[sandeepmohan]

I have been wanting to head to 3M from the time I took delivery of my car. It is absolutely essential that you protect the paint at the very beginning. The dust levels and pollution are so high in our country. There is dust in the air even in your house. No way you can get rid of it. Karthikk from team Bhp, another Linea owner had advised me that I get some 3M magic done on the car. Images of Karthikk's car were enough to justify the quality of work. The only problem was the location of 3M. The most talked about HSR layout was too far and so was Dollars collony. When I read that 3M had opened up in UB City, I was thrilled. It is a 20 minute ride from home and I knew exactly where UB city is located. Finding your way around Bangalore, atleast for me is still a nightmare even after 6 long years of living here. I found Bombay a lot easier after spending just a year there. So yeah, it was just a mention on Team bhp that 3M had opened in UB City. I called 3M helpline and got the number of the person who runs the 3M car care facility in UB City. A Mr. Vinod. I fixed an apointment for 9am today (Saturday, 28th, 2012). I was there on the dot but it took a good 45 minutes before they started the work. Finding 3M in UB City was a small task. It is at the last basement parking that is closest to the Exit gate for UB City. When I spoke to Mr. Vinod, I was recommended a package that would set me back by around Rs. 4500. Upon reaching 3M, Mr. Vinod's assistant took a close look at my car and said I need do only the 3M Paint Sealant-Essential as the car was a little over a month hold and damage was minimal with all the guard's washing. This will cost Rs. 3000 for a Linea. The cost varies depending on the size of the car. I had a Hyundai i20 for company and a while later, an Audi A8L. My car looked like a toy next to the Audi. I got chatting with the owner of the Hyundai. The A8L had come from the showroom. The Hyundai owner, a reitred gentlman had recently acquired a Verna petrol too and was very impressed with what 3M had done for this car when he first visited. He brought the i20 for the same job being carried out on my car plus windscreen sun film.

The 3M facilty in UB City is not fully speced as the other 3M outlets. No basic car wash, under body treatments or foam wash. Sun film, paint protection and interior/exterior cleaning/detailing is about all they can do. This is no drainage provided and hence, they can't really do a water wash for anything. They have steam wash which turned out very effective. It got me wondering at the beginning as to how they intend to work on my car as it needed a wash due to the dust settled on the surface.

The process started with steam washing, which was pretty awesome. A jet of water, combined with steam and compressed air. My car was already shining. After this, they rubbed some clay compound on the metal parts of the car. Once clay rubbing was done, they masked all chrome strips, windows, windshield; applied liquid wax and polished the car. The entire process took a good 3.5 hours. The results are just amazing. The paint surface on my car feels like silk. The Linea, by design is a beautiful car. The work done by 3M car care made it look even better. The Sun Beam beige color on my car looked fantastic. My car looked so much better than the day I took delivery.

The chaps working on my car were very professional. Each of them have been trained at the 3M facility in Electronic City, Bangalore. I had nearly 4 people work on the car at one go. Each one going about their job. The job cost me Rs. 3303. My only complaint is time management. I had an appointment at 9am and to me, you need to start your job at 9. It took a good 45 minutes before they actually started to work on my car. Besides; the chaps working on my car were constantly distracted by the Audi that had come in for complete exterior, interior and engine bay detailing.

The package includes alloy wheel cleaning, tire cleaning, basic interior cleaning, cleaning windows and windshield.

On the overall, it was a pleasant experience. They were nice enough to refund the cost for parking too. Some photographs from 3M car care, UB City.

[swiftnfurious]

Thanks for the report. Guess you will be posting more pics? Right now it's the WIP pics, we love to see the car in sun light! That actually shows the quality of work than under the lights.

[KarthikK]

The quality of work looks amazing under these lights. Do post a few pictures of the Jet under sunlight if possible. How was the overall customer service here?

I wonder why they opened a 3M facility in the basement of UB City, of all the places. Looks like a total compromise, to open up a car 'detailing' centre inside the mall's basement with dark dungeon-like parking lots alongside! . Some scratches might even go un-noticed in the dark. Somehow I feel they should have ideally taken some bright and airy place where there was exposure to sunlight.

