TTQ B4U
Well-known member
- Jan 20, 2016
- 5,504
- 70
So a referral from a Racing club member brought his wife's newer to them Crossover to me for a clean up. This is a 2015 with only 25k miles on it but it's exterior seemed unusually rough upon initial inspection. When discussing things with the owner they revealed that there were a series of hand prints that he said wouldn't come off. Hmmm.... With that I felt what clearly was some over-spray of clear coat all over the vehicle. The owner wasn't aware of it having had any paint work but I wasn't going to be sure of what was done where until I had the vehicle cleaned and had a chance to give it a secondary inspection.
The vehicle was also loaded with hard water spots on the glass and aluminum trim around the windows and of course swirled out. Clearly it's seen a fair share of tunnel washes and based on the slight oxidation on the headlights, I suspect it didn't get much protection in a garage. There were many indications including some camera mounts, etc. that this was a livery or courtesy vehicle of some sort that made it's weekly run through a car wash and sat in a lot awaiting the next set of customers.
The customer had never spent money on a detail before and seemed a little apprehensive. A good reminder to all of us that while a basic lower-level detail that is under $400 is fairly inexpensive in our eyes, can be quite expensive when looking through the lens of others. Our goal here given this was his first-ever paying for a detail was to start out smaller and go with my Basic Clean and Protect Package. The vehicle was loaded with swirls but that's okay and given it's a soccer mom vehicle that will see car washes, it's a good package for it as the oxidation will be removed, a good bit of the swirls knocked-down and far less visible and the appearance of depth for it's black paint restored.
Upon inspection, I did finally see the rear bumper cover has been painted and the vehicle poorly prepped when sprayed. Lack of flex agent and/or poor prep has caused just a little bit of paint cracking and flaking a bit thus I informed the customer, documented it all and would only be giving that area a very light once over with the polisher. All in all, it was rough. Here are a few cell shots of it before.
Swirls and car wash marring was pretty bad
Hand print/smudges that are in the clear and won't simply wipe or clean off.
Hard water spots on glass and trim abound
The goal of my Basic Clean and Protect is to add gloss, remove oxidation and grime and while it's NOT a correction service, it will help smooth out fine blemishes and greatly reduce the appearance of swirls and imperfections. Lastly, it will seal and protect the paint with a season long protective layer. All in all I was able to achieve all of that and then some given it's pure black and is looking good even on a sunny day like today I'd say the owner will be quite pleased.
My Process:
Total time involved just over 5hrs.
As per my usually routine, I always do 1 or 2 little extras for customers as a way of showing appreciation. Here I wasn't asked to but it needed it, I gave the interior a basic cleaning since this is a new mom's swagger wagon and it was clearly in need of it and with the two little ones around, I'm sure neither parent was looking forward to tackling it. I have all the tools and honestly it only took me 30 minutes and it's now fresh and clean. No pics there but it matches the outside now. My gift to a new mom of a 2yr old and now 3-4 month old.
Thanks for reading along guys!
The vehicle was also loaded with hard water spots on the glass and aluminum trim around the windows and of course swirled out. Clearly it's seen a fair share of tunnel washes and based on the slight oxidation on the headlights, I suspect it didn't get much protection in a garage. There were many indications including some camera mounts, etc. that this was a livery or courtesy vehicle of some sort that made it's weekly run through a car wash and sat in a lot awaiting the next set of customers.
The customer had never spent money on a detail before and seemed a little apprehensive. A good reminder to all of us that while a basic lower-level detail that is under $400 is fairly inexpensive in our eyes, can be quite expensive when looking through the lens of others. Our goal here given this was his first-ever paying for a detail was to start out smaller and go with my Basic Clean and Protect Package. The vehicle was loaded with swirls but that's okay and given it's a soccer mom vehicle that will see car washes, it's a good package for it as the oxidation will be removed, a good bit of the swirls knocked-down and far less visible and the appearance of depth for it's black paint restored.
Upon inspection, I did finally see the rear bumper cover has been painted and the vehicle poorly prepped when sprayed. Lack of flex agent and/or poor prep has caused just a little bit of paint cracking and flaking a bit thus I informed the customer, documented it all and would only be giving that area a very light once over with the polisher. All in all, it was rough. Here are a few cell shots of it before.
Swirls and car wash marring was pretty bad
Hand print/smudges that are in the clear and won't simply wipe or clean off.
Hard water spots on glass and trim abound
The goal of my Basic Clean and Protect is to add gloss, remove oxidation and grime and while it's NOT a correction service, it will help smooth out fine blemishes and greatly reduce the appearance of swirls and imperfections. Lastly, it will seal and protect the paint with a season long protective layer. All in all I was able to achieve all of that and then some given it's pure black and is looking good even on a sunny day like today I'd say the owner will be quite pleased.
My Process:
- Wash and stripping of any sealant and tire dressing
- Iron X
- Nano Mitt Medium Grade
- Rupes Mille with Yellow Rupes Mille Pads
- CarPro Essence Polish/Sealant
- Adams Fine glass polish on Adams glass polishing pad
- Turtle Wax Seal & Shine as the LSP
- Meg's Hyperdressing for tires
- WETS for the trim
Total time involved just over 5hrs.
As per my usually routine, I always do 1 or 2 little extras for customers as a way of showing appreciation. Here I wasn't asked to but it needed it, I gave the interior a basic cleaning since this is a new mom's swagger wagon and it was clearly in need of it and with the two little ones around, I'm sure neither parent was looking forward to tackling it. I have all the tools and honestly it only took me 30 minutes and it's now fresh and clean. No pics there but it matches the outside now. My gift to a new mom of a 2yr old and now 3-4 month old.
Thanks for reading along guys!
