Posted in General section as this is for everyone:

Time constraints!

Have most of the gear (and a bit of an idea). Through a lack of time, thinking about resorting to a professional detailer for the RR. Seems that for a highly recommended detailer to do a proper job (two stage machine polish >) it will be between £350 and £800, depending on the package.

1. Is it worth it?

2. Do these ceramic/ sealant coatings really protect the car/ make it easy to keep on top of for 1 to 3 years (would be nice if they did)?

Also thinking what RR bits and pieces could be bought for this sort of money.

All thoughts welcome.

Thanks.

No.1- No, have all the tools and know how and plenty of time (retired).

No.2-Yes, especially for the wheels, brake dust just washes off.


.

The wax / sealant will only last as long as a given number of washes and use will allow. There are no guarantees.

I use a hybrid wax with Quartz on a few of my cars and am a huge fan of these coatings. They're far more resilient than conventional wax and resist wear and tear to a much higher degree, but their life is finite.

On my SC, for instance, pretty much in daily use, the sealant wax lasts no longer than a year in reality. OK, so a £800 job MAY be better, but yours is a dark colour and you know how sensitive that is.

My E55 s black and also has the same coating, but as that's in storage and sparingly used, the time between re-applications is longer. Who knew, eh?..

What to do? If your time is tight, then get it done by a reputable professional. Establish EXACTLY what you're getting for your money in terms of time, thoroughness, materials used, etc.

And unless you've a nice workshop at you disposal, there's no way you'd be able to do it yourself right now outside. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

Thanks Nini/ Si, these are two sample options -

Premium Enhancement Detail:

Two Stage Machine Polish:

A Two-Stage machine polish for a more thorough removal of swirls, light scratches and a better optical finish, getting the paintwork as good as new.
(Removes around 85% of surface defects)

This option includes:

*Citrus Pre-Wash
*Snow Foam
*Full Safe Wash
*Wheels Deep Cleaned
*Paintwork De-Tarred
*Paintwork Metal contaminants Removed
*Paintwork Clay Barred
*Two Stage Machine Polish removing swirls and massively increasing gloss to paintwork
*Si02 Paint Primer applied by Machine Polisher
*2 Coats of Durable Paint Sealant (Up to 12 months protection)
*Trims Dressed
*Wheels Nano Sealant applied
*Glass Front / Rear Nano Sealant applied
*Exhaust Cleaned and Nano Sealant applied

Price: £330 (4x4 i.e. Range Rover)
Approx Completion Time: 1-2 days

Finish Upgrades:
-Interior Detail
This option Includes:
*Interior Hoover
*Dashboard / Trims / Glass cleaned
*Leather / Fabric seats cleaned / conditioned
*Leather / Fabric Seats GTechniq Protection applied - £30

-Ceramic Coating Upgrade
Gold £200
Silver £150
Bronze £100

(or)

Ultra Enhancement Detail:

Multi Stage Correction Machine Polish with ultra durable Ceramic Coating Finish:

A Multi-Stage machine polish for a better than new experience.

This option includes:

*Citrus Pre-Wash
*Snow Foam
*Full Safe Wash
*Wheels Deep Cleaned
*Paintwork De-Tarred
*Paintwork Metal contaminants Removed
*Paintwork Clay Barred
*Multi Stage Machine Polish removing swirls and massively increasing gloss to paintwork
*GTechniq Crystal Serum Light + EXOv3 Ceramic Coating (approx 3 Years protection) applied
*Trims Dressed
*Wheel outers Ceramic Coated
*Glass Front / Rear Nano Sealant applied
*Exhaust Cleaned and Ceramic coating applied
*Engine Bay tidy up with dressings to plastics and rubber to finish

Price: £770 (4x4 i.e. Range Rover)
Approx Completion Time: 2-4 days

Finish Upgrades:
-Interior Detail
This option Includes:
*Interior Hoover
*Dashboard / Trims / Glass cleaned
*Leather / Fabric seats cleaned / conditioned
*Leather / Fabric Seats GTechniq Protection applied - £30

For the first option, what’s the difference between Gold, Silver and Bronze? By the time you upgrade, you may as well go with the second option.

But, on a car used daily, I’d give you a year maximum before it would need looking at again. Si. <This is my name.

I eat rat poison.

A man ain't truly been insulted until he stands buck naked in front of a woman and she didn't even notice. Or care.

