New cayman detail - Page 2 - Boxster/Cayman - PistonHeads UK

Help! Trying to decide whether to get new car detailed or not. My main thing is to get some protection on there without letting dealer put a load of swirls on it. BTW, I know there are loads of detailing threads but I've searched and can't find the answers I need. First, what are thoughts re: machine polishing. i accept this may remove transport / dealer swirls, but surely you're just reducing the life of the paintwork, as you are removing material, and will need doing a few times in lifetime of car? My preference would be to have a deep clean, decontaminate, clay etc. then seal. I'm guessing on a full detail with machine polish would be needed after a couple of years anyway. Any warranty issues having new car polished? (Ignoring the fact new car SHOULD be perfect anyway....) 2. How effective is getting wheels waxed/sealed? Concerned about brake dust even though it won't show so much on satin platinum, will this make it easier to remove and less damaging? 3. I think the Cayman has water repellant treatment on windows, would this have to be reapplied or would it not be affected? Presume a proper clean and decontam will strip it off? 4. I'd rather have it detailed at dealer (by private detailer) so I can just pick it up and there not be any issues about taking it offsite first. Is this wise or should I just get over it and let someone take my brand new car to a mystery lockup? Thanks for any advice

http://divine-automotive.co.uk/ Tjob on here. I'd send it there.

When my 981 Spyder lands in May to the OPC I'll instruct OPC not to get their 'odd job' person to wash & wax the car. I shall take it to be detailed by a Gtechniq certified detailer. Had this done on my current 997 & have been very impressed. A year down the line & water still beads very well, the paint still feels silky smooth, the glass clears very quickly from moisture & inside hardly needs a clean as no dust settles. I had the Gtechniq platinum products applied. You get a five year guarantee & £100 of Gtechniq products to help maintain your P & J.

I'm picking up a CGTS in a couple of months and have been going through the same thoughts. I've decided to go with a Gtechniq Crystal Serum detail followed by paint protection film on the front bumper and side skirts. I'm not sure I want to pick up a new car that is dirty, so I'm going to let the dealer clean it and then drive it straight to the detailer. All in its costing about £1500, I'm based in the south.

I'm picking up a CGTS in a couple of months and have been going through the same thoughts. I've decided to go with a Gtechniq Crystal Serum detail followed by paint protection film on the front bumper and side skirts. I'm not sure I want to pick up a new car that is dirty, so I'm going to let the dealer clean it and then drive it straight to the detailer. All in its costing about £1500, I'm based in the south.

Dreds said: I'm picking up a CGTS in a couple of months and have been going through the same thoughts. I've decided to go with a Gtechniq Crystal Serum detail followed by paint protection film on the front bumper and side skirts. I'm not sure I want to pick up a new car that is dirty, so I'm going to let the dealer clean it and then drive it straight to the detailer. All in its costing about £1500, I'm based in the south. Their Crystal Serum is a step up from their platinum & offers even better gloss & protection. Only thing I would say is dealer could introduce scratches etc. I would only let a professional detailer near it. But as you say it would be nice to collect your car gleaming. If your Gtechniq detailer is near the OPC you could get the OPC to deliver it to the detailer so its all ready for when you collect. My OPC was happy to do that but would charge; so in the end I decided to collect the car 'as is' & drive it myself to the detailer.

I've been going through similar thoughts as the OP. My car will be living outside so I've decided not to bother with detailing from new. I'm going to use and enjoy the car for a year or two then have it detailed as a 'spruce up'.

My Cayman is 2 in May and the paintwork is very shiny and smooth. It was a Porsche GB head office car for the first 6 months of its life and had a total body treatment, can't recall which but one of the commercial ones, so this may have helped. The 20" Carrera S wheels do tend to chip away at the edges of the rear wheel arches and there are a few chips around the side intakes so these may be areas you'd want to protect. My wheels are Platinum too and these are what you should concentrate on as EVERY leading edge of every spoke on every wheel is suffering from multiple tiny paint chips at 13k miles. This may be to do with brake dust or poor paint application. Mine will need to be refinished to make good. I'll get Chris at Exel to sort them. How you'd go about protecting them I've no idea.

Sounds like Gtechniq popular, but £1,500 seems a lot for 2 days work. (Better value than what dealers charge but wouldn't pay more than £50 for that anyway) Twinfan, one reason I want some protection on there is for it being parked outside at work. Think we must have something like eagles in the trees the amount of crud that appears! Would think it would be even more worthwhile for a car that lives outside? DJMC, shame you don't know what they used, be good if they all used the same but each dealer seems to have their own arrangement to rip you off for a coat of wax. Chips I'll just have to live with and get bumper resprayed when necessary. Ta all,

zebra_3 said: Twinfan, one reason I want some protection on there is for it being parked outside at work. Think we must have something like eagles in the trees the amount of crud that appears! Would think it would be even more worthwhile for a car that lives outside? Maybe, but £500+ for a polish and specialist wax on a new car seems a lot. I don't want the paint/lacquer thickness reducing from new just so it shines it bit more in the (non-existent in the UK) sun!

