A Hardore Paint Correction Session-Audi R8-Lots of product tips and methods.

[timwood2000]

The results are truly amazing!

I am very tempted to have mine done but the only thing putting me off is that the next time I take it to the local hand car wash - won't all the swirls be put straight back in?

 

[dulayj]

Great result-thanks for this detailed! write up

 

[mikec32]

The results are truly amazing!

I am very tempted to have mine done but the only thing putting me off is that the next time I take it to the local hand car wash - won't all the swirls be put straight back in?

Hello

Quite frankly yes. Lol! What I tend to do is once a customers car is completed, I show them how to wash the car properly and keep it looking good. I then show them what to buy or supply them with a cleaning kit. Or the other alternative is have me maintain the car on a weekly or monthly basis.

But yes the will destroy a weeks work in 10minutes unfortunately.

Kind regards

Michael

 

[BenzedUP]

Very nice work, top quality, well done!

 

[mikec32]

Very nice work, top quality, well done!

Thank you! You must live near me, as I swear I have seen your 55 down my road before. I live down blagrove lane in wokingham.

 

[BenzedUP]

Thank you! You must live near me, as I swear I have seen your 55 down my road before. I live down blagrove lane in wokingham.

Yes, I sometimes go past you to get to Reading, I live about 6.5miles from you, so not far at all.

Perhaps one day you could give my car a good detail

 

[BoyracerAU]

Well done! That is a superb job indeed.

Speaking for myself, I've already gone over to the dark side. I wash and detail all my own cars. I must confess I don't enjoy the work. It's hard yakka! But I love the results, so I'm hooked.

I even tell the dealership/mechanics NOT to wash them. I drop my cars off squeaky clean so they get a measure of how things are and I tell them specifically not to wash it and that it's perfectly okay if they leave a smudge of grease or whatever on the car. I'd rather get it off gently and properly than let an apprentice have a go at it with a dirty old sponge and degreaser.

 

[timskemp]

Hello

Quite frankly yes. Lol! What I tend to do is once a customers car is completed, I show them how to wash the car properly and keep it looking good. I then show them what to buy or supply them with a cleaning kit. Or the other alternative is have me maintain the car on a weekly or monthly basis.

But yes the will destroy a weeks work in 10minutes unfortunately.

Kind regards

Michael

Everyone I know who can (a) afford a 3 or 4 figure extreme car wash and (b) can run an R8/Bentley other 100k+ car doesn't wash their own car (or fleet of cars) - their driver or their car cleaning person does that (I try and make my visits coincide and mine gets done as well!)

 

[mikec32]

Everyone I know who can (a) afford a 3 or 4 figure extreme car wash and (b) can run an R8/Bentley other 100k+ car doesn't wash their own car (or fleet of cars) - their driver or their car cleaning person does that (I try and make my visits coincide and mine gets done as well!)

Ah that's excellent, if they have professional detailers who wash a car appropriately then your good to go!

 

[Adam230K]

Looks like you did a great job here. I'd personally never pay for my car to be detailed, but I rarely wash my cars anyway - I like em dirty. Gives them that 'sleeper' look lol

 

[colls123]

What a quality job, how can somebody let a car get like that anyway !

Great work, i will have to get you to clean mine at some point, give it a few months, and i will e-mail you.

Do you have a website of your own ?

 

[mikec32]

What a quality job, how can somebody let a car get like that anyway !

Great work, i will have to get you to clean mine at some point, give it a few months, and i will e-mail you.

Do you have a website of your own ?

Thank you for your kind words. No advertisment is allowed, I do apoligise.

Kind regards

Michael

 

[rigel]

I'm am both stunned and amazed in equal measure.

I do know that if the paintwork on my car looked that good, I would be genuinely scared to ever take it out.

I thought I was doing well using two buckets.

Regards. R.

 

[Dieselman]

I thought I was doing well using two buckets.[/SIZE]

I too use the two bucket method.
one for the Wife to do the bodywork and one for her to do the wheels...

