# 6 weeks without a wash Golf GTD get's a bath



## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

Managed to get the GTD clean for the first time in 6 weeks and 1,500 miles following the god damned awful weather we have had in November and December. Despite people thinking white cars are a pain to keep clean, it actually didn't look that bad from a distance (given the time and mileage since the last clean). Here's what i started with













So usual clean, Liberal coating of snow foam then worked into small areas with a detailing brush whilst it was doing it's magic. Rinsed off. Washed with TBM and grit guards, using a wo-wo lambswool mit and megs shampoo. Rinsed again then a good spray down with AutoSmart Tardis to get rid of the tar spots and Iron-X to remove any bonded contaminants (of which there were plenty).

Quick wash again and rinse. Wheels cleaned with Bilberry / megs shampoo and a dedicated lambswool mit. Rinsed and whole car dried with a wo-wo drying towel using Megs last touch as a drying aid and my Metro blaster air drier. Tyres dressed, interior given a quick hoover and a wipe down with a damp microfibre and all finished leaving this. I think it's how a 2 1/2 years old and 20,000 mile car should look ?

















I hope it meets the high standards set by all here :grin:


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## TonyHill (Jul 28, 2015)

Amazing how many Golf GTDs there are on this site!!!!
What tyre dressing did you use?


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## Stu Mac (Aug 18, 2014)

Lovely job mate and a cracking looking GTD.


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## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

Looked surprisingly well for 6 week (1500 miles) of dirt!

That's mine after a week!


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## ibiza55 (Feb 22, 2008)

Lovely jubbly, nice work matey, my wife's fiesta is like your astra to, red does show the muck too much.


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

i know how you feel. after 8.5 years of silver, my new titanium grey shows the muck like you wouldn't believe.
great job on the golf


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## MadOnVaux! (Jun 2, 2008)

It obviously depends on how many miles have been covered in the said weeks between washes as to how dirty the car is


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## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

MadOnVaux! said:


> It obviously depends on how many miles have been covered in the said weeks between washes as to how dirty the car is


I do 40 miles a day, 280 a week. Also depends on the road, driving style etc and times of the day when you drive :thumb:


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Nice job mate :thumb:

Love these new Golfs. I'm looking to get a GTI around May/June time - probably a 2013-14 plate to meet budget, as I'll be trading the TT and paying the remaining cost.

Anything to look out for?


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## Zetec-al (Feb 28, 2011)

Lovely looking GTD and very clean!

I do about 350 miles a week through a lot of country roads and my car is so hard to keep clean i pretty much give up during the winter.


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## tonyy (Jul 26, 2008)

Very nice :thumb:


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

Thanks all -appreciated


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

Kriminal said:


> Nice job mate :thumb:
> 
> Love these new Golfs. I'm looking to get a GTI around May/June time - probably a 2013-14 plate to meet budget, as I'll be trading the TT and paying the remaining cost.
> 
> Anything to look out for?


My Golf has been faultlessly reliable (touch wood). Only things I'm aware of is some had clunky suspension which was failed top bearings and replaced under warranty. Other than that, can't think of anything other than make sure as usual that the car has the full service history.


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## conejero (Jun 8, 2007)

Lovely job


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## Filtrum (Dec 31, 2010)

Great Job!


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Kriminal said:


> Nice job mate :thumb:
> 
> Love these new Golfs. I'm looking to get a GTI around May/June time - probably a 2013-14 plate to meet budget, as I'll be trading the TT and paying the remaining cost.
> 
> Anything to look out for?


Shame you are trading the TT, it's absolutely stunning.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

Lovely job on your Golf fella,hard to believe it's been six weeks without a wash. :detailer:


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

Looks spot on, mk7 interior is a very nice place to be. See you had sound and performance pack also?


