Why Your Car Deserves Professional Vehicle Detailing

Most of us think we are doing a grand job when we get the bucket and sponge out on a Sunday morning. You give the car a quick scrub, hose it down, and maybe give it a wipe with a chamois. It looks alright from a distance but if you look closer, you can see the little swirl marks and the bits of grit that just won't budge. That is where the difference between a quick wash and a proper bit of care comes in. At Dinks Auto Body Repairs, we see cars every day that have lost that factory shine because the owner just didn't have the right tools or time to get deep into the paintwork.

What actually is professional vehicle detailing?

The word detailing gets thrown around a lot these days. Some people think it is just a fancy name for a valet, but it is actually a lot more involved than that. A valet is usually just a quick clean of the inside and outside. Professional vehicle detailing is more like a restoration process. It is about looking deeper than just what is on the surface. We start by using snow foam. This is great because it clings to the car and lifts off the loose dirt before we even touch the paint with a mitt. It stops you from rubbing grit into the clear coat which is how you get those nasty scratches.

After the wash, we move onto things like the clay bar method. If you run your hand over your car door and it feels a bit like sandpaper, that is embedded contaminants. Things like road tar, tree sap, and iron filings from your brakes get stuck in the paint. A clay bar pulls all of that out and leaves the surface feeling smooth as glass. It is a slow process but it makes a massive difference to how the light reflects off the car.

Getting rid of swirl marks and imperfections

One of the biggest reasons people come to see us at Dinks Auto Body Repairs is to fix the paint. You know those circular spider web patterns you see when the sun hits your bonnet? Those are swirl marks. They usually happen from car washes with the big brushes or from using an old sponge that has trapped dirt in it. We use compound polish to level out the paint. It sounds scary but we are basically just removing a tiny, microscopic layer of the clear coat to get rid of the scratches.

This process also helps with things like orange peel where the paint looks a bit bumpy. It takes a lot of patience and the right machines to get it looking right. And once the paint is flat and smooth, the colour looks so much deeper. It is the kind of thing you can't really do yourself on the driveway without the risk of burning through the paint. We have been doing this in Peterborough for a long time so we know exactly how much pressure to use.

How to keep your car looking better for longer

Once we have spent all that time getting the paint perfect, you don't want it going back to how it was in a week. Protection is the most important part of the whole job. You can choose between a high quality wax or a ceramic coating. Wax gives a really nice warm glow and it is great for classic cars. But if you want something that lasts, a coating is the way to go. It creates a hard layer over the paint that repels water and dirt. It makes washing the car much easier in the future because the muck just slides off.

At Dinks Auto Body Repairs, we always talk to our customers about what they want to achieve. Some people just want their daily driver to be easier to clean while others are getting a car ready for a show. We tailor what we do to suit the car and the budget. It isn't a one size fits all kind of thing. We look at the state of the alloys and the trim too. We offer alloy wheel refurbishment if yours are looking a bit scuffed up. There is no point having perfect paint if the wheels are covered in kerb marks.

Why you should trust the experts

We know it can be tempting to buy a load of products from the shop and have a go yourself. But honestly, by the time you have bought a machine polisher, all the different pads, the clay bars, and the various chemicals, you have spent a fair bit of money. And if you get it wrong, it can be expensive to fix. We have seen people try to polish their own cars and end up leaving holograms or stripping the paint off the edges of the panels.

We take pride in being one of the leading auto body shops in the area. We handle everything from insurance repairs to fleet vehicles, so we know our way around a car body. When you bring your car to us for detailing, you are getting years of experience. We aren't just washing a car; we are treating it like it is our own. It is about the fine details like cleaning the exhaust tips and getting the dust out of the air vents.

Keeping it real about your car

Not every car needs a full three stage polish. If your car is relatively new, a single stage might be enough to bring back the gloss. We are always honest about what needs doing. We will have a look at your paintwork and tell you straight what we think will work best and if you have got bigger issues like a dent or a scrape, we can sort that out at the same time since we are a full body shop.

It really makes a difference to how you feel about your car. When you walk back to it in a car park and it is gleaming, it makes you feel good. Plus, if you ever come to sell it, a well detailed car is worth a lot more. Buyers can tell when a car has been looked after. It shows you cared about the maintenance.

If you want to see what we can do, have a look at our gallery on the website. We have worked on everything from everyday hatchbacks to classic vehicles that need a bit of extra love. The team here is friendly and we are happy to answer any questions you have. You can find us in Peterborough and we are always up for a chat about cars. Give us a call on 01733 687101or fill in our online contact form  if you want to book in or just get a bit of advice on how to look after your paint. 

Professional vehicle detailing is an investment really. It protects the car from the salt on the roads and the sun in the summer. Also it just makes the car look better than it did when it left the showroom. We enjoy the process and we think you will love the results. So if you are tired of looking at dull paint and scratched wheels, come and see us at dinks auto body repairs.