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Today I'd like to show you a quick detail I did on my company car. I got it a few weeks ago but because of the winter/snow/freezing temperatures 
wasn't able to clean it earlier. Luckily, the forecast for today was favourable so I could spend some time on the car. However, I didn't have too much of it as it's my fiance's birthday today and she'd kill me for spending more time on the car than with her. 
So, I decided to go with a quick, 2-stage paint detail:
1) ColorX used more as a paint cleaner,
2) DC 3 used as shine and protection donor.
I didn't want to work on the paint too much as I plan a full paint correction in a few weeks when it gets warmer - for now just paint protection was enough.
Apart from paint I also did:
1) wheels - tires were cleaned with NXT Gen Tire Cleaner and then conditioned with 2 applications of NXT Gen Insane Shine Tire Coating; rims were cleaned and than waxed with ColorX - I removed the plastic rim caps (is that a correct phrase??) to detail them separately,
2) trim - all external plastic and rubber parts were treated with Gold Class Trim Detailer,
3) front grille and chrome elements - first cleaned with Hot Rims Mag and Aluminium Polish, then protected with DC 3,
4) windows - cleaned with Sonax window cleaner (left Meguiars cleaner in my own car) and then treated with our local equivalent of RainX,
5) front/rear lamps, side indicator lights - cleaned with PlastX, then protected with Trim Detailer.
So, this is what I started with. As you can see there was no water beading. Drying the car turned out to be a problem as water was drying leaving horrible water marks. I had to put some pressure on Water Magnet to remove them.
There were some scratches on the boot lid and rear bumper right under the boot (most probably created while packing stuff into the boot). I treated them with ScratchX - the ones on the lid are now gone, the ones on the bumper are reduced but still there.
Boot lid before:
Boot lid after:
Bumper before:
Bumper after:
Wheels before:
As you can see the condition of the tires leaves much to desire.
Wheels after:
Chrome elements before:
Chrome elements after:
Rear lamp before:
Rear lamp after:
This is a shot of the "un-detailed" side mirror:
And the same mirror after detailing:
A "small" gallery of "afters":
A couple of "reflection shots" (will be better once I spend more time on this paint):
Conclusions:
1) when the car was dirty, I thought it was in a better condition - now I can see all rock chips, dents, etc.
2) ColorX really is a good product - today was my first time using it; the paint was so dirty I've used 3 pads to do the whole car,
3) DC 3 applied over ColorX does a fantastic job of improving gloss and paint depth,
4) Hot Rims Mag and Aluminium Polish works great on the plastic chromes.
Next steps:
1) clay the paint - I can now see how badly it needs claying,
2) detail the interior - this may be quite a job as I do not think the interior has ever seen any proper detailing,
3) clean the engine bay - popping the hood requires a lot of nerves,
4) spend a weekend on paint correction.
I'll keep this thread updated with my progress on the car. Thank you for looking and reading.
wasn't able to clean it earlier. Luckily, the forecast for today was favourable so I could spend some time on the car. However, I didn't have too much of it as it's my fiance's birthday today and she'd kill me for spending more time on the car than with her. So, I decided to go with a quick, 2-stage paint detail:
1) ColorX used more as a paint cleaner,
2) DC 3 used as shine and protection donor.
I didn't want to work on the paint too much as I plan a full paint correction in a few weeks when it gets warmer - for now just paint protection was enough.
Apart from paint I also did:
1) wheels - tires were cleaned with NXT Gen Tire Cleaner and then conditioned with 2 applications of NXT Gen Insane Shine Tire Coating; rims were cleaned and than waxed with ColorX - I removed the plastic rim caps (is that a correct phrase??) to detail them separately,
2) trim - all external plastic and rubber parts were treated with Gold Class Trim Detailer,
3) front grille and chrome elements - first cleaned with Hot Rims Mag and Aluminium Polish, then protected with DC 3,
4) windows - cleaned with Sonax window cleaner (left Meguiars cleaner in my own car) and then treated with our local equivalent of RainX,
5) front/rear lamps, side indicator lights - cleaned with PlastX, then protected with Trim Detailer.
So, this is what I started with. As you can see there was no water beading. Drying the car turned out to be a problem as water was drying leaving horrible water marks. I had to put some pressure on Water Magnet to remove them.
There were some scratches on the boot lid and rear bumper right under the boot (most probably created while packing stuff into the boot). I treated them with ScratchX - the ones on the lid are now gone, the ones on the bumper are reduced but still there.
Boot lid before:
Boot lid after:
Bumper before:
Bumper after:
Wheels before:
As you can see the condition of the tires leaves much to desire.
Wheels after:
Chrome elements before:
Chrome elements after:
Rear lamp before:
Rear lamp after:
This is a shot of the "un-detailed" side mirror:
And the same mirror after detailing:
A "small" gallery of "afters":
A couple of "reflection shots" (will be better once I spend more time on this paint):
Conclusions:
1) when the car was dirty, I thought it was in a better condition - now I can see all rock chips, dents, etc.
2) ColorX really is a good product - today was my first time using it; the paint was so dirty I've used 3 pads to do the whole car,
3) DC 3 applied over ColorX does a fantastic job of improving gloss and paint depth,
4) Hot Rims Mag and Aluminium Polish works great on the plastic chromes.
Next steps:
1) clay the paint - I can now see how badly it needs claying,
2) detail the interior - this may be quite a job as I do not think the interior has ever seen any proper detailing,
3) clean the engine bay - popping the hood requires a lot of nerves,
4) spend a weekend on paint correction.
I'll keep this thread updated with my progress on the car. Thank you for looking and reading.
Keep us posted when you do the rest of the work 
Lucky I got her something nice that night 
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