Case Study: 2016 Mercedes E400 4Matic

Today’s case study is a 2016 Mercedes E400 4Matic, in Cavansite Blue Metallic.

This car belongs to a longtime client of mine, whom I haven’t seen in over a year. He works in a Downtown Vancouver law office, but he’s been working from home for the past months, as the office was closed for most of 2020.

Because I’m the only one who this client trusts with his car, the Mercedes has not seen a proper clean — other than the occasional drive-through exterior wash — in over a year.

My client also has two kids, who he shuttles around, to and from school, and other activities, so the car gets intensively used.

Last time I saw this car for cleaning, the kids’ booster seats were still in the car. When that’s the case with any client’s car, we can only clean around the booster seats, without removing them from the car.

This time the booster seats were gone, so the back seat of the car got the first proper clean in many years.

Also, to make sure the interior of the Mercedes is as germ-free as possible, my client also opted for our newly-introduced [Chemical-Free] Car Interior Sanitizing service.

Aside from killing many microorganisms, such as: bacteria, mold, viruses, allergens, etc., from places where cleaning itself can’t reach, this Ozone Shock Treatment has also a bonus side effect: it makes the interior of the car smell fresh.

Did you ever notice that, right after a storm, the air smells fresh? That is because Ozone is created by lightning.

The same way, the Ozone Shock Treatment freshens up your car’s interior, getting rid of strong odours such as: tobacco, pets, spoiled food, or even body odours.

(to read about the Chemical-Free Car Interior Sanitizing service, click here)

Clean My Car to the rescue…

Even with the occasional drive-through exterior wash, the exterior still looked in pretty bad shape — you couldn’t even tell the actual colour because of how dirty it was. The car looked more like Black than Metallic Blue at this point.

The interior looked messy (after about a year of intensive use, and no cleaning), with a solid layer of dust on every surface, and lots of dirt and debris.

Seats were in good shape, with just surface dirt, which came out without posing much resistance.

(If you’d like to see what our interior cleaning process is like, go here.)

When a car goes without cleaning for such a long time, an oily film develops on the inside of the windshield.

This film is a combination of interior plastic out-gassing, exhaust fumes from other cars, brought in through the air vents, and your own body’s perspiration and breathing vapours.

This oily film makes it difficult to see, especially at night, with glare from the headlights of other cars.

Cleaning the inside of the windshield properly is not a simple task, as glass cleaners alone are not sufficient. In fact, without taking the proper steps, you just end up moving the film around, without any progress. (This can be really frustrating — just ask my wife)

(to learn how to properly clean the inside of your windshield, click here)

In our service, generally about 75% of the time is spent on the interior of your car. This ensures you get the most thorough interior cleaning possible.

One area that gets a lot of attention is the carpet.

Carpets come in many varieties, as different car makers use different suppliers for their carpets, and as a result, different textures and qualities.

Some carpets are literally like Velcro — they retain debris, and refuse to let it go, regardless of how intensive the cleaning method.

And this is not limited to low-end cars. I’ve had the surprise to run into this kind of carpet in a few high-end cars, particularly with Lexus. If your car has such “impossible” carpet, it may not come completely clean and debris-free, no matter how much effort the car cleaner is putting into it.

This wasn’t the case here, as Mercedes typically uses higher quality materials than most other car makers.

Quick side note: Many car owners expect an interior in such condition to come out clean with “just a quick vacuum”. This is never the case. Aside from a thorough and extensive vacuuming, the carpets need to be shampooed, otherwise the improvement is minimal at best.

In this particular case, the client followed my advice, and chose the appropriate cleaning package.

A few hours of solid and meticulous cleaning, and my client’s Mercedes E400 is completely transformed…

The interior is now spotless — dirt and debris gone. It also smells fresh.

The exterior has regained its true colour, and it looks (almost) like a brand new car.

If you own a Mercedes, and would like to get it properly cleaned and detailed, by someone with experience in the peculiarities of the Mercedes brand, you’re in the right place.

Visit CleanMyMercedes.ca for details.

(On the other hand, if you’re driving a minivan or pick-up truck, our premium car cleaning service may not be right for you.)

Not quite ready to book an appointment right now? Click here to request your Free INFO KIT (including a complimentary $100 car cleaning Gift Card — plus a copy of my book, “How To Have Your Car Cleaned Properly, At the Lowest Possible Price”)