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    One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

     Well i have had the car for a year now, in that time i have covered about 8.5k miles, including a long weekend trip to Leipzig in East Germany that knocked up 2k of the miles. I have loved the time with this car and enjoyed driving/looking after it.

    Over that last year i have made a couple of visits to the OPC, first time to have a squeaking water pump replaced, and the second time to get the sports exhaust retro fitted. The only other trip to a Porsche partner that i had to make was to a Porsche bodyshop to have the back bumper repaired when it got lightly scuffed by someone in a car park.

    Being a black car every mark and swirl shows up on it, for this reason i have always taken great care when i washed the car, to the point were i can honestly say there was not a swirl mark on it. I am afraid to say that this all changed when i got it back from the bodyshop. The repair work was ok, but it was the neglect and don't give a toss attitude shown during the polishing and final wash stage that messed up the perfect shine on my car. As the bodyshop were clearly not capable of washing and polishing a car to my standards, i decided the best path was to not let them touch it anymore and get a detailer to have ago. 

    After a little searching on the internet and i found that one name kept popping up 'Paul Dalton'.  After a quick email exchange with Paul and a phone call i decided to book my car in with him. Given the delicate nature of the paint on modern Porsche i wanted to use a detailer who was not going to go to heavy on my car as stripping back layers of paintwork with a rotary polisher does not appeal to me. 

    When i arrived at Paul's workshop last Thursday morning i was instantly convinced i had made the correct choice in detailer. Paul lives and breaths cars, and more importantly i could tell straight away by his nature and the way he approached my car that, he was a guy who would treat it as if it was his own pride and joy.  As soon as i put the car into his workshop, he set about looking over the car with a sun gun (very bright torch used by top bodyshops to find paint defects), and taking paint depth readings.

    These are some of the worst shots of what Paul found on my car:-

    1252916532377IMG_9896.jpg

     

    IMG_9892.jpg

    After Paul went over the car with the depth gauge and the sun gun, i left him to it. Paul also impressed me with his constant communication, as over the next day and a half he kept sending me progress reports over email.

    Please do not post a reply yet as i am uploading pictures.


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    At the end of day one Paul sent me some before and after progress shots. 

    You can clearly see the difference on this door panel where he has completed half of it.

    IMG_9886.jpg 

    IMG_9891.jpg


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    Before:-

    IMG_9915.jpg

    After

    IMG_9927.jpg


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_9938_2.jpg 

    IMG_9967_2.jpg


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    1252917473779IMG_9961.jpg 

    IMG_9986.jpg


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_9972.jpg 

    This is a shot of the lights reflecting off the roof of my car after Paul worked his magic.


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_0004.jpg 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_0011.jpg 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_0014.jpg 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    IMG_0018.jpg 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    1252917805809IMG_0023.jpg 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    At the end of the second day, i went to pick the car up from Paul. He had spent at least 14 hours returning my car to a better than new condition !

    In a couple of places Paul did not get the car as good as he would like but, he did not want to polish the car to hard. His whole process does not remove any more than one micron.  He even removed all the wheels and cleaned and waxed them all on both sides before putting them back on the car. I was also impressed that he used a torque wrench to ensure they were put back on to Porsche standards.

    Paul uses his own blend of wax that is made by Swissvax to finish the car. it is called Crystal Rock and costs £500 a jar... Some of the Zymol waxes cost more but they offer a free refill service and if your read the small print do not have as high carnauba content as Paul's

    So what have i learnt from this experience ?

    1) If i get any scuffs on the car, i will only use body shops that Paul recommends, as he will also if requested inspect and then do the finishing.

    2) Wash your car before giving it to an OPC for servicing. This is important as the service covers they put over the back of the car are usually placed on a dirty car.

    3) Put post it notes all over the interior of the car to remind OPCs not to wash the car.

    4) Only let myself and Paul wash the car !!!

     


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

     

    Looks much much better!!!

    Regarding the wheels, after a 100 miles of driving, you'll want to RE-torque them to spec.

    And great advice!

    I do the same exact thing, every time my car has to go in for a service issue, I bring them a clean car (the "wow" factor alone helps intimidate everyone into taking special care... if you bring them a grungy toad, they typically treat it as-such...), and instruct them to not let their "detail shop" lay a finger on it, period...

    When my rear bumper cover got scratched by my daughter's dirt-bike, I removed it, and took the cover alone to the repair shop. Reinstalled myself. No shop dust, no damage, no overspray...

    Also, when ordering a NEW Porsche, it's always best to clearly instruct (I do it in writing) that they DO NOT dealer-prep or touch the car when it comes in, beyond the Porsche-required mechanical inspection and punch-list.

    I always take my new cars home, and spend the weekend carefully unwrapping, detailing, and "getting to know" my new car, you start the relationship on the right foot with no dealer-inflicted paint damage.


    --
    If you've got an issue, here's a tissue...

    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    Some great ideas there mate.

    I like the bringing the new car home and prepping yourself, also i like the idea of taking the bumper to the paintshop !

    Cheers 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    Car looks great mate!

    yeah some great ideas,

    always good to get to know your car, i think Aston are the worst for inflicting marks at PPI stage, ive seen some horrors, buffer trails  the works on a brand new car! makes you cringe

     


    --
    997.2 C2S Guards Red

    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    Interestingly Paul said that Porsches are spot on paint wise when the leave the factory. It is the dealers that bugger them when they do the prep work. 


    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

    yeah your right, its when they do the PDI (post delivery inspection) they just dont was them right, so you have a not so perfect new car !!


    --
    997.2 C2S Guards Red

    Re: One year on:- Car Detailed by Paul Dalton

     wow your paint looks amazing after that ! 


     
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