looking after my Tesla

Have you thought about having it professionally detailed? My MS is due in June & I will look to getting it professionally detailed to avoid swirl marks. Not cheap but we'll worth it.
You can also google 'how to wash your car' lots of tips & videos.

We've got a lot of threads going on this right now:

Washing my Model S - First Time
Car Wash Advice
Do you pressure wash your Model S?

Search is your friend!

In any event, welcome and have fun cleaning it. In the first thread (I think), a gave a list of products that I use down to the rags. Some of them may not be available in the UK.

Head on over to detailingworld web site and spend some time in the intro threads here Newbie Nuggets - Detailing World - two bucket method, no sponge, grit guards etc etc

Congrats on the new car, I'm not far from you in Baughurst and there is another one in Overton

Have it detailed once or twice a year.

Keep a wax coat on the paint work. Use contactless washes where possible.


I simply jet wash then snow foam
Dry with 2 microfibre towels, clean, least pressure possible
Apply AG ultra deep shine
Wax coat every other

If the snowfoam was too thin or car was still dirty i would do the 2 bucket clean method, 1 panel at a time using a lamb wool mitt or my latest usage is with a microfibre noodle mitt.

Depends on how much you drive the car and how dirty it gets. Perhaps every other time i use a bucket i apply some AG super resin polish. But usually don't overdo that.

Once a year if i can be bothered i clay the car too.


So jet wash
Snow foam
2 bucket shampoo
MF dry
AG polish
Buff
Ultra deep shine
Wax

Cutting out steps for intermediate cleans.

Ultimately avoid those town hand car washes like the plague. Avoid dealer / service cleans too (no idea if tesla outsource or do a proper detail which i very much doubt).


Limit pressure on paint, polish occasionally, don't drag and use contactless washing where possible and it will stay looking decent. Just sent it into a detailer, i usually do after winter.

@ bp1000 - Any thoughts on the rotary-type, mains water-powered car washing 'brushes'? I'm just thinking that if fresh water is being used to power the rotating brush head, all the grit will be flushed straight away and not get the chance to do any damage to surrounding paintwork. Ideally, I'd have one which is auto fed car shampoo - even more ideally it would be powered by a cordless supply so you could vary the speed to water ratio - maybe even use it as a buffer too - with suitable attachments... MW

martinwinlow said:

@ bp1000 - Any thoughts on the rotary-type, mains water-powered car washing 'brushes'? I'm just thinking that if fresh water is being used to power the rotating brush head, all the grit will be flushed straight away and not get the chance to do any damage to surrounding paintwork. Ideally, I'd have one which is auto fed car shampoo - even more ideally it would be powered by a cordless supply so you could vary the speed to water ratio - maybe even use it as a buffer too - with suitable attachments... MW

Click to expand...

Argh, no! Brushes are bad

Buy a foam lance and some snow foam! (It's great fun if nothing else )

Basically you spray the whole car, and let it sit for 5-10 minutes (depending how good you get at making the right consistency). You can literally see brown streaks in the foam as it comes off the car, with no mechanical pressure being applied to grind any of that dirt into the paint.

Then rinse off the foam.

If the car was waxed recently you might be able to get away with this, but for the sake of 20 minutes I will generally still use the "two bucket" method wash the car with decent car shampoo (never washing liquid), and a microfibre or lambswool mitt.

Dry the car, using soft drying cloths, a silicone blade, or a leaf blower (yes seriously).

Once a month I'll wax, using a protective wax (e.g. Collinite), with polishes once every other month.

The paint work is still pretty swirl-mark free but not perfect (mine's a black car). I notice it, but everyone else thinks the car is remarkably shiny!


P.S. Only go onto detailing world if you are prepared to waste hours of your life every weekend, and £00s in waxes and "products" it is weirdly addictive.

If you want to spend even less time on car cleaning use (or have professionally used) a paint sealant / treatment such as Gtechnik (others exist like Zaino etc) rather than wax based finish - Whilst the "depth of shine" from a wax to the critical eye is generally considered to be superior, the long lasting over numerous washes of a sealant means less work

as SMAC says - detailing world can be "fun" and leads to many opinions / beliefs and like everything in life should be taken in moderation - personally I'd not use a silicone blade or a leaf blower :scared: however I do have a filtered air car dryer / blower for getting all the bits of water held by capillary action under trim and fixtures. As they always end up dribbling out after you have dried the car (we live in a very hard water area and those dribbles dry and bake limescale "runs" onto the car)

Sounds like the rainwater harvesting system I have was a good idea after all! MW