Duped by local "detailer", now need to make it right

[Wes8398]

First off, hi everyone. I discovered this place whilst googling around about auto detailing, paint correction (a term I've learned from reading around here), swirl removal, and so on.

If you're not in the mood for a read, skip down to the bold line. My questions are there.

A few weeks ago I had my car "detailed" by a local shop who my wife had purchased a gift certificate from, and gave to me for my birthday. Before having him do the job, I brought the car by his shop and let him give it a once-over. I told him that my main concern was removing the swirls and minor scratches throughout the exterior of the car. He assured me that although he didn't use "high-speed polishers", his methods would get most if not all of the swirls and scratches out of the paint. Knowing that he was doing an interior and exterior "detail" for $200, I suspected that the results wouldn't be out-of-this-world, but even with those expectations I was unfortunately very underwhelmed when I got the car back. Not only did the job cost me the $200 gift certificate, it also unfortunately left me with a car that looked just the same (or maybe even worse) as it did when I brought it to him. Sure it was nice and shiny and looked great from 15 feet away, but once I got closer it became more apparent that I had just paid $200 for a wash and wax. So...here I am.

I was first considering having a different detailer do a real exterior paint correction for me - to the tune of about $300. This fella has a great reputation and doesn't work out of a shop, but works from home. He has plenty of happy customers and a huge port-folio of fantastic-looking work he's done. He even comes to you to do the job, at no additional cost (pretty cool idea, IMO). The catch, if you can consider it that, is that he's partial to a product called Glare. He's a distributor for the stuff and absolutely swears by it. From his port folio it would seem that it's a pretty good product, but the reviews I've read around these forums seem to be less-than-great.

So now I find myself here considering doing the job myself (with the help of this forum, of course). I'm a DIY kind of guy, but I have to admit that I'm a bit hesitant to take this task on. The last thing I want to do is mess up the paint on my baby by burning through the clear coat or scratch it up even worse.

With the background out of the way, I'll get to my questions.

- Should I just use the other detailer and perhaps ask if he'd be willing to use another product line? Is Glare really that "average" of a product line?

- Should I do the job myself? I see some of the Meguiars "kits" sell for less than I'd be paying this Glare guy, including the polisher and all...

- If I do the job myself, what do you guys suggest for the best bang-for-my-buck product(s)? Should I go with one of those meguiars kits, or piece my own kit together?

- Lastly, any other suggestions or comments would be greatly appreciated. I'll attach a few pictures of the extent of "swirls" and other paint damage that I'm working with.

Thanks a bunch for anyone who takes the time to respond.

Wes

[bottlefed02]

If you have the time I recommend picking up a DA kit and diy. DA's are easy to learn on and if you do it yourself you will always know that no shortcuts were taken. Just read up and take your time. Once you learn you will be amazed by the results you can achieve. Just my two cents.
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[kronos]

Bummer about that first detailer. Maybe you can ask the other guy if he could do a test section on your car in front of you and check his work under sunlight. That should give you a gauge of his ability.

Or you can buy what you need and do it yourself. Educate yourself with Mike's instructional videos, if you haven't already, and you should be able to safely remove most swirls and scratches.

I can count the number of cars I've detailed with my two hands and let me tell you, it's not that hard. You can do it!!!

[Slate G8 GT]

I say if you're a DIY'er and have the time (took me about 15 hrs. broken up over 2 days taking my time) buy the stuff and do it your self, there's nothing like satisfaction of standing back and looking at your work after you're done.

I would get a Griots DA (do a google search and find a good price and call AG and they'll price match:props:), and get the 5.5 in. meg's MF DA system, a clay bar kit, and some of the rolled edge MF towels and go to work:buffing:. The way the DA's are made it's pretty much impossible to burn through the paint like the horror stories you hear about rotary buffers.

You'll have about $300 invested and the ability to do any other cars you have also. After seeing my car I have people at work who want me to do theirs so I'm gonna make some of that cost up:dblthumb2:.

The only warning I have to to watch out b/c it becomes addictingIm the MAN

[slickooz]

Welcome to AG! Sucks to hear you spent 200 and he didn't do a good job.

With 300ish I would use that to buy a DA and few other products and do it yourself.

I would start off by buying a Griot DA with 5inch backing plate with 3-5 orange flat pads, 3-5 white pads and 2-4 blue pads.

Then get Meguair's 105 ,205 and maybe Menz finishing polish for a 3rd step.

