Car Valeted on arrival or do it myself

[davie150]

Have ordered a new evo sporting and am considering whather to get it valetted when it arrives £200 or buy kit and do it myself.
What did you guys do?
I have a driveway and a powerhose with attachments for applying foams etc, so I have the time and the place to do it, but it is the insides that I am worried about

 

[Rawb]

If you want the car to be moderately blemish free when it arrives, I would suggest that you do it yourself.

Valets and some useless idiot at a car dealership can make a brand new car look like a swirl wagon.

My suggestion would be to bring it home wash it yourself and protect it well with some good wax

 

[dave]

have a good read in this section for info on how to wash it properly
never use a sponge
never use a brush on the end of a hose

always use 2 buckets

 

[Adrian09]

Have ordered a new evo sporting and am considering whather to get it valetted when it arrives £200 or buy kit and do it myself.
What did you guys do?
I have a driveway and a powerhose with attachments for applying foams etc, so I have the time and the place to do it, but it is the insides that I am worried about

What does the £200 valet consist of?

 

[davie150]

What does the £200 valet consist of?

according to salesman at SEAT garage, they wash car and spread something over body work that seals it, and that seal lasts for 2 years.

they also put on Supaguard (I think it was called) over the cloth interiors which seals and protects them. He gave me demonstration of his business card sprayed with solution on and water just run off of it.

Arnold Clark also give you a pack containing 6 bottles of cleaning products, worth £30 to £50 I guess

I only mentioned SEAT garage as I was there immediately before going to A/Clark, and he told me that I was probably better doing it myself, so didnt really listen to A/Clark salesman

 

[davie150]

just checked and it is only £159, and is supposed to cover paint and fabric for 3 years
Salesman said A/Clark were cheapest for add ons extras amongst all dealerships. here is link

http://www.arnoldclark.com/servicing/complete-aftercare/supagard.html

here is holdall you get as well

http://www.arnoldclark.com/images/servicing/pdfs/82537_Supagard_C.Aftercare_23.12.9.pdf

 

[Adrian09]

according to salesman at SEAT garage, they wash car and spread something over body work that seals it, and that seal lasts for 2 years.

they also put on Supaguard (I think it was called) over the cloth interiors which seals and protects them. He gave me demonstration of his business card sprayed with solution on and water just run off of it.

Arnold Clark also give you a pack containing 6 bottles of cleaning products, worth £30 to £50 I guess

I only mentioned SEAT garage as I was there immediately before going to A/Clark, and he told me that I was probably better doing it myself, so didnt really listen to A/Clark salesman

I dont think you should pay £200 for it.
The product that they seal your vehicle with will last between 4-6 months(depending which brand). The only way these ''life time protection products'' last a lifetime is if you keep re-applying the products which will be given to you in the after care/maintenance pack.

The best thing to do is to buy a good clay bar, polish & durable wax, you can then re-apply a layer every 4-7 months which will be ALOT cheaper.

Autoglym super resin polish
Bilt Hamber clay bar
Autoglym HD WAX

 

[Adrian09]

just checked and it is only £159, and is supposed to cover paint and fabric for 3 years
Salesman said A/Clark were cheapest for add ons extras amongst all dealerships. here is link

http://www.arnoldclark.com/servicing/complete-aftercare/supagard.html

here is holdall you get as well

http://www.arnoldclark.com/images/servicing/pdfs/82537_Supagard_C.Aftercare_23.12.9.pdf

All your doing is re applying a similiar paint sealant to the one the dealership will have applied. Where about are you based?

 

[GrandeGuy]

1st thing i do when i get a new car is take it home wash it then give it a good wax, with high carnauba content wax, (i use ZYMOL CREAME WAX).
Then next day straight round to my friends lift and waxoil the underneath.
I don't trust anyone else to do it,
i don't see the point in paying someone who doesn't care about the car using what could be any kinda wax.

Also don't let them fill you full of rubbish , even ZYMOL ATLANTIQUE GLAZE 8 oz need's reapplied every year, and that is £1,142 for 8oz!! Ahhhh

 

[davie150]

Aberdeen. to be honest I asked for peoples opinion on here, but I was leaning towards doing it myself anyway when I pick car up.I saw a clip from youtube which showed a guy claying a brand new car and wondered if I would have to do that myself?.
My 18 year old has got or 4 year old Grande and I think I will practise on that, as though it is nice and shiny and looks good, it feels like sandpaper when you rub your hand along bonnet

 

[Rawb]

Aberdeen. to be honest I asked for peoples opinion on here, but I was leaning towards doing it myself anyway when I pick car up.I saw a clip from youtube which showed a guy claying a brand new car and wondered if I would have to do that myself?.
My 18 year old has got or 4 year old Grande and I think I will practise on that, as though it is nice and shiny and looks good, it feels like sandpaper when you rub your hand along bonnet

Good idea that, practise on the grande... Although you can't really go far wrong with claying a car. It's therapeutic too.

