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Mainting Prius Body & Interior

Discussion in 'Gen 2 Prius Care, Maintenance and Troubleshooting' started by darkgiant, Nov 28, 2015.

  1. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2013
    287
    42
    2
    Location:
    Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    II
    I wanted to hear on how you guys maintain your Prius's body, keeping it clean, along with the interior. Why I ask is because I was away from my car for a couple of weeks, one of my family members had washed the car, but unfortunately, there were so many swirls in result of this wash. For me, these swirls drive me nuts! I always like to keep the car shiny inside and out. I intend to do a full on polish on the car to get rid of many of the swirls (I have never done a polish on any car in the past, so any tips on product and techniques is appreciated!), along with a coating of wax. But my question is, what do you guys recommend in terms of polishing and waxing?

    I also mentioned the interior, specifically the plastics by the speedometer/dashboard, the car seats and door panels are pretty dirty, any good ways to clean those parts? Is there some sort of "sealant" for the interior parts?
     
    #1 darkgiant, Nov 28, 2015
  2. Montgomery

    Montgomery Senior Member

    Joined:
    Sep 11, 2015
    2,254
    2,233
    2
    Location:
    Orange County, CA
    Vehicle:
    2015 Prius
    Model:
    Two
    Well, I share your pain! I haven't taken my car to a car wash since I purchased it in August this year. I take it every 2 weeks to a self wash place. I made the mistake of using their brushes one time, only to see the dreaded "swirls". I was so mad at myself. So, to answer your questions, there is a whole section in Priuschat on removing swirls. I wound up getting the electric polisher and the swirl remover wax, did the whole car, removed most of the swirls, sealed it with a strong wax guaranteed for 1 year, and finished it with a show room polisher. Now it looks as close to new as possible. I don't reccomend any particular brand, the posts in here do focus on either Meguiars or Turtle Wax. The hard part is just doing it. I removed the swirls one week. Then 2 weeks later washed it and did the seal, then two weeks later did the show room polish. You can do it in one day, just count on at least 8 hours and sore shoulders, forearms, back, knees, neck, wrists,.....................
     
    #2 Montgomery, Nov 29, 2015
  3. darkgiant

    darkgiant Member

    Joined:
    Jan 16, 2013
    287
    42
    2
    Location:
    Seattle
    Vehicle:
    2013 Prius
    Model:
    II
    Would you mind sharing the exact products and steps you took to achieve the process? Indeed plan on doing all of this under one day (I will block 8-10 hours, I essentially plan on doing a polish once a year on my car from now on). I currently have Colinite 845, which seems to be one of the best waxes for daily drivers from my research.

    Do you have any experience with keeping the interior just as clean by any chance? My biggest issue is just the plastics, carpet, seats and the door panels around the car, I usually take a small wet rag and sort of buff it out, but it isn't doing the best job as I was hoping for, and I definitely don't want to use some sort of chemical on the car that harms the materials, or the person inside it!
     
    #3 darkgiant, Nov 29, 2015
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