Advice on paint and leather care for Audi A4

[Jay88]

I'm a new owner of a MY15 Audi A4 S line (Ibis White). I have a few questions for proper care of the car and appreciate any tips or advice anyone can send my way.

I am the second owner. Car was purchased new from dealership mid 2015. The previous owner has informed me that apart from the clear coat there has been no other paint treatment made to the car since he bought it, no waxing, no polishing. His opinion was that until the car was three years old or so there was no real need.

The paint is still in pretty good nick, you can see scratches in certain light, probably just from him washing the car, nothing majorly bad. However, there are tons of small scratches on the black side window columns. This is like a glossy black plastic and seems to be an area that gets scratches and shows scratches easily in certain light.

1. Should I be getting this car an Opticoat as soon as possible, or considering the age and current condition, would you recommend another course? I'm not a huge car detail guy, I'd like to give my car a general wash every week/two weeks to keep it looking clean (pressure hose with foam lance, two bucket method), and perhaps add some easily applicable liquid wax, like Aqua Wax just to give it that extra (easy) shine. However, I understand the car requires a base protectant/wax that you do this over the top of (I think?), which is why I'm thinking Opticoat (or a professional wax).


2. The car has nappa leather interior. I'm reading so much conflicting stuff online about how I should go about caring for the leather. The car's leather has had no shampoo or conditioning since it was purchased brand new from the dealer. If anyone has this specific type of interior, I'd love to know what you are using and what you recommend. Should I be using a shampoo/cleaner and conditioner, or just a shampoo/cleaner? Zaino, Lexol, Bowdens, Duragloss and Autoglym all have leather kits and I'm trying to decide between them, but most importantly, I don't want to stuff my leather! There is some noticeable wrinkling occurring on the passenger seat side bolster and some minimal wrinkling on the one side bolster of the drivers seat, I don't know if this is just normal or if it's because the leather needs some extra love. Can I/should I clean the steering wheel with any of these leather products too?

3. Interior cleaning for dash, inside of the doors, console and controls. At the moment i'm just using a damp microfiber cloth and then a dry one, just trying to pick up dust and clean scuff marks and dirt off the sides of doors. How do you go about cleaning your console and controls? Should I use something like Einszett Cockpit Premium? Apparently you can use it on ALL surfaces of the console, radio buttons, dials, LCD screen etc. I also read good stuff about 303 Aerospace for sun protection, but not sure if I really need it (previous owner says he has added no protectant to dash etc since buying the car and felt he didn't need to).

Any advice appreciated!

[WowdiA4]

Hi Jay.
Mate I cant really help because I am in the same boat a bit as you.
I have just become the new proud owner of an 2004 A4 B6 wagon and need a few questions answered too.

1. What should I use on interior plastic? door trims,dash etc? Usually you would just lay on the Armoural and wipe away but I am a bit worried to do this.
It seems due to some wear that the plastic seems to be a black base with a charcoal coating.
Would hate the Armoural to soften the top layer. I have noticed the more top shelf protectants are silicon free.
Has anyone used these or what do you recommend?

2.What is your wash and wax regime on exterior? what do you recommend?

Cheers,
Shane.

[Akidaki]

Hi guys, I know this is an old thread that no one has replied to in a while but thought I would add my 2 cents worth.

Generally all my car products I get from waxit.com. I have for years, and I know the stuff they sell is quality. Basically the quality starts where Autobarn and Supercheap finish imo.

For my nappa leather I use the Zaino leather cleaner (Z9) and i alternate between the Zaino leather conditioner (Z10) or the Scholl Concepts Skin Leather care gel. All of these are amazing, and make the car smell brand new again. Only need to do it every few months.

For the dash, again I alternate between Aerospace 303, or Poorboys vinyl protectant. They both work great, non greasy, and definitely not oily like the Armour All. I would never use that on my car anymore. Even a rep that use to work for them that I spoke to years ago said its too oily and crack dashes if you use it too much. The two that I use work a lot better anyways.

My 2c.

[disguy2k]

Armorall is only really good for older cars (plus the vapor being released will cause your interior glass to haze up). New cars (manufactured in the last 10-15 years) will have UV stabilised plastics. You are better off just dusting, and spot cleaning with a GOOD microfibre cloth, and use cold water to clean. I use Enjo miracle cloths and their dust and cleaning gloves for the car. They work really well, and if used correctly will last forever. Clean the cloths afterward with pure soap bars (Velvet soap) and don't ever use fabric softeners, as they will just clog the fibres up.