though; always use clean cloths this is especially true for the windows and the most common occurence for streaky windows (all quality microfibres cloths and chamios can be put thru the washing machine as long as you aren’t using softener), if you take a dog in the car and their saliva gets on the window tint get it off at your first opportunuty as this will damage window tint in no time the same goes for leather and some plastics, never use your chamios on the wheels use an old cloth or old microfibre if you have one, once you have parked the car check around for drips and also the rims again, if you are polishing be careful not to use too much especially around badges etc this makes a big difference, remember to wipe out around door trims many people forget this part and it is the first thing you see when you open the door. For further tips on removing specific types of contaminents see the “after Care guide that has been posted” and remember when in comes to car detailing it is “the one percenters”.

The first thing you will notice is how easier your car is to clean – water just runs off it and a quick wipe with a microfibre chamois leaves a brilliant shine – because contrary to some claims it doesn’t mean you never have to clean it. Any blemishes should be removed as soon as you spot them using the appropriate product. That product should be a waxless based product as to not neutralise the bonding formula of the paint protection product.

In most cases a wipe over with Car Cares Waterless Wash and using the appropriate microfibre cloth is all that is needed. Using other cloths, such as cotton etc can cause scuffs and scratches.

What that extra layer has given you other than making you car look good – is a little longer time to deal with any problems. Things to watch out for are as follows;

Road Contaminates -if over a long period of time oils, dirt, tar, exhaust and other pollutants build up they combine to affect the paint finish

Nature - Tree sap, bird droppings, insects, salt/bore water and other natural deposits can, if allowed to stay on the paint work, leave an etching or scarring. All of the above should be washed off as soon as possible.

Environment- Industrial fallout and other man made products may react chemically, damaging paint work. The easiest way to keep the paint work looking great is to keep it clean. However many of the worst problems can be caused by poor cleaning practices and the use of wrong products.

Pre-loved cars often come with reminders from the previous owner, and the favourite is tobacco smells. Smoke odour gets into the fabric of the car (seats, carpets & hood linings), plus the air-conditioning ducts. Seats & carpets can generally be adequately treated by shampooing, while the hood lining needs extra care (too wet and the lining can separate from the roof). The ducts can also be treated with an air-conditioning product which will sanitize and deodorise at the same time.

Cat’s urine would be one of the more difficult odours to eradicate – the pungent smell seems to linger longer than most. However, once again it can be treated with the right products. Milk and associated products can also be difficult, especially if the spill has been there for a few days (or longer) – the sooner the job is tackled, the better the result will be.