Do you have your car detailed???

[vdubmotorworx]

Hi Guys and girls.

Just out of interest and research who pays to have there car detailed? How much do you spend? Do they come to you? What do you have done? And how oftern?
Cheers

[dylan8]

Use to have mine done yearly.
Would take it to him (less dusty then my place)
Can't recall what I paid, maybe 200 for a basic cut and polish.

Then started doing it myself, could do everything other then a machine cut.

Have been a bit lazy the past few years, has only had one or two washes/details where it seen more then wash and wax. One by me, other by a mate of mine.

Will hopefully be buying more tools in the next month, and should have space to garage it again so the paint should get some more love

[csd1uk]

I get every car that I buy fully detailed (depending on how bad the paint is - requiring wet sanding on the R32 I had) to a certain degree. I have spent up to 1600, and take the car in to the same guy every time (Tigersoft) here in Melbourne.

Once I have had the major detail done along with the Final Inspection Full Metal Jacket I then only get it done if I sell it. Washed corrected the detail will last for a decent length of time.

[gldgti]

I have paid for detailing once but it doesnt seem worth it to me - it actually made me feel lazy and out of pocket. Since I love washing my car and making it look sexy...now I spend a weekend a year on each of my cars doing a major detail, and just keep them tidy inbetween.

[RedMk2Gti]

I haven't paid for any detailing job, however I found detailing whole car myself is a very tiring job, I felt sick about it after did twice.
May be next time I'll consider pay for a good shop.

[asr_933]

If you pay for detailing and it doesn't seem worth it then you haven't had your car detailed by a true professional. There are many people that claim to be detailers but are in fact just cleaners. There's a big difference.

Car detailing is painfully intricate and I would say is a type of OCD.

Paying $200 for a cut and polish is just that. Paint Correction is the correct terminology and will cost a lot more, as it should, as a single stage paint correction should take at least a whole day to complete. A cut and polish to me is someone hacking at your car using products with fillers that hide the imperfections not removing them, only to have them reappear after you've washed it a couple times. No offense for using the term 'cut and polish' dylan8, more aimed at businesses using that term.

Sorry for the rant. I'm a professional car detailer who is annoyed by all the guys doing cheap shody work which destroys a car detailers reputation.

If you have the time, patients and know how, by all means do it yourself. If not, detailing is a great way to have an awesome looking car when you have no time or lack the knowledge and products to do it yourself.

Thanks.

[Sunny43.5]

Word of caution with some of these wonderous detailing jobs , some years ago I was doing subcontract work for a company that use to do this clay cleaning and polishing or whatever it is . The guys took most of the day to do VW Transporter and it looked good . A couple of years later I decided to give the van a home done wax job and the damn van turned white !!! . I had to wipe wash the whole van with GP thinners to remove the wax as for some reason it reacted against the clay job , lesson learned .

[Wartai]

Thats strange, clay bars is used to remove contaminants thats on the paint. It doesnt leave behind any film or traces of clay.
Every panelbeater/spraypainter and detailers I know uses is on just about every car they work on,.
I think the reaction you got was from some other product that was used on your car.