Had my car detailed (B6 S4 Avant)...lots of pictures!
Discussion
Hi all,
My name's Tony and you may have seen me and my cars in previous detailing threads such as;
I've cleaned my white Exige
or
I cleaned my black Elise
however, this time I went all out and employed the services of Kelly at KDSKeltec (www.kdskeltec.co.uk). I've come to know Kelly, a local guy, and every time I popped in to see him I was genuiely stunned at how good he made cars look.
So, I bit the bullet and did it. I'm absolutely over the moon with the results.
Kelly did the full correction detail - so getting all those swirl marks and scratches out using a polising process and then waxing/sealing over the top of it so make it last.
As you can tell from the previous threads, I've always been pretty OTT on cleaning my cars anyway, so when I gave the car to KDS it was in not-so-bad condition anyway (look at the before photos), and any sunday-morning car washer would have been proud to see it. But the difference in the after shots really should be seen to be believed!
Less of the gibberish from me, more of the pictures. I also took the opportunity to get the wheels refurbished, because KDS is next to Lepsons Alloy refurbishment - (none of the scratches on them were from me, I stress, I'm anal about my wheels also!), but took a long time deciding on what colour to get them done (the standard finish is fairly matt), and finally decided on "black chrome, heavy on the silver". It looks neither black, nor chrome, but but looks bloomin good with the mirrors and chrome work around the windows so I'm over the moon.
Now, those pictures....!
First up, wash the car with a snow foam and jet wash...
Then some before shots. Like I say, I was quite proud with how the "befores" looked, but this really does show the difference between "enthusiastic amateur" (me) and pro (Kelly).
Still befores, but here's close ups of the swirls and marks I spoke about earlier. It's these marks that, even when full waxed and gone-all-out by me, still make the paint not quite as perfect as it could be...
and this is what he turns those scratches/swirl marks etc into....shininess!
Oh, and a before and after for the lights, too...!
and, finally, what that actually does to the car newly refurbished wheels as well. As I said, really happy about how it's turned out and I think, in the coming months (and longer) I'll be even more chuffed about how it lasts and how easy it is to clean!
My name's Tony and you may have seen me and my cars in previous detailing threads such as;
I've cleaned my white Exige
or
I cleaned my black Elise
however, this time I went all out and employed the services of Kelly at KDSKeltec (www.kdskeltec.co.uk). I've come to know Kelly, a local guy, and every time I popped in to see him I was genuiely stunned at how good he made cars look.
So, I bit the bullet and did it. I'm absolutely over the moon with the results.
Kelly did the full correction detail - so getting all those swirl marks and scratches out using a polising process and then waxing/sealing over the top of it so make it last.
As you can tell from the previous threads, I've always been pretty OTT on cleaning my cars anyway, so when I gave the car to KDS it was in not-so-bad condition anyway (look at the before photos), and any sunday-morning car washer would have been proud to see it. But the difference in the after shots really should be seen to be believed!
Less of the gibberish from me, more of the pictures. I also took the opportunity to get the wheels refurbished, because KDS is next to Lepsons Alloy refurbishment - (none of the scratches on them were from me, I stress, I'm anal about my wheels also!), but took a long time deciding on what colour to get them done (the standard finish is fairly matt), and finally decided on "black chrome, heavy on the silver". It looks neither black, nor chrome, but but looks bloomin good with the mirrors and chrome work around the windows so I'm over the moon.
Now, those pictures....!
First up, wash the car with a snow foam and jet wash...
Then some before shots. Like I say, I was quite proud with how the "befores" looked, but this really does show the difference between "enthusiastic amateur" (me) and pro (Kelly).
Still befores, but here's close ups of the swirls and marks I spoke about earlier. It's these marks that, even when full waxed and gone-all-out by me, still make the paint not quite as perfect as it could be...
and this is what he turns those scratches/swirl marks etc into....shininess!
Oh, and a before and after for the lights, too...!
and, finally, what that actually does to the car newly refurbished wheels as well. As I said, really happy about how it's turned out and I think, in the coming months (and longer) I'll be even more chuffed about how it lasts and how easy it is to clean!
