E30 M3 and Elise 160 detailed.

[wezzer-45's]

I thought I'd post a few pictures of mine and a colegue's car after a day of intensive valeting. Both were machine polished, waxed with Autoglym high definition way and finished off with Pure Guard paint protection system. The resulting shine is outstanding on both cars and is a credit to the guy that did it for us.
We regularly use Darrin (Auto Wash)07711 500579 to prepare our cars here at Aston martin and its good to see a valeter put the effort in and get a good sweat on while he's working.
If anyone wants a quality valet on their pride and joy I'd personally recommend him.

I'm afraid the photo quality isn't the best and really doesn't do the cars justice.

Hope you like the results.

My E30 M3













Mikes Lotus Elise 160 sport

[Callyuk]

Looks like a great finish but is it wrong i spent more time looking at the cars in the background? is that i noble i spy on the ramp?

[WWESTY]

Callyuk said:

Looks like a great finish but is it wrong i spent more time looking at the cars in the background? is that i noble i spy on the ramp?

S1 Exige I think..

[Callyuk]

looking again yes i think you are right westy going off the body lines and exhausts

[effkay]

Is that the Aston/Lotus garage on North Rd? If so, I live 50m from it and still never popped my head in although I gawp at the cars everyday. Both great looking cars and the results look amazing - the Astons in the background aint bad either

[Red111]

Yep got to be as Mike works for them! Wouldnt mind knowing how much to do an elise!

The BMW is lovely!

[sorrento205]

more pictures of the M3 please

[LuS1fer]

Is this a secret ad for STRATSTONE ON NORTH ROAD, CARDIFF, purveyors of fine Lotuses and Aston Martins? No? Good, just as well. Nice motors.

[wezzer-45's]

LuS1fer said:

Is this a secret ad for STRATSTONE ON NORTH ROAD, CARDIFF, purveyors of fine Lotuses and Aston Martins? No? Good, just as well. Nice motors.

It is certainly not an advert for my work place,but yes it is.
Just had a bit of space in the workshop and the chance for Darrin to give my car a really good valet as I haven't had chance for a while.

The red car is an absolutely mint 5000 mile S1 exige.

I think he charges approx £55 for a full valet with a machine polish if needed. he just did the grey AMV8 in the background aswell and it came out like new.
Give him a call, he's a good guy.

Edited by wezzer-45's on Friday 19th November 20:53

[alsaautomotive]

In all honesty, & this MAY be a reflection (pardon the pun!) but the pics posted don't show a massive amount of 'clarity' in the finish - certainly not what we would receive from the chap that does detailing & finishing work for us (whom I will refrain from mentioning given the [possibly correct] assumption that this thread could be simply a publicity thread! - Which I have been ticked off for in the past!...........James.............don't think I need to say any more;))
Just one man's opinion.............Al.

[wezzer-45's]

alsaautomotive said:

In all honesty, & this MAY be a reflection (pardon the pun!) but the pics posted don't show a massive amount of 'clarity' in the finish - certainly not what we would receive from the chap that does detailing & finishing work for us (whom I will refrain from mentioning given the [possibly correct] assumption that this thread could be simply a publicity thread! - Which I have been ticked off for in the past!...........James.............don't think I need to say any more;))
Just one man's opinion.............Al.

I agree with you regarding the quality of the pictures, unfortunately, I don't take my camera to work with me so they were taken with my phone, the flouresent light glare doesn't help either, I can assure you that the finish on my M3 is absolutely floorless, no scratches or swirls nd the depth of shine is superb.
The reason for posting the pics is that this is the 1st time I've had someone valet my car for me and I was so impressed that I thought I'd share the pics with fellow enthusiasts.
I'll take a few more pics this weekend in natural sunlight (if we have any) and tag them on.

[funkyboogalooo]

wezzer-45's said:

LuS1fer said:

Is this a secret ad for STRATSTONE ON NORTH ROAD, CARDIFF, purveyors of fine Lotuses and Aston Martins? No? Good, just as well. Nice motors.

It is certainly not an advert for my work place,but yes it is.
Just had a bit of space in the workshop and the chance for Darrin to give my car a really good valet as I haven't had chance for a while.

The red car is an absolutely mint 5000 mile S1 exige.

I think he charges approx £55 for a full valet with a machine polish if needed. he just did the grey AMV8 in the background aswell and it came out like new.
Give him a call, he's a good guy.

Edited by wezzer-45's on Friday 19th November 20:53

How long does he spend on a car for £55.00 inc machine polishing? Seems hellish cheap? Is it because he's just getting started? Most paint correction to get it done properly will cost at least £250.00 as normally its a very long days work at best with decent quality polishes.
Unless off course he's just giving it a quick 'mop'!