Just get yourself some Dodo Wax/Autoglym HD wax and some nice polish and a clay bar and you can't go far wrong. - Polish and wax the alloy wheels with some poorboys wheel sealant or some Collinite.

 

[Venters]

They won't be charging for a valet. The car will be done anyway. The charge is just for the costly Supaguard treatment.

 

[davie150]

They won't be charging for a valet. The car will be done anyway. The charge is just for the costly Supaguard treatment.

Ok mind made up, I will polish and wax when i get it home.

I have read about polish and wax products, but what about the interior.What do you detailing enthusiasts use?

 

[Rawb]

Ok mind made up, I will polish and wax when i get it home.

I have read about polish and wax products, but what about the interior.What do you detailing enthusiasts use?

Make sure you tell the dealership NOT to clean it on arrival! If they do that then they'll make a semi blemish free car, covered in dirt and grind it into the paintwork.

Tell them you'll refuse the car if they clean it.

Best polish out there for hand use - Gtech P1 - I use it with a rotary and DA and it works a bloody treat. Read up about it.

Wax you can't go far wrong with HD wax, great protection, long lasting, beading is nice and tight and it does a good finish. I use Wolfs Nano Wrap (sealant) on light cars and Collinite on dark though.

Collinite - Best lasting wax I have seen so far, cheap as chips... Good to use on alloys as it's designed for boats and marine use. Good beading and lasts with no matter what you wash the car with!

As for interior. I can only recommend a wet vac with carpet detergent or Auto Glymn interior shampoo as that is all I have used, both work really well... get yourself some car mats if you haven't already.

Jeffs Prime is supposed to be really good on all the shiny bits in a cockpit of a car, works well on the exterior as a paint cleanser (after polishing but before waxing a car) - gets out all the little contaminants that claying and polishing don't touch and gives a nice base for the wax to lay on.

As for ordering things off the internet ;

These are the three people I would recommend as I have had the best service possible from each and everyone one.
http://www.cleanyourcar.co.uk/
http://www.i4detailing.co.uk/
http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/

Hope this helps in one way or another.

 

[schumraid]

I'd do it yourself, as has been said it'll be much cheaper an you can pay a little attention to detail where the dealer won't give a toss as long as they can say it's done.

I recently got bilthamber auto clay and collinite 476 on eBay for £23 and I can't recommend them enough. That with a decent shampoo and auto glym super resin polish and you can't really go wrong

I used auto glym hi foam interior shampoo recently and it did a good job at getting ground in crap out of the seats

 

[davie150]

I have bought bilthamber auto clay from ebay £11
my son has snow foam and good car wash solution and Autoglym SRP
I have bought supaguard pack from ebay with alloy protect, fabric protect spray can and foam sponge with wax sealant inside (for £11 )
I bought 2 buckets from poundland £2
15 microfibre cloths from Asda £5
I already have a brush for cleaning alloys and a can of foam alloy cleaner.
2 microfibre mitts from Asda £4

Grande Punto
I will foam, spray and clean alloys,leave 5 mins and rinse car
wash,
rinse
Clay
wash
dry
polish with SRP
spreasd sealnt from sponge
buff
spray alloy protection

 

[GrandeGuy]

I have bought bilthamber auto clay from ebay £11
my son has snow foam and good car wash solution and Autoglym SRP
I have bought supaguard pack from ebay with alloy protect, fabric protect spray can and foam sponge with wax sealant inside (for £11 )
I bought 2 buckets from poundland £2
15 microfibre cloths from Asda £5
I already have a brush for cleaning alloys and a can of foam alloy cleaner.
2 microfibre mitts from Asda £4

Grande Punto
I will foam, spray and clean alloys,leave 5 mins and rinse car
wash,
rinse
Clay
wash
dry
polish with SRP
spreasd sealnt from sponge
buff
spray alloy protection

So total saved £162!
Them Asda wash mits are fantastic!

 

[SamuraiDragon]

‪Costly Car Detailing *Crazy*‬‏ - YouTube

that sort of cost for a clean and it looked like he used a SPONGE!!!!!!!!!

please tell me im wrong!!!! lol

 

[davie150]

I had a practice om my motorbike whilst waiting for clay to arrive, and it looks really good.I pinched a bottle of plastic detail restorer stuff from sons supplies and was amazed how well it came up.Totally transforms the look of bike to be honest.

Now waiting for clay to arrive, and for rain to stop, half expecting Noahs bloody ark to sail past my front window the amount of rain we have had.

 

[davie150]

Clay arrived , went on Golf holiday, expecting new car waiting for me when I came back, but no joy, still on status 16