About three weeks ago whilst G3 Valeting were attending to the Audi R8 detail an acqaintence of the owner of the R8 popped in and enquired about having our New car detail plus to his newly acquired  Lamborghini Superleggera which was duly booked in for the 26th may.
We had arranged an early start 7am as i knew this was a special car and would take at least 12 hrs from start to finish, also with differing reports on what i could expect in regards to the hardness of the paint i knew i was in for a long day.
Being a car that is in my top 5 of all time favourite cars i didn't get much sleep, i was like a child on christmas eve waiting for santa, anyway at 5.30am the alarm went off and i was out of bed coffee- breakfast down to the unit to pick some last minute bits up and apart from some deer running out in front of the van arrived at the customers house safely where i was met by the client and shown where this truly stunning car is kept.

 
Here is the car on arrival nothing too serious just bug splats that had eaten into the paintwork and some holograms and a few light scratches..

Then it was onto the Pre-wash stage which was done with Bilt hamber auto foam through the lance to remove loose particles and remove some of the grime then the car was rinsed washed with Mitchell and king Spa  rinsed and soaked in iron x snow soap which removed the iron contaminants from the paint,The car was rinsed again and dried with microfibre drying towels from Cleanyourcar.

Around badges grills etc seen to with apc and various brushes, wheels were cleaned with apc and  de-contaminated with iron x and soft brushes.

Once dried the car was then brought inside.

I then proceeded to clay the car with Bilt hamber Soft Auto Clay now at this point i started to notice just how soft the paint on the car was the usual proceedure with the bilt hamber clay is to use water as a lube and in most cases this is fine but this being the softest clay they do it was causing marring, so i mixed up some dodo juice born slippy clay lube and this reduced the marring by quite some margin so proceeded to clay the entire car.

The car after claying. and another wash.

It was time then to mask her up ready for the polishing stage this is where we all really earn our money it's both time consuming and skilled and also back breaking but despite all that the best part of detailing in my book. 

Half way through masking her up, time for  a bit of lunch 10.30 in the morning and the best tasting coffee very kindly brought to me by the client.Then more taping up 3M tape used here as it doesn't leave any sticky residue when taken off.

Time for the polishing stage as said earlier this is the bit where we earn our money, this was the bonnet before polishing with a few scratches and holograms.
 Because the paint was so soft and my d.a had packed up its life i had to use my rotary this can make polishing slightly tougher as the pad can get bogged down so you may have to step up to a firmer pad that has less shall we say surface resistance or use a pad prime ,which in some instances i had to, but in the main i was using menzerna po85 on a menzerna black finishing pad and achieving great results, this was not a full on correction just an enhancement to prepare the car for the Gtechniq the original idea was to have an Mitchell and King intrigue detail but because the paint was so soft we decided on a Gtechniq c1 and c2/silo seal combo.  

Time was pressing on so i never took many more photos until it was finished but after the polishing was done it was a total ipa wipedown ready for the Gtechniq c1 then c2 liquid crystal was applied followed by silo seal 1.5 v2 glass sealed with wolfs nano glass sealant plastics Gtechniq c4 and wheels sealed with carlack aio and long life sealant x2, Tyres Mitchell and King tyre. Here is some finished pics ...

Thank you for taking the time to read this this was a job which as a car enthusiast/nut was a real pleasure.
 I would personally like to thank the client for allowing me to work on such a beautiful car.   

We were asked to carry out a new car protection detail plus near Dorchester on this Audi R8 

Bit of background info ...about 6 weeks ago i received a knock at the door from a new client regarding detailing his 6 month old discovery 4- which i booked in and subsequently detailed, the client in question was delighted with the outcome and said he was buying a sports car little did i know it would be this suzuka grey Audi R8. I went to view the car the day after it was acquired by the customer and had 2000 miles on the clock but it was covered in some moderate swirls which were many towards the back of the car and spoiled the look of the car, so after some discussion with the client it was agreed a full Exterior Gtechniq detail would be carried out to get her looking her best with some light correction .

