Disappointing valeting experiences?

Padraig Mor

Just wondering what sort of results people get with 'professional' valets? I bought a car privately recently in a dirty enough condition so rather than do her up myself I decided to let the professionals got at it - thinking that it'd be returned to me as close to new as possible. I was wrong. I went to Crystal Clean in the Grand Parade in Cork (they seem to be pretty much nationwide) and paid €180 for 'the works' - full interior and exterior valet and specialist body treatment.

The exterior was mostly OK, although they never buffed off some of the wax and they could have done a better job getting brake dust off the alloys. The interior though - different story. Now, don't get me wrong, it was certainly cleaned but I was very disappointed. Pretty much all of the scuff marks etc were still there, the (lacquered) dash was covered in water marks and there was sand on the handbrake gaiter! What took the biscuit though was that the carpets (not the removable mats) were soaking - and were still wet three days later! At this stage the car was stinking of damp so I complained to the company who, fair enough, offered to do the interior again. When I picked it up the carpets were again soaking but they told me to leave the engine going for 30 min after I got home to dry them. Load of crap - still damp and smelly three days later again! Reckoned there was no point bringing it back to them again and have only just managed to get rid of the smell. Also went at the steering wheel and control stalks yesterday and got out a load of ingrained (mostly pretty obvious) grime - they had obviously not even touched this area!

Is this normal or am I being picky?

whimsey

This is not the norm I would say. I had my micra done before
selling it. They did the full interior and the mats were a little
damp on collection but after maybe an hour they were fine
it was a warm day so that might have helped.

I am based in Dublin and the firm I used down cover cork
sorry.

Whimsey

Big Balls

Sounds crap...

Bring it to Dublin and get it done in one of their outlets (for free I might add!) or else pay to have it done at a main dealer in Cork, most will do outside work and generally do the work to a very high standard.

Eoin

I used www.callawash.com when I was selling my previous car, and they did a good job. I had actually never seen the car look so good from either the outside or the inside. Here are the pictures that were taken the day of the valet (car has since been traded in, so this isn't a plug for my car!).

The interior was very good as well, the plastics looked like new and all the upholstery was spotless. The seats were quite wet for the rest of the day, but dried out later that evening. I also paid €180 - quite a high price, but it would have taken me ages to get the car that clean. As it was, they had 2 guys working on it for about 3 hours.

Ernie Ball

Sounds like a crap valet.

I've found that, if you are willing and able to do the valeting yourself, you can get all of the products necessary for roughly the cost of a single valeting. My car looks a lot better after I'm done with it than it did after the €170 professional valeting I had done when I first bought it.

bringoutthegimp

So.. recommended list of products for a DIY valet inside and out?

Should have a sticky thread on it perhaps..?

Jip

Crystal Clear in the Royal Colege of Surgeons carpark in Dublin, I'll never go back. Had just purchased a car and also wanted to the full valet. When I got it back there were still stains on the seats that I had pointed out to them, the handles above the doors were still grubby as too was the driver side sun visor.
Was in a hurry to get to a wedding so didn't bother going back, I just bad mouth them to everyone instead, much more satisfying.

prospect

I use:

Always clean in the shade.

1. Wet down car
2. Wash with standard, wax free car shampoo and warm water and an ordinary car sponge
3. Rinse with hose (I don't use a pressure washer on the body work)
4. Chamois body work and windows
5. Pressure wash under the wheel arches.
6. Clean alloys with Turtle wax Alloy Wheel Cleaner & a Halfords Alloy wheel brush, (non-abrasive)
7. Wash off alloy wheel cleaner and wash tyres, then rinse
8. Turtle Wax, Wet'n'Black on the tyres. I spray onto a small brush, and then brush it directly onto the tyre. I find that the spray gets onto the alloys, and dirt and dust seems to be attracted to the splashes
9. Open all dors and clean in the recesses, and chamois dry
10. Aytoglym - Glass Cleaner, inside and out & lenses
11. Aytoglym wax & buff
12. Hoover all carpets, mats and seats
13. Wipe down dash & plastics with Halfords dashboard wipes.

Takes a couple of hours, but is worth it.

maidhc

Me, the cheapo:

Exterior:
1) Powerhose all the loose grit off until only a thin film of crap is left
2) Clean under the wheel arches
3) Sponge and turtlewax
4) Hose the suds off
5) Open the doors, clean around the frames

Interior:
1) Hoover
2) Warm water and suds, use a brush like the one you use for cleaning the spuds for the sticky bits and wipe dry with a cloth.
3) Using a vacuum cleaner that can suck up wet is a big help.

The_Magoo

You forgot:
6) Remove all loose change from under drivers seat.
(I found almost €10 under mine on Saturday!)

faigs

prospect wrote:

8. Turtle Wax, Wet'n'Black on the tyres. I spray onto a small brush, and then brush it directly onto the tyre. I find that the spray gets onto the alloys, and dirt and dust seems to be attracted to the splashes

I use Formula One Black Gold, expensive but it's good, and there's no oil in it so it won't leave a brown stain on your tyres when it dries. I have a cardboard cut out to cover my alloys so they dont get sprayed with it - I think spraying covers more evenly than brushing on.

Auto Glym Ultra Deep Shine is a great polish too:cool:

caesar

bringoutthegimp wrote:

So.. recommended list of products for a DIY valet inside and out?

Should have a sticky thread on it perhaps..?

I was just about to suggest something like this after cleaning my dads car a few days ago. I spent a good while on it and it came out alright, but I would like to know what it takes to perfect it, so a sticky would be a good idea. Does anyone else think so?

pburns

I was with a friend test-friving a s/h car recently & the valets had gone nuts with what smelled like 'Fabreeze' or similar. My sweater still stiks with the sickly, sweet pong...

Ernie Ball

I'm taking it to the next level.:eek:

What I intend to do later this month, after I get my Porter-Cable polisher:

1) Wash
2) Clay
3) Wash
4) Menzerna intensive polish
5) Menzerna final polish
6) two or three coats of Wolfgang Deep Gloss Sealant
7) two coats of P21s carnauba wax
8) Meguiar's Hot Tire shine on the tires.

I also intend to clean the engine bay.

You really shouldn't use most wheel cleaners on your alloys, by the way. Most of them contain acid of some kind or another and they are not good for the finish. I'd only use them if you find that you really can't get them clean any other way.

A lot of great information about DIY valeting here:

http://www.polishedbliss.co.uk/acatalog/guides.html

and here:

http://www.autopia.org/

and here:

http://www.autogeek.net/detailingtips.html

drdre

it sounds like you got ripped off, i get my car done every so often and it costs a fraction of that for a full valet as i know the guy who owns a valet company but he chargers 180 for a FULL valet inside, outside and every other little bit.
so you should have gone to someone proper