I think this is key.....you need someone passionate about it and who has the skills and techniques to do it well. When I tried it myself, I only met one of those two criteria!!
Twice I have paid for Lifeshine GG and they didn't apply it! Resulting in a kick off and a very substantial discount. Lifeshine is good if applied. You can pick the kits up on eBay for £30 obviously off dealer "detailers" who trouser it. Ceramic coating seems to get rave reviews and a network petrolhead I know rate it. Yes it does need top up coats but they are just like washing the car.
gtechniq.com
The finish certainly looks great but I wonder, do very upmarket marques such as Rolls Royce, Bugatti, etc, etc, apply this to their vehicles as standard? If not why not?they had it three days in total. Found details of the work done, this froma discussion prior to me booking it in:
“Thanks for getting in touch - it’s very much appreciated.
The process we typically follow for detailing and protection is as follows:
Multi-stage deep clean and decontamination of paint and glass to remove embedded iron and tar deposits.
Two stage machine polish - firstly to gently compound the clear coat to remove surface micro scratches and swirls. Second stage to refine the clear coat to a very high gloss.
Once we are happy that the paint is as flawless as possible, we apply Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra Ceramic coating. This is a professional only application product and comes with a manufacturer’s guarantee of 9 years - effectively locking in the gloss and making ongoing maintenance very easy. This coating is a 10h harness and is the industry benchmark - only available through Gtechniq Accredited detailers.
We then apply 2 coats of Gtechniq EXOv3 which is a super slick and glossy top coat - giving lasting hydrophobic properties to bead away rain etc.
The wheels and calipers (if painted) undergo the same decontamination process as the paint and glass (including chemical softening of tar spots then physical clay bar). We then coat them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour, which provides a high temperature tolerant protective barrier against brake dust, iron deposits and tar for ongoing ease of maintenance.
Interior leather is deep cleaned and protected with Gtechniq L1 leather guard. This helps protect against dye transfer on light coloured leather and helps prevent dark leather turning shiny.
Fabrics (inc carpets and mats) are protected with Gtechniq I1 Fabric Guard.
The engine bay is cleaned and dressed and the external trim and tyres are dressed for final presentation.
The price we charge for this complete service for a large vehicle is £895 and we would need the car for three days. VW paint tends to be quite hard. Which means we can get very sharp reflections once refined. This means you should see a significant improvement in gloss and sharpness.
If you wanted us to carry out the paint correction and refinement work but didn’t want a ceramic coating or the other services, we can do this for you and would charge £575. We would need the campervan for two full days to do this work and we would apply a nice quality Swissvax carnauba wax.
If you take a look at the Gtechniq pricing guide below, you’ll get a good idea of the various products and their benefits.
Auto & Marine Coating Products: Wash & Shampoo: Gtechniq
At Gtechniq, we specialize in superior wash and coating products and effective shampoos for both auto and marine applications.
I hope this is of interest and please just ask if you have any questions or require clarification on any of the above.
Thanks again for the enquiry and I hope that we can help. “
they had it three days in total. Found details of the work done, this froma discussion prior to me booking it in:
“Thanks for getting in touch - it’s very much appreciated.
The process we typically follow for detailing and protection is as follows:
Multi-stage deep clean and decontamination of paint and glass to remove embedded iron and tar deposits.
Two stage machine polish - firstly to gently compound the clear coat to remove surface micro scratches and swirls. Second stage to refine the clear coat to a very high gloss.
Once we are happy that the paint is as flawless as possible, we apply Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra Ceramic coating. This is a professional only application product and comes with a manufacturer’s guarantee of 9 years - effectively locking in the gloss and making ongoing maintenance very easy. This coating is a 10h harness and is the industry benchmark - only available through Gtechniq Accredited detailers.
We then apply 2 coats of Gtechniq EXOv3 which is a super slick and glossy top coat - giving lasting hydrophobic properties to bead away rain etc.
The wheels and calipers (if painted) undergo the same decontamination process as the paint and glass (including chemical softening of tar spots then physical clay bar). We then coat them with Gtechniq C5 Wheel Armour, which provides a high temperature tolerant protective barrier against brake dust, iron deposits and tar for ongoing ease of maintenance.
Interior leather is deep cleaned and protected with Gtechniq L1 leather guard. This helps protect against dye transfer on light coloured leather and helps prevent dark leather turning shiny.
Fabrics (inc carpets and mats) are protected with Gtechniq I1 Fabric Guard.
The engine bay is cleaned and dressed and the external trim and tyres are dressed for final presentation.
The price we charge for this complete service for a large vehicle is £895 and we would need the car for three days. VW paint tends to be quite hard. Which means we can get very sharp reflections once refined. This means you should see a significant improvement in gloss and sharpness.
If you wanted us to carry out the paint correction and refinement work but didn’t want a ceramic coating or the other services, we can do this for you and would charge £575. We would need the campervan for two full days to do this work and we would apply a nice quality Swissvax carnauba wax.
If you take a look at the Gtechniq pricing guide below, you’ll get a good idea of the various products and their benefits.
Auto & Marine Coating Products: Wash & Shampoo: Gtechniq
At Gtechniq, we specialize in superior wash and coating products and effective shampoos for both auto and marine applications.
I hope this is of interest and please just ask if you have any questions or require clarification on any of the above.
Thanks again for the enquiry and I hope that we can help. “
At £895 it sounds like a bargain!
