DEEP RANDOM SCRATCHES MINOR SCUFFS THE DAMAGE T-CUT CAN DO UV OXIDATION
HOW HAVE THESE DEFECTS BEEN CAUSED?
Whilst even the most careful car care techniques can, overtime, cause minor defects. The most obvious defects will have most likely been caused by;
- Poor wash technique; using drive through car washes or using the brushes at the garage and even washing your car with a sponge, drying with chamois leathers and using stockinet polishing cloths can do all sorts of damage.
- Not protecting paintwork with a good sealant or wax allows bird droppings, bug splatter and lime scale to instantly start burning your paintwork. Whilst even the suns UV rays can, overtime, severely oxidise and fade un-protected paintwork.
- Incorrect machine polishing and sometimes even hand polishing can also do more harm than good.
- Other causes might also include; driving too close to hedges on country lanes and even using old car covers can severely scratch your paintwork.
IS IT WORTH REPAIRING THESE DEFECTS?
If we are just talking about your satisfaction as an owner then it's a matter of opinion, some people are totally satisfied with the results of a hand polish, whilst others demand absolute flawless perfection. However if we were to look at it from a residual value point of view; then in most cases yes! It is estimated that poor paintwork alone can de-value most vehicles by up to 10%.
I WOULD LIKE TO HAVE THIS DONE, BUT WHY SHOULD I USE YOU AND NOT ANOTHER VALETING COMPANY THAT CHARGES A LOT LESS?
Many valeting companies will claim to be able to machine polish and advertise 'cut-polish' services from as little as £60. At first you may be fooled into thinking this is a great deal, however in reality their equipment, knowledge and experience falls far short of their claims, as shown in the above pictures, holograms and micro marring are both often the results of this apparent 'expertise'!
Below is a list of basic questions we believe you should ask anyone (including us) before you let them begin correcting your paintwork;
- How long have you been machine polishing and have you undergone any kind of training?
- What kind of equipment are you using?
- Do you check the depth of the paint before you begin polishing?
- How thick is the paint on my car, and how much will you be removing?
How we would answer these questions;
- As a professional detailing company, the majority of our work involves paintwork correction. All our staff have been trained to the highest industry standards (certificates available on request) and have a great deal of experience correcting all types of paintwork defects.
- We use rotary polishers to correct paintwork and sometimes duel action polishers for finishing stages and applying sealants. You should steer clear of anyone not using a rotary polisher to correct paintwork as duel orbital polishers are used to train beginners, and whilst duel action polishers can correct most defects, they take much longer to do this. The only reason a professional would use a duel action polisher for correction is because it's 'safer' and they more than likely don't have the confidence or experience to use a rotary correctly, otherwise they would.
- Yes we use a paint depth gauge (PDG) to measure the total thickness of your paintwork. From this we can then determine how much of this is lacquer or top coat and how much is base coat and colour coat. Not using a PDG is reckless and can lead to strikethrough; this happens when all the lacquer or top coat has been removed revealing the colour coat, primer or even the bodywork beneath, the only way of correcting this is with a costly re-spray.
- Most paint is 120 - 160 microns thick and of this normally one third is top coat or lacquer (1 micron = 1/1000th of a millimetre). We would typically remove just 2-4 microns during 'normal correction' however removing severe defects may require removing up to 10 or even 15 microns at most. Anyone who gives figures much different from this should raise suspicions.
WHAT OUR CUSTOMERS HAVE TO SAY;
"I recently had my BMW trashed by a crow. It could obviously see its reflection in the paintwork and trashed every panel, leaving literally hundreds of scratches! I contacted a number of other valeting companies and none were confident in being able to make much of an improvement. John came to look at my car and certainly seemed to know his stuff so I booked him in to do the job. Because of the extent of the damage it took John a whole day, but the results were outstanding! Every scratch came out and the car was polished to a better than showroom finish. He even polished the wheels and dressed my tyres to add that final touch of excellence. I'm not easily impressed but i will certainly be using John's services in the future.
Tim Lamb, Plant Manager, Parker Pen Company, Newhaven
WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT STAGES OF CORRECTION?
There are 4 stages of correction;
- 1 Stage correction involves using a one stage product, giving a mild cut action when used on a light polishing pad to remove minor defects such as holograms and light swirls, when worked properly the polish then breaks down to become a finishing polish, this will remove any micro marring the initial cut might have caused.
BEFORE AND AFTER, ONE STAGE CORRECTION
- 2 Stage correction involves using two different polishes; the first has a medium cut action to remove more severe defects such as swirl marks and severe oxidation, but unfortunately it does leave behind minor defects of its own called micro marring. This is then removed with the second stage, where a finishing polish is used to remove the micro marring and refine the finish.
50/50 - 2 STAGE CORRECTION
- 3 or 4 Stage correction involves wet sanding and/ or compounding the paintwork using extremely fine 2000 - 3000 grit wet sanding sheets to flatten the paintwork and either heavy cut foam pads or lambswool pads to apply a heavy cut compound. This level of correction will remove severe defects such as severe swirl marks, random deep scratches and acid etching. This is then followed by the 2 stage correction above.
BEFORE, DURING AND AFTER WET SANDING AND COMPOUNDING DURING 4 STAGE CORRECTION
HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?
Single stage paintwork correction is available as part of our minor correction detail from as little as £375, however 1 and 2 stage paintwork correction may also be added to any of our valeting services. Unfortunately we can't give a fixed price for this service without assessing the car in person however using the table below will give you a good idea of what to expect;
| SMALL | MEDIUM | LARGE | 4X4 & MPV |
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| 1 STAGE | £150 | £200 | £250 | £300 |
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| 2 STAGE | £225 | £300 | £375 | £450 |
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Because 3 or 4 stage correction is very time consuming, sometimes taking a full 2-3 days to complete. It often makes more sense to finish the car properly with one of our detailing treatments. Our major correction detail starts from just £595.
IF YOU THINK THIS SERVICE MAY BE SUITABLE FOR YOU WHY NOT ARRANGE A COMPLEATLY FREE, NO OBLIGATION, ASSESMENT OF YOUR VEHICLE ALLOWING US TO EVALUATE YOUR PAINTWORK AND DETERMINE THE LEVEL OF CORRECTION REQUIRED. THIS WILL TAKE APROXIMATLY 30 MINUITS AND ALLOW US TO GIVE A MORE ACCURATE PRICE. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO MAKE A BOOKING.