[Paniolo]

I'ved kept a file on all the wonderul guidance I receive about my new 2006 Murano black SL. I'ved gone on "Mother's forum" to get helpful guidance on how to clean/wax/polish my MO. I don't mind hard work to keep my MO in beauty shape.

But is it okay to go out to one of the local detailing services and have it done there? Are their any warnings or precautions about going this route?

If I do go this route, some of the detailing service have all kind of options with the price that goes with it. What should I ask for?

 

[nissanlove]

from personal experience(used to work at a detail shop) it's much cheaper to detail your car yourself. plus you'll have some one on one time with your wonderful machine.

 

[hfelknor]

MOST detailing services are a bust.
They generally have high school boys working there that could not explain paint formulation if their life depended on it.
Best way to get swirls is to take your car to a "detailer".



Of course, there ARE exceptions.
Maybe there is a shop in your town that has a great reputation?
Watch where the Vettes, Vipers and Porche' go.

A GOOD detailing shop ain't cheap and a cheap detail shop is VERY expensive.

Homer

 

[njjoe]

A GOOD detailing shop ain't cheap and a cheap detail shop is VERY expensive.

Homer

That about sums it up. :29:

-njjoe

 

[mgthe3]

what Homer said....

 

[Nissmo]

what Homer said....

If I can't do, nobody will. I am too cheap.

 

[nissanlove]

homer i was one of those highschool boys haha. only i knew my stuff and i worked at a very reputable detail shop.

 

[Paniolo]

Paint Selant - Do I need it?

Thanks Homer. . . I really like your advise.

I called a local "detailing company" with a big ad in the yellow page and was told my new 2006 Murano SL will need a "paint selant" along with detailing my car.

At a whopping $500.00 they will paint seal my MO and throw in the detailing. Do I need a paint selant? They tell me the selant protects my paint from bird droppings.

 

[Mr3Putt]

Re: Paint Selant - Do I need it?

At a whopping $500.00 they will paint seal my MO and throw in the detailing. Do I need a paint selant? They tell me the selant protects my paint from bird droppings.

Like Jerry Lundegaard said: "Oh, they put that sealant on at the factory"

 

[rtking]

NO. They're trying to earn money from you. Paint sealant doesn't do a thing.

Actually, you need to see your paint as a living thing. It needs to breath. You don't want to seal-up the pores in the paint. You want the paint to breath. That's why claybar is good for your paint... it pulls a lot of those impurities out of the paint and opens up the pores (and makes your paint glass smooth.)

There are excellent detail places, but you'll pay for them. In Los Angeles, I like Steve's Detailing in Woodland Hills. They do a fantastic job. Wash, claybar and wax is about $110. I usually try to do my own detailing but that can take me 3 - 4 hours on the MO (I go slowly and make sure i get to everything) but when I don't have the time, a reputable detail show works fine.

Bob

 

[hfelknor]

I'm not a fan of paint sealants.

I do what I've always done, I use Zaino.

It costs less $100 to buy the whole system (Good for many applications).
I first got the Zaino while owning a 35th aniversary Special Corvette and have been using it ever since.

You start with claybarring (Which is easy), even on a new car
Then just follow the instructions on the site
www.zainostore.com/

It is like a religion.
Many competitors.
But IMO and experience, Zaino wins more car shows than any product. I myself won the concours de' elegance in Ft Pierce FL with a Miata and 5 coats of Zaino in 2000.
Zaino outlasts Carnauba wax many times over and does a decent job of resisting bird droppings. (You still need to remove the droppings as soon as possible. Bird droppings is just about pure acid.)
Zaino is a polymer, Like your "Paint".
It literally bonds to the "paint".

The big guys in the biz, like PPG and Dupont, don't even call it paint anymore. They refer to a car "coating".
It doesn't have "natural" ingredients anymore like house paint, it is all chemical now.


But it is an unwritten rule that a detail shop won't use many commercially available products. They wouldn't want you to watch them and duplicate their efforts basically for free!
So they use stuff like rejex, etc

Anyway, Zaino is the choice of the DIYers for Porsche, Vipers, Vettes, miatas, etc.


