OV9

What is £4416 for a car wash and polish?

I’ve been asking for quotes for a track ppf and all over gtechniq coating for the F430, plus hydrophobic coatings for roof and interior and engine bay/wheel arch degrease/clean etc.

Apparently, there’s a 22 stage decontamination process plus a 3 stage paint correction procedure included.

Not sure whether to go ahead, but maybe Richard Tipper and his crazily priced wax would be a cheaper alternative!

IanF wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:02 pm What is £4416 for a car wash and polish?

I’ve been asking for quotes for a track ppf and all over gtechniq coating for the F430, plus hydrophobic coatings for roof and interior and engine bay/wheel arch degrease/clean etc.

Apparently, there’s a 22 stage decontamination process plus a 3 stage paint correction procedure included.

Not sure whether to go ahead, but maybe Richard Tipper and his crazily priced wax would be a cheaper alternative!

Stage 1: wash the car
Stage 2: wash the car again
Stage 3: wash the car again, again
...
...
...

How much does it cost to respray a Ferrari!?!

Seems bonkers to me, but it's your money and your choice.

That’s about 4 days work for one person if done properly and £400 in materials.
He’s using the Evo philosophy of a grand per day.

IanF wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:02 pm On the SD scale, what is £4416 for a car wash and polish?

Depends how long you're keeping it.


What percentage of the value of the car is ze w&p?

I guess I'm just as bad for having a £400 geometry job done on my Porsche!

Not sure how far away they are from you but speak to SL Restoration. They're a Porsche approved bodyshop but they do Gtechniq applications on anything and they did a fantastic job on mine.

That said - the Gtechniq stuff is not as hard as nails as its made out to be - mine has swirls etc. after 6+ months but the paint correction they did on it was worth it. I also expect it should stay in top condition on yours for an awful lot longer if you're washing it yourself and its garaged rather than parked on the street.

£4k sounds like whoever it is is taking the michael somewhat.

I can't even fathom that being any sort of value for money. 1k maybe, tops.

Go for it anyway - it's not my money

I don’t think Tipper does PPF

Including your own time getting to the garage etc, £5k seems like a lot, but if you’re keeping the car for a long time, I guess it prevents further issues??

It’s 5% of the value of the car, so maybe not *too* awful???

I’d be very much shopping around tho. It’ll probably be cheaper somewhere busier tho, who don’t have to custom cut the PPF, because they already have the stencils etc

An F430 is worth £100k?!

Mito Man wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:30 pm That’s about 4 days work for one person if done properly and £400 in materials.
He’s using the Evo philosophy of a grand per day.

Quite.

But it's a Ferrari so they can charge what they like even if the products and procedure are exactly the same as something more normal.

I'd imagine their insurance payments are pretty hefty though if they regularly work on exotics.

Marv wrote: Fri May 25, 2018 5:43 pm I guess I'm just as bad for having a £400 geometry job done on my Porsche!

We keep meaning to corner weight the lotus again. I’m not paying Neil £400 though. I might buy lunch and bring coffee.

I know it protects the paint etc and ergo maybe better for value longer term(?) but I've never really seen the point of mega money prep. A good wash, polish and wax and then get out there and enjoy it.

Very much depends on the state its in to start off with.

If its been mopped with an orbital polisher by a total ape at a dealership (i.e. a large percentage of cars bought second hand and some new cars) then the paint correction/pre-prep a top rate bodyshop does before applying a PPF or coating, makes a huge difference.

Most places offering a cheap wash and polish are going to do a very compromised job and, potentially, leave it worse off than it was before bar a superficial gloss that wears off after a couple of washes.

I'd say circa £1,000 for a prestige car that's looking sorry for itself is a reasonable investment.

Here’s my actual thoughts after years of doing this shit...
A single stage polish and wax/coating will get you 95% of the results, and near enough perfection especially when viewed under sunlight. You may have the odd panel which has been resprayed which may need more work specifically but generally a single stage will suffice.

To do a 3 stage correction means you’re cutting quite aggressively in order to have to do a second stage to remove the marring and then a third stage to refine the finish. Do you really want to remove that much clear in order to achieve a “full” correction which will only be visible under the specific colour spectrum and directional light of a LED torch? Secondly how long do you think that full correction will last on areas which don’t have the PPF? Italian paint is notoriously soft, if fact with most paints after you’ve fully corrected them just the action of wiping away the polish reside with a microfibre causes tiny swirls.

It’s better to have a single stage polish every 3 or 4 years and keep the paint topped up with a wax or sealant rather than the alternative of a 3 stage because the finish with the latter will last just as long but the paint may only be able to take it twice before it’s too thin and requires a respray.