Strap yourself in folks as this one is quite the journey, lots to learn and plenty of vehicle care geekery. This is probably one of the most unique challenges Hancox Vehicle Care has come across with this sleek black beast.
I received a phone call early morning explaining that urgent attention was needed with a request to go out and look at the vehicle as soon as possible. It was explained that that there had been a mishap by a local decorator and the front of the vehicle has been spattered in house paint! Well there’s no sooner than the same morning, so I shot out to pick the vehicle up and this is what I was met with;
The front of the roof, both wing mirrors, the wings and the entire bonnet were all heavily spattered with paint!
The rest of the vehicle had typical dirt levels, with watermarking, green in the shuts and caked on brake dust on the wheels;
The vehicle was first treated to the full enhanced wash to clear out the dirt and give a true indication of what I was dealing with on the paint. As soon as you start to clean a vehicle you can tell its protection history and to my surprise for such a high end vehicle this had none! See below how the water just pools on the bonnet;
Applying a wax or sealant to a vehicle adds a hydrophobic layer which stops any dirt or water actually making contact with the paintwork. If you want to see this in action check out the link here for the work I did on the Mercedes A180d. This kind of protection is key to vehicle care and maintaining the colour and shine of your vehicle.
After the vehicle was cleaned from top to bottom it was clear the paint wasn’t water based as i’d been hoping. So the next step was try and tackle it with the Tar & Glue remover, this is the safest chemical you can use with the harshest cleaning power. Unfortunately this didn’t touch the paint, so it must have been oiled based and no cheap hardware store own brand!
The next step was to go to a full clay bar cleanse. A clay bar looks like a big blob of blu-tac but is actually a very clever clay based compound that can remove heavy soiling from a vehicle with out causing damage. It does this by absorbing the contamination into itself and leaving a free surface to carrying on cleansing the vehicle. Even on a fully washed vehicle you’ll be amazed to see the amount of contamination that is removed;
After an hour and a lot of elbow grease the whole vehicle was cleansed. Both of tar, sap, lime and paint! The clay bar worked a treat and broke the paint down safely and removed it with out causing scratches to the vehicle.
With this level of attention and cleansing any defects on the vehicle become easily apparent. Unfortunately this vehicle wasn’t with out damage and scratches. At Hancox Vehicle Care I’m never just washing a car. Full attention is always given to the full condition of the vehicle and recommendations made on future care. Check out the worst of the damage below;
This is appeared to be a buffer trail across the boot lid, with two long lines running under and over across the whole length! 
This any ugly but only cosmetic scratch on the rear panel.
A cluster of scratching on one of the doors, again only cosmetic and easily solved with an orbital machine polish.
So after the intense cleanse the whole vehicle was then given a liquid wax to provide the minimum level of protection, all panels were buffed, the tailpipe cleansed and polished and the tyres dressed.
This stunner is what I was left with;
Is it a mirror!? no its the bonnet of an Audi A5! Check out the reflection in the shine. 