Clean, Polish, Wax...Spring Into Car Care

Spring is here! It's time to bring your exotic's, hot rod's, and customized cars out of hibernation.

You decided that this year you really want to show off your Porsche, Ferrari, R8, Lambo or your custom car. You have found the right exotic high end detailer and now you want to know what it is he's going to be doing to your baby to make your car look the best it can when your cruising down the road.

Deep Heavy Scratching

To get your paint in optimal condition requires that all the foreign contaminates be removed so all the tiny scratches can be polished away. He or she will start by washing your car and during the first wash process they will be cleaning your wheels, fender wells, tires and possibly motor if you feel comfortable with this being done. Next should be the clay bar process if your paint has contaminates. You may have heard your neighbor tell you that he clayed and waxed his car over the weekend and it looks and feels amazing. Trust me your professional detailer will be doing way more than this and it will show. 

Your detailer will have a way of examining your paint whether it be with a halogen light or LED light. You can do this in your garage at home as well by using an LED flashlight and holding it over your paint about 2 feet away. You will be able to see what looks like cobweb type scratches. If it's really bad it will look swirled like the picture on the right.

Now that you and your detailer have now determined the condition of your paint it's up to them to figure out a plan to correct it. I'm going to use the images on the right as an example. This Range Rover was being washed by the owners gardner. It was badly scratched and to correct the finish we needed to get aggressive with the paint to remove the damage. This meant using a compound, a wool polishing bonnet and a rotary polisher. This process removes all the heavy scratches in the paints finish. This leveling process leaves behind  swirls that every Exotic car owner fears. Swirls are very fine scratches left in the finish from the abrasives in the compound and the fibers in the wool pad. Some people call this a cutting step as well as a compounding step. Don't worry about the swirls they will be removed in the next step needed in the paint correction process called the polishing step.

The next step your professional exotic car detailer will be doing is polishing. This step will eliminate the swirls from the compounding process. This is done with foam pads and a polish that has milled abrasives that will diminish while being worked into the paint. Sometimes it's necessary to do this process twice starting with an agresive pad and finishing with a softer foam pad and the same polish.

Now you might think that the polishing is done and the only thing left to do is wax the car. Any Compound, Polish and Final Polish Resultshighend detailer will take your vehicles paint to the next level with a final polish using what is known as a DA (Dual Action) polisher and an extremely soft foam pad in conjunction with a really ultra fine finishing polish. This process will eliminate the very slight wispy swirls that the foam pads left behind in the polishing process. These can usual only be seen in just the right lighting. This step really makes a difference.

At our shop we will re wash the vehicle to remove any polishing oils and remaining grit that may be left in the crevices so that we have a totally clean finish left to apply a premium wax or paint sealant.

Labor, skill and a lot of time is what it takes to bring your car up to super car status so don't expect it to all be done in a couple of hours. In some cases we will spend up to 16 hours just correcting the paint finish on a Ferrari. So plan on leaving your car over night at a shop or having someone working in your garage at home for a couple of days or longer.

Enjoy the ride.

Concours Auto Salon is a full service auto reconditioning shop in San Antonio Texas. We also provide protection products such as window tint, paint protection film (clear bras) interior stain protection and paint coatings.

What You Need To Know About Finding and Hiring a Detail Business For Your Exotic Car

When you’re looking around the information super highway it can become very confusing when looking for automotive services. It's even more difficult if you’re the proud owner of an Exotic vehicle. Tires and maintenance can be as simple as setting an appointment with the local Ferrari Aston Martin or Porsche Dealer. But when it comes to something as simple as a hand wash or detailing work for your baby it can get confusing. If you do an internet search for exotic auto detailing and washing you would think you could pinpoint a couple of companies that work on these types of vehicles. What you will come up with is many choices and companies that claim to work on exotics especially if you live in a large metropolitan area. Just because there is a picture of a Lamborghini doesn't mean they have ever worked on one. This article is intended to help you narrow it down a bit. The comments and suggestions in this article come from over 20 years of experience working on these types of vehicles.

