c4sman
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- 1,264
I have just washed my GTS a week after it had a professional detail (machine polish, interior detail/protection and paint sealant) and wanted to share my thoughts / experience.
Initial results - Absolutely stunning! The car is 200% better than the day I picked it up from the main dealer with 10k miles on the clock, and probably 100% better than the day the first owner picked it up from the dealership. I have purchased a couple of new cars (one of them a Porsche) and I can say that the post detail of my car looked better than anything I have seen in most showrooms of premium brands in terms of paint finish. Virtually all swirls and scratches were removed, leaving a mirror like "wet" look that actually left the colour (dark blue) so vibrant that I detected new hints of pearlescent greens coming through in the sunlight. Stunning.
The first wash - I have always had my doubts about the ability to maintain a swirl free finish after a pro detail. I followed a fairly simple wash sequence as advised by the detailer that didn't take long but resulted in no noticeable swirls or scratches (the car was quite dirty having covered approx 300 miles in mixed weather). My detail included a popular semi permanent paint sealant protection which makes the car easy to wash, and I am sure this helped. The car was returned to the glossy vibrant finish I had seen when picking it up from the detailer, so very happy (apart from the second downside below).
The downsides No.1 - One thing to be aware of. If the car has any bad stone chips down to the white undercoat the luster of the paint surrounding it does draw your eye to them up even more. On balance, it is not a big problem as the majority of the car is chip free and looks great.
Bigger downside No.2 - Animal Attack!! Unfortunately whilst my car was dirty and parked in an open garage overnight away from home, a cat took a shine to it (no pun intended). Unfortunately, as the car was dusty, but still slippery from for glossy finish below, the cat must have been slip sliding up the bonnet before gaining enough traction to get to the roof to go to sleep This meant paw scratches and swirls up the bonnet and on the roof. Normally, they may have blended in but now they stick out like a sore thumb. So the dilemma becomes, do I get the damage machine polished and re-protected now, or wait until more damage and scratches appear and get the car re-done? The overall issue being, as the paint is so nice, where do you draw the line? I guess this is the dilemma faced by anyone with an immaculate new car when it gets its first scratch.
Anyway, thought you might be interested in my experience! Also interested in you views.
My view overall so far is that the detail was definitely worth it at this stage.
Initial results - Absolutely stunning! The car is 200% better than the day I picked it up from the main dealer with 10k miles on the clock, and probably 100% better than the day the first owner picked it up from the dealership. I have purchased a couple of new cars (one of them a Porsche) and I can say that the post detail of my car looked better than anything I have seen in most showrooms of premium brands in terms of paint finish. Virtually all swirls and scratches were removed, leaving a mirror like "wet" look that actually left the colour (dark blue) so vibrant that I detected new hints of pearlescent greens coming through in the sunlight. Stunning.
The first wash - I have always had my doubts about the ability to maintain a swirl free finish after a pro detail. I followed a fairly simple wash sequence as advised by the detailer that didn't take long but resulted in no noticeable swirls or scratches (the car was quite dirty having covered approx 300 miles in mixed weather). My detail included a popular semi permanent paint sealant protection which makes the car easy to wash, and I am sure this helped. The car was returned to the glossy vibrant finish I had seen when picking it up from the detailer, so very happy (apart from the second downside below).
The downsides No.1 - One thing to be aware of. If the car has any bad stone chips down to the white undercoat the luster of the paint surrounding it does draw your eye to them up even more. On balance, it is not a big problem as the majority of the car is chip free and looks great.
Bigger downside No.2 - Animal Attack!! Unfortunately whilst my car was dirty and parked in an open garage overnight away from home, a cat took a shine to it (no pun intended). Unfortunately, as the car was dusty, but still slippery from for glossy finish below, the cat must have been slip sliding up the bonnet before gaining enough traction to get to the roof to go to sleep This meant paw scratches and swirls up the bonnet and on the roof. Normally, they may have blended in but now they stick out like a sore thumb. So the dilemma becomes, do I get the damage machine polished and re-protected now, or wait until more damage and scratches appear and get the car re-done? The overall issue being, as the paint is so nice, where do you draw the line? I guess this is the dilemma faced by anyone with an immaculate new car when it gets its first scratch.
Anyway, thought you might be interested in my experience! Also interested in you views.
My view overall so far is that the detail was definitely worth it at this stage.