Presenting Your Car: You must be present to have your car judged. Judges will not open a door or a deck lid on your car. If you’re not present to open the door you can expect a full deduction on the interior.
The second basic rule is to present your car with everything that came from the factory with your car. This includes the owner’s manual, the jack, and the spare tire. Nothing else should be in the car. Most novices fail to clean the glove box. The only items that should be in your glove box are the items that came from the factory.
Don’t obsess on the exterior finish. Too many novice entrants obsess on the quality of the wax job. The only time judges are even aware of your wax job is when they first walk up to the car. The time you spend waxing your car might be better spent on cleaning the rear surface of your brake pedal.
Don’t spend time talking to the judges while they examine your car. “Owners tend to give us too much useless information, while others can be very tight-lipped about any work done on the car. If I’m out there judging a class, it’s because the chief judge thinks I’m competent to do so.”