DFB
Well-known member
- Aug 12, 2019
- 4,864
- 2,905
While I certainly got paid for this detail, it doesn't exactly feel like work to me so I'm classifying this as a holiday project. No rest for the wicked. :laughing:
I detailed this Holden Cruze in February 2021 and I'm guessing this car has not been cleaned since!
At this point I want to pause for a little history lesson and a rant!
History -
The Holden Cruze was launched in sedan form in 2009 and was made in the ex-Daewoo factory in South Korea. In late 2011, Holden began building the Cruze in it's Adelaide factory from CKD kits. A hatch version joined the lineup at the same time and was actually designed in Australia. A wagon was also offered, although this remained an import from Korea. The Australian assembled Cruze was better tailored to our market via more appropriate steering and suspension tuning. GM-Holden had planned for the Australia built Cruze to become a segment leader............except it didn't and was discontinued in late 2016, one year before the factory closed for good. Even with heavy discounting, the Cruze just did not sell like Holden had hoped and most were dumped into rental and government fleets. The one featuring today is a late build 2016 model fitted with the 1.6 4 cylinder turbo and 6 speed automatic.
The Rant -
These cars are very badly made. This example has only 55,000km on the clock and yet the clear coat on the headlamps is already peeling as pictured above. The plastic trim on the front seat bases are loose, the interior is filled with the most nasty hard plastic GM could find and the carpet would be the some of the worst I have seen. And the amount of induction hiss that enters the cabin under even light throttle is appalling. It's no wonder Holden had a lot of trouble shifting these when they were new. This car is proof that there was still such a thing as cheap and nasty in new cars as recent as 2016.
Ok, back to the topic of the day. And apologies, I am using some non-Auto Geek products here, so use you imagination for appropriate substitutes. :xyxthumbs:
Wheels and tires are always first up. I normally apply a chemical after an initial pressure rinse but today I applied NV Purge to the wheels from dry, allowing the chemical to do it's best. The pads used by Holden on these cars are very dusty.
The result was pretty impressive, all without even touching the wheel.
I then followed up with Brake Buster and Undressed to finish the job off. Technically, Brake Buster could have been used for both, however I'm in the process of trialing Undressed as a dedicated tire cleaner, which I also used this for the fender wells. Both products used undiluted.
Now for something a little different.
When I have a car in like this, my go to soap is NV Snow+, a higher pH soap that provides extra cleaning ability. Today, I wanted to try out CarPro Descale. This product swings the other way in that it's actually acidic. Descale was primarily designed as a ceramic coating revivor but can also be used as a strip soap with similar results to the higher pH soaps.
What impressed me immediately was the thick foam and long dwell period. The cherry scent is faint but the cleaning ability is not. I foamed this onto dry paint as a pre-soak, it's ability to soften and remove contaminants was impressive. This is not a soap you would use very often but it's worth having in my opinion.
After agitating a few key areas such window trims, grills and windscreen scuttle, I thoroughly rinsed the car down, reapplied the foam and completed the contact wash. I then applied Hydr02, I do this more to help the drying process but the additional gloss is certainly welcome.
Dried with the Big Boi and the paint wiped down with Bead Maker.
With how bad the interior was, I got a waffle weave towel with some Express and went over the interior as basically a pre-clean. Then vacuumed, vacuumed, vacuumed.................this carpet fought me the whole way. I had to use the Tornador to help lift sand and debris from both the carpets and the mats.
A few grotty areas were then agitated with some Express before going over the entire interior plastics with Meguiars Quick Interior Detailer. The leather was scrubbed with Bowdens Leather Love and the glass was cleaned twice to remove a build up of film. A few pumps of Anglewax Eden and the interior was done.
Returning to the exterior, in particular the wheels and tires. I'm pretty happy with the cleaning ability of Undressed, especially considering this was only one pass with the product.
Dressed with some Perl and the wheel faces wiped with Bead Maker.
The car came up pretty good. I did my best with the interior, the mats need to be extracted or replaced though.
