So I've decided to detail my car for the summer, and hopefully it helps with the sale (yes I am STILL selling it, lol). If not then at least it'll look great.
Anyways, I'm looking for a good detail place in the lower mainland area. I've called around a bit and there's just too many places, and impossible to tell which one gives you the best job for the value. It'd be nice to be pointed to 1 or 2 places that are the majority favorite.
So far I've been recommended Kingsway Auto Detail, and Unique Auto Detail which is a mobile detailing but based outta the north shore.

Btw: I have a black SC and am looking for maybe a 1 stage cut polish just to remove the light scratches all over from previous washes, and a few deeper ones here and there.

Thanx guys!

 

let me know if you find one...i need a minor detail too. perhaps they can do a better deal for us if they can polish 2 cars?

 

autowerks exclusive.

i donno if the guy still does detailing for anyone other than his friends but doesnt hurt to ask.

http://www.autowerkesexclusive.com/

he posts up the detail jobs he's done here, http://www.revscene.net/forums/gener...-care-f49.html under the username "911fanatic"

 

Thanx for the referral, but yikes, his work looks a little out of my price range! I was looking for a 4-5 hour detail job, not 32 hours!! Lol..

Anyways, I took my car to Kingsway Detail near Main and 5th, $200 for a 3 stage cut polish, he said he pomises it'll look like new when it's done. $200 seems a little low for all that, but I'll post pic and a review when I get it back this afternoon!

 

looking forward to ur review!

 

So I got the car back last night, and it looks pretty good. I'm no expert on detailing, there are remnants of scratches here and there, but others are completely gone.
They said that my car was really difficult to do because 1) it was black 2) its old, and 3) it has had some body work done and the paint is not the same thickness all the way around. Having said that, the colour difference from where the body work was done is now almost non existent.
For $200 I think they did a fantastic job given what they had to work with. I'm just paranoid of driving it at all now and getting it dirty!

Heres a pic:
(I know, I know, its crappy and stock. Anyone selling a used set of Tein CS's!? lol)

 

^ what's involved in the 3 stage cut polish? and did your package include waxing?

i wanna check your polish job...PM me, maybe we can meet up later today?

 

From what I understand a 3 stage cut is:
1) the car is 'cut' to reveal any damages and scratches to the paint. I'm assuming they do this by somehow removing the clearcoat or wax. I know there is a special tool they use that measures the thickness of your paint as to not cut it too much.
2) they remove damage to the paint by polishing it. I guess this is where 'deep scratches' can not be removed cuz they're actually on the paint itself.
3) they apply a wax finish to your car to protect it.

That's my minimal understanding of what is done, anyone can feel free to correct me.

 

FYI:
So after meeting with 'Stormforge' (and his gorgeous GS450h) it became apparent that although I was happy with the job they did on my car, I do not recommend doing a $200 detail job anywhere if you have a new car with good paint! I took one look at my 'detailed ' car and one look at the GS and noticed a huge difference. It would be a bad idea for him to take the GS to a place like that and risk ruining the clearcoat or something..

 

hey sammy, it was good to meet up with you too. thx for the advice, i'll probably take my car to a different shop to get it detailed.

hope you find a buyer soon for your SC. if not and you plan on getting mods, let me know and we can get together for coffee. nothing better than to help you get the most bang for your buck!

 

I recently took my 2gen ES to Super Shine Detailing in Abbotsford. They did a complete exterior detail which consisted of cut-polishing, paint touch-ups of deep scratches that couldn't be polished out, and a wax job (actually a polymer sealant).
I dropped the car off at ~ 8:30 AM and they were just finishing it off when I picked it up at 3:30PM. The cost was $372 bucks.
I think they did a good job, except for the last stage which was the "clean up" or removal of the residue of the cut-polish from all the cracks and crevices. It was everywhere! I spent a good 4 hours going over the whole car afterwards and removing the white lines of residue myself from around the edges of the moonroof, windows, door handles and panels, trunk lid, hood, etc. They had a girl washing the car when I arrived to pick it up and she was using a high pressure spray of water along the edges of the panels to try to wash the residue off, but it didn't work...obviously. Not sure if that is their usual procedure to remove residue or whether she was just too lazy to get in there and do it by hand.
The owner of the business (an experienced detailer himself) was not there when I went to get the car, so maybe when the boss is away, the lackies take shortcuts? IDK. Anyways, I figured for $372 dollars, the final "detail" of making sure all the residue was removed before the car went back to the customer should be a no-brainer. Maybe I'm wrong about that?

Update: I learned today that the girl who did the crappy job of cleaning the residue off my car is no longer working there.....pity.

scENFORCER: did they leave residue on your SC when you got it detailed?

But other than the residue issue which I had to take care of myself, the car looks amazing. No more swirl marks or visible scratches, and the whole car looks 16 years younger! I got a nice compliment from a total stranger a few days after the detail. It came from a guy and his wife who were walking by as I got out of the car. He said "What year is that Lexus?" So I told him and he said "Wow, it's in great shape" and then he turned to his wife and said "That's still a classy looking car".
So...I was happy.

 

i go to a friend who does it for around $250
does a great job with the rotary using menzana

 

yea I had the white residue also in the engine bay and crevases like that. I figured because I only paid for an extierior detail they didn't wash up the engine bay and such..

Btw, I've been getting lots of compliments too, to the point that I think I've almost finally sold it!