Does this sound like a good deal?

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I am thinking about getting my cars paint cleaned up and detailed, professionally. Here is the website....http://precisionautospa.com/. I emailed them and got a price for a wash/clay/sealant. I asked about what products they used and she said they use a soft car wash soap, pinnacle clay, then meguiars synthetic sealant. For that process it would be $110-120 for my car, the Accord in my sig. Does this seem like a good deal? Is there any chance of damaging the paint? They said the sealant will be machine applied, I dont want any more swirls of damage as a result of this. Just simply want the paint cleaned (Im guessing clay will do this) then I can keep it up from there.
 
Sounds cheap to me...id rather do it myself. You could always swing by and watch them work to get an idea how they do it and see if they are careful.
 
Originally Posted By: Rolla07
Sounds cheap to me...id rather do it myself. You could always swing by and watch them work to get an idea how they do it and see if they are careful.
They are a mobile detailing service.
 
Ahh. It sounds like a good price. They say 1.5-2hrs..that doesnt seem like a thorough job..i suppose you can try it out..if someone else has some feedback to give you about mobile detailing that could help. I have been tempted to get my car complete detailed inside and out..but i think it was 3-4 hundred. If you do have it done, let us know the results.
 
Your in FL. I've seen a lot of detailers on many of the forums i visit and they all do stuff in the $150 range out of their home and they are good. They have photos of their work before and after. Maybe that is another route to consider.

But $100-150 seems to be the norm for a "quick buff" which is what this is pretty much. It will make the paint better/smoother.
 
Originally Posted By: Tosh
If you like your car, then do it yourself. Why offer someone the chance to mess it up?


Of course I like my car, but Ive heard it takes about 5 hours to clay your car by yourself. And I dont have a machine to polish and what not, and I dont want to cause more swirls.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
Up north we do not talk much about "detailing" when its 20F out.

0 here
shocked2.gif
 
I would look for someone that will do all above + polish swirls
Its kinda waste to seal all the swirls
 
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: Tosh
If you like your car, then do it yourself. Why offer someone the chance to mess it up?


Of course I like my car, but Ive heard it takes about 5 hours to clay your car by yourself. And I dont have a machine to polish and what not, and I dont want to cause more swirls.

Just make sure they are licensed, insured and references are a good thing. I'm licensed, insured and bonded and it gives customers peace of mind for the "just in case" situations. I see many people that come in my shop with the mindset that they will "just do it themselves", and they end up doing more damage then good if they don't know what they are doing, don't have the right products, tools and equipment....and end up having to have it fixed by an auto detailer.
FYI, I have spend 5 hours claying a car before, but only once and it had a massive amount of overspray/fallout on it, claying usually, even for a weekend warrior, doesn't take anywhere near that long.
 
That price sounds about right for a wash/clay/seal. I would check the forums for a detailer in your area.

It should not take 5 hours to clay a Honda Accord, especially with the newest decontamination products available today.

For instance, yesterday, I worked on a friend's Civic that was fairly contaminated. I had the car washed, decontaminated and "clayed" in about an hour.

Here's how I did it: After washing, I soak up most of the water on the surface and apply Iron-X Paste. This removes a majority of the contamination within 5 minutes. Then I rinse the car, and spray down the car with ONR at QD strength. Lastly, I usea Nanoskin Med-Grade Wash mitt and the remaining contaminants are gone with 2-3 passes.

If you have a few cars in your family fleet, you may want to consider investing in some products and doing it yourself. Yes, claying will always induce some amount of marring (especially on softer paints), but if your paint is not already perfect -- it may be a mute point.
 
Originally Posted By: The Critic
Lastly, I usea Nanoskin Med-Grade Wash mitt and the remaining contaminants are gone with 2-3 passes.


I think I remember you mentioning that you also purchased the fine grade sponge. Do you think that's too mild?
 
As long as you're using a proper lube like Nanoskin Glide, ONR, etc there is no Autoscrub product that will have an adverse effect on your finish, that said, my guess is you'd want medium.
 
What? To those who take 5 hours, are they also claying the engine compartment and undercarriage? There's no way it would take over an hour to clay. You should be able to wash and clay your car in about 90 min. Figure another hour for applying/removing sealant (IF you use a quality sealant). Or, take your chances, and pay someone.
 
