Just had my car detailed - very pleased

Just had my car detailed - very pleased

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Redsarebest

Original Poster:

17 posts

144 months

Monday 21st May 2012
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Ben from Smartclean Valeting detailed my car today, very happy

As always, he did an amazing job and is an absolute bargin at £30 - He lives in St Neots area but i think he travels anywhere within reason

mig25_foxbat2003

5,426 posts

210 months

Tuesday 22nd May 2012
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Do you have any before/after pics? He seems to have a lot of good reviews online with a lot of people who have signed up purely to post about him... not sure what that signifies. I'll be keen on using his services if he's definitely as good as he's made out to be.

Redsarebest

Original Poster:

17 posts

144 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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I don't have any "before pictures", sorry. I'm not really someone that bothers to give recommendations as a rule but credit where it is due, he takes between 2-3 hours to do the car and i think it's a bargin at £30. It looks like it has just come out of the showroom

Timja

1,921 posts

208 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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That is very cheap if he spends 2-3hrs on a car and uses his own polishes etc. Can't see his prices staying that low if he wants to make any money!

BluePurpleRed

1,137 posts

225 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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I would be banging his door down if I lived anywhere close!

Odhran

579 posts

182 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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So you had it valeted then? Hardly a detail if it took 2-3 hours

Martyn D

424 posts

173 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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Redsarebest said:


Ben from Smartclean Valeting detailed my car today, very happy

As always, he did an amazing job and is an absolute bargin at £30 - He lives in St Neots area but i think he travels anywhere within reason
Hi Bens brother smile

DouggyMc

769 posts

162 months

Wednesday 23rd May 2012
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Just had Ben round tonight to valet my Ford Capri after seeing the Ferrari picture on this thread, never bothered with valets or detailing before however seeing as the classic Ford show is on this weekend I wanted it looking it's best!. Before the paintwork was quite badly swirled and it had a few paint blemishes and imperfections. He spend a good 2-3 hours on it and the difference is unbelievable, the paintwork looks fantastic and has real depth and shine to it, it's no longer a swirly mess!
I have no real good pictures of a before shot, however if you look at the bonnet on the first picture you should be able to see the swirl marks in the sunlight. The rest of the pics were taken tonight after he had finished.
Before

After



Overall I would highly recommend him, very nice guy and he does such a great job and takes his time to make sure it's right!

Zippee

13,440 posts

233 months

Friday 25th May 2012
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DouggyMc said:
Just had Ben round tonight to valet my Ford Capri after seeing the Ferrari picture on this thread, never bothered with valets or detailing before however seeing as the classic Ford show is on this weekend I wanted it looking it's best!. Before the paintwork was quite badly swirled and it had a few paint blemishes and imperfections. He spend a good 2-3 hours on it and the difference is unbelievable, the paintwork looks fantastic and has real depth and shine to it, it's no longer a swirly mess!
I have no real good pictures of a before shot, however if you look at the bonnet on the first picture you should be able to see the swirl marks in the sunlight. The rest of the pics were taken tonight after he had finished.
Before

After



Overall I would highly recommend him, very nice guy and he does such a great job and takes his time to make sure it's right!
O/T - Have I seen your car around St-Neots before? Possibly round Duloe way? Not that many Capris around town and I do notice them about. Theres also a chap with a black 2.8 (though likely with something a little bigger under the hood judging by the noise it makes) who lives down the road from me.

DouggyMc

769 posts

162 months

Friday 25th May 2012
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Zippee said:
O/T - Have I seen your car around St-Neots before? Possibly round Duloe way? Not that many Capris around town and I do notice them about. Theres also a chap with a black 2.8 (though likely with something a little bigger under the hood judging by the noise it makes) who lives down the road from me.
Yep you most likely have! I'm quite often in the St Neots area, went down that duloe way not so long ago to take some photos by the graffiti bridge under the A1. Theres a couple about in the area, theres another white D reg one in the Huntingdon area as well as mine but i havent really seen any others!

Mr Sheen

1,346 posts

263 months

Saturday 26th May 2012
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How many PH are in St.Neots and the surrounding area?

