If you want to enhance the look of your vehicle, take it to an auto detailing shop. Most places charge a nominal fee for auto detailing services. If you find that you are in between paychecks and can not afford to get to an auto detailing shop right away, you can do some light delay on your own until you are able to get to the shop.
The first thing you need to do is to wash the outside of the car with soap and water. You can use a car wash liquid or you can use dish soap. Be sure to have another bucket available with just plain water. Take a hose and spray the car down to get rid of the grime and dirt. Wheel cleaner can be sprayed onto each wheel and let it sit for a few minutes. By letting it set, it will soften up the brake dust and will allow you to have an easier time to cleaning your wheels using a sponge and soapy water, clean the vehicle one side at a time. It is usually easier to start with the roof and work your way down. Then rinse off the car and then clean the wheels with a brush and then rinse them.
Clay bars can be bought at any automotive parts store. There are different grades available, but fine or medium is best. What the bar does is it gets all the bugs, grease, dirt and contaminants off of your car. Take an empty spray bottle and add soap and water. Spray each side of the car with the soap and water mixture and then take the clay bar and rub it over the parts of the car in order to remove all of the contaminants. Then take a hose and rinse off the entire car.
Polishing your vehicle can be done by hand with a rag or by using an electric buffer. Many people tend to choose an orbital buffer because it helps to prevent them from ruining the paint. As a small amount of the polish either straight onto the car or onto the buffer pads. You then need to let it dry completely before the next step.
The next step is to take a swirl remover and go over the entire vehicle with a swirl of mover which will help get rid of scratches and swirl marks. Let the remover dry and then take a clean cloth and wipe down the car.
Take the rubbing compound and clean the taillights, tailpipes and headlights. If you find that the headlights are starting to look faded, you may need to utilize some sand paper along with soap and water. There are also kits that are sold that are used to clean the headlights and tail lights. Be sure not to use a lower number texture of wallpaper, because this will scratch plastic and you may not be able to fix it after that. You want the finest sandwich but not the lowest number. You can clean the tailpipe with polish that is made to clean aluminum or metal.
Take a clean cloth and some liquid wax in order to ask the vehicle. You do not need to use a lot of wax. Let the wax dry on your vehicle and then take a clean rag and wipe the car down. The end result will be a shiny vehicle.