Yesterdays weather was atrocious so the client opened up his stables and we were able to perform the detail inside including the wash stages.... although there were some problems more on this later have to apologise for the iphone pics as i left my camera at home doh!

The client had washed the car the evening previously so no before pics as it was raining and the car was clean..ish so it was foamed with Bilt hamber auto foam and left to dwell for a bit too long while i chatted to the client.

wheels were attended to with various brushes inc the Ez detail brush

Then onto the wash stage this was done with a Eurow washmit and Mitchell and King Spa quite possibly the best shampoo around in my opinion a fantastic product.And the two bucket method naturally.

Once that was done it was pat dried using cyc mega microfibre towels then onto the decontamination stage with Ironx cherry much better smell than the standard stuff still stinks though. Not alot on the car tbh.

Then time for another foam and rinse..

again dried with mf towels then clayed with bilt hamber fine auto clay. Washed /rinsed dried again.

due to hurricane gary outside and a distinct lack of anything even resembling sunshine in dorset showing swirls on this car was difficult even with the brinkmann so apologies.. but trust me they were there. you can just make out the swirls in the pics if you stand on one leg with your laptop tilted at 45 degrees  then i started to tape up with the usual tape i use on the missus to keep her quiet  .. i mean on cars, 3m blue on the susceptible areas.

Next onto the polishing stage to try to rid the car of the swirls or at least minimise their appearance after much playing about with pads polish combos i was getting great results with menzerna pf 2300 on a menz yellow pad. The carbon fibre was polished with menz po 106 fa on a 3m yellow pad very cautiously and i found after just one pass i was getting the desired result tbh theres 2 schools of thought in treating carbon fibre in one camp there are the use only glazes to fill the swirls or the other camp that say using the usual compounds that you would use on bodywork will suffice unfortunately the carbon panels on this looked imo like they needed polishing. i think the previous owner had used brushes to wash it as there were some quite deep rids on her.no 50/50s i'm afraid due to the lighting.

drivers side front wing after

A couple of visible swirls above and below the big light in the pic and some hazing on the carbon which was rectified.

rear quarter before

after

carbon fibre after ....

the problems i had were with bits dropping from the roof moss mainly onto the car so i had to be REALLY careful in the end i put a cover over the car from the rafters as it was too risky ....then the owner came back with the keys to move it to a safe area...

then i refined it all with menzerna po 106 fa on the 3m yellow pad and it finished down nicely ..

Gtechniq c1 c2 v3 an silo seal x2 applied.

 Then it was time to do the bits an bobs like glass

finished pics all told nearly 12 hours spent on this beauty, plastics Gtechniq c4 wheels c5 and glass g1,a friend of the client popped in and wanted the same to be done to two of his cars but 1 is a very special car that is on my all time fave list an will be a first for G3 valeting this is booked in for a few weeks time so keep an eye out...

like i say apologies for the pics but conditions were far from perfect.... I would also like to thank the client in question for giving me the oppurtunity to work on such a beautiful car ... 
Hope you enjoyed reading this as much as i enjoyed detailing her.

Anyways thanks for looking ...

A question we get asked fairly regularly is; What is the difference between us and the hand car wash guys by the side of the road ?
Well although we kind of do the same job in cleaning cars, there are various differences between G3 valeting and the hand wash guys that we have come across.
Firstly we are fully insured- when you leave a car with us or we come to your house/work you can be assured your vehicle is in THE best hands but if for any( however unlikely reason)  we dropped our machine polisher on your vehicle whilst working on it and it scratched or dented it then a simple call to our insurers and they will take care of the rest we are insured platinum cover for items/vehicles worked upon, something  in our experience the hand wash guys are not ...
We are also covered for public liability so if you fell over our hoover lead and broke an arm we are covered again something in our experience the hand car wash guys are not..

