Had my 996 detailed yesterday

Had my car detailed yesterday by Tom at Divine. It took him 9 hours so obviously a long time. I am informed that a full correction would have taken even longer. WOW! Car was clean(ish) before albeit with some swirls, but miles better now and his work is therefore recommended. Here are just a few pics: Left side treated, right side was worked on afterwards. A 50/50 shot to show the difference: Full write-up with more pictures here: http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=163603 Hope you like them!

9 hours! I love the 50/50 shot, it shows what a difference it's made. Lovely motor. But... your wheels... dude. I love your wheels. What are they? Where'd you get them from? Did you get them painted to match? Details man, I need details!

Looks the mutz nutz mate!! I did mine last year as I'm a bit of a detailing freak. Car was garaged and after every stage placed under a soft cover. Unfortunately this meant I spent any spare time of an evening in there for just under 2 weeks, lol. Going for a good correction takes soooooooo much time. Enjoy mate Jim edited to correct spelling etc as misses put me off whilst typing. Who said blokes can't do 2 things at once, lol.

Thanks guys. Yeah, car looked good before but under artificial light you could see some swirls, a lot of which have gone. Storm, glad you like the wheels. They are original Porsche wheels but powedercoated by a place in Manchester. I can give you the details if you need them. Turnaround was two days and they came out looking great. I was gonna get a different style of wheel but like the OEM twists and thought a colour change was the way to go.

Wow, have to say the car looks great.... Could you answer a couple of questions as I'd never heard of detailing before I'd bought my C2 (I drive a company car which goes through the carwash once or twice a month if it's lucky) Is it just the ouside that's detailed or do/can you get the interior done as well? If the interior is done what do they do and at what cost? Once the car has been detailed what work is needed to keep it in this condition? Is it case of just giving it a quick wash on a weekly basis or do you need to wash/polish etc on a regular basis as I'm a driver not a pamperer?

Thanks for the positive comment, Gogg. In terms of driving vs cleaning, both are important to me but I'd choose the former every time. Driving is far more fun... If my car was a Nissan Micra, I'd never bother to clean it at all but you can't have a nice car like a Porsche and not have it clean. It just doesn't feel right. OK, onto your questions: yes, a detailer can also work inside as well. The guy who did mine spent the majority of his time outside (as requested) but left the inside clean and very nice. I think if I had paid for a full detail, it would have taken an extra day or two and the car would have ended up better than it had after coming out of the factory. A bit of advice is to look on a website like "detailing world" which is where these cleaning nutters hang out. I presume an interior detail would involve things like little paintbrushes in every nook and cranny; obsessive compulsive stuff! In terms of cleaning the car, a fiver can get you a drive through job, but it is just a quick wash and the guys don't know what they are doing... A detail, though far more expensive, is an investment in that it treats the paintwork and makes future cleaning easier and the results better. Mine already has a small film of road dust gathering on it, though I know it will clean up smart again with a smiple clean and dry. I was given a shopping list from the guy which I can easily pass onto you if you wish. I could even send you his contact details; unsure as to whether admin frown on this kind of thing, though I am merely passing on recommendations as oppose to advertising. I am no expert on car cleaning, but I can give you a few tips: 1) Rinse the car first. Essential. 2) Use a two bucket method (one additional bucket to clean the mitt/sponge) 3) Use a good chamois to dry or a drying towel to make it streak free. You could stop there. However, if you want to do a one-off whole day on it. I would then: 4) Claybar the car, using a lubricating quick detailer. This makes the surface smooth like glass. You can get it online or stuff at Halfrauds. Google it if you don't know what I am on about. It is recommended to prep the paintwork and get rid of tar, grime etc. 5) Use a polish 6) Use a decent wax. I have always use Meguiars or Zymol, but I have been told to opt for stuff by Dodo Juice. 7) Use a good microfibre and finishing cloth. 8 ) Make sure the wheels are left looking mint. This finishes the whole look of the car. Consider using a wheel sealant which stops further damage from brake dust by forming a protectve barrier. I would also make sure your tyres are left black. Muddy or white looking tyres can ruin the look of any vehicle. Following a wax, you will see 'beading' when it rains which shows the wax is still on the car. After a couple of months, this will stop to happen, so wax again. You don't have to wax every time. Just clean and dry it. If you want to do more than just wash and dry, inbetween waxing, I always use a quick detailer. It's like a wax but a spray on stuff which gives the car a shine. It costs about a tenner for a bottle which last ages and doing the whole car takes about ten minutes. My neighbour just asked me before about keeping his car clean. He had just washed it so I spent about five minutes and did half his car with it. He was so impressed he went to buy some. Meguiars do a quick detailer but I have read some really (REALLY) good reviews about some stuff called red Mist by Dodo Juice. I have ordered some stuff and could report back once it is delivered and tested if you are interested. A friend said it made his Clio 182 look glossy and gave it a shiny and wet look. Rinse, clean, dry and quick detailer spray would take an hour or so and this once a fortnight and a wax every quarter is what I would do. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the detailed reply NotB. Sounds like you really know your stuff but I think you'd better stay out of North Wales in case you happen to see my dirty midnight blue beast some time as I certainly won't be going to this length in keeping it clean........ much to be said about the "just rallied look". :grin: Thanks again and happy cleaning, washing, polishing etc..........

I don't know my stuff; that's just the basics. There are some real car OCD cleaners out there. If you listen to nothing else, I would definitely invest in some of the Speed/Quick detailer by Meguiars. Quicker than waxing and gives good results. On the topic of Wales, you couldn't recommend any good driving roads could you?

One of the best roads you will ever get is the loop from Bala to Trawsfynydd then down to Dolgellau and back to Bala. It's about about 40 miles in total with the 15ish miles from Bala to Traws being the best drive I've ever had. It's even better now that the Mad Ayotolla of speed (Richard Brunstrum) is no longer the head of police here in North Wales. Give it a try one day, I promise you won't be dissapointed.

Ah, they're the turbo twists? They look great in that colour. Did you get them to colour match your paint, or is that just one of their standard 'titanium' type colours? If you could pass their details on then that would be great!

Cheers Gogg. Will look into it. Storm, they can colour match but I opted for one of their set colours. The colour is called Smoked Chrome. The place is called the wheel specialist in Manchester and the number is 0161-231-8337. You can either drop the wheels off or for a surcharge have the car in. Total cost for me in this colour was £331.35 Inc vat which was for all four wheels, balancing, disposal of old tyres, centre caps done, chrome valves etc. They did a good job. Edited to add that this price was to have the car in.