Car detailers in Sydney

[siksII]

Hey, i was just after some recommendations for car detailers.

My car (lots of imports seem to have this...) has lots of swirls on it, than cannot be removed by hand polishing (i have tried lots of meguires products btw.)

So i need a place that can cut and polish my car to remove the swirls and leave a nice, smooth finish

I have tried a search already, without useful answers, also, please dont tell me to look in the yellow pages, i have called a few places already, but am looking for personal recommendations.

Thanks!

[Duncan]

:werd: I'm trying to find a *good* place to...I can't do all the work for the show n shine myself lol!

Inside and Out

[siksII]

i dont mind doing the work, but its impossible to get the swirls out by hand! and i dont know how to use an orbital buffer at the risk of burning a hole in my car! lol.

[Roy]

i dont mind doing the work, but its impossible to get the swirls out by hand! and i dont know how to use an orbital buffer at the risk of burning a hole in my car! lol.

Once upon a time Meguires had a detailing service themselves where they would remove all the swirl marks and factory orange peel in the paint...likely to still do it but not likely to be cheap.

I used Brasso when i first got my car... no swirl marks and made the paint look like new... after all it is just a cutting compound.

[siksII]

yeah well if im really feeling tight, i might resort to something like brasso or scratchx all over my car...but i would prefer not too.

i used brasso on the clear plastic in front of the guages since it was scratched and dirty, and it came up like new also on the headlights.

[NI5MO]

how much are all you guys willing to pay?

I could try and organise an SAU detail deal!... my brother is a car spray painter / pannel beater by trade and does a top job... exterior paintwork only, he aint cleaning your

filty interiors!

I have no idea how much a full buff & polish would cost I've never had to pay for one..

if your serious leave a reply here or something and we'll see how it goes..

His located right near MRT / BD4's etc..

[Merli]

I'm also looking for personal recommendations.

Preferably not "cousin habibi can polish your car for you" recommendations, regardless on how good they might be

I'm looking for a full time professional detailer please! Some examples of their past work (both before and after photos) would be a big help to gauge their expertise!

What I'm willing to pay depends on how sure I am regarding the detailer's skill and experience.

Thanks in advance!

Andrew.

[siksII]

how much are all you guys willing to pay?

I could try and organise an SAU detail deal!... my brother is a car spray painter / pannel beater by trade and does a top job... exterior paintwork only, he aint cleaning your

filty interiors!  

I have no idea how much a full buff & polish would cost I've never had to pay for one..

if your serious leave a reply here or something and we'll see how it goes..

His located right near MRT / BD4's etc..

ask him how much he would want... he sounds like the type of guy we need..

[Gizmo73]

Hey Guys...

For a commerical quick fix, crystal car wash at Chatswood gets the big thumbs up...

They are reputed to be the best in Sydney, and i really cant argue it..

Bit expensive - for about $80 you will get wash & wax, interior clean, tyres/mags clean, deodoriser, etc, etc...

The good part is you get a free coffee and can relax as they get it done....i can watch hard work all day !!

You can usually tell the place by the clientelle - everytime im there, you are guaranteed to see some new porsche, merc or beamer...

Havent had any hassles with them, they do a good job and its low fuss.

My 2 cents...

[siksII]

yeah but it would probably be heaps more that 80 if that is just for a normal wash n wax... to remove the swirls they would have to use machine...

[Roy]

Come on people, if your all too busy then cool i understand, but its only a matter of having the right polishes and rags/cloths and plenty of patience.

Duncan/Merli, if you like drop over my place, 6-8 solid hours and she will look like new.... (friends father retired chips away/ Nissan car detailer taught me the rights and wrongs of cleaning cars...i dont think my car looks too bad for an 12year old bus)

[Duncan]

lol, I'm going to the Roy car wash. Do you mind if i drink beer while you do it?

Ur right, your car is in great condition....the thing is I don't know what things to do to what bits to make em look good - its a specialist area and I'd love to hear about someone who knows what they are doing instead of some shonkey (eg the last place it went....came back with swirl marks...not good enough)

[Roy]

Some basic rules of thumb...

- Give the car a thorough wash and chammy dry. Do this out in the shade or out of direct

sunlight.

- As long as you get the car into a relatively dust free space in the shade (garage) before polishing then you are right to go. The temp of the paint plays a big part if you want to get a good finished result... so cool to the hand panels is what you need...if that means leaving it in the shady garage for 2 hours after washing outside so be it.

- mask up rubbers etc etc with the right tape, so that when you are finished removing the tape doesnt leave adhesive behind.

- Then using Mothers/Meguires products go to town on the girl. I would only use Brasso if you have heavy orange peel in the paint finish. Critical thing is what you use to apply the polish. Otherwise give it a go with the 'Paint Cleaner' then a 'Polish' depending on the condition of your paint, then give it a good go with a "QUALITY" wax.

