dealer prep

[monkeyhanger]

I have to admit I am a virgin when it comes to proper detailing and could do with a second view.

This guy is near where my dealer is, can anyone give me an honest view on his detailing options and let me know if a protection or enhancement would be a good investment.. And if so do I just tell the dealer to power wash only..

http://www.detailingandvaleting.com/detailing_services.html

Or am I being too paranoid ?   Might pop into showroom tomorrow and ask if I can see a car that is prepped for customer delivery?

Some people will lose sleep over the moost minor imperfections that you will only see on an overcast day when it's not quite sunset and a full moon is in the sky etc  There was someone on Scirocconet that was obsessed with swirls/cobwebs etc he was forever machine polishing his car and actually wore away the lacquer layer of his pearl black Scirocco over 2 years.

Pick a decent product that is easy to apply and you can do it yourself, even as a novice. That's why I picked the G-Techniq C2V3 for my dad's car (and mine, when it arrives).

For

[CraigW]

This is my plan for when the new car arrives and I'd be interested in people's thoughts.

First of all I have spoken to the dealer and asked them not to hand wash the car so they are going to jet wash it and leave it at that. My understanding is that there will be some residue left on the car just through all the protective sheets that were on it.

When I get it home my plan/thoughts are

1) Hose car down initially
2) Hand wash using the two bucket method with lambswool mit and Meguiars gold class shampoo
3) Hand dry using microfibre cloths
4) Iron-X the entire car to remove any iron particles and any possible left over residue
5) Re-wash car
6) Use Gtechniq C2V3 to seal the entire car and the wheels
7) Still debating this stage - possibly wax car with Dodo Juice Diamond White but not sure if this is necessary

My only plan for the inside of the car at the moment is Gtechniq smart fabric on the cloth seats

Does this look okay or is there a fatal flaw in the plan? I'm not particularly keen on claying the car as I've never done it before and wouldn't want to make a mess of it. I'm hoping the Iron X will be enough. I could also use snow foam but what are benefits of this compared to hand washing or is it just another stage?

Thanks

Craig 

Craig

I would snow foam first and allow to dwell. This will help shift any heavier dirt/residue

Iron x will be key especially on white as there's likel to be fallout on the car. I would do this after rinsing off the snow foam then wash using the 2BM (remember separate bucket full for the alloys and tyres!)

If you are asking the dealer not to prep your may find wax residue and also marks on the paint/glue residue from the edges of the protective film.

Gtechniq C2 is a great sealant so that's a good choice (I'd take the wheels off and do both sides but that's my OCD!)

I wouldn't wax as this doesn't IMO add to the finish and wax is more dirt attractive than sealant alone.

Just top up after each wash with a spray of gtechniq s quick detailer to keep it 

Thanks Buck! I'm now going to go down the snow foam route. I've ordered pro valet snow foam as I've heard it's pretty good so going to give that a go 

[drisser]

I have to admit I am a virgin when it comes to proper detailing and could do with a second view.

This guy is near where my dealer is, can anyone give me an honest view on his detailing options and let me know if a protection or enhancement would be a good investment.. And if so do I just tell the dealer to power wash only..

http://www.detailingandvaleting.com/detailing_services.html

Or am I being too paranoid ?   Might pop into showroom tomorrow and ask if I can see a car that is prepped for customer delivery?

Some people will lose sleep over the moost minor imperfections that you will only see on an overcast day when it's not quite sunset and a full moon is in the sky etc  There was someone on Scirocconet that was obsessed with swirls/cobwebs etc he was forever machine polishing his car and actually wore away the lacquer layer of his pearl black Scirocco over 2 years.

Pick a decent product that is easy to apply and you can do it yourself, even as a novice. That's why I picked the G-Techniq C2V3 for my dad's car (and mine, when it arrives).

For

I did wonder whether just a decent hand polish with a good product would be enough.. I am also not a fan of spending £200 straight after picking up a new car.. So wondered if all this is necessary..

Will that polish give some stone chip protection or need to buy something more specific for that ?

[monkeyhanger]

I have to admit I am a virgin when it comes to proper detailing and could do with a second view.

