Detailing Services

[Drake]

My car will have its 1-year birthday this summer and I've been considering getting the exterior professionally detailed (once all the stay-at-home stuff cools down). Being that I'm living in an apartment, washes have been infrequent at best, and I do now see a few spots with what look like hash-mark clearcoat scratches as well as a couple places on the front with white specks I'm assuming have been chipped. There is a detailer near me that offers these services:
"a hand wash & dry, clean wheels & tires, clean windows, dress tires, shine & protect all plastic trim, complete surface decontamination (clay bar), light machine polish, and premium wax."
for $150. For an extra $100 they offer a ceramic sealant on top. My question is, will the $150 services above remove all imperfections (like the clearcoat scratches) other than the paint chips? Or will only a proper paint-correction deal with those? Also, what's your opinion on the price? It's clearly a lot, but for a once-a-year job I think it might be worth it to keep light scratches off my clearcoat.

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[hiddencharacter]

Is there anyway you could post pictures of the scratches? Are they swirls, are they deep? are they surface level? Google different levels of paint correction, find some videos and watch them. Try to find videos of cars that have similar scratches your car does, watch what they do. It'll help you understand how much work is actually going into having your paint corrected. Some people go in thinking that a detailer is the end all be all and can fix everything (I'm not saying that is what you will do.) Just poke around some videos and you'll easily be able to tell the detailer what kind of paint correction you'll need. Just be sure to maintain your paint afterwards. You can only polish a car so many times before the clearcoat/paint starts to fail. $150 doesn't seem like a bad price at all, ask him for some before and after photos as well. If done incorrectly, someone could burn through your clearcoat with a machine. It doesn't usually happen but it is a possibility if the guy doesnt know what hes doing.

 

[Drake]

Ah, I hadn't considered that the polish wears down the clearcoat without replacing it. This is why I asked! Here's a photo of the spot I mentioned. I hope the scratches are very superficial, maybe some dirt was caught in a towel I used to dry the car a while ago.

 

[hiddencharacter]

Ah, I hadn't considered that the polish wears down the clearcoat without replacing it. This is why I asked! Here's a photo of the spot I mentioned. I hope the scratches are very superficial, maybe some dirt was caught in a towel I used to dry the car a while ago.

Yeah he should be able to polish that off failry easily with just one pass. Dont be afraid to have your car polished, just dont do it 10 times a year every year. After this detail, just maintain your paint. Look up some videos on entry level detailing that you could do at home. Everything minus the polishing can be done by hand at home. The wash/sealant/wax/etc. Pick up some legit micorfiber towels, some nice detailing products (not some gimmicky ones like chemical guys, meguiars works just fine) and it becomes somewhat fun. Maintaining your paint is a lot easier and cheaper than getting scratches out of your car from time to time. Also, who doesnt like a freshly washed/waxed car with a mirror shine finish