I'm going to need new paint and lights, arent I?

[R18Civic]

Long story short I've been away for close to 30 months. I left my car with my aunt but she eventually was no longer able to keep it. The person who took it after her let it go to hell.

There's all sorts of stuff embedded in the paint, headlights and brake lights. I don't see it coming out even with an extensive detail.

Tell me what you think.

 

[michaelluscher]

It can be fixed

Start with a good pressure wash, maybe a two bucket wash?

See where that gets you

 

[R18Civic]

It can be fixed

Start with a good pressure wash, maybe a two bucket wash?

See where that gets you

What would you recommend for removing all the baked on dirt on my auto glass? I don't think a pressure washer is good for the windshields and side mirrors.

 

[ctechbob]

As long as you're not blasting away on the seals, a pressure washer shouldn't hurt the glass.

I would start with Dawn dish soap, it should do a good job of removing the funk.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Try a Magic Eraser on the headlights.

 

[spasm3]

Clean as best you can above. To me it looks like a lot of tree sap. Buy a gallon of acetone. Keep the acetone off the lights and plastic. It will remove the sap.
I have sap get on my cars, i don't let that much accumulate. Looks like it was parked right under a tree. I use acetone all the time.

 

[Rand]

I wouldnt use acetone on car paint.

I'd start by spraying it off good to get loose stuff off.

You can buff those headlights if its just surface oxidation.

Your pictures are kinda poor and its plain dirty.. report back after 5min in the spray wash anyway.

It is absolutely fine to blast the crap off of a windshield with power washer.

Mirror glass is ok too just be careful if they have electronics in them.

 

[RooflessVW]

It will take a bit of work but can come back to like-new.

 

[danez_yoda]

that just looks like baked on crud. nothing replaces a good scrub mut for this. maybe use warm water and let it soak on the paint to loosen it up some. then with a goos soapy bucket, dawn is ok, i like meguiars goldclass, scrub one section at a time. find the minimum of scrubbing that cleans it down to the paint.

do one section at a time. next goe a claybar and go over the car. very simple process and works very well.

i would follow that with meguiars ultimate polish. then followed with your favorite wax.

for the headlights,, lookup. ChrisFix and headlights on youtube. that technique works.

 

[daves87rs]

Pressure washed would be the first step. Then another good hand wash. Then maybe a good claybar or cleaner wax after that……

 

[R18Civic]

I'll just take it and have it detailed. I know a guy who does exterior details for around 180, he'll probably charge extra with all crud thats baked on. Waiting for his business page to message me back.

 

[RTexasF]

I'm going to need new paint and lights, arent I?

Highly doubtful. It can be brought back but there's a lot of work involved. I've seen far worse restored to almost new condition.

 

[RooflessVW]

I'll just take it and have it detailed. I know a guy who does exterior details for around 180, he'll probably charge extra with all crud thats baked on. Waiting for his business page to message me back.

I'd probably start you at $250 exterior only and then add for any polishing needed.

 

[Wylie6G72]

Get yourself a good dual-action polisher, cutting pads, compound & polish, & microfiber towels, and teach yourself a little something about paint correction. I bought one in 2006 and it's been one of my best investments and learning experiences. Don't pay someone else to do it.

 

[1 SX]

I wish i took a photo before i powerwashed my car, but it was sitting under 6FT of snow all winter, then in a field for a 9 months under trees on grass and looked just as bad as yours if not worse. I powerwashed it, and believe it or not, 90% of that dirt/mold/wahtever you wanna call it came off. then i followed up with dawn soap, to cut what was left on the paint, then gave it 2 coats of synthetic wax, and ceramic spray on and it came back to "like new" condition. It took like a full day, doing it by hand, but the results speak for themselves!. I would do it yourself, and save the money for good products vs having a "professional" do it one time.

 

[R18Civic]

Well I just recently got a personal injury settlement so I've got some money to play with.

I need to get the hood trunk and bumper repainted anyways, my cousins son scratched then up while I was away.

 

[K-Man]

Moral of this story: don't trust not-too-close relatives with your car. If it isn't theirs, they won't care. "I don't know where that tree came from. It just jumped in front of me when I was doing 80 in your car."