I bought a 2002 Camaro off of someone and the car wasnt clean at all..
i was wondering how would you clean and maintain the car.
I need to know how to clean the shifter all the way to the carpets and what you guys prefer to use. thank you!

 

How bad is the dirt and grime? If it's bad, I usually use Megs All Purpose Cleaner diluted. I make sure that I have it like I want it before going to any other interior cleaner. I had good luck with Mother's VLR and Chemical Guys interior cleaner. Usually these products works good on 'maintained' interiors!

The reason I mentioned Megs APC also, is because it can also be used on the carpet and on the outside like clean the tires and wheelwells. You can dilute it to your taste for different tasks.

 

Well the dirt/mess is pretty bad. it looks like its never been maintained so idk what to do lol

 

I would hire a professional detailer initially.

 

I clean mine thoroughly lol*

 

Rent a rug doctor from ace or walmart. Vacuum it all out and then spray some carpet cleaner in it and then use rug doctor. I have done this before on really bad carpets especially when someone would want it cleaned before trading a vehicle in. I use Adams carpet cleaner personally and it works well if used right.

 

For the exterior I start with the wheels. If they are really nasty, i use adams deep wheel cleaner. Note, i have stripped off the clear from the rims. If theyre not that bad, i just use soap and water. On the wheels, i use adams all purpose cleaner and scrub them down with your typical walmart blue brush. Then i do a pass on the wheel wells with soap and water and a long handle brush. After i finish the rest of the car, i dry the wheels with a separate waffle weave towel and spray adams invisible undercarriage spray, then coat the wheels with adams tire shine.

To wash it, I use adams shampoo and their yellow wedge. I use a single bucket, but rinse off the wedge before dumping it back into the soap bucket. I personally like this method better than the two bucket method. I start top to bottom and try to avoid letting water dry on the paint. I havent had much luck drying the paint with a waffle weave, so i use the blue edgeless rag instead. Usually two rags, one to remove the excess water, and the other one to fully dry it. Then I apply adams super VRT dressing on all the exteriors rubber or vinyl trim. This stuff makes a huge difference in looks. Especially on my truck which has a lot of black trim.

As for the interior, i have adams interior cleaner and interior detailer. If its really really dirty, i use the interior cleaner liberally and spray it all around the cars panels and interior surface. If you have strong stains, you might have to use something a bit stronger, but as of now, i havent had to use anything else. On previous cars i have used armor all wipes which were pretty good, but didnt leave the same smell as adams products. If the interior is not very dirty, you can skip this and go straight to the vacuum. I use a kirby vacuum with the hose attachments and it works pretty good. I havent had any luck with portable stuff. Ill be trying a dyson soon and hopefully that makes it easier. After the vacuum, i give the interior panels another pass with adams interior detail this time. It protects it and gets cleans up any dust that the vacuum might have raised.
If you have any stains, adams carpet cleaner works really good for small areas or the floor mats. If you want to treat the whole carpet, i use a bissell carpet cleaner. Its kinda portable, so you can carry it wit you and does a pretty good job at removing most stains. You just have to take your time with it.

As for maintenance, i use adams quick detail spray and a blue edgeless microfiber rag to spray down the car daily. I have a black car so it gets dusty in a matter of hours.

If it gets too dusty for detail spray, i use adams waterless wash. Living in california with the drought going on, i can only wash my car two days per week. So the waterless wash can be a lifesaver. Everytime after using the waterless wash, i do another pass with detail spray to bring back that shiny look. Some people use rinseless wash, but ive had no luck with that. Maybe i didnt use it properly but i didnt like it much. I might give it another shot later on, but for now im using waterless.



As you can tell, i like using adamspolishes products, as they are easy to use, but im sure most brands will work just fine. HOWEVER, i cant stress the importance of getting high quality rags instead of your typical over the counter chinese ones. You can feel the difference just by touching them. Visit the ragcompany and check out their korean detail rags. Those are the good ones and once you use them, you will never go back to the cheap ones.

 

Most of the Detailers on this forum give great advice and write ups which is great ,but if you are like me and need a visual to really understand I suggest watching Larry Kosilla on youtube he has great videos on pretty much everything imaginable check him out.