Photo Keep car clean and germa free advice from Toyota

Toyota expert advice on a germ-free car

As we all strive to keep away from viruses during the Covid-19 outbreak, Toyota delivers expert advice on how to keep you car as clean, germ-free and safe as possible.

As we all strive to keep as safe as we can during the Covid-19 outbreak, we’ve rediscovered that one of the bests things we can do to keep safe – apart from keeping our distance from others – is to wash our hands. And wash our hands thoroughly and frequently. Just as we were told when we were little, but sadly seem to have forgotten.

But we also need to ensure we keep the surfaces around us clean and germ-free, and that includes our cars. Because even if we’re all locked-down we’re still going to be using our cars for essential trips to shops and pharmacies and to deliver necessities to those who are forced to self-isolate or are old or infirm.

So Toyota has done a very sensible thing and released a video and advice on keeping your car germ-free during the Coronavirus crisis, enlisting the help of their in-house expert Ben Murphy, the man responsible for cleaning, thoroughly, Toyota’s press fleet after each loan. Which means it has to be both thorough and effective.

Ben lists more than 40 touch points around the car you need to address, including obvious stuff like door handles – inside and out – gearstick and rear-view mirror.

Ben uses professional cleaning equipment, but advises the use of bleach-free antibacterial wipes (assuming you can get them at the moment) as a very effective way to clean and kill germs, ensuring you wipe everything at least twice in a backwards and forwards movement. And wear gloves and dispose of when finished, as well as wearing disposable gloves if you use anyone else’s car or taxi.

There’s a video below of exactly what you need to do, but the touch points you need to clean are:

1 Exterior door handles
2 Frame of door and roof
3 Interior door release
4 Window switches
5 Interior door handle
6 Door pocket
7 Seatbelts
8 Seatbelt clips
9 Seat adjust buttons
10 Steering wheel
11 Horn
12 Control stalks
13 Driver air vents
14 Dashboard
15 Power button
16 Gear shift
17 Multimedia screen
18 Central air vents
19 Heating controls
20 Glovebox
21 Log book
22 Central storage compartment
23 Cupholders
24 Rear-view mirror
25 Interior lights
26 Grab handle
27 Key
28 Head rests
29 Seat pockets
30 Rear central tab
31 Fuel cap
32 Wheel valves
33 Boot lid
34 Parcel shelf
35 Boot floor tab
36 Boot close button
37 Bonnet lid
38 Washer cap
39 Dipstick
40 Oil cap