My S3 is being detailed... [Photos]

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These are the before photos:

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Unfortunately you can't see quite how filthy the car is in these photos!

Once he's done I'll stick it in the sun and take some more.

I'm thinking about getting some 19" RS4 reps again, lowering and spacing. The 18's are nice but they just don't fill the arches enough, maybe just lowering will help, what do you guys think?

Paul is taking some photos during the detail, when he emails me them I'll post 'em too.
 
john2garden said:
Isn't that the 'Paul' that did that Bugatti Veyron?

He's **** hot
The very same guy.

He was telling me about a £550k Zonda with £150k of options that he did the other week!

The paint was too soft and had loads of faults so it went back to Italy to be re-done!
 
leecs3 said:
lol, detailing live. Good stuff.

He's waxing at the moment, then just a final buff and I'll get it out in the sun for some more pics...

Its looking amazing at the moment!
 
Get sum step by step pics up mate , u having the royal treatment ?
 
madalex said:
Get sum step by step pics up mate , u having the royal treatment ?

I think Paul is going to email me a couple of step by steps, I'll post em' later. My camera's battery is low and I don't have the recharger here so I'm saving it for the finished product!

Its not the royal wax, I think its his custom Zymol wax.
 
ok, heres the finshed product.

The pics really don't do it justice though! and unfortunately the sun went in.

I'll post the pics Paul took when he emails them to me, he had a really good camera.








 
Don't leave it parked under that tree! :o.k:
 
F***** hell :hubbahubba: What did he include in that price? Wash / wax etc etc...
 
So for about 500 quid you get the following done?

Recommended as a yearly, or one-off treatment for your car, the Connoisseur detail is made up of 52 separate stages, including the paint correction process which totally removes all unsightly swirl marks, micro-marring, holograms, light scratches, bird stains and water marks before the wax is applied to the paintwork.

Estimated time: 1 - 2 days approx.
Estimated cost: £450 - £600+

Paintwork measured on every panel, whether steel, aluminium, GRP, PU or carbon fibre
24-stage Miracle natural wash with wheels, arches and door shuts cleaned
Wheels cleaned with a special pH-neutral wheel gel and a boar's hair wheel brush
Full paintwork decontamination (removes embedded contaminants)
Hand-dried using microfibre drying towels
Paintwork correction process - paintwork is measured for thickness and re-levelled by a aximum of 1 or 2 microns to ensure that all surfaces reflect light perfectly
Paintwork cleansed (pre-wax cleaner)
Royale wax (73% rare white Carnauba) application
Tyres and exterior plastics cleaned and conditioned
Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned and polished
Water repellent window treatment to all exterior windows

All chrome and stainless steel surfaces cleaned and polished
Interior detail and leather conditioning a


So for £500+ he's just washed and waxed your car that you could basically do yourself at a fraction of the cost? Plus getting the enjoyment of doing it? Sorry but I just dont seem to get!
 
Von Maximo said:
So for about 500 quid you get the following done?

Recommended as a yearly, or one-off treatment for your car, the Connoisseur detail is made up of 52 separate stages, including the paint correction process which totally removes all unsightly swirl marks, micro-marring, holograms, light scratches, bird stains and water marks before the wax is applied to the paintwork.

Estimated time: 1 - 2 days approx.
Estimated cost: £450 - £600+

Paintwork measured on every panel, whether steel, aluminium, GRP, PU or carbon fibre
24-stage Miracle natural wash with wheels, arches and door shuts cleaned
Wheels cleaned with a special pH-neutral wheel gel and a boar's hair wheel brush
Full paintwork decontamination (removes embedded contaminants)
Hand-dried using microfibre drying towels
Paintwork correction process - paintwork is measured for thickness and re-levelled by a aximum of 1 or 2 microns to ensure that all surfaces reflect light perfectly
Paintwork cleansed (pre-wax cleaner)
Royale wax (73% rare white Carnauba) application
Tyres and exterior plastics cleaned and conditioned
Exterior windows and mirrors cleaned and polished
Water repellent window treatment to all exterior windows

All chrome and stainless steel surfaces cleaned and polished
Interior detail and leather conditioning a


So for £500+ he's just washed and waxed your car that you could basically do yourself at a fraction of the cost? Plus getting the enjoyment of doing it? Sorry but I just dont seem to get!