Twinfan said: Maybe, but £500+ for a polish and specialist wax on a new car seems a lot. I don't want the paint/lacquer thickness reducing from new just so it shines it bit more in the (non-existent in the UK) sun! If your car is new and only has dealer induced swirls I doubt even a paint depth gauge will register a reduction in top coat from a polish. I have done Wet sanding on very nasty defects then heavy compound followed by light polish and it reduced the area by 12 microns. I had 175+ microns in that area.

zebra_3 said: Sounds like Gtechniq popular, but £1,500 seems a lot for 2 days work. (Better value than what dealers charge but wouldn't pay more than £50 for that anyway) The £1500 is probably for the PPF. My Gtechniq platinum on my 997 cost £400 as dealer had a deal on at the time to promote gtechniq. Expect to pay £500+ for the platinum; which includes exterior paint, glass, wheels, interior + £100 of gtechniq products to help maintain your P & J. For their Crystal Serum expect to pay £700-900 & takes four days. It is well worth it. PPF is the costly option. Edited by Andrew911 on Thursday 25th February 09:11

The detail is costing £795, this includes Gtechniq Crystal Serum, 2 coats of EXO, wheels off and coated with C5, glass and internals coated. The PPF for the bumper and skirts is £700. This may seem quite a bundle on top of what is an expensive purchase anyway, but I would like it stay looking new for as long as possible. I've never had PPF before but then again I've never spent this amount of money on a car before.

Dreds said: The detail is costing £795, this includes Gtechniq Crystal Serum, 2 coats of EXO, wheels off and coated with C5, glass and internals coated. The PPF for the bumper and skirts is £700. This may seem quite a bundle on top of what is an expensive purchase anyway, but I would like it stay looking new for as long as possible. I've never had PPF before but then again I've never spent this amount of money on a car before. Let us not forget the labour element in that price.

What's the life of PPF? I've never had it but I'd worry that it would start to come away at an edge somewhere and then get progressively worse. At the end of the day it's a plastic film that adheres to the paint surface, but my understanding is there's no actual glue so what's to stop it "peeling" however well applied? Also, stone chips in paint can be touched up fairly well but what happens with a stone impact to PPF? Does it show no mark at all, which would be miraculous, or does it still show signs of impact such as cuts, grazes, hazing, etc? Anyone have long-term experience? By long term I mean, in order to satisfy the OP's requirement of a long lasting finish, 10 years+. Or hasn't PPF been around that long?

Here's mine with G Tech and PPF

[Image-only or quote-only post; no author-written text.] http://thumbsnap.com/sc/rTw5FRAL.jpg

Both front wings, full bonnet, front bumper, door mirrors, side sills up and over rear air intakes, windscreen surround, my PPF was Suntek. Its all down to the person who installs it at the end, cant comment on long Gevity as its only been on seven weeks. As yet not a mark on the front anywhere so seems to be doing its job. Previous Cayman after four years of ownership had a lot of road rash and a few stone chips on the bonnet and A pillars which used to annoy me greatly when I cleaned and polished the car and stood back to admire. Each to his own and all that

Various paint defects which needed sorting before G Tech or PPF could be applied

Just a few LOL

stebbo said: If your car is new and only has dealer induced swirls I doubt even a paint depth gauge will register a reduction in top coat from a polish. I have done Wet sanding on very nasty defects then heavy compound followed by light polish and it reduced the area by 12 microns. I had 175+ microns in that area. Thanks, this was one of my concerns, as obviously each polish will remove a little. Wasn't sure if this would really be an issue over life of car or not, hence why I was considering just getting wax/sealant without "correction", whic could be done ( and would need doing) at a later date anyway. Not going down PPF route, will put £700+ towards bumper respray when needed. Tyrell, best colour IMHO, that paint defect looks pretty bad for a new car, is it just marks from transport protection or worse than that? Has anyone succesfully got a dealer to pay for paint correction in such circumstances? This is anither reason i'd like someone to detail it at dealer so they can raise any issues.

Yes it was from the transportation protection film, there were some other marks that my detailer managed to machine polish out, the dealer did have the car detailed for me, but he new that I was taking it to have the G Tech sealant and PPF put on a week later so just put a layer of Swiss Wax that lasted a week before it was removed. OPC's just do not have the facilities to detail the cars properly, my OPC's cleaning bay has worse strip lights than my garage at home, their wash bay also housed the mechanics locker room and lots of junk like most garages, their cleaning staff are contract workers on £40/50 per day as ever in life you get what you pay fore.

Dreds said: I'm picking up a CGTS in a couple of months and have been going through the same thoughts. I've decided to go with a Gtechniq Crystal Serum detail followed by paint protection film on the front bumper and side skirts. I'm not sure I want to pick up a new car that is dirty, so I'm going to let the dealer clean it and then drive it straight to the detailer. All in its costing about £1500, I'm based in the south. Dreds. Can I ask which detailer you are using? My local Gtechniq detailer wants a whole lot more than your £795 to do my Boxster. I am in the South too, just not as West as you.

I'm going to be using Justin at http://www.exclusivecarcare.co.uk. I think Tyrrell used him as well. Nothing but good reports and he's based in Hilperton.

If you are in West Yorkshire you are lucky you have Tony at Autoshine in Upton I take all my stuff there trade and personal.

Dreds said: I'm going to be using Justin at http://www.exclusivecarcare.co.uk. I think Tyrrell used him as well. Nothing but good reports and he's based in Hilperton. Many thanks.