Maserati Detail & Recommendation (with lots of pics!!)

[BenzedUP]

Looking new, nice one.

That swissvax is very nice, I managed to grab one on ebay, brand new an 'Entry collection' bag for £80 inc Swissvax Onyx Wax 200 ml.

The kit costs over £150 apparently, i've yet to use it though.

I enjoy doing the work my self on my car, but it is hard work and time consuming.

 

[Palmball]

Thanks for the (mostly) positive comments chaps

Even if you said £75, that's still an excellent wage for cleaning a car.

Erm....NO. You can't get this result in just a couple of hours...it's a long process to ensure you remove the swirls slowly and carefully without removing too much paint (or burning it)

He worked on this for 9 hours and I can tell you, for the £8 an hour (less material costs, insurance, travel etc etc) that a £75 charge would equate to, I certainly wouldn't do this!

£275 is more than reasonable. Say he used £20's worth of materials, his insurance was £10 pro-rata'd and his travel cost was £20, this is £26 an hour. Obviously he won't get work every single day so lets assume £26 an hour, 8 hours a day for 4 days a week....that's less than £40k a year. I don't know how he survives

It's just that to me, it's cleaning a car.

You could say that about a lot of job in a lot of industries....doesn't stop you paying them though.

Ps, I still think your mad to drop the Turbo for that boat!

BOAT?? You cheeky sod! I've just had the suspension changed on it (what a surprise huh!) for the same set up as fitted to the MC Stradale version (the lot...springs, dampers, sway bars, bushes, geo....everything). Have you read the reviews on that car?? Boat in-bloody-deed!!

Anyway, compared to the rattly old Beetle, the Maserati....

Looks better
Sounds better
Has a nicer image
Attracts much more positive feedback
Is better built (no rattles in the Italian...Pork was full of them!)
Has a nicer ambiance to sit in
Is more refined
Is a much more comfortable car

And despite the above still.....

Provides 80% of the performance and handling of the Porsche and is still quicker than 95% of cars on the road.

Indeed, after having the performance of the Turbo and enjoying it whilst I had it, I just don't feel I need that....if I did, I'd just go and buy another one but I don't think I'd go back to a 997 after this for anything. The only cars I've had and miss, for totally different reasons, are the BMW M3 and my C63.

 

[Deleted member 37751]

The £75 I referred to was material costs and NOT labour costs. So £200 to clean a car isn't bad money.

I also go on to say good luck to them, charging what they do, there is obviously a market for it.

My post wasn't meant to come across as you seemed to have taken it. I just never realised there was so much money in cleaning cars and was showing my surprise at the fees charged.

 

[A210AMG]

That looks great, I'm on the detailing world forum and although I like to keep our cars clean it's OCD clean for some of them.....

Saying that since on there I've bought a snow foam lance for my karcher and various other small bits. Currently looking at a orbital polisher and pads which will get results as yours with practice.

It's a whole new world of car detailing


I bet your car is shown on the detailing world forum.

As you say it's the knowledge and skill added to the 9 hr day that makes up the cost. Pretty satisfying job to see the results and get paid though

 

[smillion]

Very impressed and very good value. Just one question, and forgive my ignorance, but does tha paint actually get corrected or will the wax get washed off over time, needing it to be done again from time to time. I use the Autoglym black on my Maserati QP and it makes the car look amazing - however if I wash the car, after around the third wash any swirls in the paint re-appear.

i am very impressed by the results you have here - you must be very relieved as the before shots are shocking for a car so carefully maintained.

My neighbour has a 6 year old Peugeot and it has never been washed, and i mean never. He has just had a regular valet and it looks extraordinary - and i put it down to the fact that its not been polished and over-cared for - which is where I think some supercars suffer - polished by all manner of rags and fluids to within an inch of their life -

Just my 2p

Marc​

 

[Palmball]

Very impressed and very good value. Just one question, and forgive my ignorance, but does tha paint actually get corrected or will the wax get washed off over time, needing it to be done again from time to time. I use the Autoglym black on my Maserati QP and it makes the car look amazing - however if I wash the car, after around the third wash any swirls in the paint re-appear.
​

Autoglym black is a wax with fillers so in effect, it masks the swirls and scratches by 'filling' them in. This is likely what was applied to my car when I bought it as I could not see any scratches or swirls until after I washed it for the first time.

What happens with paint correction is that an abrasive compound used with polishing pads of varying aggressiveness is used which removes a very thin layer of top coat lacquer - as long as the swirls are not deep, the removal of this top coat also removes the swirls in it and leaves the pristine, smooth lacquer underneath.

What this means is that you can't repeat this process infinitely as eventually you'll have no top coat left but despite how bad it initially looked, my detailer used an extremely fine compound that wasn't particularly abrasive and as such the amount of paint removed was minimal.

So, this result will not wash off but of course the danger is adding more swirls with careless washing technique. The paint on Italian cars appears to be extremely soft and easy to mark so i'll have to be super careful when washing it.

 

[Superspec]

Very impressed and very good value. Just one question, and forgive my ignorance, but does tha paint actually get corrected or will the wax get washed off over time, needing it to be done again from time to time. I use the Autoglym black on my Maserati QP and it makes the car look amazing - however if I wash the car, after around the third wash any swirls in the paint re-appear.

i am very impressed by the results you have here - you must be very relieved as the before shots are shocking for a car so carefully maintained.

My neighbour has a 6 year old Peugeot and it has never been washed, and i mean never. He has just had a regular valet and it looks extraordinary - and i put it down to the fact that its not been polished and over-cared for - which is where I think some supercars suffer - polished by all manner of rags and fluids to within an inch of their life -

Just my 2p

Marc​

This is fully corrected, there will be no filler in that polish!! It wouldn't look that good if it did have.

A wax really should last more than 3 washes (Unless you only wash the car once a month!!)

I suspect the swirling you find is due to poor wash technique. You have to be soooo careful when you're washing the car.

The important things are:

To rinse the car really well under pressure ideally before you even touch it. The objective is to remove as much loose dirt/dust as possible so you don't drag it across the paint (this is what causes the problems.)

Wash the car with a wash mitt rather than a sponge - sponges are evil!! Wash mitts sort of suck up the dirt removing it from the surface of the paint as they clean. Sponges trap the dirt between it and the paint and then drag the dirt across the paint causing swirls.

Use 2 buckets when you wash - one with a good quality shampoo that feels really slippery when you use it - it lubricates the surface making scratching it more difficult. The other bucket should have clean water in. The idea is to put the mitt in the wash bucket, wash the panel, rinse the dirty mitt in the rinse bucket, then repeat the process. You should end up with a bucket full of dirty water and a half empty bucket of clean soapy water.

Don't use you wash mitt to wash your wheels. Use a different one or soft brushes.

Rinse the car really well after you have washed and be careful rinsing wheels = you don't want to bounce dirt from the floor onto the panels after you've washed them!

Don't use chamois leathers to dry. Use microfibre drying towels, they work quicker and are very soft.

It takes me about 40 mins to wash my car and I include a snowfoam stage and extra rinse, APC cleaning or door shuts, panel gaps, windows edges and badges as well.

I detail my car every 2 months or so and only have to use a finishing polish because I have no swirls and as such just want to deepen the reflections and gloss.

 

[billywhiz]

What a great result - Nice car indeed.

 

[mikec32]

God I'm glad that thread got closed, that was pathetic.

 

[pagzzy]

great post ... loving the final result ... what would be your maintenance on the body work and how often would you go back to the pros ....

 

[merc_w202]

Mint looking ride!

The final effects just goes to show the difference between an enthusiast owning a car and a complete dipstick owning a car...