Look forward to see and hear the Ferrari around town looks great thumbup

4Lmike

1,910 posts

169 months

Saturday 26th May 2012
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You should get some proper snaps of it wink

RobbieKB

7,715 posts

182 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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These threads from users with a handful of posts promoting a business are so transparent it's almost cringe-worthy!

So to counterbalance, CC Valeting are a good alternative. Based in Hatfield but cover a lot of Hertfordshire I think. They used to do my ST inside and out for a score.

mig25_foxbat2003

5,426 posts

210 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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Well, I can promise that I'm not connected with the company in any way, and I think I'm going to take the plunge - for fifty notes, what's the worst that can happen? I'll put a full and honest review on here when he's done, so we can see how well it tallies with all of his other online reviews...

DouggyMc

769 posts

162 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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RobbieKB said:
These threads from users with a handful of posts promoting a business are so transparent it's almost cringe-worthy!
Whilst I understand that I may not have been on here for years and years and I do not have a post count in the thousands and that it may seem suspicious to be promoting a company, I can assure you that's not the case. I tried this company out based solely on the picture of the Ferrari above, never met the chap in my life since last Wednesday. I provided a review based on the work he done, not because I know him and want him to get more business.

Make what you want of that, but just because someone is reasonably new on here don't assume that we are all lying! Remember you were a newbie on here once!

mig25_foxbat2003

5,426 posts

210 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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DouggyMc said:
Whilst I understand that I may not have been on here for years and years and I do not have a post count in the thousands and that it may seem suspicious to be promoting a company, I can assure you that's not the case. I tried this company out based solely on the picture of the Ferrari above, never met the chap in my life since last Wednesday. I provided a review based on the work he done, not because I know him and want him to get more business.

Make what you want of that, but just because someone is reasonably new on here don't assume that we are all lying! Remember you were a newbie on here once!
To be fair, I took him to mean the OP - the camera doesn't lie and at least you posted some before/after pics with a noticeable difference in them, rather than a blurry photo of a 430 that may or may not be clean...

RobbieKB

7,715 posts

182 months

Monday 28th May 2012
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mig25_foxbat2003 said:
DouggyMc said:
Whilst I understand that I may not have been on here for years and years and I do not have a post count in the thousands and that it may seem suspicious to be promoting a company, I can assure you that's not the case. I tried this company out based solely on the picture of the Ferrari above, never met the chap in my life since last Wednesday. I provided a review based on the work he done, not because I know him and want him to get more business.

Make what you want of that, but just because someone is reasonably new on here don't assume that we are all lying! Remember you were a newbie on here once!
To be fair, I took him to mean the OP
yes

ETA: He could be genuine and I could be a cynic, it's just he has only posted 5 times and 3 of them were regarding the same valeting company.

Gurbinder

236 posts

200 months

Tuesday 29th May 2012
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Just spoke to Ben really nice chap all booked for full valet on the wife's X5 next week and then to do the CSL once alloy refurb and brakes are done.

kingstondc5

7,433 posts

203 months

Tuesday 29th May 2012
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So what does the chap do then for £30 in 3 hours?

And what do you get for your £50? Is that 5 hours?

ShiDevil

2,292 posts

173 months

Tuesday 29th May 2012
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Hi,

This is really no more than valeting, although it looks a good job. I do this most weekends on my car, and it's pretty much 2 hours to complete properly.

Typically, Shampoo Foam (Foam Gun with Chemical Guys) / 2 Bucket Wash (Chemical Guys, with Grit Guard) / Clay / Polish (Chemical Guys) (every 3-4 months, dependent on shine/wax level)/ Sealant or Wax (Dodo Juice) / Interior (autoglym)/ Engine (chemical guys degreaser / Tire Shine (meguirs), windows with Rainex etc. It should be looking lovely after that.

A detail, is typically that, plus a machine polish (which is where the skill comes in and time) with a possible paint correction (even more skill and time), which can take half a day to a day. It's possible this chap, just washed and polished it, which will provide an almost equivalent shine/look.

I've booked mine in for a detail (paint correction) with a chap in Peterborough called prestige valetting. My car is in good condition, but has mild scratches (although barely visible, just about in the sunlight), therefore the paint correction, will resolve this. The cost is close to 130. I shouldn't need to have this done again, given my cleaning regime smile

So, there are differences,

Steve

Edited by ShiDevil on Tuesday 29th May 23:15