If you're not into cleaning cars or seeing many pictures of the same car, take this as a warning. There are lots of pictures of the same car, and lots of cleaning.
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So a month ago I appraised this vehicle for part exchange -
To me, it wasn't what I was interested in at all. It was a diesel, the bodywork was filthy and it was covered in swirls scuffs and scratches. Bleurgh.
I gave the spec and condition of the car back to the other salesman (who had asked me to do the appraisal because I was into Audi's) and that was that. I told him to take it for a drive and see if everything worked, and then walked off.
I got chatting with the owner and discovered it was a one owner from new, with full Audi history to interval and had never wanted for anything in it's life. I also discovered the other salesman hadn't driven it, so for my own piece of mind having appraised the car and put my name on it I took it out for a quick spin.
It drove sooooooo well.
Anyway, the guy did buy a car off us but said he wasn't trading the car in and that he would offer it to his brother. So I didn't give it any further thought.
Later that evening I started thinking about it as I jumped in my 250bhp solid mounted track ready daily driver and scraped down the road to my girlfriends with my brakes honking, fillings falling out and spine shattering with every turn of the wheel. Not to mention the inability to drive it at all in the wet, or the fact I looked like a nob.
I thought about the A3 a couple of times over the following weeks, and how nice it drove and I thought. "Hmm, well actually I would like a new car...Maybe."
Well much to my delightment I decided to work last Friday; and early in the afternoon the Audi pulled up outside. And the customer collected his new car.
And the Audi stayed parked outside.
Hmmm...
By 6PM I had the keys, log book and was on my way to the customers house to pick up the service history and pay him for the tax disc. Very very happy indeed
It had evidently been a very much loved family car, and the original owner and her husband were totally in love with the car and were gutted to see it go. But equally happy that it was going to me and that it was going to a new owner who would also love it.
That said, the bodywork was still a pretty big issue. It had clearly been too busy being driven to have been polished, the wheels were black and the interior was as you'd expect an 8 year old 100,000 mile old Audi that had been home to a family of 4 since new. But it was all there, and in very good condition.
Now until this point I had been VERY selective on which pictures I posted, and how they were edited. Because I don't want anybody to see my car in anything but mint condition.
Today I did a full 7 hour paint correction on it, and it is by far the best I've done yet.
Iron-x'd.
Clayed. (including glass)
Trims cleaned with Autofiness APC,
Wheels clayed.
Paintwork prepared and cleansed with Dr Beasleys.
Paintwork refined with Black Hole and a rotary.
Waxybox Anniversary wax was used to finally seal in the paintwork and to provide a glass like gloss with great depth.
I cleaned the interior with Autofiness APC, treated the plastics with Megs' interior trim protector and wet vac'd the upholstery. The leather was fed with Glyptone and buffed with a microfiber.
I love the car, it really is great. And after having the 8L for so long I am missing it; but this is such a better chassis. I may keep it for a year or so and then upgrade to an 8P S3. That's what I'd like to do anyway.