There are plenty of videos on YouTube to check out for the different types of detailing and it’s obviously down to personal choice then.

I went down the Ceramic Coating route with my SVR Sport and had the 3 year protection. Added to that every month or so I had a detailer come to “wash” the car for me at home.... he uses premium equipment and it looked brand new everytime.

The Ceramic Coating took 3 days. On top of that if my car ever went near a Dealership I insisted they did not wash the car as the dealership can scratch your car quite badly...... on handover when new there was a scratch across the bonnet which was caused by them

Whatever you pick it’s worth having something rather than nothing as it is your pride and joy, and to be honest I never had as many comments about any of my cars that I had with the SVR.

It’s also worth researching for a good detailer in and around your area and then go and see his work, see how he operates and no doubt they’ll have different treatments going on at the same time, it is amazing to see exactly what they do

Bellini wrote:

For the first option, what’s the difference between Gold, Silver and Bronze?

About 100 quid Si

Other than that, no clue yet

I always take mine to James at Ti22 - lovely bloke. http://www.ti22.co.uk/ Costs about the same as a service but only needs doing every couple of years (depending how frequently/aggressively you wash). If you think its a good idea to maintain the mechanicals then its not much of a leap to do the same for the bodywork. Looks so much better too. Mike - MPx

2017 5.0 V8 Supercharged SVAutobigraphy Dynamic SVO Palette Grey (2021-...)
2012 5.0 V8 Supercharged Autoboigraphy Orkney Grey (2017-2021)
2007 4.2 V8 Supercharged Vogue SE Tonga Green (2012-2017)
2002 4.4 V8 Vogue Bonnatti Grey (2008-2012)

Hi MPx,

That’s exactly where I get all my cars done as well. He’s very very very good.

I was in the same boat as yourself, contemplating doing it myself but If it takes a professional Detailer 3/4 days to do it to the same standard as them it would have took me at least 5 days and I don't have one free never mind 5!! I left my car into my local Detailer on Monday, it's a 2013 black ffrr and he had it 4 days and the results where unbelievable, looks like a new car, I went with the Gtechniq ceramic coating with a 5year protection but the guy himself says it usually lasts 2-3 years, in my opinion it was worth every penny!!

Is it worth it - only you can decide that

Your car will certainly look better than it did when it was new - and it will be easier to wash that it was before - but that will diminish over time - saying it will last for 5 years seems a bit optimistic IMHO.

I had mine last done in November - it looked awesome, - but hasn't been washed since - mainly as I've been in a ski resort so didn't see the point - I had mine done mostly for the protection and that it will hopefully come up nice in the spring.

I'm looking around at detailing at the moment as well for my new to me L322 S/C.

Much as I try to take very good care of my cars, I'm thinking this one might be worth a professional spending some time on it, to ensure it is looked after and any minor marks removed.

When I can be bothered, I consider myself an above average car washer - I use clay bars and use decent stuff (Swissvax etc) - but a pro detail was way way in excess of anything I would ever achieve......

Yes, it would definitely be the same with me!

Most of the services I've found seem to be mobile, which I'm slightly dubious about doing in the Winter weather, so if I can't find a local workshop type place, might wait until the Summer.

Or is mobile detailing the norm?

For me it's little and often and I'd rather keep mine cleaner for most of the time.

Yes it would sparkle after £400 worth of detailing. I love watching the detailer vids on YouTube and those guys do a great job. But that £400 would be gone over the following week no? Cleaning the inside of wheels for example? How long would that last? Esp. in winter?

I never let mine get too dirty and I do two quick cleans a week myself with a rinse and a spray wax then a proper wax every three weeks. Tyres dressed, wheels, interior just done once a week.

The engine bay got a clean recently; only quick 20mins with a detailing brush and a dressing product. Spare wheel bay got a going over before christmas; dressed the spare, waxed the wheel and vacuumed out all the dust that seems to end up down there around all the cables and nooks.

Mine's not perfect by any means, it's go stone chips plus cars get dinged etc that's life but I like to keep the overall impression good most of the time by keeping on top of it. I'm pretty time-poor and I squeeze in little bits around life and it looks nice most of the time.

I can put that money towards maintenance. Like my heated seat which seems to have died a few days ago.
. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

Last edited by GGDR on 23rd Feb 2018 11:44pm. Edited 3 times in total