[MRPoisson]

Collecting the new motor from our friend TRL before Xmas and keen to get a detail before the long drive back on gritted roads.

Tony has put me in touch with TheMattFinish who has quoted

1. Full detail with Swisswax £450
2. Full detail with Liquid Elements Eco Shield - £600

I'm leaning more towards the ceramic due to durability (2years protection) and the colour of the car being silver.

Appreciate any comments

[black stig]

Had a ceramic coating on my silver car. Looked great etc, but was most impressed when I washed it myself for the first time.

Light snow foam, quick rinse with the power hose and it was virtually clean. Never seen beading like it.

The extra cost for ceramic will save me stacks of time - well worth it IMO.

[Hugrov]

+1 for ceramic coating as well, might seem like a lot of money but you're giving your new pride and joy the best possible start. I had a full correction done followed by ceramic coat and the paintwork is like glass, really smooth and much easier to keep clean, I only ever use 2-bucket wash method now.

[kzg1969]

for winter protection and ease of cleaning, ceramic all the way

[Torque of the Devil]

Going daily rate for a detailer is £250, ceramic coating materials might cost £50 at most. I would shop about, it's not like they have their work cut out for them with a brand new car either, especially as they take over as the transport wraps come off so paint is factory fresh.

I don't know about you guys but I don't make £500 a day and I'd say what I do is more skilled than car cleaning.

Go on detailing world and ask for a recommendation of someone who covers that area and you'll save about £300 I reckon

[Ss66]

Ceramic all the way,makes cleaning a doddle plus keeps your pride and joy looking the way you want it to stay

[Hugrov]

Originally Posted by Vanguard

Going daily rate for a detailer is £250, ceramic coating materials might cost £50 at most. I would shop about, it's not like they have their work cut out for them with a brand new car either, especially as they take over as the transport wraps come off so paint is factory fresh.

I don't know about you guys but I don't make £500 a day and I'd say what I do is more skilled than car cleaning.

Go on detailing world and ask for a recommendation of someone who covers that area and you'll save about £300 I reckon

My correction/detail cost £500 but the guy had my car for 5 days and the job also included painting hubs and calipers, sealing the wheels, remove 1x ding and seal all glass..........good value I reckon.

[Torque of the Devil]

Originally Posted by dmp2273

My correction/detail cost £500 but the guy had my car for 5 days and the job also included painting hubs and calipers, sealing the wheels, remove 1x ding and seal all glass..........good value I reckon.

I agree 5 days work for £500 is very good value, too cheap really

£450 for a days work and a wax sealant is taking the piss.

Guys do not pay over the top for this service, it's not rocket science what they do and very easy work for them on a brand new car.

I did my last car myself with One stage machine polish then Gtechniq C1 then Exo ceramic coating, took me just over a day to do and cost me £65 for the products.

[Gixerste]

Originally Posted by Vanguard

Going daily rate for a detailer is £250, ceramic coating materials might cost £50 at most. I would shop about, it's not like they have their work cut out for them with a brand new car either, especially as they take over as the transport wraps come off so paint is factory fresh.

I don't know about you guys but I don't make £500 a day and I'd say what I do is more skilled than car cleaning.

Go on detailing world and ask for a recommendation of someone who covers that area and you'll save about £300 I reckon

Have you seen some of the swirl marks on new cars in BMW showrooms I once looked at a 435i in black and it was covered in swirls and light scratches.
I paid £600 for my car to have a full detail with Gtechniq Crystal Serum ,interior, glass and wheel sealants it took 2-3 days and it came with a 7 year warranty.

[Torque of the Devil]

Originally Posted by Gixerste

Have you seen some of the swirl marks on new cars in BMW showrooms I once looked at a 435i in black and it was covered in swirls and light scratches.
I paid £600 for my car to have a full detail with Gtechniq Crystal Serum ,interior, glass and wheel sealants it took 2-3 days and it came with a 7 year warranty.

I've had loads of new cars and it's a mixed bag. I had a brand new black Audi TT-RS and it was swirled to hell, and I mean really bad, it took me 2 days and a 2 stage machine polish to get the paint looking good. To be fair one of the few new cars I've ever received where I could hardly find a swirl mark came from Tony and Berry BMW, the valeter who did my car was much better than most.

