I live very near an extremely reputable car detailing place, whose top level valets nudge three figures, around £100-150 depending on exact spec. They also do valet and paint correction packages for £2-300. I'm toying with the idea of having my car done later in the year, as I've decided not to replace it (coming to end of 4year finance plan) but would like that buzz of a nice shiny, fully detailed car. I might even investigate an engine remap, although I fear my DMF wouldn't survive very long as it's a little chattery as it is (80k miles) to refresh the feel of the car.

Is it crazy to pay so much for what is basically a deep clean??? Would the results last more than a few months? I'm perfectly confident I can do a fairly good car clean myself, but love the idea of having it done totally thoroughly by experts, with as much paint correction as is possible without respraying as it has a few everyday knocks and scuffs now.

I wouldn't even pay 10 quid to have my car washed.

i know places that do 4, or even 5 figure details. it's worth every penny if you want your car to look good.

the coating i use on my car costs £50 (enough for one car!) in parts alone. been a keen detailer myself, i know what effort goes into the expensive details and they're worth it if you want it. it's all relative. £500 on a shed isn't worth it. i know of someone who spent north of £30k on a detail on his enzo....took them between 900 and 1000 hours.....words cannot describe the level of detail.

Then surely you wouldn't want to drive it in case it got a speck of dust on it?!

the enzo had done a lot of miles (for an enzo). it wouldn't surprise me if the £30k detail increased its value by £30k. it's all relative.

YHM

£200-£300 is nothing TBH for a decent paint correction detail.£600-£800 is usually nearer the mark and you can pay up to around £10k for the full works if you own an Enzo,Veyron etc!

i think its worth paying for them to do the hard work of swirl removal etc you can then look after it yourself by regular washing/waxing

Most of the work is in the prep, so if the paint is swirled and needs a lot of time spent machine polishing that's where a lot of the time and money goes.

Slap a coat of £1k wax on swirled manky paintwork and it will still look st next to a coat of Autoglym on a freshly machine polished panel.

As has been said its all in the paintwork prep, get that right and it will look fantastic even with mundane finishing products applied. Put exceptional finishing products on crap paint and it will still look well crap.

I spent 3 hours machine polishing mine last night, im no expert I wont try and say I am but using a few recommended products in a way I was told to its literally transformed my black swirl effected paintwork to not far off a glass finish.

Ive done no paint correction as dont have the products or the skills just purely swirl removal and a polish, the difference is exceptional and thats with me doing it, someone who knows what they are doing will do wonders to your paint.