Really curious as I know exactly who Al is on about and have seen the standard of his work and the effort that goes into finishing a car properly I am amazed at the price your man does it for.

And for fear of upsetting anyone, normally price and time taken go hand in hand with the quality of the job you get at the end.

[Antonio 82]

I can see Scud posing in half the photos LOL! Tell him I said hi please wezzer (used to work with him at Volvo)

[wezzer-45's]

Edited by wezzer-45's on Friday 19th November 20:53

[/quote]

How long does he spend on a car for £55.00 inc machine polishing? Seems hellish cheap? Is it because he's just getting started? Most paint correction to get it done properly will cost at least £250.00 as normally its a very long days work at best with decent quality polishes.
Unless off course he's just giving it a quick 'mop'!

Really curious as I know exactly who Al is on about and have seen the standard of his work and the effort that goes into finishing a car properly I am amazed at the price your man does it for.

And for fear of upsetting anyone, normally price and time taken go hand in hand with the quality of the job you get at the end.



[/quote]


He spent about 6 hours on my M3 but I must say that the paint was fairly nice before he started.
I've seen detailers charge a small fortune to clean cars for us and and to be honest, there's no difference between them and Darrin's work.
I believe he used to run a small valeting company up north and since moving to south Wales he runs as a mobile valeter. He's been doing this for years and knows exactly what he's doing.
As I've said, he valets/details our Astons for us to a very high standard, If he didn't, we wouldn't use him.
I may be slightly off with his price for retail customers, but if interested, give him a call, I guarantee he'll be loads cheaper than other detailers and will do just as good a job.

[taffyracer]

I've had 3 or 4 cars detailed over the years, some for around £100, others closer to £250, some by names regularly mentioned on here as being decent......I can hand on heart say that not one of those details has been any better than the finish I get off my local car wash guy who charges me £40, some were actually worse!

Edited by taffyracer on Saturday 20th November 18:35

[funkyboogalooo]

The point i'm trying to make somewhat badly obviously is that £55 seems bloody cheap to look after someones pride and joy and expect a first class job for 6hrs work. Especially in an Aston dealership where £55.00 will probably just about buy you enough man hours to get your Vantage over the threshold of the workshop.

The £40.00 hand wash man is probably in and out in 20mins or so or maybe even an hour and I can absolutely understand the difference between him and £250.00 man.

I just can't see how £55.00 can buy you 6hrs of "quality" hard work!

[wezzer-45's]

funkyboogalooo said:

The point i'm trying to make somewhat badly obviously is that £55 seems bloody cheap to look after someones pride and joy and expect a first class job for 6hrs work. Especially in an Aston dealership where £55.00 will probably just about buy you enough man hours to get your Vantage over the threshold of the workshop.

The £40.00 hand wash man is probably in and out in 20mins or so or maybe even an hour and I can absolutely understand the difference between him and £250.00 man.

I just can't see how £55.00 can buy you 6hrs of "quality" hard work!

You are more than welcome to pop around to see the finish on my M3 if you wish, just give me some notice and stop it from raining and I'll bring it to work.

[funkyboogalooo]

wezzer-45's said:

funkyboogalooo said:

The point i'm trying to make somewhat badly obviously is that £55 seems bloody cheap to look after someones pride and joy and expect a first class job for 6hrs work. Especially in an Aston dealership where £55.00 will probably just about buy you enough man hours to get your Vantage over the threshold of the workshop.

The £40.00 hand wash man is probably in and out in 20mins or so or maybe even an hour and I can absolutely understand the difference between him and £250.00 man.

I just can't see how £55.00 can buy you 6hrs of "quality" hard work!

You are more than welcome to pop around to see the finish on my M3 if you wish, just give me some notice and stop it from raining and I'll bring it to work.

Nah your alright i'll only want another . Thanks for the offer though. I had 2 of them the first I wrote off and the second I blew up.
Lovely cars and yours looks a real beauty as well.

[taffyracer]

funkyboogalooo said:

I just can't see how £55.00 can buy you 6hrs of "quality" hard work!

£9.16/hr is not a million miles off what brickies, electricians and other highly skilled trades are currently earning, 3 years ago it would have been 2-3x this rate but not now.....handling a rotary polisher is not quite as difficult or require as much training I'd suggest, i've done it a few times and done a fair job

Edited by taffyracer on Saturday 20th November 22:43

[funkyboogalooo]

I don't disagree on a "fair job" as you say. But a fair job on an Aston? I would want a st hot job. I do understand what your saying but fail to see why if ( emphasis on if) the job done is the same then the chap mentioned above is earning more money at it like others would be. Is he underselling himself, devaluing the job or just buying work?