I returned the car at just the right moment, the heavens started to open as I pulled into the owners garage.
I detailed this Holden Cruze in February 2021 and I'm guessing this car has not been cleaned since!
At this point I want to pause for a little history lesson and a rant!
History -
The Holden Cruze was launched in sedan form in 2009 and was made in the ex-Daewoo factory in South Korea. In late 2011, Holden began building the Cruze in it's Adelaide factory from CKD kits. A hatch version joined the lineup at the same time and was actually designed in Australia. A wagon was also offered, although this remained an import from Korea. The Australian assembled Cruze was better tailored to our market via more appropriate steering and suspension tuning. GM-Holden had planned for the Australia built Cruze to become a segment leader............except it didn't and was discontinued in late 2016, one year before the factory closed for good. Even with heavy discounting, the Cruze just did not sell like Holden had hoped and most were dumped into rental and government fleets. The one featuring today is a late build 2016 model fitted with the 1.6 4 cylinder turbo and 6 speed automatic.
The Rant -
These cars are very badly made. This example has only 55,000km on the clock and yet the clear coat on the headlamps is already peeling as pictured above. The plastic trim on the front seat bases are loose, the interior is filled with the most nasty hard plastic GM could find and the carpet would be the some of the worst I have seen. And the amount of induction hiss that enters the cabin under even light throttle is appalling. It's no wonder Holden had a lot of trouble shifting these when they were new. This car is proof that there was still such a thing as cheap and nasty in new cars as recent as 2016.
Ok, back to the topic of the day. And apologies, I am using some non-Auto Geek products here, so use you imagination for appropriate substitutes. :xyxthumbs:
Wheels and tires are always first up. I normally apply a chemical after an initial pressure rinse but today I applied NV Purge to the wheels from dry, allowing the chemical to do it's best. The pads used by Holden on these cars are very dusty.
The result was pretty impressive, all without even touching the wheel.
I then followed up with Brake Buster and Undressed to finish the job off. Technically, Brake Buster could have been used for both, however I'm in the process of trialing Undressed as a dedicated tire cleaner, which I also used this for the fender wells. Both products used undiluted.
Now for something a little different.
When I have a car in like this, my go to soap is NV Snow+, a higher pH soap that provides extra cleaning ability. Today, I wanted to try out CarPro Descale. This product swings the other way in that it's actually acidic. Descale was primarily designed as a ceramic coating revivor but can also be used as a strip soap with similar results to the higher pH soaps.
What impressed me immediately was the thick foam and long dwell period. The cherry scent is faint but the cleaning ability is not. I foamed this onto dry paint as a pre-soak, it's ability to soften and remove contaminants was impressive. This is not a soap you would use very often but it's worth having in my opinion.
After agitating a few key areas such window trims, grills and windscreen scuttle, I thoroughly rinsed the car down, reapplied the foam and completed the contact wash. I then applied Hydr02, I do this more to help the drying process but the additional gloss is certainly welcome.
Dried with the Big Boi and the paint wiped down with Bead Maker.
With how bad the interior was, I got a waffle weave towel with some Express and went over the interior as basically a pre-clean. Then vacuumed, vacuumed, vacuumed.................this carpet fought me the whole way. I had to use the Tornador to help lift sand and debris from both the carpets and the mats.
A few grotty areas were then agitated with some Express before going over the entire interior plastics with Meguiars Quick Interior Detailer. The leather was scrubbed with Bowdens Leather Love and the glass was cleaned twice to remove a build up of film. A few pumps of Anglewax Eden and the interior was done.
Returning to the exterior, in particular the wheels and tires. I'm pretty happy with the cleaning ability of Undressed, especially considering this was only one pass with the product.
Dressed with some Perl and the wheel faces wiped with Bead Maker.
The car came up pretty good. I did my best with the interior, the mats need to be extracted or replaced though.
I returned the car at just the right moment, the heavens started to open as I pulled into the owners garage.
️