Remember a fine detailing is a LOT more than just the "paint".
Of course most offer various levels of detailing.
At the top level, if they don't remove your wheels, they ain't trying.

If you want to DIY, go to
www.gurureports.org/
and order their car wax report.
These guys tested just about all the products and give a fair unbiased report on all of them.
The report is cheap too.

If you still want a detailer, try to find out where and when the local Porsche club meets and drop by and ask them who they use.

The yellow pages is not where you find a quality detailer, tho you could use it to get the address I suppose. Then drop by to see their work.
But the odds are against you.
I would guess that 90% of the detail shops out there swirl somebody's paint every day. And 90% of them don't pull wheels or treat weatherstrips (With something other than oil products)

Homer

 

[njjoe]

Re: Paint Selant - Do I need it?

Thanks Homer. . . I really like your advise.

I called a local "detailing company" with a big ad in the yellow page and was told my new 2006 Murano SL will need a "paint selant" along with detailing my car.

At a whopping $500.00 they will paint seal my MO and throw in the detailing. Do I need a paint selant? They tell me the selant protects my paint from bird droppings.

A lot of people believe the bigger the ad in the yellow pages, the better the company must be. I am one who believes that if you are very good at your trade, you need very little advertising.

Actions speak louder than words.... As you are driving around keep an eye out for any cars that stand out in a crowd. Look for cars that have that mile-deep shine. Then ask the driver how he does it. Most guys will be more than happy to explain how they care for their cars. Ask around and see who does the best work. Then visit the shops and check out how they are detailing the other cars. It's a lot better than randomly picking a name from the yellow pages.

-njjoe

 

[nissanlove]

bummer all the guru reports are sold out.

 

[9231]

DON'T DO IT (use a "professional" detailer, that is). I used the one in the commercial garage at my office. Its not a high school kid - its supposed to be a professional. While the car looked good at first, it was only several days later that I noticed he used a machine buffer. How did I notice? Well, he wasn't very careful and he managed to buff the shine right out of the trim on the lower edges of the window sills. Its normally a hard shiny black surface. Mine is dull in the middle. He obviously used a hand buffer. Should have complained, but it was someting only I noticed after several days and didn't feel like fighting over it. No one but me has noticed and if it really starts to bug me, I'll brush some clear coat over it.

Bottom line - No detailer will ever car about your car like you will!

 

[zebelkhan]

...Bottom line - No detailer will ever car about your car like you will!

Unless he is "nissanlove".....:2:

 

[GMTURBO43]

Bottom line - No detailer will ever care about your car like you will!

I agree with this statement - although there are some people that don't have the time/ability/skill/patience to detail a car.

I laugh at these 30 minute detailings offered by some of the car wash chains. It takes me 30 minutes to wash and dry the car.

Here's my thoughts. Do it yourself. As long as you use quality products and stay away from machines (buffers) there isn't any damage you can do that can't be undone

Use halogen or fluorescent lighting - it makes it sooo much easier to see the flaws (sometimes this can be painful - beer helps the pain). I have a little handheld halogen shop light I carry around with me and set on the floor.

There isn't a need for rubbing compounds in most situations - especially on newer cars.

I'm a fan of McGuire's and 3M products (3M is becoming my favorite). I've never used Zaino but have heard great things from anyone I've talked to.

A detail shop is going to do more than wax. I think everyone has a different thought on 'detailing'. There is a guy in Chicago offering detailing classes. I'm planning on going to one - just to see if I can pick up a tip or two.

 

[nissanlove]

we never used a buffer unless we were deoxing the surface of the paint. and then we would use only the porter cable orbital buffer which could not burn the paint or make swirls. there also were only 2 people trained to use the power polisher(i was in training ) and those two were the only ones polishing cars. other than that, everything was done by hand. waxing, washing etc. one day i had a black '99 navigator that was filthy, it took me the whole shift to do the entire package(vacuum, steam clean, wash, deox, wax, and all the other small things) while in comparison it took 3 guys the same amount of time to do a suzuki grand vitara. it was a good day haha. but honestly, unless you have connections at the detail shop don't bother because everything is over priced. remember- one on one time with the mo- it's a good thing.