Professional detailing, is it worth it?

Professional detailing, is it worth it?

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Discussion

Englishman

Original Poster:

2,215 posts

209 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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I must admit that I thought I was pretty good at keeping my TVR's shiny.

Towards the end of last year though, under the harsh florescent lights in the garage, I noticed a number of scratches on my Sagaris that I just couldn't polish out. Having attended a session on detailing by Ian at Demon Finishers during Neil Garner's open day in September, I was impressed. So when my wife asked what I wanted for Christmas, I said the Sagaris detailed please!

Well I took the car to Ian just after Christmas and having been sceptical to some extent, I am now a believer.

Here are a few pictures:

Before:



After:



Before:



After:



And a couple more afterwards:





Ian did a great job on my car, so give him a call if interested.

ShiDevil

2,292 posts

173 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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Looks great smile

Have had mine done and it's Night and Day on a car that has swirl marks. Detailing ranges from a general detail to a paint correction at varying levels. You'll struggle to get the finish yourself unless your machine polishing. Just make sure you look after it once it's been done otherwise it's wasted money. Sheepskin mitts, snow foam, two buckets with grit guards etc. I'm sure you've been advised on the best approach smile

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
quotequote all
Had mine detailed a couple of weeks ago , lots of swirls and fine scratches. Well worth the money.

Milky400

1,960 posts

177 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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Had my Evoque done at Cambridge Concours and boy it was well worth the money, don't get me wrong it's bloody expensive but it transformed the 11 month old paint work (history behind the paint condition)

Tuscan booked in in April

Word of wording, choose well. The Evoque had been to two previous so called detailers before Simon at Cambridge Concours was let loose on it. Both previous guys really screwed up

Grey Ghost

4,583 posts

219 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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I look after my one with the usual two bucket wash, good quality products etc. and it does look very shiny.



However, parking it next to a properly detailed car is like chalk and cheese. I'm having some paint work done later this year and will certainly look at a full professional clean and finish once that is ready to take it.

Englishman

Original Poster:

2,215 posts

209 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
quotequote all
mart 63 said:
Had mine detailed a couple of weeks ago , lots of swirls and fine scratches. Well worth the money.
Looks great. I doubt they were as good from the first dealers!

macdeb

8,493 posts

254 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
quotequote all
If you can't do it yourself, then yeh, worth the money [if they're good of course]
I do mine myself wink Takes me a whole weekend though to take off, polish and re-apply.

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
quotequote all
It took the guy a full 8 hrs,he masked the car every square ft so he could concentrate on each area.Charged £200 ,well worth the money. The wax he used was Collinite 476s .

chris watton

22,477 posts

259 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
quotequote all
Not sure to be honest. I have spent hours washing/waxing/DA polishing/clay bar etc. One drive out if it's a little wet, all of that hard work goes out of the window, both underneath and bodywork. As I discovered last weekend..

Whether I did or paid some detailer hundreds for the same result wouldn't really matter, car still would have got filthy!

jjlnl

157 posts

126 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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Ian did mine just before the NEC 2014, chuffed to bits. Probably needs a little update now.
I've just recently had my Porsche done as well, but by someone a bit more local.
I've also taking a bit more interest in it overall, by takling two of the daily drivers in the household, one by hand and the other by machine. Not pro finishes but still very good.



From now on anything half decent I will pay a pro, as it also helps with paint protection.


portzi

2,296 posts

174 months

Thursday 28th January 2016
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It's worth every penny paying a pro to detail your P&J.

Edited by portzi on Thursday 28th January 22:03

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Friday 29th January 2016
quotequote all
chris watton said:
Not sure to be honest. I have spent hours washing/waxing/DA polishing/clay bar etc. One drive out if it's a little wet, all of that hard work goes out of the window, both underneath and bodywork. As I discovered last weekend..

Whether I did or paid some detailer hundreds for the same result wouldn't really matter, car still would have got filthy!
I had mine detailed to get rid of swirls and scratches.

mart 63

2,068 posts

243 months

Friday 29th January 2016
quotequote all
portzi said:






It's worth every penny paying a pro to detail your P&J.

Edited by portzi on Thursday 28th January 22:03
Stunning! Rolex Blue?

Jhonno

5,762 posts

140 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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Worth it if you don't own your own DA etc.. To remove the swirls/light scratches.

Pro Valets

61 posts

129 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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It is often surprising quite the difference that a Professional Detailer can make to the finish of an already OK-looking car.

Really happy to see the both Demon Finishers and Cambridge Concours heartily recommended as they are both members of the Professional Valeters and Detailers Trade Association.

If you would like to find a detailer in your area you can search at www.pro-valets.co.uk for similarly vetted and approved professionals.

Likewise if you have any questions about valeting or detailing in general, you can visit our sponsored thread running in the Detailing and Bodywork section HERE .

Rich @ PVD

Zippee

13,445 posts

233 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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Hoping to get mine done next month, full detail plus Gtechniq crystal serum to add a ceramic coating to the paint.

portzi

2,296 posts

174 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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mart 63 said:
Stunning! Rolex Blue?
Yes Mart, thank you.

J12KJR

2,860 posts

242 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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Zippee said:
Hoping to get mine done next month, full detail plus Gtechniq crystal serum to add a ceramic coating to the paint.
Who are you getting it done by Tony?

Before and after pics would be good. your paint colour looks great as it is so be interesting to see if there is a noticeable difference after the work.

arch stant0n

82 posts

104 months

Friday 29th January 2016
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Pro Valets said:
If you would like to find a detailer in your area you can search at www.pro-valets.co.uk for similarly vetted and approved professionals.

Rich @ PVD
Had a quick look, sorry to say the search page isn't working if you type in a postcode - I just get an empty map screen, stays that way if I re-enter it. Main page links here...www.pro-valets.co.uk/valet-locator/
This is under windows on firefox.
Edit - seems fine on Chrome.

Zippee

13,445 posts

233 months

Friday 29th January 2016
quotequote all
J12KJR said:
Zippee said:
Hoping to get mine done next month, full detail plus Gtechniq crystal serum to add a ceramic coating to the paint.
Who are you getting it done by Tony?

Before and after pics would be good. your paint colour looks great as it is so be interesting to see if there is a noticeable difference after the work.
Hi Kev,

I'm going to try Warman detailing, Paddy328 said to give them a shout. Else I'll get Paddy himself round to do it, though he is a teeny bit over budget so want to see what Warman come in at first as they're a little more local.