Whats all this silliness about snow?

[219]

My car was absolutely filthy with all the salt they've been spreading on the roads lately . Since I don't want to risk using my pressure washer at this time of year , I reluctantly took it through a drive through car wash the other night .

This was the car yesterday morning when I was setting up to film/photograph a training exercise . Thankfully , the weather having stayed dry and clear since , it still remains clean .

Also , this being the first time I have used the estate car in anger , I found that I can get a reasonable amount of video/photographic kit in the back without needing to drop the back seats .

 

[Seamster15]

Nice looking car Derek.

 

[crockers]

Wish I could keep my car clean in this weather. Both cars look great guys.

 

[mct_cars]

Was thinking of doing mine yesterday.

Maybe not...

 

[st4]

LOL! I had a Rogan Josh from there last night. Out of this world.

Try the Vindaloo....nice if a little hot...LOL!!!!!

My car was absolutely filthy with all the salt they've been spreading on the roads lately . Since I don't want to risk using my pressure washer at this time of year , I reluctantly took it through a drive through car wash the other night .

This was the car yesterday morning when I was setting up to film/photograph a training exercise . Thankfully , the weather having stayed dry and clear since , it still remains clean .

Also , this being the first time I have used the estate car in anger , I found that I can get a reasonable amount of video/photographic kit in the back without needing to drop the back seats .

C class estates, they are wonderful aren't they. Big enoigh to take a reasonable load but not massive either.

 

[219]

While I am now very happy with the car , having sorted out most of the problems ( only a new thermostat and drivers door lock still to do ) , it does not quite have the load capacity my 123 and 124 estates had . I know that in my previous estates I could get my larger video and photo tripods across the floor , just inside the tailgate , after all my other kit went in ; with the 203 the car is too narrow besides the load area being shorter so less space between flightcases and tailgate .

Of course , if I drop the rear seats I can get more in , and I would need to do that if I were taking more kit than the other day , which will probably only be a few times a year .

While I would have had another 124 estate , had I been able to find a decent one for sale reasonably locally ( the few I looked at were all very 'tired' ) , I did feel that 210 estates looked huge and set my sights on a 203 instead .

 

[tode]

I might just take that up Paul. John Baker washed my old E class once, he has a nice hose and decent shampoo. I had neither at the time.

These bloody wheels, are a PITA, look nice mind you

I find these work well on the wheels:

HTH

 

[st4]

Hi Tode,

They look good but awful fine and soft. You really need to agitate the wonderwheelz to get it to work and get the brake dust etc off the wheels. It came with a thick brush to agitate the cleaner...

Wheels look ok but my Dads cars wheels, despiting being bigger, are so much easier to clean

 

[Colin_b]

I find these work well on the wheels:

HTH

This vision of Ken Dodd cleaning a wheel suddenly appeared!

 

[renault12ts]

Hi Tode,

They look good but awful fine and soft. You really need to agitate the wonderwheelz to get it to work and get the brake dust etc off the wheels. It came with a thick brush to agitate the cleaner...

Wheels look ok but my Dads cars wheels, despiting being bigger, are so much easier to clean

"Agitate"...you're nearly a detailer Steve...careful.

 

[st4]

"Agitate"...you're nearly a detailer Steve...careful.

Did I tell you I let the agitated solution dwell on the wheels for about 20 mins whilst I shampooed the car?

 

[tode]

This vision of Ken Dodd cleaning a wheel suddenly appeared!

It's amazing what you do with a tickle-stick.

 

[davidjpowell]

While I am now very happy with the car , having sorted out most of the problems ( only a new thermostat and drivers door lock still to do ) , it does not quite have the load capacity my 123 and 124 estates had . I know that in my previous estates I could get my larger video and photo tripods across the floor , just inside the tailgate , after all my other kit went in ; with the 203 the car is too narrow besides the load area being shorter so less space between flightcases and tailgate .

Of course , if I drop the rear seats I can get more in , and I would need to do that if I were taking more kit than the other day , which will probably only be a few times a year .

While I would have had another 124 estate , had I been able to find a decent one for sale reasonably locally ( the few I looked at were all very 'tired' ) , I did feel that 210 estates looked huge and set my sights on a 203 instead .

Surely to compare apples with apples you'd have to have an 'E'. The 203 was always going to be smaller than the 124?

 

[davidjpowell]

Did I tell you I let the agitated solution dwell on the wheels for about 20 mins whilst I shampooed the car?

Hope you used two buckets and a grit guard from Aldi?

 

[st4]

A grit gaurd and a 2nd bucket and I'd put detailers out of business LOL

 

[Deleted member 65149]

PITA to clean as multispokes, but they look the biz

I agree with both those statements. I'm sure it takes me as long to clean my wheels as it does to clean the rest of the car. Or is it just all that time crouching down takes its toll on old buggers! I don't use anything other than soapy water on the wheels because I'm not keen on the idea of acid attack from propritary cleaners. because I clean them regularly all the brake dust comes off fairly easily - with lots of agitation! I use a brush that can get between the double spokes and long enough to reach to the back of the wheel for a thorough clean.

 

[st4]

These look painted? Mine are merely lacquered. Corrosion has set in....

With an injured back myself, I find crouching down a PITA. I think you've done a better job than me.

You can get pH neutral wheel cleaners too but on a new car the soapy water will be enough to remove the engrained dirt, as these won't be as much staining etc than on a more used car.

 

[Deleted member 65149]

Not painted Steve - diamond cut.

I get round a lot of the crouching problems by using a gardening kneeling pad. Still get a bit of back ache, and soggy knees by the time I've finished!

 

[martyp87]

Great work Steve, looks fantastic now. Would have been interesting to see the before pictures after cover that distance!!

Know how you guys feel about cleaning wheels too, after getting all the gear out and putting it away again, that is my least favorite part of detailing.

 

[219]

Surely to compare apples with apples you'd have to have an 'E'. The 203 was always going to be smaller than the 124?

Quite .

My point was that , since the introduction of a smaller estate car in the form of the 202 , the larger estates got even larger .

I felt that the 123 and 124 estates fitted somewhere between the sizes of the later C and E classes and were just a nice size without being too big .

I'm not trying to take anything away from the 203 , merely noting that on a practical level I can get less kit in the back of it than I could with my previous cars .

If I want to carry more , I can either fold the seats down or hitch on my trailer .