Thinking of getting a professional detail

[JayT]

I'm thinking of getting a professional detail and have been quoted £275 for a "Paintwork Enhancement Detail".

This is the first time i've had this done and was wondering if this was a good price??

For this i'll be getting:
Citrus pre-wash
Foam Wash twice
Arches, door shuts, wheels cleaned
Clay
Polish and glazing oils with rotary - going over bodywork once to remove light swirls only
Pre-cleaner fluid
Sealant on bodywork - Nanolex product to give 12 months protection
Alloys polished and sealed with acrylic wax
Windows polished and treated with rain repellant
Hood protected with rain repellant
Tyres, arches and exterior trim dressed

 

[mmm-five]

Is this a mobile service or at a business premises? Have you been to their premises to see if it's clean and well ordered? Are they very busy & requiring a few weeks notice to get yours in? What brands do they use other than Nanolex™? What insurance do they have if they ruin your paintwork? How long will they be keeping the car (less than a day is quick)? Have you checked them out (either positively or negatively) on DetailingWorld?

Other than the lack of a good wax on the body it seems okay, although it may be nothing more than a glorified valet who's got his hands on some clay & rotary tool expecting to charge 5 times the amount for a half days work.

Personally I wouldn't trust any of the so-called 'nano' products, and thus distrust anyone who promotes them. Have you also noticed how most of them claim to have a unique product that can't be compared with anything else on the market - no, not even those other nano-polymer-neverwashagain treatments you see BMW and every other manufacturer pushing.

BTW, Nanolex has a website - http://www.nanolex.de/html/start.html - although they can't seem to add up as they think 12,000 miles is equal to 15,000km, so don't know if I could trust them with any other inaccuracies

 

[klarky]

the bulk of that list you could do yourself (i personally would leave paint correction to the pros). even if you had to buy all the products / sundries it would be well under £275 and you would be able to detail the car many times over. i suppose it depends on if you have the free time, im a bit sad in that i find cleaning the car relaxing and love to see it shine. although i dont spend a great deal on it even £60 worth of autoglym products from halfords make the car come up a treat, my z is a daily drive so i can accept swirls, but a bit of polish/wax and effort hides most of them, unless your looking in direct sunlight and are 12" away from the car i can say ive very pleased with my handywork.

plenty of good forums to get advise on what to do all over the net, ive just started reading up on things at detailing world and now have a little list of products to try once my current stuff has been used.

 

[JayT]

mmm-five.. i found the guys website from DetailingWorld and saw some photos of his work and it looks good to me and seems to be well respected on the forum - def not a glorified valet. Its a mobile service but he also works from his home which i visited last weekend - seems quite professional. He's booked up for a couple of weeks (which is a good sign) plus he said he has only had 5 days off in the past couple of months (not sure if that was sales bullshit!). He also said it will take a day to do which sounds about right.

Re Nanolex - all i want is a good sealant that give a wet look shine (as thats the finish i like) plus something that makes it easier to maintain. Nanolex just happens to be the product he uses at the moment but he also use Zaino.

All in all its seems ok to me but as i said this is all new to me and didnt know if i was being ripped off as his website says £225-£275 for the detail and he quoted me £275 after seeing my zed.

klarky.. if i had the patience and time i'd prob pay a professional for a paint correction and then do all the rest (wash, seal, wax etc) myself. My aim is to get a detail done and then I plan to buy some good shampoo products and wash the car myself which i've been told will be easy due to the sealant.

 

[mmm-five]

That all sounds like you carried out as much research as you could

If there's plenty of positives on DetailingWorld, then you should be in good hands as a bad review on DW could ruin someone's business.