This guy is near where my dealer is, can anyone give me an honest view on his detailing options and let me know if a protection or enhancement would be a good investment.. And if so do I just tell the dealer to power wash only..

http://www.detailingandvaleting.com/detailing_services.html

Or am I being too paranoid ?   Might pop into showroom tomorrow and ask if I can see a car that is prepped for customer delivery?

Some people will lose sleep over the moost minor imperfections that you will only see on an overcast day when it's not quite sunset and a full moon is in the sky etc  There was someone on Scirocconet that was obsessed with swirls/cobwebs etc he was forever machine polishing his car and actually wore away the lacquer layer of his pearl black Scirocco over 2 years.

Pick a decent product that is easy to apply and you can do it yourself, even as a novice. That's why I picked the G-Techniq C2V3 for my dad's car (and mine, when it arrives).

For

I did wonder whether just a decent hand polish with a good product would be enough.. I am also not a fan of spending £200 straight after picking up a new car.. So wondered if all this is necessary..

Will that polish give some stone chip protection or need to buy something more specific for that ?

Stone chip protection will require a clear wrap on the front end or a Star Wars ISD shield generator (VW say you can only order that in conjunction with hyderdrive reverse power coupling for an extra £450). 

No 35 micron (or thereabouts) product coating (sealant/wax) is going to protect against stone chips unfortunately.

[CraigW]

I have to admit I am a virgin when it comes to proper detailing and could do with a second view.

This guy is near where my dealer is, can anyone give me an honest view on his detailing options and let me know if a protection or enhancement would be a good investment.. And if so do I just tell the dealer to power wash only..

http://www.detailingandvaleting.com/detailing_services.html

Or am I being too paranoid ?   Might pop into showroom tomorrow and ask if I can see a car that is prepped for customer delivery?

Some people will lose sleep over the moost minor imperfections that you will only see on an overcast day when it's not quite sunset and a full moon is in the sky etc  There was someone on Scirocconet that was obsessed with swirls/cobwebs etc he was forever machine polishing his car and actually wore away the lacquer layer of his pearl black Scirocco over 2 years.

Pick a decent product that is easy to apply and you can do it yourself, even as a novice. That's why I picked the G-Techniq C2V3 for my dad's car (and mine, when it arrives).

For

I did wonder whether just a decent hand polish with a good product would be enough.. I am also not a fan of spending £200 straight after picking up a new car.. So wondered if all this is necessary..

Will that polish give some stone chip protection or need to buy something more specific for that ?

Unfortunately no amount of polish will provide stone chip protection. For that you would need venture shield or something similar which is costly

[CraigW]

After giving this a great deal of thought I ended up deciding to go down the professional detailer route. I was scared I might make a complete mess of things and I wanted to be 100% confident that the car was getting the best treatment possible.

So I contacted a detailer which another forum member had suggested and got a couple of quotes from him for two different treatments. The first quote was for a polymer based sealant which I was told would protect the car for about 6 months. The second was more expensive using a ceramic sealant but had been tested up to 18months.

I decided to go for the more expensive treatment as I thought that I had spent £28k + so far so what was another few hundred for peace of mind.

I handed the car over to Richard last Wednesday and it took two days to go through the entire process which was:

Wash using two bucket method
Remove any remaining residue on car
Correct any defects through machine polish
Clay the car removing any contaminants from transportation
Use sealant on paintwork and wheels
Apply further layer of polish for protection

I have to say Richard did a fantastic job and the car was sparkling when I collected it 

Anyway here is a link to Richard's page to see pics of the full process

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.206724579491641.1073741848.137800909717342&type=1

And here are a few pics of earlier this week showing the beading on the car after some rain

[p3asa]

That looks awesome Craig. Did he do any protection on the inside at all?

If it lasts 18 months then you're on to a winner and it will be well worth it.

[CraigW]

That looks awesome Craig. Did he do any protection on the inside at all?

If it lasts 18 months then you're on to a winner and it will be well worth it.

Thanks pal. He tidied a few things up inside like taking some residue of the interior door handles but no interior protection as such. When I got home I used the gteq fabric protector on the seats. That stuff is lethal if you inhale the fumes which I did quite a few times 

[p3asa]

......That stuff is lethal if you inhale the fumes which I did quite a few times 

You mean you're still high, man 

[JoeGTI]

I decided to do similar to Craig and let a pro at mine. I'll let the pics do the talking!!