Thames Valley detailer?

Author
Discussion

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Sunday 4th May 2008
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Can anyone recommend a good detailer within shouting distance of Maidenhead/Marlow/Reading/High Wycombe for my 2004 XK8 convertible? I'm midway between Maidenhead and Reading. TIA

Rich VRS

605 posts

206 months

Sunday 4th May 2008
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id get onto a detailing forum and ask as there's a few who do it on there. i know of a guy in banbury called baker21 but iirc hes booked up till gone July atm.

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Monday 5th May 2008
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Did as you suggested and found Paul of Shine On Detailing in Wokingham which is close enough.

386ponies

15 posts

201 months

Monday 5th May 2008
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pr100 said:
Did as you suggested and found Paul of Shine On Detailing in Wokingham which is close enough.
let me know if he,s any good and i will use him

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Monday 5th May 2008
quotequote all
Will do. He's coming on Friday. So far, a good swift (Bank Holiday) response to my email. http://www.shineondetail.com

jayplay28

262 posts

197 months

Tuesday 6th May 2008
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Paul (ShineOn Detail)cover's that area and is a sound bloke and does some cracking work. Im aslo known to travel that way a fair bit..


regards,
Jay

Edited by jayplay28 on Tuesday 6th May 09:58


Edited by jayplay28 on Tuesday 6th May 10:05

john_r

8,353 posts

277 months

Tuesday 6th May 2008
quotequote all
pr100 said:
Will do. He's coming on Friday. So far, a good swift (Bank Holiday) response to my email. http://www.shineondetail.com
His prices on the website are very good! Will be interesting to hear/see the result...

fleetelise

2,347 posts

218 months

Thursday 8th May 2008
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I've seen many photo reports of shine-on's work, and it really is top notch

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Thursday 8th May 2008
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I will report back after Paul has spirited away all my little scratches and restored the paintwork to its full glory. No point me taking any before/after shots since the car looks perfect in my photos: but under a bright light it's covered in scratches... Maybe he will take some shots under his lights for me to post here.

I will also give a very favourable plug to a SMART repair workshop he pointed me to in Wokingham, called Little Knocks - http://www.littleknocks.com . I don't think they do a mobile service but they will fix your car while you wait. I had a couple of supermarket dinks and a vertical crease in the passenger door, two of them right on the borderline of inaccessibility from the back. But they did a fantastic job for me yesterday in little more than half an hour and the door looks like new. £70 + VAT - plus a couple of stone chip repairs thrown in for free. I'm almost certain that Chips Away, who I've used in the past, wouldn't have been able to do the job (in fact one of the dents had already been repaired badly by someone). I will definitely use them again - and they will also refurbish alloys at £50 a throw, but I don't know how competitive that is.

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Sunday 11th May 2008
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I must say that Paul did an excellent job and worked a very long, hot day without any sign of a break. In fact he got here at 8am and finished at nearly 9pm, remaining cheerful and chatty throughout - which makes him a better man than me.

I have posted below some photos as requested but no "befores" since they wouldn't mean much: the car was in good shape having only covered 15,000 miles - except that the metallic Pacific Blue paintwork had not been well cared for: it was dull, flat and every panel had a number of surface scratches, some short, some long and all more or less invisible from 8 feet away.

I was too nervous to watch for long -- it was like watching your child have an operation, especially when the sandpaper came out and removed almost everything on one front wing. But magically, it all came out fine in the end and the car looks a beauty, imho. The photos below were taken as Paul was finishing and the next morning when I dropped the hood.













Although Paul spent most of the day repairing my paintwork, he also managed to clean the alloys, the interior, the trim, the glass, the engine compartment and recondition the hood. He was a pleasure to have around and obviously took great pride in his work. His bill was £300 which I thought very reasonable and I commend him to you.

Edited by pr100 on Sunday 11th May 00:35


Edited by pr100 on Sunday 11th May 00:35

john_r

8,353 posts

277 months

Sunday 11th May 2008
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Fantastic pics, car and work! He'll be getting a call from me this summer! thumbup

mgaut

774 posts

248 months

Sunday 11th May 2008
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utterly stunning

I'll be giving him a call in a few weeks too.

Mike

pr100

Original Poster:

287 posts

198 months

Sunday 11th May 2008
quotequote all
Paul has now posted his own account of the job, together with some before and after shots -- and some pictures of that scary sanding procedure, which is not for the faint-hearted!

http://www.shineondetail.com/news/sanding-the-cat-...