Orange peel removal!!

[Gio G]

Would I be looking at a substantial bill for wanting the orange peel removed from my car. I always understood that orange peel is created during the process of applying clear coat at the factory. They do not seem to do a good job..

The car is brand new and really would like a better finish...

[Gio G]

Is the process wet sanding down the clear coat, to get rid of the texture? Which then leaves a glass/mirror like finish?

Having looked at some information online, some experts suggest not to do this on factory paint, due to the paint being so thin. Any views on this?

The car in question is a brand new Audi A4 in daytona grey. I have seen cars worth three times mine having the same finish, which I find astonishing. Have standards dropped or is it just cost savings?

[Gio G]

JulesB said:

Gio G said:

Is the process wet sanding down the clear coat, to get rid of the texture? Which then leaves a glass/mirror like finish?

Having looked at some information online, some experts suggest not to do this on factory paint, due to the paint being so thin. Any views on this?

The car in question is a brand new Audi A4 in daytona grey. I have seen cars worth three times mine having the same finish, which I find astonishing. Have standards dropped or is it just cost savings?

How old is the car, weeks or months? Paint fresh from manufacturer will not have fully cured, this step often takes months before the paint has fully cured. When the paint is fresh from manufacturer this is the thickest the original paint will be until you start painting on top of it.

Standards have massively slipped from the manufacturer lately, it is now more about volume than quality. Often see orange peel + paint defects in new cars now which you wouldnt of found on an old car.

The car is 2 months old. Do you have any pictures of the car you did?

[Gio G]

Jaykaybi said:

Actually, while we're waiting for Jules to come back with pics of his work (which I genuinely can't wait to see - if they're as good as his confidence suggests, I'll be booking in my car), I'll contribute something meaningful for the OP.

Gio G, the job in this link was 80 hours of tiring manual labour on the paintwork. I can tell you that for 80 hours work, the culmination of 20+ years of expertise in wet sanding, and the quality of result you'll get (and remember it's permanent), the price you'd be paying KDS to correct your A4 is in fact laughably cheap.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

KDS in the link above said:

Now getting into the reason you pay to have a professional detail, as well as the equipment needed.

First thing is to inspect the paint for flaws and but more important is to measure the paint depth to build up a map of the car's varying paint depth giving the detailer the information needed to be confident the car can have the wet sand and machine polish process.

The measurements were taken all over the cars panels to gain an average figure:

Thanks Jaykaybi,

So what you are saying is use Kelly @ KDS? Have to admit that M3 was pretty bad, on refelction my Audi is not that bad.

[Gio G]

Jaykaybi said:

Gio G said:

Jaykaybi said:

Actually, while we're waiting for Jules to come back with pics of his work (which I genuinely can't wait to see - if they're as good as his confidence suggests, I'll be booking in my car), I'll contribute something meaningful for the OP.

Gio G, the job in this link was 80 hours of tiring manual labour on the paintwork. I can tell you that for 80 hours work, the culmination of 20+ years of expertise in wet sanding, and the quality of result you'll get (and remember it's permanent), the price you'd be paying KDS to correct your A4 is in fact laughably cheap.

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

KDS in the link above said:

Now getting into the reason you pay to have a professional detail, as well as the equipment needed.

First thing is to inspect the paint for flaws and but more important is to measure the paint depth to build up a map of the car's varying paint depth giving the detailer the information needed to be confident the car can have the wet sand and machine polish process.

The measurements were taken all over the cars panels to gain an average figure:

Thanks Jaykaybi,

So what you are saying is use Kelly @ KDS? Have to admit that M3 was pretty bad, on refelction my Audi is not that bad.

BMW are indeed probably the current worst offender but I know what your Audi's paint will look like, I've seen plenty of 'em, and I bet when it's properly inspected you'll be even more shocked and there will be at least 5 problems with it you hadn't yet even spotted yourself.

Years ago I toyed with the idea of being a detailer (I once even detailed Tony's Exige S) but after meeting Kelly at KDS I quickly learned that I didn't know the first thing about it. Ahh, what it was to be young and reckless.

Despite already having 'done' a handful of cars, being a genuine, decent kind of fellow I felt a deep sense of guilt at charging 75% of Kelly's prices when I knew I had just 3% of his knowledge, 2% of his skill and <1% of his professional tools/facilities.

I am now a customer of KDS and give my full recommendation in every regard. I've not wanted to say as much on this thread because I don't want to stifle Jules's response; I hope he does come back with pics. £300 to £600 for a full wet sand detail in a day and a half is an industry-altering claim.

Edited by Jaykaybi on Tuesday 26th June 16:40

Thanks Jaykaybi,

I have only seen Kelly's work on the forums - I have to admit, it looks pretty amazing, however it does come with a cost, which I would need to think about..Whether to put up with a car in it's current state or have the work done.

As strange as it might seem, I quite like cleaning my own cars, just gives me a bit of escape from work and the family. It does bug me that the finish could be better. I always hark back to a black Cayenne Turbo I used to own many years. Jason Brough came and did some work on it and reminds me of those reflection shots from that M3. He got it so perfect.

[Gio G]

Ok.... Reading all these posts I am really no wiser.. I seemed to have opened a real can of worms... If someone can give me an answer to my original post honestly and with some back up, that would be appreciated..

[Gio G]

Jaykaybi said:

Gio G said:

Ok.... Reading all these posts I am really no wiser.. I seemed to have opened a real can of worms... If someone can give me an answer to my original post honestly and with some back up, that would be appreciated..

Likely to be between £1500 and £2000, depending on extras, wax/coating upgrades etc. As in my earlier post, I reckon it's worth it on a valuable new car that you've only just bought, because as a proportion of your new Audi's value it's not the biggest deal - I'm sure there are ticks on the options list that cost more.

And yes, enquire with KDS if you have your heart set on achieving this finish:

There is no doubt, this work does look excellent, however, if I had to spend £1,500-£2,000, it would be on something else. I like my car, however not that much.. it is not like I am driving something Italian and exotic, it is an Audi A4 saloon for the love of god...

So if that is the price, that rules me out. I used Jason Brough to do my old Cayenne Turbo years ago for around £400, corrective paintwork job, then using Zymol Royale wax - whatever it was called, others were quoting around £1,000 - £1,500. The work Jason did was excellent. He spent 12 hours on the car and I was happy with it. That was the price point I was looking for. Maybe as someone said before, a mis-alignment of expectations.. However bear in mind not everybody wants the ultimate Veyron service and finish, just wanted to improve it..

[Gio G]

Totally out of interest - which cars would leave a factory with this finish or close?

[Gio G]

BullMoose said:

TonyHetherington said:

Everyone - I have deleted the conversation.

We have some very important "name and shame" rules here on PistonHeads, and in accordance with those, we do not allow such allegations (founded or otherwise).

If that's the case then thin out page 4 !

+1 for page 4, the rest is good information...

[Gio G]

kds keltec said:

whoami said:

Kelly, fantastic work there.

However, it's a complete disgrace that brand new cars are being delivered like this with the customer being told that it's an acceptable paint finish.

Yep agree , done loads of new cars mainly of one Brand made in germany

most of the public dont even care , so still a tiny percent that care and do anything about it.

Kelly

Hmm... If I had purchased say a new BMW M5 or M6 for example, I would certainly be expecting good quality of paintwork, based on what I spent... If I received it with the same level of orange peel shown in the photo's, I would expect them to pick up Kelly's tab for this superb work..If I knew about this process before I picked up my Audi, I would have rejected the car, until Kelly sorted it out. However my Audi is not as bad as the BMW....