Car Detailing for Kia Seltos

Detailing your Kia Seltos

The Seltos gives families all-wheel drive and a roomy cargo area on a tight budget, and the trade-off is a cabin full of hard plastic that scratches if it is cleaned with anything rough, so we use soft brushes and keep the cloths for the glass. The two-tone roof on some trims gets its own polishing pass, the roof rails get cleaned from above, and the cladding that goes grey after a winter gets restored. A sealant keeps the paint easy to rinse.

What we watch for on a Seltos

• Cars with the contrasting roof colour get the roof polished as its own panel, since the black shows swirls more than the body
• Hard plastic covers most of the cabin and scratches under rough cloths; soft brushes and a mild cleaner are the answer
• Grey, faded cladding around the arches is the norm after two winters, and a restorer fixes it
• The standard roof rails hide a strip of sap and grime underneath that we reach from above with a brush
• Grey cloth shows slush rings and cleans with hot-water extraction

Compact SUVs: cargo areas that do everything

Compact crossovers are family cars, gear haulers and dog taxis in one. The cargo floor, the rear seatbacks and the door sills collect the most dirt, while taller bodies catch more road spray along the sides.