Another thing to consider when you want your pride an joy valeted/detailed is PRICE; as carcare professionals we feel an obligation to offer you the customer THE very best service available for your money and for this we offer products that LAST and will not wash away after 2-3 washes, we source our products from all over the world to find car care products that offer value for money whilst ensuring ultimate protection for your vehicle with looks to match.
We will not use substandard chemicals that are not designed for cars- we do not use chamois or sponges that have seen 20 or so other cars that day- we do not use the silicone blades as these can and do scratch-We do not use wheel acid for every job- we do not spray silicone all over your car or rush a job, We take pride and care of your vehicle as if it were our own. For this service we charge a lot more than the hand car wash guys.
 A full valet from £5.99 as advertised by the guys local to us may seem a bargain but like everything in this world you get what you pay for, We have customers who before they became clients of ours used such places and as in one customers experience with a month old Audi A4 had the chrome effect roof bars permanently stained by the use of tfr  which had been left too long on the bodywork and etched in so be WARNED.

What you get from us is a high standard of workmanship which is why we are entrusted with our clients  prestige vehicles, and with car care products to match our own extremely high standards including our own Mitchell and King   wax Intrigue. Our sealants that protect a minimum of 6 months- waxes that last typically 6 months-plastic conditioners that have high uv protection and are natural looking not shiny or slippery- leather conditioners that put the natural smell/oils back into your leather glass sealants that aid visibility in the rain- all these things combined will help your car stay cleaner for longer. We will not cover your car in silicone which attracts dust/dirt- only long lasting car care products and  for our valeting/detailing services you will pay more than the hand car wash guys but what price on peace of mind.        

Are you thinking of buying or recently bought a new car? If you are fortunate enough to be able to buy a brand new car whether it's a £6000 Dacia or a hundred thousand pound plus Aston Martin,a Ferrari or anything inbetween then you would expect the car to be protected somewhat and be scratch/swirl or blemish free when you recieve your new acquasition from the dealership, unfortunately this is rarely the case .

New cars can and regularly do in our experience come from the dealership in a substandard condition either covered in swirls or fallout(small iron particles) some with scratches through poor dealership preparation.
Most dealerships will offer you Paint protection systems for anything between £150-£450 to protect your vehicle for up to ten years we are always in favour of protecting your investment.... but a word of Caution.
These paint protection systems are usually applied over the the faults described above ie; swirls,fallout scratches etc and are usually applied by staff that get very little out of the £300 you the customer have paid for this service also they are usually under a time constraint so the possibility to cut corners is always there.
Secondly the systems that come with 5-10 years guarantee usually require you the customer to apply after care creams and potions to top up the existing protection EVERYTIME YOU WASH THE VEHICLE something most of us never have either the time or the inclanation to do plus most of these systems are polymer based which at best will only last a year at best, (Some clients have called us with new cars that have had these systems "allegedly" applied failing after less than 6 months 6 weeks in one case.
The new range of super sealants ie; ceramic-nano-quartz based offer far superior protection and longevity and are ideal especially for softer paints on say Japenese paints for example.

Not all dealerships are like this tbh but we have dealt with alot that are and in our opinion this is not at all acceptable.
Our NEW CAR PROTECTION DETAIL is just that a Detail,Yes your car may be clean on arrival but we make it PERFECT.
We apply a crystaline nano coating which in itself offers  at least 2 years protection and we top that with another sealant silo seal that offers 6-8 months protection on it's own,it is also to a degree 50% more scratch resistant than polymer coatings 
Our NEW CAR PROTECTION DETAIL INVOLVES.
Dealership wax residue/Fallout is removed by clay bar /fallout remover or both..  Swirls/Scratches that may be present are removed by polishing to leave a perfect surface for your sealant to adhere to. The interior is fully protected with a nano protectant on upholstery -plastics dressed with a uv inhibitor plastic conditioner- leather conditioned/ sealed etc and this is the good bit because the applied exterior sealant WILL last years with minimum effort on your or our behalf with a 6 monthly top up of silo seal required and to remove tar deposits. 
Please check out our NEW CAR PROTECTION DETAIL FOR PRICES.