I see a Giraffe's face in the bucket.
OOh, that reminds me: I got the cleaner/conditioner you guys recommended and it works a treat data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
There were some awful wear patches on the back of the front head rests that looked like grey suede instead of black leather where the previous owner had some DVD screens fitted and they've all but disappeared with one treatment data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
Unfortunately I didn't take any "before" pictures...
Gliptone is what i used on the steering wheel. data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
You may be able to sand back the damaged area of the leather and re-dye?Depends on the type of leather finish you have, and if you can get the dye in the right shade of black.
I repaired my black leather bolster this way, and it looks pretty good for a first attempt.
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I've got a brand-new-out-of-the-box A6 arriving in a week or two.
What do you guys reckon I should do with respect to protecting/enhancing it?The dealer has tried to persuade me to part with £350 for a Diamond Bright treatment externally and internally.Reading a few threads on the VWAudi forum, and I'm not convinced letting a dealer any where near it is a good idea!
What do you reckon?Use a professional?There's this one pretty close to me:
Miglior Detailing Ltd – Swissvax Detailing North West Manchester Preston Lancashire
You get a special sealant applied to the paintwork, such as Cermashield. A couple of microns thick that will prevent paint damage.
However, a lot of people report that Audi paint on new cars suffers from the orange peel effect, and have the paint wet sanded, re-polished and then sealed data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7
The company you linked to above are on Detailing World, just drop them a PM
What could one expect in terms of cost?Are we talking an arm, an arm and a leg, or two arms and two legs!!
About £300-500 for the Cermashield, but on a big car like an A6 it may be more.
While I realise that your are obviously excited at getting your new car data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7, just to be realistic for a moment: Are you going to take the A6 to a car wash or let the local spongbobscratchpants guys clean it? If so I'd save the money on the treatment as it won't stop scratches. Even the ceramic type treatments can't protect the finish from poor washing techniques, despite what car dealers might imply (I doubt a Pro detailer would though).
If you are planing on hand washing the car using either the 2 bucket method or perhaps using snowfoam and a pressure washer then fair enough, but otherwise it just seems a waste of money to me.
Not intending to take the shine off your new purchase (sorry for any pun) but just saving you £300-500 or whatever if you expect more from the treatment than it will really give.
I won't be taking it to any drive through wash place nor allow anyone else near it with respect to cleaning.I'm happy to put the time in provided it's done on the back of a "proper" job.Not sure the Diamond Bright with the dealer would be that.
That Diamond Bright stuff is just a gimmick mate and won't offer hardly any protection at all.
Everytime I've had a new car I've told the dealer not to even touch the paint work and just carry out a PDI.
Audi have let me have a detailer attend the garage before and prep the car the day before collection although this would need to be arranged with the dealer/detailer before hand.
A professional detailer would do a much better job than any dealer would. They should do a full job prepping the paint work removing all transport wax/contaminants and be able to polish out any fine scratches/swirls and apply a decent layer of wax that should last a good few months.
Cost should be around £300 to have this done. A full wet sand to remove any orange peel could set you back up to £2000 and if the paint was really that bad on a new A6 I'd be having serious words with the dealer about accepting the car.