Ours gets a wash only when it's raining and only then when I'm in the mood. On those rare occasions I do a thorough two bucket wash with snow foam, jet wash etc. I don't usually towel it down but just let the rain water rinse it off. If I haven't got the time to do it properly it just doesn't get done. My philosophy is that apart from removing bird lime, the best policy is to not go near the paint work unless you can do a full sympathetic detailed clean.
Bling! Bling! Lookin good is one thing but short term, think I’d rather look underneath and take it to Dinitrol for a secondary rustproof saying all vans are rot boxes if you use it all year.
The diesel is a given sadly (had there been and electric option, I’d have bought it...next time there’s bound to be one now there’s an electric transporter). But Im justifying this expense I think by seeing the cost of options on these new calis ... £800 for metallic or £2800 for split colour. Makes £700 for ceramic sound palatable. It’s not bling (can’t understand the chrome pack for example, which is about the same price as ceramic) it’s perfecting an imperfection from the factory and also protecting a massive investment from the elements.
This was our primary motivation for Gtechniq ceramic application by a professional. The sheer hydrophobicity of the ceramic surface will make you giggle like a child when it rains and everything just sloughs right off, and it's undoubtedly both easier to wash generally, and easier to get a really good finish back on it. But for me it was an investment in maintaining an asset that I need to depreciate as little as possible. It also gives me the peace of mind that I don't need to treat it with kid gloves whilst I'm out-and-about - the van is there to be used, so I use it well but am confident it can be tarted up again when I've finished splashing around fields and dirt tracks.
This is probably going to raise a lot of discussion on which corrosion treatment is best.
www.dinitroldirect.com
Good advice on plain colours, thanksThis is probably going to raise a lot of discussion on which corrosion treatment is best.
How much does it cost I don’t know as I have always done my own or applied it at dealer.
But is it necessary? It depends on if the the van is only used in good weather or not, winter & salt is the enemy and also how long you intend keeping the van.
The California is just a van, built to a cost with an expected life of 5 years regardless of how much it costs to buy.
My T4 Cali built in 99 was fortunate to have secondary rust proofing by VW sometime in its early life, it’s had a hard life, when I imported it to Italy I was the 4th owner but the only corrosion is where the secondary rust proofing missed, my son-in-law has a 2011 conversion that has more rust.
Factory corrosion treatment is variable, some years production are really bad and the transporter is no exception, you couldn’t give me a mid year T4 around 96-98, some T5 production years, T6 is unproven.
Here’s a link to Dinitrol treatments.
Treatment Providers Directory | DINITROL® Direct Official UK Site
Treatment Service Providers Directory Please find below the list of Treatment Service Providers situated around the UK. Please contact them direct to discuss your specific DINITROL® treatment requirements. Please note that all treatment providers listed on this website are independently run and...
Ceramic coating, body shops love it... plain colors are more prone to fading, metallics less so, I can only refer to my own Cali, techno blue, it’s had a bottom half respray 3 years ago, top half is original and is indistinguishable to the bottom half apart from a few scrapes.
Ceramic as it’s quite hard may be useful in fending off undergrowth etc, although you are unlikely to abuse your nice shiny Cali as we do, 30 years at the heavy end of the VW empire and a truck guy if the mirrors fit the rest will follow, I’m retired and will keep it going until I’m incapable of driving.
But paintwork is variable from all manufacturers, some years good some years not so good.
Probably too much info, but you asked...
Where did you have yours done?
Just been quoted £400 for underbody dinitrol treatment plus £100 for injecting the inside of boxes. He said VW basically put nothing on it and he sees rust from 6 months! He would wouldn’t he but...This is probably going to raise a lot of discussion on which corrosion treatment is best.
How much does it cost I don’t know as I have always done my own or applied it at dealer.
But is it necessary? It depends on if the the van is only used in good weather or not, winter & salt is the enemy and also how long you intend keeping the van.
The California is just a van, built to a cost with an expected life of 5 years regardless of how much it costs to buy.
My T4 Cali built in 99 was fortunate to have secondary rust proofing by VW sometime in its early life, it’s had a hard life, when I imported it to Italy I was the 4th owner but the only corrosion is where the secondary rust proofing missed, my son-in-law has a 2011 conversion that has more rust.
Factory corrosion treatment is variable, some years production are really bad and the transporter is no exception, you couldn’t give me a mid year T4 around 96-98, some T5 production years, T6 is unproven.
Here’s a link to Dinitrol treatments.
Treatment Providers Directory | DINITROL® Direct Official UK Site
Treatment Service Providers Directory Please find below the list of Treatment Service Providers situated around the UK. Please contact them direct to discuss your specific DINITROL® treatment requirements. Please note that all treatment providers listed on this website are independently run and...
Ceramic coating, body shops love it... plain colors are more prone to fading, metallics less so, I can only refer to my own Cali, techno blue, it’s had a bottom half respray 3 years ago, top half is original and is indistinguishable to the bottom half apart from a few scrapes.
Ceramic as it’s quite hard may be useful in fending off undergrowth etc, although you are unlikely to abuse your nice shiny Cali as we do, 30 years at the heavy end of the VW empire and a truck guy if the mirrors fit the rest will follow, I’m retired and will keep it going until I’m incapable of driving.
But paintwork is variable from all manufacturers, some years good some years not so good.
Probably too much info, but you asked...
Whats the name if the company please
Always found that Dealers get the job done by an Independent Detailer, on a subcontract basis.
Did you end up doing this, Tim?
I didn’t in the end. Spoke to the company who put my upgraded ARBs on and they said if it’s garaged away from the coast he wouldn’t bother himself.
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