Some say that your pride and joy will probably never look better than the day you buy it and then the day you sell it, and although in our world we're here to make cars look amazing all the time, we get the sentiment because you only ever get one chance to make a first impression… and it goes without saying that you stand a much better chance of making a sale if the first impression is one that instantly drops jaws!
The truth is that carrying out an enhancement detail, along with spot of finishing with the correct products, can easily push your vehicle to a cut above the rest on the market. In the mind of a buyer at least, if your car looks like it's been pampered, then it's almost certainly been wrapped in cotton wool and looked after with no expense spared for your entire ownership… even if that's not strictly the case. Perhaps best of all, this impression can be achieved with nothing more than detailing, and just a few pounds' worth of products can bolster the value of your vehicle by hundreds, if not thousands. After all, that's car sales 101, isn't it? Give them nothing to knock you down on.
So, this is where a bit of care and attention can pay dividends when selling your car, and here's our top tips on what to look out for and what to use for the perfect pre-sale detail.
1. START WITH YOUR ENGINE BAY
One thing that 90-percent of owners, and even dealers, never think of when selling their car is giving their engine bay anything more than a quick wipe over. The reality is though, even non-enthusiasts will almost always look under the bonnet, even if they have no idea what they're actually looking at. If it's dirty, it's a bargaining chip, it's as simple as that.
At the very least the condition of the bay can be seen a tale-tale sign on the condition of the rest of the mechanicals and, as a buyer, will raise questions on how well any vehicle has been maintained and serviced. But, the good news is that all modern engine bays are relatively straightforward to detail and dress, turning your dirty engine into a top selling point. This process can be carried out in a matter of minutes using Eradicate Engine Degreaser and Dressle All Purpose Dressing. Oh, and while you're under there, make sure you top up any fluids a that need it, too. Don't fall at the final hurdle.
2. CLEAN AND DECON YOUR WHEELS
As with any other exterior detail we start with the wheels. This is doubly important when selling a car because rims that are plastered in baked-on brake dust immediately scream about a hard life on the B-roads. Occasional decontamination with Iron Out Contaminant Remover is always a good idea as this formula is specifically designed to chemically remove this kind of harmful ferrous metal fallout. Simply spray on, brush in and even the hardiest of sharp metal particles will be chemically dissolved, allowing them to be rinsed away with your pressure washer.
Another product that's great on brake dust is Imperial Wheel Cleaner, which can be used as a stand-alone spray-on wheel cleaner, or helped along the way by brushing in with Revolution Wheel Soap. What's really important here is making sure you tackle the whole wheel, even the barrels. Just remember that the cleaner your wheels, the more attractive and "looked-after' your car will seem to a buyer. For this reason, always make sure you start with the inside of the rim using a Barrel Brush, before finishing the faces and spokes with a detailing brush, and following up with a mitt. If space between the wheel and caliper is too tight for your brush, it can be useful to roll the car forward a few inches when cleaning, just to make sure that nothing goes untouched. For a full rundown on how to clean any wheel, including those with specialist finishes, you can check out our Definitive Guide to Cleaning Alloy Wheels.
3. AND DON'T FORGET YOUR TYRES…
If your tyres look old from the off, buyers tend to immediately start totting up the cost of replacements in their head, straight away casting doubt on the condition of the rest of the car. Very often tyres can appear discoloured due to UV fading and ground in salt and road grime, even if there's no other problems with cracking or worn tread. It makes sense, they're the only part of your vehicle to touch the ground after all, right?
The good news is that all this can be rectified using Tread Tyre Cleaner and a Rubber Scrubber Tyre Brush, both have been specifically designed to get your tyres looking like new in seconds. Tread should be applied liberally around the tyre walls and scrubbed in, as it's agitated this picks up and breaks down grime, so it can be blasted off with your pressure washer. A simple but seriously effective solution. This is also a great time to flush out your plastic arch liners with your pressure washer and give them a scrub, too. Tread does an amazing job of shifting the grime here as well.
At the end of your detail (when it's finishing touches time), a liberal spray of Dressle under the arches and even on the tyre sidewalls is a perfect finisher. It's true that Dressle may not be designed specifically as a tyre dressing, but it can do a great job, and gives a few days durability. For maximum durability over longer periods you may want to try Satin Tyre Crème for a natural matte sheen, or Gloss Tyre Dressing for that dripping-wet, show car look.
When you're finished cleaning, a good tip is to gently run the car back a few times, applying the brakes this will clean away any discolouration from water that has got on to on the discs during your wet work.
4. GIVE YOUR CAR THE SAFEST AND MOST THOROUGH WASH POSSIBLE
When you're selling your car it always pays to bear in mind that there really is nowhere to hide. It's not like at a show where you can just close the doors and leave everyone checking out the exterior, because any prospective buyer will be looking everywhere in a bid to get a few quid off the price. This is why it's so important to be extremely thorough in the wash stages.
Simply not missing bits is perhaps the most important consideration, areas like the door jambs, inner doors and boot shuts are likely to be noticed on any test drive or tyre kicking session. And that's the reason why we like to start off by working a little Citrus Power Bug & Grime Remover or Eradicate Engine Degreaser into these areas using a soft Detailing Brush. Once rinsed this ensures that all the grime is removed for a spotless finish, or at least that they're prepared for a little polish later.
Another commonly missed area is the inside edges of the wing mirrors, something that's easily overlooked when contact washing but, when you think about it, an area you see plenty of when you're actually driving.