Its not bad value, since it takes him 6-7 hours to do, and the finish is totally perfect, miles better than I could dream of doing myself.

I agree its a bit of an extravagance, but hey, its my new pride and joy! ;)
 
markwiggy said:
Looks impressive mate,they seem to do a great job these miracle detail folk.

PM sent.

Mark

Thanks!

Miracle detail consists of just one guy!, Paul Daulton.
 
Detailing isn't washing a car.It's so much more. Do you even know what swirls are?? Check your car under the sun, or under a street lamp at night, bet you've got loads of swirl marks. It takes an expert to shift them. Your new car can be full of them before you even get hold of it. Wash your car with a sponge and you've had it too.
 
Here are some of the 130 before, during and after photos that Paul took:

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No denying it looks very good but so it should, it's a brand new motor!

£500 tho' :scared2: Feck Off! :nyah:

a good dose of megs, a clay and some dodo juice will bring up the same result!
 
Car does look good but surely after a few washes the swirls will be back again (even with the 2 bucket and mitt method) and a detail required again?
 
Certainly looks good but for new car it was in a state (you ever washed it ?) :hubbahubba:
I will wait till mine is a year old before possibly getting a professional detail done
Nice colour thou :icon_thumright:
 
A3_TOBES said:
Car does look good but surely after a few washes the swirls will be back again (even with the 2 bucket and mitt method) and a detail required again?

Not if you do it properly, not that you need to do much to it, a quick jetwash and its done really. Paul said he'll send me all the do's an don'ts, I'll let you all know what he says.

I think the main thing is not to use sponges etc.
 
dipstic said:
Certainly looks good but for new car it was in a state (you ever washed it ?) :hubbahubba:
I will wait till mine is a year old before possibly getting a professional detail done
Nice colour thou :icon_thumright:

Nope, not touched it for the two weeks I've had it!

Yeah, very pleased I went with the blue, very nearly went with white, which would also have looked stunning.
 
siu00adg - sure it was you I saw nr Wkham on Sat'day afternoon.. could be mistaken tho.
Either way.. car's looking absolutely mint mate! :icon_thumright:

-Sal-
 
Awesome looking car mate.

£500 for 7 hours work. Me thinks I'm in the wrong business doing Civil Engineering!!
 
Nice job.

It's like a car being out of tune, you never know how bad it was till you have it tuned next time (properly). Went to a dealer yesterday, the local car washer was going through the LOT and washing the cars.... hose and chamois! I said to the dealer WTF! He said never buy a car off the lot, that's how they get treated when they are at the dealers. Wonder why they have scratches new! NOT

I would love to see what he would do with a black one! I will have to find someone local to me to do similar.

Cheers
 
siu00adg - ur tempting me... everytime i look at them photos. temptation is starting to get the better of me...
 
sjahS3 said:
siu00adg - sure it was you I saw nr Wkham on Sat'day afternoon.. could be mistaken tho.
Either way.. car's looking absolutely mint mate! :icon_thumright:

-Sal-

Ha! yeah think that was me, gave you a flash at the mini round about, the girl I was with thought I was weird for saying hello to other S3 drivers! - shes probably right!
 
S3 LTN said:
siu00adg - ur tempting me... everytime i look at them photos. temptation is starting to get the better of me...

Do it!
 
For anyone interested, here is the email from Paul regarding the best way to clean your car.