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## lemansblue92 (Aug 6, 2015)

matt-rudd said:


> Looked surprisingly well for 6 week (1500 miles) of dirt!
> 
> That's mine after a week!


where have you been driving fella? lol


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## matt-rudd (Jan 4, 2015)

lemansblue92 said:


> where have you been driving fella? lol


Just the usual A roads, B roads and city driving! The weather recently has been a pig as you've probably seen, pretty wet for East Yorkshire!


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## TonyHill (Jul 28, 2015)

What tyre dressing have you used????


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## bazz (May 15, 2007)

great job on the golf


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

TonyHill said:


> What tyre dressing have you used????


Quarts tyre dressing.

Goes on really well, pretty cheap and lasts ages


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## 66Rob (Sep 25, 2007)

Lovely job,great in white... looking to order either a GTI or Cupra in the next couple of weeks, just comparing quotes, I always think the GTDs look better than the GTIs somehow, seem to sit better and prefer your alloys to the GTIs.. 

GTD no good for me though as only doing 5k a year.


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Soul boy 68 said:


> Shame you are trading the TT, it's absolutely stunning.


Cheers Soul boy : I just needed a 'fix' after parting with my Mk1 just over 5 years ago. The Mk2 is still a nice car, but like all good films - the sequel is never as good. So I'm hoping to stick German, and head for the Mk7 Golf Gti - knowing me it'll end up Red again!! :thumb:


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

Thanks all. Just realised I forgot to take any of the interior !

Here's a few from earlier in the year, looks exactly the same


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

See you ordered the discovery pro unit too, what's the red light on the kick plate? Any other options you ticked?


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## macc70 (Oct 20, 2007)

Have you considered selling those seats.....to me


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## Cy-Zuki (Feb 9, 2015)

Lovely job on a lovely looking car.


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

How you compare the auto to the usual manual?


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## Cy-Zuki (Feb 9, 2015)

As stated a great job, but can I ask a quick question please? You said


> "Rinsed again then a good spray down with AutoSmart Tardis to get rid of the tar spots and Iron-X to remove any bonded contaminants (of which there were plenty)."


Did you spray Tardis and Iron X on at the same time? Or did you rinse between applications? I am not nit picking, this is something I was thinking about the other day and was planning to ask for guidance anyway.

Thanks,
Geoff


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

alan hanson said:


> See you ordered the discovery pro unit too, what's the red light on the kick plate? Any other options you ticked?


Alan, it's the red footwell lights, I changed the standard white LED ones for red as I thought it made the inside look less "sterile" white. Quite like them actually - here's a couple of better photos.





Options I specced with the car were

Discover Nav Pro 
Dynaudio system 
Keyless Entry
Auto High Beam 
Auto park 
DSG 
Winter Pack 
Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC). 
Rear View Camera

I have to say though that since I collected my GTD (Sept 2013), Standard Navigation, Winter pack & Keyless entry have become standard fitment in the GTI/GTD (although the list price has gone up to compensate for it). The dealer did the Red calipers as this was before the "Sport and Sound" pack was available in the UK.



macc70 said:


> Have you considered selling those seats.....to me


Hmm, let me think about that........



Soul boy 68 said:


> How you compare the auto to the usual manual?


This is my second DSG box (my previous Scirocco was the first). Absolutely love it and actually think its more suited to the Diesel engine rather than the Petrol. When setting off, due to the smaller rev range available, you very quickly need to grab second then third in a manual to prevent you running out of revs. With the DSG box, you just plant your foot and forget about it. Gear changes are seamless and much quicker than I could achieve especially in sport mode, where's it's even quicker.

It also works perfectly with the standard fitment radar guided Adaptive cruise control (ACC) and the city emergency braking. I recently went to see my father in law in Scotland (a round trip of just over 500 miles), and it was motorway pretty much all the way (from 2 miles from my house and 1 mile from his), and it was ACC all the way and the DSG box allows the system to go up and down the gears automatically to match the speed of cars in front or (in one case), brought the car to a complete standstill during roadworks without me touching anything, then set off and back up to speed afterwards, again without intervention from me. Also, when driving recently in thick fog on a motorway, I set the ACC to 55 mph and the distance to second from longest and it was "seeing" trucks and cars way before they were visible to me and adapting the speed using the DSG box and engine braking, so from a safety aspect, in my eyes it's second to none.