Originally Posted By: gregk24
Originally Posted By: Tosh
If you like your car, then do it yourself. Why offer someone the chance to mess it up?


Of course I like my car, but Ive heard it takes about 5 hours to clay your car by yourself. And I dont have a machine to polish and what not, and I dont want to cause more swirls.


You seriously need to do some research. Four Chevy Suburbans wouldn't take 5 hours to clay. Also they are not going to machine polish your car so why would you care if you own a machine or not?. Their machine will be used to apply the sealant. This is something you can do yourself for the cost of materials and a few microfiber towels.

If you simply don't want to mess with it that's cool but ask them what else they do for the money. Vacuum interior, tires & wheels, clean glass, wipe dash??????? Also the suggestion to confirm they are a legal, insured, registered business is a must. Keep in mind any swirls on the paint now, and possibly more, will still be there.
 
Kind of surprised you started this thread when a month ago you posted this:

Originally Posted By: gregk24
I was using Zaino for about a year and was somewhat happy with it. It goes on and wipes off pretty easy and left a pretty nice glossy shine behind. What always had me scratching my head was whenever it rained, the Zaino would only bead up on that initial rain shower. I would wash my car when the weather got nice and the water just didnt bead up like it should. I kept using Zaino until recently when I just got tired of the multiple coats and steps you put into it, so I went with Meguiars Gold Class paste wax, even after multiple rain showers the water still beads up and rolls off, and when I wash the car it beads up. The after multiple rain showers or washing's the Zaino always left a sheat of water, or the water just didnt bead up like it should. It has me questioning if the Zaino was still on there or not. I know its supposed to last longer but I just didnt find that to be the case, plus the Meguiars leaves a shine that lasts through multiple washes, the Zaino was shiny after application but after a week or two it was back to the regular finish. Any explanation for this?? I will say that from now on Ill probably just use Meguiars wax because of the shine and water beading ability.
 
Greg...you previously said "I wash and spray wax the Accord once a week on average..." and that's not enough?

Well, maybe it needs a good professional detail to get a good finish on it...maybe then you wouldn't have to wax every week...

Kitacam's 8 years have all been under the hot south Florida sun and a good spray waxing lasts 6 months in open air...so get a good finish on that Accord.
 
Originally Posted By: KitaCam
Greg...you previously said "I wash and spray wax the Accord once a week on average..." and that's not enough?

Well, maybe it needs a good professional detail to get a good finish on it...maybe then you wouldn't have to wax every week...

Kitacam's 8 years have all been under the hot south Florida sun and a good spray waxing lasts 6 months in open air...so get a good finish on that Accord.


I hate to break it to you -- but most clean paint will bead water just fine....even if they do not have any protection on them. The water beads will just be larger and less tight.

In fact, it can sometimes be quite difficult to confirm that there is still protection on the paint.
 
Originally Posted By: satinsilver
Kind of surprised you started this thread when a month ago you posted this:

Originally Posted By: gregk24
I was using Zaino for about a year and was somewhat happy with it. It goes on and wipes off pretty easy and left a pretty nice glossy shine behind. What always had me scratching my head was whenever it rained, the Zaino would only bead up on that initial rain shower. I would wash my car when the weather got nice and the water just didnt bead up like it should. I kept using Zaino until recently when I just got tired of the multiple coats and steps you put into it, so I went with Meguiars Gold Class paste wax, even after multiple rain showers the water still beads up and rolls off, and when I wash the car it beads up. The after multiple rain showers or washing's the Zaino always left a sheat of water, or the water just didnt bead up like it should. It has me questioning if the Zaino was still on there or not. I know its supposed to last longer but I just didnt find that to be the case, plus the Meguiars leaves a shine that lasts through multiple washes, the Zaino was shiny after application but after a week or two it was back to the regular finish. Any explanation for this?? I will say that from now on Ill probably just use Meguiars wax because of the shine and water beading ability.


Why are you surprised? It needs to be cleaned and I would love to have the swirls removed...and thats just not something I want to tackle. I can easily, however, handle washing and waxing by myself.
 
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