As soon as I get the car home I pull it into my garage and look at the paint under fluorescent tubes which show everything.

Again my main point is the cars don't come out of the factory swirled, its the dealers valeters who wreck the paint. So when you are getting a detailer to prep your car they don't go anywhere near the valeters, they will literally start work on the car as the transport wraps come off and many ask that they get to take the wraps off themselves, so there will be no swirl marks, just factory fresh paint, so they really don't have that much to do in terms of paint correction.

£600 for 2 days work isn't bad and I wouldn't object to paying that. The prices at the top of this thread are way over priced for a days work if that's all it is.

[kzg1969]

Originally Posted by Gixerste

Have you seen some of the swirl marks on new cars in BMW showrooms I once looked at a 435i in black and it was covered in swirls and light scratches.
I paid £600 for my car to have a full detail with Gtechniq Crystal Serum ,interior, glass and wheel sealants it took 2-3 days and it came with a 7 year warranty.

this is what I got on my other car + Exo2. 4days work and £700. It is dealer application only - cant DIY.

fantastic stuff if your budget allows.

[v6Jules]

I enjoy detailing as a hobby and the prices in the original post sound pretty expensive for what should be a fairly easy job... I've polished plenty of friends cars for beer money and know how much work can go into a full correction but a new car shouldn't need it. I was actually really impressed with how little damage Lancaster BMW in MK did to mine and I have simply sealed it with sonax hybrid NPT although I do have half a bottle of Gtechniq C1 left that needs using after sealing the wifes Eunos roadster

However I will agree to seeing some seriously swirled cars and bikes in showrooms where they get a daily dust down with what must be some pretty manky old microfibers!

I suppose it boils down to how long they want the car for as to how much they will charge but if it doesn't require much correction then it should easily be done in a day

[MRPoisson]

Thanks guys. I'm definitely going for a ceramic but now considering applying C2v3 myself during the time off at Xmas and saving £500.

[Torque of the Devil]

Originally Posted by MRPoisson

Thanks guys. I'm definitely going for a ceramic but now considering applying C2v3 myself during the time off at Xmas and saving £500.

It's very easy, and I quite enjoy doing this myself as it exorcises my OCD demons quite nicely.

Process for me:

Snow Foam Car- Rinse
Wash Car - Rinse
Iron X Car - Rinse
Clay bar
Wash car - Rinse
Dry the Car
1 Stage Machine Polish with Finishing Pad and Finishing Polish (this combo depends on condition of paint)
Wipe down with IPA or I use CarPro Eraser personally
Then Use GTechniq Products as instructed.

[asif03]

Originally Posted by Vanguard

It's very easy, and I quite enjoy doing this myself as it exorcises my OCD demons quite nicely.

Process for me:

Snow Foam Car- Rinse
Wash Car - Rinse
Iron X Car - Rinse
Clay bar
Wash car - Rinse
Dry the Car
1 Stage Machine Polish with Finishing Pad and Finishing Polish (this combo depends on condition of paint)
Wipe down with IPA or I use CarPro Eraser personally
Then Use GTechniq Products as instructed.

Have to agree. If you have the time and you're happy to clean your own car it is quite easy using products similar to GTechniq C2v3/Sonax BSD. Even if you skip the machine polish stage which you definitely could on a new car it'd look really good and would be protected for a month or two at a time until you top up the C2v3.

[kzg1969]

Originally Posted by Vanguard

It's very easy, and I quite enjoy doing this myself as it exorcises my OCD demons quite nicely.

Process for me:

Snow Foam Car- Rinse
Wash Car - Rinse
Iron X Car - Rinse
Clay bar
Wash car - Rinse
Dry the Car
1 Stage Machine Polish with Finishing Pad and Finishing Polish (this combo depends on condition of paint)
Wipe down with IPA or I use CarPro Eraser personally
Then Use GTechniq Products as instructed.

That is the right process although I am currently doing the following as the new paint isn't really that bad. There was a little fallout, but not much.

Wash Car - Rinse - dry
Gyeon Tar - Rinse - dry
Gyeon Iron - Rinse - dry
Wash car - Dry
Wipe down with IPA (Gyeon Prep)
GYEON Q2 CANCOAT - new product

done half the car last night - too early to tell / compare to Gtechniq on other car