I know manual vs auto is a highly subjective and personal thing, but for my anyway, it's DSG all the way and I wouldn't spec a manual box on any car in the future (unless it was an outright sports cars), although I have to admit, it is an expensive option at £1,415.00 (as of today), but it was worth it for me, and my wife who has a weak "clutch" knee (knee operation a few years ago), so both her Polo Blue GT and my Golf being DSG's means she can drive both easily and for long distances without knee pain. Hope that helps.



Cy-Zuki said:


> As stated a great job, but can I ask a quick question please? You said
> 
> Did you spray Tardis and Iron X on at the same time? Or did you rinse between applications? I am not nit picking, this is something I was thinking about the other day and was planning to ask for guidance anyway.
> 
> ...


Geoff, to be totally honest I don't know the best or right way to do this, but in my case, I sprayed tardis first, then gave it 10 minutes to soak in, then wiped all panels down with a new microfibre cloth. Sprayed down with the power washer then when drained a little, sprayed all over with Iron-X, again leaving 10 minutes until the car was dripping red. Power washed off then washed again with megs shampoo. Hope this helps - of course this could be totally the wrong way to do this


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## alan hanson (May 21, 2008)

yeh lucky have a GTD latest so as you say came with those, some nice extras sport and sound pack is something i would have liked too. cant fault the car its spot on ticks every box. front radar is cool, though i have a manual so it works until around 30mph then tells you to apply the brake . interesting about the fog conditions. only picky bit is the closest car setting leaves enough room for people to squeeze in and they do so constantly dropping back.

where did you get the rubber floor mats? look ideal for winter save ruining the nice mats in it


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## euge07 (Jan 15, 2011)

Gorgeous car and came up really well!
Sorry if I missed it but did you not put any protection on the paint after using tardis & iron x?


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

alan hanson said:


> yeh lucky have a GTD latest so as you say came with those, some nice extras sport and sound pack is something i would have liked too. cant fault the car its spot on ticks every box. front radar is cool, though i have a manual so it works until around 30mph then tells you to apply the brake . interesting about the fog conditions. only picky bit is the closest car setting leaves enough room for people to squeeze in and they do so constantly dropping back.
> 
> where did you get the rubber floor mats? look ideal for winter save ruining the nice mats in it


Alan, they are genuine VW rubber mats that I got thrown in with the car.

Know what you mean about the front radar minimum setting, can be very annoying when someone jumps into that space, but I guess the minimum distance setting is calculated based upon current speed to give a large enough gap to stop you rear ending the car in front ?



euge07 said:


> Gorgeous car and came up really well!
> Sorry if I missed it but did you not put any protection on the paint after using tardis & iron x?


Thanks a lot. The car has been wearing Gtechniq C2V3 since new, and yes forgot to mention, the following day it was topped up again (just ran our of light on the day I cleaned the car).


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## s.khakh (Jun 2, 2010)

Car looks great, brilliant spec! What camera do you use for the pics, they look amazing!


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## Rodriguez (Apr 5, 2011)

You probably know this but.... You have an awesome car!  Better only the GTI or a GTE. Thay's my dream car.


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## IamDave (Feb 6, 2015)

This is making me want a GTI more and more.......nice work!


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## KGB (Dec 30, 2006)

Looking good, but that wasn't dirty  I last washed our Carbon Grey GTD in early September and it covers 400 miles per week :lol:


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

awesome. my next new car will be a GTD. hopefully lol


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## Norbreck21a (May 13, 2006)

s.khakh said:


> Car looks great, brilliant spec! What camera do you use for the pics, they look amazing!


Thanks a lot all. These pics were with my Nikon D3s and 24-70 F2.8


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