Once you have waxed the car, next time you wash the car you dont even needs suds, just a hose and a chammy, detergents only wash off the wax allowing crud to oxidise in your paint again.

Biggest thing is having plenty of nice soft cloths to buff off the polishes with, with many people scatching their paint when buffing off the polishes using dirty cloths or crappy singlets, old shirts, cheese cloth etc etc.

And Duncan i still feel guilty about the camera, and owe you for the laughs in the Saab in the wet, so as long as you dont start chasing our dog after a few drinks then im happy to spend a day on your car.

[siksII]

roy, i have already tried all that. i even have a small collection of clean terry towel cloths, and meguires applicator pads to do it all with, and have used soft wash in the shade, leave till dry, then paint cleaner, then polish, then wax. all meguires products and the sswirls are still there..

which is why im resorting to getting someone else to do it

But if you think you can do it, then i dont mind coming over to and giving it a go with you

[CerealKiller]

use a clay bar.

[Roy]

use a clay bar.

Havent used it before, good stuff i take it???

Also my opinion only is that using a buffer machine is asking for trouble. Problems with paint thickness, swirl marks etc etc, im sure it can be done well, but those examples i have seen look worse then when done by hand.

Im guessing swirl marks are nothing but light sctaches in the paint, so perhaps try a more aggresive polish that is intended for older paint finishes.

If you want to give it a go siksII then im happy to, but will have to be in the nest 7-10 days as im starting a new job.

[sewid]

Clay bar is the best thing you can use to get things off the paint.

It will however not make a difference to swirl marks or other paint imperfections such as scratches.

Clay bar is simply a piece of plastic clay type stuff (think strong silly putty). The pros use them to get a smoooth finish.

[CerealKiller]

basically it takes fine particles off the surface. the result is that the surface will be shiny like glass.

however if you think polishing is hardwork then a clay bar is NOT for you.

[Merli]

Oh trust me...

I know all the methods, and I know all the right tools and products to get out all my nasty swirl marks and make my car shine like a beacon. I've spoken to scottwax in Texas at length and his work just speaks volumes... I'll post some examples. He's also a GOD on autopia, the biggest car detailing forum out there, so he knows his stuff backwards...

I bought some Clearkote products and S100 wax as recommended, but I didn't have a strong enough cutter... I need to get some Meguiars DACP to get rid of the swirls properly....

Aaaaaaaaanyway, I spent about 4 hours on my car, and I did:

Full Car Wash with Meguiars Gold Class

Dawn Liquid Wash (only on the bonnet and front guards) to get rid of any old waxes

Clay Bar the bonnet and front guards with Meguiars Quik Detailer as lubricant

Hand applied Scratch-X over the bonnet and front guards

Hand applied Clearkote Vanilla Moose over the bonnet and front guards

Hand applied S100 wax over the bonnet and front guards.

........ and it only took me about 4 hours, sweating my ass off. Oh sure, the front of the car looked 5000 times better, but all the swirl marks still weren't out as I didn't have a strong enough cutting compound.

So after all that, I gave up on the rest of the car and decided to let a professional do it the first time to get it upto scratch, then I can maintain it and just do the: Wash, Polish, Wax part

[Roy]

Oh trust me...  

I know all the methods, and I know all the right tools and products to get out all my nasty swirl marks and make my car shine like a beacon. I've spoken to scottwax in Texas at length and his work just speaks volumes... I'll post some examples. He's also a GOD on autopia, the biggest car detailing forum out there, so he knows his stuff backwards...

I bought some Clearkote products and S100 wax as recommended, but I didn't have a strong enough cutter... I need to get some Meguiars DACP to get rid of the swirls properly....  

Aaaaaaaaanyway, I spent about 4 hours on my car, and I did:

Full Car Wash with Meguiars Gold Class

Dawn Liquid Wash (only on the bonnet and front guards) to get rid of any old waxes

Clay Bar the bonnet and front guards with Meguiars Quik Detailer as lubricant

Hand applied Scratch-X over the bonnet and front guards

Hand applied Clearkote Vanilla Moose over the bonnet and front guards

Hand applied S100 wax over the bonnet and front guards.

........ and it only took me about 4 hours, sweating my ass off. Oh sure, the front of the car looked 5000 times better, but all the swirl marks still weren't out as I didn't have a strong enough cutting compound.

So after all that, I gave up on the rest of the car and decided to let a professional do it the first time to get it upto scratch, then I can maintain it and just do the: Wash, Polish, Wax part

I only give my car a cut and wax once a year, you have just reminded me why... what month is it??? :Oops: