Sorry, this post may be long because it includes a few different subjects all related to keeping the C clean.
Topic #1 - I am anal about keeping my cars clean, have hand washed them when needed, or at the least every 7-10 days, wax them every 60 days and the interior stays spotless at all times. I've followed this routine for the past 35+ years with good success. I have never come across a problem area that I could not get clean. I am well aware of most of the products on the market, and since my cars always looks so good, friends tell me I should make a little money on the side by Detailing other peoples cars.
However, I don't have the need to clean the inside of the windshield as often because it doesn't get very dirty in there and it's a bit back breaking to do.
However, a few days ago when the sun was low in the sky and the car drove directly in the sun I could see a number of smudge marks that were undetectable when the sun was at any other angle. To make a long story short, I tried every product imaginable to clean the inside of the windshield and the haze/smudge marks got worse and worse as if some foreign substance was already on the glass and I was smearing it across the windshield making it spread. From conventional glass cleaners to learned tricks such as using coca cola and newspaper to cut the grime, to using every type of cloth including microfiber, nothing took away the growing haze/smudge from the glass. It was definitely on the inside and all I can think of is that somehow something happened when the car went through the assembly line that got on the glass. I am at a loss and turn to you all who have always come up with interesting fixes for vexing problems. Help please!
Topic #2 - Whenever my cars have received light scratches or small chips in the paint (generally on the hood) I've always used touch up paint and no matter how careful I am, it never comes out blending well. You can always see where the touch-up was applied. The bigger chip, the worse. Since the C has such a nice long and swooping hood, I've already collected a few chips right up front as the hood swoops down to the bumper. I did some research and tried a new and slightly more expensive product called Dr. ColorChip. I looked at their web site and videos about how it works and was skeptical but thought it was worth the try. I can report to all my C friends here that this really does work as advertised. A few days ago I used it on 4 small chips and one small scratch, and under the most intense viewing, you cannot tell where the fix was made...the touchup is invisible to the naked eye. My car seems to have an abundant amount of gold flaking in the metallic paint and I thought there was no way this stuff could possibly match it, but it does! Amazing stuff for about $40. I recommend you look it up on the web.
Topic #3 - I recall someone else posting about how the C continues to drip water out the back end well after washing and drying the car. Since I wash my car often, this is a real pain in the ***! I've had many different makes and models of cars over my lifetime and always hand wash & dry them and have never had such a frustrating experience as with the C. Water seems to build up in many different nooks & crannies and crevices all around the rear hatch area - only. Yesterday I had dried the car, put it in the garage, dried the rear hatch area 2 or 3 more times, waited 10 minutes, came back and found more water streaked down from around the license plate area...dried it again...waited 10 minutes, dried new water again, and this equaled about 30 minutes since the car had originally been dried and was sitting in the warm sun for about 10 minutes. I finally went inside for the night, came out the next morning to see dried water streaks down the rear hatch and bumper area. I realize this is just how the car was made and the engineers certainly don't think about this when they design their cars...but they should. If anyone who hand washes their C often, has come up with a solution, please let me know.
Ok, I'm done for now, thanks for your patience and consideration.
Topic #1 - I am anal about keeping my cars clean, have hand washed them when needed, or at the least every 7-10 days, wax them every 60 days and the interior stays spotless at all times. I've followed this routine for the past 35+ years with good success. I have never come across a problem area that I could not get clean. I am well aware of most of the products on the market, and since my cars always looks so good, friends tell me I should make a little money on the side by Detailing other peoples cars.
However, I don't have the need to clean the inside of the windshield as often because it doesn't get very dirty in there and it's a bit back breaking to do.
However, a few days ago when the sun was low in the sky and the car drove directly in the sun I could see a number of smudge marks that were undetectable when the sun was at any other angle. To make a long story short, I tried every product imaginable to clean the inside of the windshield and the haze/smudge marks got worse and worse as if some foreign substance was already on the glass and I was smearing it across the windshield making it spread. From conventional glass cleaners to learned tricks such as using coca cola and newspaper to cut the grime, to using every type of cloth including microfiber, nothing took away the growing haze/smudge from the glass. It was definitely on the inside and all I can think of is that somehow something happened when the car went through the assembly line that got on the glass. I am at a loss and turn to you all who have always come up with interesting fixes for vexing problems. Help please!
Topic #2 - Whenever my cars have received light scratches or small chips in the paint (generally on the hood) I've always used touch up paint and no matter how careful I am, it never comes out blending well. You can always see where the touch-up was applied. The bigger chip, the worse. Since the C has such a nice long and swooping hood, I've already collected a few chips right up front as the hood swoops down to the bumper. I did some research and tried a new and slightly more expensive product called Dr. ColorChip. I looked at their web site and videos about how it works and was skeptical but thought it was worth the try. I can report to all my C friends here that this really does work as advertised. A few days ago I used it on 4 small chips and one small scratch, and under the most intense viewing, you cannot tell where the fix was made...the touchup is invisible to the naked eye. My car seems to have an abundant amount of gold flaking in the metallic paint and I thought there was no way this stuff could possibly match it, but it does! Amazing stuff for about $40. I recommend you look it up on the web.
Topic #3 - I recall someone else posting about how the C continues to drip water out the back end well after washing and drying the car. Since I wash my car often, this is a real pain in the ***! I've had many different makes and models of cars over my lifetime and always hand wash & dry them and have never had such a frustrating experience as with the C. Water seems to build up in many different nooks & crannies and crevices all around the rear hatch area - only. Yesterday I had dried the car, put it in the garage, dried the rear hatch area 2 or 3 more times, waited 10 minutes, came back and found more water streaked down from around the license plate area...dried it again...waited 10 minutes, dried new water again, and this equaled about 30 minutes since the car had originally been dried and was sitting in the warm sun for about 10 minutes. I finally went inside for the night, came out the next morning to see dried water streaks down the rear hatch and bumper area. I realize this is just how the car was made and the engineers certainly don't think about this when they design their cars...but they should. If anyone who hand washes their C often, has come up with a solution, please let me know.
Ok, I'm done for now, thanks for your patience and consideration.
