Audi A7 detailing in Houston

What we watch for

Paint and interior on the A7

Paint and exterior

The long sweeping roof and the wide hatch are hard to reach and easy to miss, so they often have the worst marring on the car. The pop-up rear spoiler hides grime beneath it, and RS 7s with wide arches and carbon or black trim need both paint and trim products.

Interior

Leather sport seats, Alcantara on some trims, and on newer cars two black glass screens and a dash full of haptic surfaces. Rear passengers sit under the sloped roof, so the headliner above the back seat collects hand marks.

Living in Houston

A7s are usually commuter cars kept in a garage at night. Saharan dust in summer and oak pollen in spring settle on the long hatch glass, where no wiper reaches.

• Hard clear coat: swirls take more cutting to remove, so correction is slower, but a corrected finish holds up well afterwards.
• Black and dark colors are common: they show swirls, water spots and pollen film first, and benefit most from a coating.
• Piano-black trim: it scratches if you look at it, so it gets plush microfiber only and can be polished and coated.
• Alcantara or microsuede: brushed dry, cleaned with a dedicated cleaner on a towel (never sprayed directly), then re-napped.