Always do test spot so you won't get frustrated if it doesn't come out as nice as you liked. Sometimes it takes different polish or pads to achieve the finish you want.

Looking at the pics I would recommend using orange pads with M105 then use M205 with white pad. Then finish with sealant or wax.

Good luck hope everything works out for you.

[James K]

First, where are you located. This forum is a very giving bunch. I along with others have gone to the houses of other members and helped them learn.

Second, I know nothing about Glare. I have never used it, so I do not like to comment on products I do not have first hand knowledge of.

As for DIY, this is exactly what most of us on here are. DIY folks who want perfection from our own vehicles and are truly passionate about it. So, of course we will all say DO IT! Well, unless one of us lives near you and can get paid to to the detail! LOL

For a beginner looking for great results, the Meguiars DA MF system is great. Coupled with a nice DA like the Griots Garage, you will get very nice results with a very short learning curve. While burning through clear coat is always a scare and reality, DA polishers minimize this.

Check out this thread and watch the video from Detail Fest entitled: Sunday Class 1
Meguiar's Microfiber DA Correction System with Jason Rose
It is the fourth one down. Here is the link
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/autogeek-s-detailfest-info/34895-watch-now-detailfest-saturday-sunday-classes-live-broadcast.html

[Rei86]

wait...200 dollars isn't expensive?

[timaishu]

Ge the griots garage DA. 5.5 backing plate with 3 orange and 3 white pads and some ultimate compound and swirlx. Thats what I got and it made my car look amazing and it didnt cost all that much considering I can do it myself time and time again instead of paying some guy 300 bucks to do it once.

[Setec Astronomy]

How does the car get washed? Whichever way you choose to get the finish reconditioned (DIY or pay a detailer) is going to be a waste of time/money if your wash technique results in re-installing those swirls on the first wash.

Second, your first detailer didn't get the results you want because of the products he used, it's because he either didn't use the processes required to do that, or he doesn't know how to properly do those processes. A skilled detailer will get the results no matter what products he uses; different products will only affect how many steps he might do or how long it takes.

To get back to your original question of whether to tackle it yourself or not...even in the best of scenarios, on a daily driver it will have to be "redone" eventually, on a black car like yours, say, once a year. If you are going to do that, and you have the time, then doing it yourself makes sense in the long run. If you don't want this to be your hobby or one of your spring chores, just bring it to a reputable detailer once a year.

[GaDetailDoc]

Given the pictures you posted, I would say that $200 does not even begin to cover the scope of what is expected and required from a professional detailer. You would be surprised how much time is spent at achieving desired results. Both product and process knowledge is key. A reputable detailer is both licensed and insured.

[builthatch]

wait...200 dollars isn't expensive?

it depends on the region, vehicle and many other variables, but $200 is about what a volume type detailer charges for an exterior cleaning and dress, interior vac and clean and a machine applied exterior glaze and wax. to really correct, it'll take a lot longer than what $200 will pay for, even if you are doing a single step correction.

a complete interior detail with single stage correction by a legitimate "real" detailer will be in the 350-400 range, give or take. again, it depends on a ton of things but i'm just trying to give an idea.

full multi-step corrections can take 15-20+ hours and cost 500-750 or more.

OP, i too am interested in your location.

[Rei86]

Damn, thats a nice slice of pie for doing something fun like detailing.

I don't know, I just haven't meet a REAL detailer around here. Most mobile guys charge like 25~50 dollars for a basic wash, vac, and wax.

[Perfections]

First, what kind of car is it? We can tell you real quick if that cars paint is hard to work with and would give us a better ability to judge which products will better suit your car.

Second if your a diy type of guy, do it yourself, it will be fun and you will be better satisfied knowing in the future you can one step polish it to bring it back to perfection.

Third if you comment to doing it watch mikes videos on how to use a da polisher

[prisonerofcs]

A similar experience prompted me to buy a Griots DA. I got the 6.5inch pads, and XMT 3.0 and XMT 1.0. It worked great to pull out the holograms that a "professional" had induced. For under $250 I got great results and I can do it again and again on friends and family's cars.

I watched all Mike's DA videos, Took my time, and enjoyed the process. Its not rocket science, and nothing is likely to go boom if you screw it up (unlike my other hobby -- making ammunition).

If I had to do it again, I would probably give the Megs microfiber kit a shot. It looks like a great system.

[MI Mike]

I agree with the other's use the money to purchase a starter kit.

But a more important question is. How did you tell your wife about
the problem your experienced with the detailer ?? She got the gift
certificate, etc. ? Meant well and cared.