"Now that you've had your car detailed, you may be wondering how to look after the finish in between details. And if you've just had it paint corrected, you'll especially want to avoid introducing swirl marks. The following guide should be of use:
1) Washing the car

- This is where swirl marks tend to be introduced... by way of a gritty sponge or dirty cloth. Make sure you jet wash or hose the car first, to remove or loosen surface dirt. ALWAYS use clean sponges and microfibre drying towels and always work in straight lines (the workers at your local £8 hand car wash probably don't!). Then use a pH-neutral wax-friendly shampoo like Swissvax car bath shampoo, working from the top of the car down, doing the wheels last. I prefer Zymol sponges or the new Edge Wash ShMiTT to wash mitts. But as long as the applicator is clean it doesn't really matter that much.
- Never use a detergent (like washing up liquid) as it strips the wax off the car.
- If particularly keen, you may like to invest in a grit guard or use two buckets. The grit guard stops the sponge or mitt picking up particles in the bucket, and the two bucket method simply means rinsing the sponge/mitt in one bucket, then picking up fresh solution from another. Both are merely means to minimise dirt contamination in either the solution or on the applicator.
- After washing, jet wash or hose off the soapy residue and dry with a clean microfibre drying towel; they are better than a chamois in my opinion.

2) Topping up the carnauba layer

- Zymol Field Glaze or another detailing 'spritz' spray is a good way of topping up the carnauba layer. Just apply it after washing and buff it after 30 seconds or so. Although there is less carnauba in the solution than in a carnauba wax, it helps remove light contaminants and gives the existing wax layer more durability and depth of shine.

3) Wheels

- I like P21S wheel gel for cleaning alloy wheels. Try and avoid acid based cleaners as they are very harsh on the wheels. A good hog's hair brush may also prove useful.

4) Retailers

- Zymol products are available from UK stockists and at http://www.vertar.com/
- Swissvax products are available from http://www.theultimatefinish.co.uk/ and http://www.swissvax.co.uk/
- Grit guards, P21S wheel gel, green drying towels and other specialist detailing products are easily found at www.thepolishingcompany.com
- Edge Wash SchMiTTs available from http://www.cleanandshiny.co.uk/
- I sometimes carry some of these items as stock, in small volumes. Please enquire if you are having trouble locating any product.

Finally, please don't hesitate to ask me any questions. I am often available by email or telephone, even after hours."
 
siu00adg said:
Ha! yeah think that was me, gave you a flash at the mini round about, the girl I was with thought I was weird for saying hello to other S3 drivers! - shes probably right!

Meant to say.. I was the black 56 plate S3 :)

Would have stopped (as you don't see many down that way) but was just back from a major hair chop and needed to take the hoover to the car and my head! :)

-Sal-

PS. Women.. they just don't get that mutual appreciation thing.. :motz:
 
S3Didge said:
No denying it looks very good but so it should, it's a brand new motor!

£500 tho' :scared2: Feck Off! :nyah:

a good dose of megs, a clay and some dodo juice will bring up the same result!

Like lots of other things in life, it's what you pay in certain parts of the country. And that part of the country has the clientelle and so the prices go to match. Our top pros up here with premises etc would be £400ish, maybe just under for the S3. Machining is meticulous and time consuming, although having said that any time I have seen Paul's videos he does move it rather fast but then again all the cars he does seem to be nearly new. The waxes used have to be seen in the flesh and cannot be capture truly on film. But I can see the perfection in that car and it has to be one of the most awesome colours ever. It looks dripping wet and will remain that way for a long time to come. No Audi dealership could ever come close to providing a service like that. Instead, they charge a few hundred pounds themselves to hand apply an average £25ish sealant to your paint and make you think you are getting the works. And so many people fall for it!!!! It's those buyers that need to waken up really.

Clay, followed by even Vintage wax on top of swirled and oxidised paint will look only as good as lesser £30 waxes. Perhaps Paul was removing defects from the car that were there when sold. Check the following thread to see Chris' new RS4 (if you haven't seen it already). Polished Bliss had to get the sandpaper out!!!!

http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/showthread.php?t=44495

Thank goodness there are good detailers out there providing that level of service. Dealerships sell cars, detailers make them look like cars. I personally wouldn't pay £500, but that's because I don't live in that part of the world. Anyway, I do it all myself:)

A cracking motor and discerning treatment for a happy discerning customer. Top job and top motor.:icon_thumright: