Photo: The Detail Geek | YouTube
The owner of this 2011 Ford Escape traded in his vehicle to a local dealer. They paid to get the car back, but quickly regretted the transaction. They labeled it “uncleanable” and sent it to a detailer.
The person who brought the 2011 Ford Escape to the dealership to trade it in was a smoker and definitely not a neat freak. He must have avoided car washes for at least the last ten years. The detailer needs to mentally prepare for the nightmare on wheels that awaits him.
The exterior isn't too bad. Detergent, pressure washing, degreasing, and rinsing will do the trick. However, those six-spoke wheels won't look new no matter what the expert puts on them, but the paint and chrome are shining again.
After disconnecting the battery, a spray of degreaser in the engine bay and some brushes should work wonders, but tamping it down is not a good idea. The Ford Escape is powered by the 24-valve Duratec V6 engine.
Mitch, aka The Detail Geek, finally works up the courage to open the doors and start working on the interior. The amount of dirt accumulated on the floor mats is insane. They look like they've collected debris from an entire construction site over the past few years. It takes a while for them to show their original color.
Photo: The Detail Geek | YouTube
The expert removes the seats and dismantles the center console to make room to work around the cabin. Now, he can finally see the scale of the mess. Straw wrappers, receipts, dog food, cigarette butts, and cigarette packs are all over the floor as if this car were a giant garbage can with a built-in ashtray.
Mitch is using a respirator to keep from getting sick from all the junk in the car and whatever bacteria is lurking there. Plus, the cabin smells horrible, he claims, and judging by the way things are in there, we believe him!
A black spot complicates matters, as it keeps fighting to come back. Mitch thinks it’s cigarette-related. Meanwhile, the driver’s footwell confirms that this vehicle has been abused for years. Hours of cleaning won’t make it look anything like it did the day it rolled through the factory gates.
The bare leather seats were definitely a bad choice for the former owner of this 2011 Ford Escape. They are now covered in black ash and stains, and these are not easy to remove.
Photo: The Detail Geek | YouTube
The water used for cleaning immediately turns brown and takes on a muddy consistency. The driver's door is one of the most disgusting surfaces in the Escape. An all-purpose cleaner and steam work their magic on the door panels, seats, and steering wheel, which finally regain their original natural hue. They had almost gone black from years of exposure to cigarette smoke. Talk about secondhand smoke…
But Mitch has to use a screwdriver to get the gunk out of the cup holders. Dog hair, some sticky juice, and paper were the recipe for that sticky combination. He also has to work on the headliner, which is also covered in stains, which could indicate a leak somewhere around the sunroof.
Seventeen hours, tons of detergent, degreaser, and stain remover later, the 2011 Ford Escape looks incredible, despite being labeled “unwashable” by the dealer. It seems even the “unwashable” can be cleaned in the right hands.