Most of all, and as always, the wash stage is the most crucial, and doing it safely is the key to the best finished result. Swirl marks are all too easily inflicted and although these are relatively minor defects, they can look a lot worse than they actually are. Prevention as they say, is always better than cure, so carrying out an effective pre-wash using a suitable cleaner like Citrus Power or Dynamite Traffic Film Remover is the best way to cut through the heaviest soiling, with no risk of dragging it around with your wash mitt.
Following this stage up with Avalanche Snow Foam is also the best form of damage limitation. A snow foam is designed to linger on the car, breaking down contaminants and offering lubrication to help them safely slip off of the surface, there's also the added bonus that the foam will work its way into all the panel gaps and recesses, deep-cleaning those, too.
The key to using Avalanche is to let it dwell on the car for a long as possible, without letting it dry, before you rinse. A good trick is to keep an eye on the windows as these tend to dry out first. While you're waiting of course, it also makes sense to use a soft brush to lightly agitate your suds into awkward areas like window rubbers, around badges and in grilles, this will help get the very best from your snow foam.
Finally a "two bucket' wash is the safest way to make sure the rest of the car is free of grime. The idea is to take one bucket containing your shampoo solution, and one with nothing but clean water, which you can use to wring the grit and grime out of your wash mitt between passes.
When it comes to your cleaning agent, we'd recommend using Lather Car Shampoo because it's not just a powerful cleaner, designed to dissolve and lift grime off the surface, but it's a lubricant, too. This means that it physically forms a slippery layer between the potentially harmful grime and your paintwork, so it can be rinsed away without touching the surface.
Apart from that, always wash in straight lines, tackling the cleanest parts of the vehicle first (to prevent cross contamination), and you shouldn't go far wrong.
5. DECONTAMINATE LIKE A PRO
A full three-stage paintwork decontamination sounds like a big, complicated job but, using the correct products, it really isn't. It's actually relatively quick to carry out and will make all the difference. What this process does is remove the embedded, often harmful, contaminants that washing alone can't, leaving your paintwork super smooth and ready for polishing…
The first stage is always using Iron Out Contaminant Remover to chemically dissolve sharp metal particles that have embedded themselves in the top layer of your paint. This is important to prevent them being dragged around and inflicting damage when polishing later. This is, in fact, the primary purpose of Iron Out and a simple spray-on and rinse process - you'll know when it's time to rinse off, because the Iron Out solution turns blood red as it reacts with the metal. If a little more bite is needed Iron Out can also be slightly agitated with a Microfibre Work Cloth or Polish Pad.
Step two is using ObliTARate Tar & Glue Remover to tackle any sticky residues like road tar and glue (the clue is in the name here). This powerful solvent quickly melts away the sticky stuff, allowing it to be safely wiped away with a microfibre cloth, so it won't interfere with subsequent stages. This includes removing other extreme contaminants like traffic cone rash and even overspray.
After this process it's important to re-wash the treated areas with your Lather shampoo, this will neutralise the solvents, stopping them from interfering with the next step.
Finally, the last process involves removing organic contaminants, like those from highly acidic bird droppings and tough tree sap, using clay. For this you can utilise a Clay Bar or (part of our Handi Puck system), along with Glide Clay Lube. By running the clay across the surface, it physically pulls debris out, giving a paintwork a smooth, glass-like feel. Always clay the whole car, including the headlights and not just the front bumper and bonnet.
Once your three-stage decon is complete, you can go on to drying the car, and masking up any vulnerable areas ready for polishing.
6. ENHANCE YOUR PAINT
The chances are that you won't be looking to spend hours, or even days, on a full multi-stage correction here, chiefly because a simple enhancement will always work wonders and easily make your car a whole lot more attractive to buyers.
The idea here is to clean away any surface oxidation, cut out light swirl marks and to refine paintwork to a high gloss finish. All this can be achieved in one step using Tripple All-in-One Polish. This extremely special formula contains advanced diminishing abrasives that break down and work through quickly and easily, making ideal for polishing by hand (with a Microfibre Applicator or Polish Pad), but it can also be used with a machine polisher for lightning quick and consistent results.
Like all abrasives, Tripple works by removing a tiny layer of the paint surface to smooth out defects on a microscopic level, it also contains glazing agents to fill and obscure swirls, making them far less obvious. This has the effect of allowing the light reflected off the surface (and back to your eye) to refract more uniformly, which makes the surface appear much deeper and glossier. It's worth remembering that deep-down the surface isn't flat at all, it's peppered with all sorts of ruts and recesses which will bounce back the light in random directions, so the more these can be smoothed out during refinement, the better the paint will look. It isn't actually deeper, it just looks that way, the ultimate optical illusion.
Tripple is also special because it's packed with deep cleansing solvents that will remove the most stubborn oxidation, and it will even leave behind a layer of carnauba wax. In other words, Tripple cleans, refines and protects in one single application.
When you've finished the large panels, again it pays to work on the often-forgotten areas like door jambs and boot shuts. A little Tripple on a microfibre cloth is ideal for cleaning and protecting these parts, and can also be used on gloss plastic trim, and even plastic headlights and tail lights - small touches that add up to a big difference. They could even make your sale!
(Thank you to Auto Finesse for the content for this blog) Their whole article can be found here: https://www.autofinesse.com/blogs/car-detailing-guides/the-pre-sale-detail-how-to-clean-a-car-ready-to-sell