good car valet service Romford or essex area?

[psykik]

My 57 reg spaceship is only 6 months old. Due to laziness and weekly dependence of a carwash service, the bonnet has been damaged to the point of pics shown in

Stone chip damage or have i been Keyed?

My idea now is

1) Not to be so lazy and learn the art of detailing.
2) Never use a carwash again (fear of misuse of water jet, or zipped jackets/jeans being brushed against bonnet)
3) Get a proper valet service done which includes machine polishing the car to remove the swirl marks - dont trust myself, i'd rarther pay someone reliable to do a complete de-swirling and valeting job then focus on maintaining it.
3a) To somehow get the scratches from bonnet removed (either honda approved bonnet respray or chipsaway - as yet undecided)
4) To maintain the achieved shine of 3 thereafter by good ol elbow grease using methods gleaned from members of this forum and Polished Bliss - Car Care Products - Car Care Advice - Detailing Services (thanks to Robbo and ST)

If anyone has any reccomendation for a good valet service not too far from Romford or Essex, pls let me know.

Thanks

[uncler]

Have a word with James from Auto Finesse. I used them after I made a right mess of my Civic and he managed to get all the scratches out by machine polishing (and gave a tutorial on how to car wash reasonably by yourself). They're located not too far from the M25/M11 junction, so should be ok for you to get too...

Auto Finesse VS New Civic Type R - Detailing World

Auto Finesse - Home

[alanwalne]

You could:

1) Leave it dirty, the sctatches and swirls will soon be covered under Essex soot. (My current option).

2) I have learnt, if you are not going to clean in a vacuum, and not DIY have it cleaned monthly rather than weekly.

3) If it is going to be cleaned by an unknown third party weekly, ensure it has a thick protective polish to preserve the car.

4) There is a hand car wash on Pipps Hill Ind Est in Basildon that do a pretty good job for about a tenner (inside and out), but stop them before they get to the instrument panel or before they 'gloss' the tyres. They clean a lot more expensive metal than mine, generally a good sign!!


That is me 'outed'!!!!

[psykik]

uncler - will look em up, thanks!

Alan haha @ essex soot!! think i prefer Uncler's idea, makes sense to DIY clean and detail after a good "polish"

Any more suggestions?

[alanwalne]

My family commitments (and perhaps lazyness) stop the weekly detailing (what ever that is) so that is why my spaceship is currently limited to a quick clean weekly/fortnightly (mainly because if you leave it any longer, the Honda wheels never come clean), I do try and DIY however.

PS When does cleaning become detailing??

[psykik]

alan, my lplates are on. All i understand about detailing so far is it takes far more elbow grease than just cleaning and multiple products...im looking here www.polishedbliss.com

[robbo51]

Originally Posted by alanwalne

You could:

1) Leave it dirty, the sctatches and swirls will soon be covered under Essex soot. (My current option).

2) I have learnt, if you are not going to clean in a vacuum, and not DIY have it cleaned monthly rather than weekly.

3) If it is going to be cleaned by an unknown third party weekly, ensure it has a thick protective polish to preserve the car.

4) There is a hand car wash on Pipps Hill Ind Est in Basildon that do a pretty good job for about a tenner (inside and out), but stop them before they get to the instrument panel or before they 'gloss' the tyres. They clean a lot more expensive metal than mine, generally a good sign!!


That is me 'outed'!!!!

As I said to you Psykik, get it repaired, swirls and all and then keep up to it weekly. NOT MONTHLY..LOL
However, a protective film of wax is essential not polish, thats for paint repairing and contaminant removal.
DONT go to a hand wash place, their sponges and leathers are full of grit.
Good luck with the valet.
Then wash it weekly with a Ph Neutral car wash like Meguirars NXT and wax it every 6 weeks or so with a good wax, I use Collinite 917
Looking forward to the before and after pictures already.

[andyrochford]

Its a long way from you but in Rochford there is a car wash run by eastern europeans.

They charge £6 for outside and £12 for inside too, they do an amazing job, they take so much care over it and will not let the vehicle go until it is perfect, several times they have re-washed part of the car and started again just to get it right. Far easier than dragging the pressure washer out of the shed for me!

[alanwalne]

I know even less about cleaning than I thought I did!!!

[psykik]

anyone want to second James from Auto Finesse (thanks to Uncler) or suggest another really good valet service ( must have a machine polisher )?

ta