brommy

I currently have a 4 year old light blue A4 which I wash around once a week. The wash takes 20 minutes using the old fashioned bucket, sponge and Turtle Wax shampoo (with wax), followed by a 5 minute dry with a synthetic chamois (poor IMO). A few times a year I have applied Autoglym Super Resin Polish which is fairly good and may have helped me avoid any major stone chips over the last 44k miles. In 5 weeks I will collect my new 520d in Monaco blue and I would like to avoid the dreaded swirl marks that can be very apparent on dark coloured cars. I therefore appreciate I may need to change my cleaning methods! I have done a search on this and a few other forums and my head is in a spin! So much advice about 'clay', wax for a 'wet' look, wax for a 'warm' look, wool mitts, microfibre towels, dual headed polishers - the list goes on (and on and on!). With this in mind, please consider one or more of the following questions.

Will I be able to keep my car looking good and avoid the swirl marks just by spending one hour a week on the exterior?

With a maximum budget of ?100, what should I buy to acheive the best results for my new dark blue car? I already have a bucket but I think I'll need to replace my old sponge and synthetic chamois! Please specify makes, prices and UK availability of items. Feel free to add products to avoid in your experience.

Was there a definitive guide that you found really useful? An 'idiot's guide' would be great - I'm not even sure about the differencies betwen wax and polish! Please remember I'm only looking to spend 1 hour per week and not the whole weekend!

Many thanks for your considerations.

tachyon

I spend about 1 hour per week on my Jet Black car and it is swirl-free. However, with a dark color car no matter what you do you will get slight scratches that show up. I use the Zaino family of prodcuts to clean and protect the car.

I say that if you are sensible on how you wash and dry the car, and if you treat the surface every 3 or 4 months to a wax/sealant, you will keep it looking like-new for a long while.