Dr G said:
Very nice too, red might not be *the* most popular colour but I think it suits the car nicely 
Must admit, my usual choice would have been the dark grey metallic - I think it looks great. However, every car I've owned in my car life (now 12yrs) has been black, white, silver or grey/dark grey. So essentially I've never had a car of colour! Once I'd decided an S4 was what I wanted, as much as I liked the dark grey, when I saw red (as it were ) I thought "yup, I'm having that".I think it suits the car nicely (loud, but not ridiculous) but can understand why it's not the colour of choice for many and that the more sober ones might be
Batty - no idea. The car's been pretty good for the 9 months I've owned it, but no idea what it's like long term.
Silverbullet767 said:
That's an amazing difference, how long did he take to do that?
He actually had the car Mon > Sat, though of course he's not 100% working on it the whole time as he has other cars, but it's probably 20-30 hours work. I had the wheels refurbed also at the same time (Lepsons wheel refurbs are next to KDS) and that takes 4 days too, so it all tied in well.I nicked my girlfriend's car for the whole week that he had it though, so I was in no particular rush to get it back. I posted this same thread in the bodywork/detailing part (see link) which might explain a bit more if you're interested
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
marctwo said:
That looks stunning.
Mine looks
How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks Mine looks
How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?
I am jolly chuffed, I'll not deny You're looking at about 450+vat for the detail (plus I had wheels done too from Lepsons over the road which was 320+vat).
As a headline figure, it does sound expensive. Actually, when you think what value went on my credit card this week, it is, but the value will truly be realised in 3...6....9 months, when the shine and look will still be the same, and still be just a lovely to look at
It certainly won't ever need this level of treatment again, just a light washing every now and then and job done
TonyHetherington said:
marctwo said:
That looks stunning.
Mine looks
How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?
Thanks Mine looks
How much did it cost you if you don't mind me asking?
I am jolly chuffed, I'll not deny You're looking at about 450+vat for the detail (plus I had wheels done too from Lepsons over the road which was 320+vat).
As a headline figure, it does sound expensive. Actually, when you think what value went on my credit card this week, it is, but the value will truly be realised in 3...6....9 months, when the shine and look will still be the same, and still be just a lovely to look at
It certainly won't ever need this level of treatment again, just a light washing every now and then and job done
If you ever saw my car you'd have a heart attack. I like to think that the dirt adds to the stealth factor. In reality I am just too lazy and cheap to get it cleaned.
That looks very, very nice.
But I'm always a bit nervous of getting my cars too shiny. Part of me thinks that the career car keyer is attracted to shiny cars far more than to grubby ones; I assume therefore that were I do get something like this done, the next day some little s
te would run his keys down the length of both sides of it.
But I'm always a bit nervous of getting my cars too shiny. Part of me thinks that the career car keyer is attracted to shiny cars far more than to grubby ones; I assume therefore that were I do get something like this done, the next day some little s
te would run his keys down the length of both sides of it. Looks great.
Lepsons do a top job on rims too. I made a 300 mile round trip to leave my old S3 with them to sort out the RSTT's 18" rims, caught the train back to Norwich and went back 3 days later to collect it.
I'd do the same again with the S4 without batting an eyleid (if I needed to get the rims done, but I dont!)
Lepsons do a top job on rims too. I made a 300 mile round trip to leave my old S3 with them to sort out the RSTT's 18" rims, caught the train back to Norwich and went back 3 days later to collect it.
I'd do the same again with the S4 without batting an eyleid (if I needed to get the rims done, but I dont!)
AudiSport said:
So, I've been thinking about buying an S4 for some time now but always worry that once the new car honeymoon period wears off the fuel bill will drive me spare... Just how bad are they? What will it do to say £30 of fuel?
I get 17-18 mpg round town from my cab (possibly heavier than the saloon) driving with a light foot. The OP, as I recall, managed to get <10 soon after acquiring his S4 with some "spirited" (!) driving. If you're a high mileage driver, it's probably not the car for you. If not, it's something well worth a look.
Since our main car is a 4.2l petrol A8, I've long since decided the best policy is to pretend that petrol purchases never really happen.
AudiSport said:
So, I've been thinking about buying an S4 for some time now but always worry that once the new car honeymoon period wears off the fuel bill will drive me spare... Just how bad are they? What will it do to say £30 of fuel?
What they cost in fuel, you'll save in maintenance costs.No cam belts
No turbos
No Fsi
No DRC
0-60 5.3
0-100 13.3
0-155 (limiter) 25.0
It will do 140mph none stop for an hour, it will sit in a traffic jam for an hour, when it's 38C, and it will never miss a beat.
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