Oppo Car Paint Experts Assemble!!!

"Money Hustard" (moneyhustard)
08/12/2014 at 16:18 • Filed to: None

I've painted myself into a corner, so to speak. A few years back my wife and I had our first child. Around this time, being the paranoid parents were are traded in our less-reliable more-fun cars for an '11 Subaru Outback and a '12 Nissan Maxima. Both cars sport black paint because black is the best plainly the best paint color there is (I know this is untrue on many levels, but they look good damn it).

Once my son came along, my once fervent commitment to keeping my cars looking good devolved into a slight nagging in the back of my head that was never acted on. I now have a 3 1/2 year old that's only ever had one wax job and has multiple dings an scratches (many of which are thanks to my kid's art skillz), and a 2 year-old Maxima that has been treated like the leased whipping boy it was meant to be, that has seen almost no love in its time with me.

My kid is nearing three now, and I'm starting to come to my senses after years in a parenting coma. The paint jobs on both my cars are looking rough. Tons of scratch marks (that I'm sure will buff) around the door handles, lots of bug damage in the front, and they just desperately need a polish and a coat of wax.

I you can control your scorn for my sloth, my question is, where is the best place I can take these cars to have their paint and finish restored professionally? I've always gladly done this stuff myself because I used to have all the time in the world to obsess over this stuff, so I have no idea. Should I go to a body shop, independent detailer, a wash and wax place, or somewhere I'm not considering? I'd love some help!

The outback has some dings and damage for a golf ball and a parking lot mishap that would be covered by my insurance, is there some way to leverage that?

DISCUSSION (20)

AM3R > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:24

First off, spend a day or two washing,claying,polishing, and waxing. See where that leaves you.

GhostZ > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:25

parenting coma

Gonna use this phrase later.

I have no answers for you, just came to learn also.

Money Hustard > AM3R
08/12/2014 at 16:27

I have a 2 1/2 year-old, am a manager at an ad agency and also run a small business. Two days of my times is just not in the cards. I need to know what kind of professional I can trust to do the same sort of job an 18 year-old version of myself would do.

JGrabowMSt > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:31

Find a place that specifically does detailing, and ask if they do polishing. A good polish will involve buffing down the clearcoat, or buffing it with a wax, which will reduce all the swirls.

The golf ball ding and other insurance related scratches will likely have to be taken care of separately from a full polish. Since it has to be worked on, talk to the body shop about having the whole car polished when it goes in for that, otherwise you'll get some spots that don't specifically match.

The bodyshop that I had repaint some panels did a pretty good job, but the paint surface isn't 100% perfectly even, but I'm not really complaining, because it does look good overall. A real wax and a buff will take care of it, but sometimes a body shop doesn't want to spend the time doing that kind of work, especially if they're backed up.

AM3R > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:33

Oh okay, well where are you located? I know a few guys in my area who do awesome work.

Money Hustard > JGrabowMSt
08/12/2014 at 16:34

Is there any way to spot a good detailing place? They all sort of seem sketchy to me, and emphasize speed over quality work.

Money Hustard > AM3R
08/12/2014 at 16:35

Winter Haven, Florida. There are tons of detailing places here, but all seem sketchy.

AM3R > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:38

I'm in the DC area. Here's how I found my trusted detailers (I haven't used him, but I've gotten tons of advice from him.) I was on my local section of a BMW forum I'm part of and I saw someone raving about his work. They posted some amazing pictures, the work was top notch.

Search around on enthusiast forums and see who the enthusiasts trust. They are usually really picky so they only want the best.

JGrabowMSt > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:39

Unfortunately, you'll have to look for where you see more exotics or expensive cars. The basic services will cost you a lot more comparatively, but the quality at the end is so much better, there isn't much comparing to do. You might end up waiting a day or two to get your car back, but the paint job will look infinitely better when you go to pick it up. The hard part (depending on the business) will be getting them to take you seriously. Washing and waxing a stock subaru wagon next to someones 100k Ferrari (or whatever else) will certainly be a bit strange to them.

In this case, I'd say it's time to religiously watch /DRIVE Clean, and think about doing it yourself if possible.

Svend > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:41

Take a look at detailingworld.co.uk, they are a U.K. based detailing forum but have sponsors and supporters in the U.S. or check I believe it's Motorgeek or similar for recommendations. Alternatively look up some of the local detailers in your area and pop round for a chat, see how they work and what they suggest and come to some sort of program within your financial range and requirements. A proper and decent detailer won't mind you popping round to chat and organise a plan of action.

If future care is an issue or rather you'd like it not to be a future issue. Check out some coatings which would help protect the body and aid cleaning (you can wax on top of a coating, many do, but you don't have to).

If you were this side of the pond I'd say drop it off at my house for a few hours and I'd do it for free. But good luck, check recommendations and visit a few places.

Money Hustard > JGrabowMSt
08/12/2014 at 16:44

That's an interesting approach, I'll give that a shot for sure.

Honestly, I'd love nothing more than take a few days and just detail the shit out of my cars, but life just isn't allowing that sort of thing right now. Writing this article took me a damn week of 20 second bursts of typing.

I can't wait until the boy is just a bit older, perhaps I can get him into the whole thing, and he'll go out there with me.

Money Hustard > Svend
08/12/2014 at 16:46

Interesting idea, thanks!

Svend > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 16:51

Oh, just seen you live in Florida. Check out Gtechniq (yes I'm biased), I know the director here in the U.K. and they are top people and only accredit people that have been through there program and satisfied all training and assessment conditions. Give them a call, they'd be more than happy to discuss your requirements.

Money Hustard > AM3R
08/12/2014 at 17:12

I hadn't thought of enthusiast forums, not sure which ones would be super active in Winter Haven, Florida though. Are there Lincoln Town Car enthusiasts a thing?

AM3R > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 17:15

haha, try http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/

It's a detailing forum.

Money Hustard > Svend
08/12/2014 at 17:28

The one in Sarasota isn't too far from me, perhaps it'd be worth the hike to have some real professionals take a crack at them. At least the Outback since we own it.

Jake - Has Bad Luck So You Don't Have To > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 17:39

Pretty much any collision repair place will be able to take care of that for you if you have enough money to throw at them. Probably 4-5 hours of work at $60/hr, in my untrained opinion.

petebmwm > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 18:23

google "paint correction" in your area, and yes, enthusiast forums, referrals, try and go to a cars and coffee and ask around, they'll point you in the right direction, i just had my x3 done after a detailer swirled the hell out of it... it cost me a little money but i dont care, because its perfect!

Svend > Money Hustard
08/12/2014 at 18:56

Ye', just pop down have a chat. See what they recommend and what you want doing and come to some plan of action to how much you want to speed.

As I say a good detailer is open to show how they work and what they do and discuss and recommend things.

They'll also discuss the best maintenance regime to maintain the finish.

orcim > GhostZ
08/13/2014 at 03:08

Y'might have to use it for a while. "parenting" can encompass a lot of years. Flow trumps dents and scratches when it's time to pack the fam into a vehicle. Anything else becomes a war with no winner.