 

[Howard]

Me too ...

One bucket for the ice and the beers , one for the sponge .

 

[Superspec]

Stunning mate, I love R8's

 

[Superspec]

How much does all that cost?

I keep seeing these detailing posts and no one ever seems to say what this kind of thing costs.

There's a weeks work there, so it must be the best part of £1000. In which case, would it not cost the same to be taken to a paintshop and be wet sanded or repolished?

Not a critism, genuine questions - I don't really "get" this detailling thing to be honest and I'm just curious if you'd get the same result by simply taking it to a bodyshop.

You can expect to pay £200+vat upwards per day depending on who you use. Average cost would be circa £300+vat per day. I know of one detailer who charges £75+vat per hour and is rammed with work. New car protections would generally be one day, an enhancement detail will be one or two days and full corrections take 3+ days to do.

If a body shop did the same work, which in theory they could do, the cost would be the same since the cost is driven by the time it takes and the cost of materials, which will be the same.

Wet sanding can be done by a detailer, in fact it is probably more often done by a detailer than a body shop. Detailers tend to fix the problems body shops can create (not every body shop I must say!) Wet sanding will cost £3k upwards I would say. It's not something that should be undertaken lightly since it can remove a lot of clear coat but will leave a perfectly flat finish when done properly. You have to look after it though!

 

[Spinal]

You can expect to pay £200+vat upwards per day depending on who you use. Average cost would be circa £300+vat per day. I know of one detailer who charges £75+vat per hour and is rammed with work. New car protections would generally be one day, an enhancement detail will be one or two days and full corrections take 3+ days to do.

If a body shop did the same work, which in theory they could do, the cost would be the same since the cost is driven by the time it takes and the cost of materials, which will be the same.

Wet sanding can be done by a detailer, in fact it is probably more often done by a detailer than a body shop. Detailers tend to fix the problems body shops can create (not every body shop I must say!) Wet sanding will cost £3k upwards I would say. It's not something that should be undertaken lightly since it can remove a lot of clear coat but will leave a perfectly flat finish when done properly. You have to look after it though!

Had a friend drive her ford to Poland a few years ago... she left it at the ford dealer, and one week later, at the end of her holiday, she got handed back a fully resprayed car for £400-something.

The finish was quite impressive, no orange peel, no marks, a well done job. So much so that I've been tempted to have a holiday in Poland just to get the probe resprayed... would be cheaper than a 3-day detail/paint correction!

M.

 

[Superspec]

Had a friend drive her ford to Poland a few years ago... she left it at the ford dealer, and one week later, at the end of her holiday, she got handed back a fully resprayed car for £400-something.

The finish was quite impressive, no orange peel, no marks, a well done job. So much so that I've been tempted to have a holiday in Poland just to get the probe resprayed... would be cheaper than a 3-day detail/paint correction!

M.

Yeah I'd heard that about Poland. They do a lot of restoration for about half the cost in the UK. Downside is you have to get the car over there and back. If you were doing a full restoration on something it's probably worth doing. I saw a program on TV with a chap who wanted an old SD1 restored. It was about £3k cheaper in Poland then in the UK.

In terms of resprays in the UK - I just paid £250+vat for a wing and bonnet respray on a Silver Corsa D which I had to wet sand to get it as good as the rest of the car. There was technically nothing wrong with the job the paint shop had done, colour match was spot on and finish was what you would expect these days, it just wasn't as good as the rest of the car....

 

[crockers]

Had a friend drive her ford to Poland a few years ago... she left it at the ford dealer, and one week later, at the end of her holiday, she got handed back a fully resprayed car for £400-something.

The finish was quite impressive, no orange peel, no marks, a well done job. So much so that I've been tempted to have a holiday in Poland just to get the probe resprayed... would be cheaper than a 3-day detail/paint correction!

M.

I think our local "hand wash" firm were trained over there too ...