Clenz Ltd

Tim Give me a shout when you have firmed dates up (more than the day before though! LOL) and we'll see if we can hook up for a beer. Be good if we good get together with Martyn at same time???

Did you get my 'e' ? Sorry we can't help as we only have a couple of days left between here and 2010 but we can def' find you someone who is good.

I know of 3 valeters/detailers that have dumped these (we tried them and ditched them too) - way too big and I found them poor for washing into nooks and crannies + the pile gets way to close to the ground for my liking when cleaning sills etc. I like some of the Dodo products but IMO they have got a bit carried away with this one. PS: Wookies do make great chew toys for playful Weimeranars!

I think ^^^^ you are are right when you say if the OP was happy......etc. Wouldn't argue there. I just look at this from an industry professional perspective and my point here is the promise to restore 'showroom condition' for £45.00 Unless the car is virtually new it is just not possible and it is these false claims that make the industry look occasionally shabby. I was looking at a post on another forum the other day from a guy who was promising an exterior detail that included full correction for £85.00!!! If anyone had headed their Z that way then they would have been nuts. I think the driver for some of the very low prices we see in the market is the generally weak business skills (many guys work purely on price as opposed to service and technical quality, the latter being a much harder pitch) caused by the relatively low investment required to get a valeting business off the ground. Fortunately for us there are a lot of sensible guys (and some girls) who are prepared to pay well for having decent kit looked after. However, as an indstry we do not seem to have the capability to deal with this potential. I don't think this will change in the near future tbh.

£45 is unbelievably cheap - we would charge £77.50 for our topline non-detail exterior valet and about £40 for the interior and you would have got a bang-on job for that. TBH these guys are the bane of the industry with their stupid cheap prices - this leads to the constant churnover of valeting companies who do crap jobs (we pick up the pieces all too often) and who drag the sector into disrepute. No insurance, low skill levels and cheap products etc. Sorry - bit of a hobby horse subject for me.

Tyre dressing?

It's a pretty nasty poduct tbh - ok if used in right dilutions but it will strip wax! Be VERY careful to keep it off of chrome/stainless trim - this year we have had 3 cars affected by dealer courtesy valets (tfr is quick and cheap to use); a Toureag with screwed window surrounds (dealer is replacing) an A4 cab' with the top of the A frame ruined (dealer denying responsibilty) and an older 3 series with stained kidney surrounds (owner not bothered!). If it dries on or is used at the wrong dilution rate it will easily stain windows and paint. Best used on trucks and under wheel arches IMO.

Funnily enough Tim I've got one of those old Volvos on the books too. Long standing customer of mine has a new V70, BMW 335i and the old crudpile he uses to cart his extremely smelly Labradors about in. I have to do the heap to keep him happy! It's white with touches of rust! It's a really good illustration of how cars have moved on a bit over the years.

Great job there. 26 hours - got to be what £7-800 and then he chops it in; I wonder if he got that much or more over what he would have done. If he did then a good move by him, woud have been great if he had got a before and after valuation!

That's a good deal on the Bilberry - it's not too many miles away from a trade case (20L) deal.

BM - I have just got off the phone from Greg and he would def' like to have a conversation with you. His contact number is 08450 090134 - if you prefer him to ring you please pm me your name & contact number and I will pass it on. Greg is a good guy and will genuinely try and resolve this issue if the product etc is at fault. Good luck.

Re: polishing after claying. This is not needed unless the paint has been marred. After you have finished claying you have a very clean surface albeit covered with lube and small particles of suspended crud. Once this is removed then the surface is ready for an immediate application of wax or sealant which will benefit from the clean surface re adhesion. Maybe something has got muddled in translation ie the usual steps would be clay, polish and then wax but the polish process is not a necessity. Clear as mud? There is a danger in removing anything with clay, be it tar, tree sap or fallout. Small particles are easily pulled off the paint and into the clay but occasionally a larger particle may give rise to a nasty 'squeal' which = a scratch in progress. Unless I am correcting after I prefer to use a solvent to minimise this risk. Second reason I don't like removing tar with clay is that to remove difficult deposits requires an amount of 'scrubbing' - this pretty much always mars. Often visible as a dulled patch in daylight and def' visible under a Brinkmann. The extent of this will depend on paint hardness, aggresiveness of clay and sensitivity of the user! I've used a mild clay (pre-correction) and have marred removing very hard deposits of tree sap. Maybe I'm not sensitive! Clay - good stuff but needs a bit of care.

No problems - I will talk to him tomorrow and see where that leads. I'll repost here tomorrow.

Any safe wheel cleaner and then Rimwax should do fine.