If you think about it exotic vehicles have made significant advance in the last 30 years. Interiors have become much nicer with soft glove type leather, exotic woods and carbon fiber pieces that trim every thing out. You even have lighted door sills, electronics, navigation and information screens that make you feel like you’re sitting in a fighter jet. With interiors like these do you really want just any one spraying cleaners and conditioners every where? Out side the vehicle you have much nicer paint finishes some done by hand with claims to self healing like the Nissan GTR. More carbon fiber pieces and panels are being used out side the vehicles. Even special ceramic composite brakes or CCBs are becoming more common and are a $10,000 option on a lot of exotics these days. These advancements come from racing technology so do you think any one that calls them selves a detailer is qualified to handle one of these cars? I have witnessed people trying to just move one of these vehicles and they can’t figure out how to put the car in reverse or even start one up. This statement may sound strange to the person driving a mini van however if you own a vehicle with the F1 racing style transmissions you know what it is I'm talking about.

We won't be getting technical with this article. It's going to be simple. The internet is full of articles that break down the detailing process and are product specific. You really don't want to get hung up on products and process. When you find the right Detailer or Reconditioning shop they will know just what to do. Your going to want to stay away from the Car Washes and high volume Detailers and Shops. These types of business tend to use products that are cost effective and give them good results across the board. They won't necessarily give your car the finish that it is deserving of. The company you will choose will correct the problems you car is experiencing and then protect it. These cars are looked at by these type of shops as cream puffs. They really aren’t. We spend more time polishing a super car then we do the mini van or daily driver in our shop. These type of cars need to be flawless and is why you need to find someone who understands this and has a good eye for every little detail. Look at the Ferrari F430. The designers understand that the motor is a work of art work. Why else would they place a piece of glass over the top of it for people to see it. You need someone who will clean and polish the motor bay just as well as the exterior or interior of the vehicle right down to the stainless steel hose clamps and exhaust system.

There are several different ways to find a qualified detailer to pamper you vehicle. You can start with the internet. Just remember that it's easy for some one to make a website and showcase highline automobiles. If you attend local car shows you can ask the owners who are showing their cars that they would or are using for their detail work. Or you can call the dealer they may have a good recommendation for you. You may even have a local Car Club with owners of cars similar to yours that meet up and go on drives. These clubs will and should have a couple of good recommendations for you.

Your biggest concern first should be is... if the company I hire has insurance. Business liability insurance. You would be surprised how many do not. Accidents happen you should be protected. Ask for it! If they don't have it then you don't want them working on your vehicle period. Second should be references. Can they provide them? If they are as good as they say they are then it shouldn't be that hard for them to provide you with one or two. It's really easy for a person to be educated or internet smart when it comes to detailing. It cant take the place of true experience and training. If their working out of a fixed location you can stop by and see first hand what type of work and vehicles they work on. San Antonio Texas isn't a hot spot for exotic or high end cars like Southern California is but you will find two or three there being worked on all the time at our shop. Third should be the amount of time the person has been in business. The longer they have been business means the more experience the person should have. Something else to consider is do you want the work to be done on your property or at a reconditioning shop. This is up to you and you’re level of comfort with someone working in your garage making a mess or leaving you vehicle at a shop out of your site. You’re going to want the company you chose to have all the equipment necessary to do the job you desire. Like buffers steamers extractors etc. If you want the wheels taken off the car so the fender wells and brakes can be detailed then they should have a lift or jacks and jack stands to do the job. They should also know where the jack points are on you vehicle.

Prices will vary from one region to the next. If you’re looking for a high level of expertise then you must be willing to pay a premium for it. Depending on the condition of your vehicle and what you want done you can expect to pay from $400.00 to over $1000.00 You can expect the job to take any where from 1/2 a day to up to 3 days again depending on what it is you want done.

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