[bottle]

Is this the UB City premium ? Paint sealant treatment for new cars is 2250 in Chennai

but I guess the convenience is worth it

[KarthikK]

Originally Posted by bottle

Paint sealant treatment for new cars is 2250 in Chennai

I think the price actually depends on the dimensions of the car, so hatchbacks are usually cheaper to detail. For which car did you pay 2250?

[bottle]

Ah I guess I missed that , it was for a hatch my mistake

[GTO]

Originally Posted by KarthikK

I wonder why they opened a 3M facility in the basement of UB City

Makes good business sense, actually. Foot traffic is extremely high, and mall customers can get their cars detailed while they shop for clothes upstairs. It's all about convenience.

It's cheaper real estate & the number of footfalls are really good. I'm pretty sure they get a large client base from people who would have never otherwise considered getting their cars detailed.

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by GTO

Makes good business sense, actually. Foot traffic is extremely high, and mall customers can get their cars detailed while they shop for clothes upstairs. It's all about convenience.

It's cheaper real estate & the number of footfalls are really good. I'm pretty sure they get a large client base from people who would have never otherwise considered getting their cars detailed.

Not really GTO. They can't really shop upstairs as the stores in UB city are Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Jimmy Choo, Botega Veneta, Versace, Salvatore Feragamo and the likes.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Vid6639

Not really GTO. They can't really shop upstairs as the stores in UB city are Louis Vuitton, Burberry, Jimmy Choo, Botega Veneta, Versace, Salvatore Feragamo and the likes.

Well there are a couple of grooming shops where you can get "detailed". 3M have their offices in UB city so could muscle in some space. Apart from that, a slow meal . Would suit window shoppers though

[KarthikK]

Sorry for going a little OT. Besides agreeing with vid6639 and ajmat about the designer stores for VIP shoppers, my opinion was more on the location of the 3M store within the mall. What I meant was they could have chosen a better located store somewhere in the ground floor of UB city or some place similar, rather than the dungeon-like basement exit where people movement is not much. Although rent would have been higher, a ground floor location would have given much better visibility to passersby and/or increased the customer inflow. Right now, I'm not sure how many people would even know this thing existed in the basement parking lot of UB City (even I didn't know until vid6639 posted in another 3M thread). And from Sandeep's review, it looks like they don't offer the entire menu of detailing in this particular store, they don't even do a full body wash due to lack of water drains.

Second aspect was about detailing cars in the dark, under the lights. I might be wrong here but I've always believed that detailing under sunlight is the best place to do it.

[gopa99]

The store location is on ground floor and the place is very well lit. Well the quality of job or an inspection could be done best under sunlight, I agree, But never a detailing job!!

[mav2000]

Also its great for all the office goers who park there the whole day anyway. They can give the car for treatment anytime during the day, while in office.

[sandeepmohan]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Thanks for the report. Guess you will be posting more pics?

I have put up pictures of my car, after the work, under the thread; "Poor mans ultimate driving machine". Do take a look. I have compressed them. At the same time I did not want to upload them again on this thread as it will be duplication. Adding just a couple of photographs with a lot less compression.

Originally Posted by KarthikK

How was the overall customer service here?

Excellent.

[n.devdath]

I am planning to get Hariya a dose of 3M interior and exterior treatment but going by the pics, I guess the roof will pose a challenge to the guys there.

[ajmat]

Took my Skoda for a exterior detailing and interior clean up. They did an excellent job in restoring the paintwork, it look better that it ever did. A lot of the scruffy interior stains have gone. Car looks good, it's up for sale BTW





I also gave my Jetta in for sun film and new car paint protection. Again very meticulous. they taped the areas where water would seepto avoid damage and taped the window switches

I must add that since they do not have full washing. If the car is very dirty, it makes sense to have the car go through a shampoo wash elsewhere before bringing it in