Keeping it sharp

Deep clean detailing of the DS3, one year on

A year after the 2019 “refresh” of my Citroën DS3, the Carnauba wax treatment was holding up well. I had never had to polish the car — just a snow foam soaking followed by a contact wash with a good quality, pH neutral shampoo made it gleam. Rainwater still beaded nicely on the surface, and rinse water would sheet off. But the upholstery had never been cleaned and the engine bay was looking pretty scruffy.

My previous detailing maestro, Stevie Galloway, had given up his SG Detailing business and moved on to other things. So in August 2020, I handed my DS3 to Jason Burt at Privilege Detail in Edinburgh, who came highly recommended by a family member who had been using Jason’s services for years. We agreed on a “deep clean and protect treatment”, which comprised:

This is essentially Jason’s Deep Clean Detail with the addition of polymer sealant to the paintwork.

Jason exhibits — as you might hope with someone whose business is detailing🙂 — great attention to detail. That much is evident simply from discussion with him, but his thoroughness is really expressed in the work he does.

For example, the car is normally parked close to a tree, which sheds leaves that get wet and soggy and trapped in awkward places — including under the windscreen scuttle grilles. Jason squeezed his hand under the grilles to dig out the leaves, and to clear a blocked drainage hole: see Figs. 1 and 2. He was attentive to every nook and cranny on the vehicle.

View a higher resolution version of Figure 1.
Figure 1. Removing leaves under the scuttle grille and clearing a blocked drainage hole.
Photo by Jason Burt
View a higher resolution version of Figure 2.
Figure 2. Drainage hole cleared.
Photo by Jason Burt

Figs. 3 and 4 show the engine bay before and after Jason’s work.

View a higher resolution version of Figure 3.
Figure 3. The engine bay before detailing, in all its scruffiness. Note the leaves around and through the offside scuttle grille.
Photo by Jason Burt
View a higher resolution version of Figure 4.
Figure 4. Engine bay after detailing, looking like it just came out of the factory.
Photo by Jason Burt

Cars fall prey to fallout, floating particles that land on the body and stick to the paintwork. The most troublesome of these are iron particles, which if they get moved around when the car is being cleaned or polished, can give rise to ugly swirls. As part of the decontamination, Jason applied a fallout remover, as shown in Fig. 5. The iron particles turn red-brown under the action of the chemical.

View a higher resolution version of Figure 5.
Figure 5. Fallout remover lifting ferrous particles.
Photo by Jason Burt

Jason used the Polish Angel products shown in Fig. 6 on the bodywork, and Figs. 7 to 9 show the gleaming end result while the car was still in Jason’s studio.

View a higher resolution version of Figure 6.
Figure 6. The Polish Angel products used on the bodywork.
Photo by Jason Burt
View a higher resolution version of Figure 7.
Figure 7. Three-quarter front offside view after detailing, in Jason’s studio.
Photo by Jason Burt
View a higher resolution version of Figure 8.
Figure 8. Front view after detailing.
Photo by Jason Burt
View a higher resolution version of Figure 9.
Figure 9. Three-quarter front nearside view after detailing.
Photo by Jason Burt

As for the upholstery, the seats in the DS3 don’t really get dirty, given that only the driver’s seat is in regular use. I have an occasional passenger, but nobody ever in the back seat. Nonetheless, the difference that shampooing the seats and carpets made was suprising, and the driver’s seat was brought back to life again.

Jason posted a record of his good work on his Facebook page.

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Back home

I took the car home and snapped some more photographs under the summer sunshine. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.

View a higher resolution version of Figure 10.
Figure 10. Back at home. Under the bonnet, after detailing.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 11.
Figure 11. Detail: the engine.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 12.
Figure 12. Detail: the engine bay, offside.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 13.
Figure 13. Detail: the engine bay, nearside.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 14.
Figure 14. Interior, after detailing: driver side.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 16.
Figure 15. Interior, after detailing: passenger side.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 16.
Figure 16. Interior, after detailing: driver footwell.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 17.
Figure 17. At home in the sunshine, after detailing. Three-quarter front nearside view.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 18.
Figure 18. At home in the sunshine, after detailing. Nearside view.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 19.
Figure 19. At home in the sunshine, after detailing. Three-quarter rear nearside view.
Photo by author
View a higher resolution version of Figure 20.
Figure 20. At home in the sunshine, after detailing. Rear nearside wheel.
Photo by author

I’m delighted with Jason’s work, and I’ve entrusted the care of my Citroën C4 to him too. But time marches on, and there’s more.

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