[nareshtrao]

Starting a new thread on 3M Car Care in Koramangala as it does not do justice to discuss them in the other thread which is meant for HSR Layout outlet.

Noticed the new outlet opening in Koramangala a few days back.

My Eight Year Old Civic needed some serious clean-up as we have water shortage in the building and that too is hard water leading to lot of scaling and residues. So took the car last Saturday for a thorough pampering. Got the following done:

1. Paint Sealant Advance for exteriors
2. Germclean Plus for interiors
3. Anti corrosion treatment for underbody

All of three for the Civic (termed as Large Car) cost me around 15 K.

Of the above, Paint Sealant cost was around 8 K. Interior Germclean Plus including AC vent cleaning cost was around 5 K and the Anti corrosion treatment (2 years) for underbody was around 2 K.

Apparently, 3M classifies the cars as 1. Small (Alto, i10 etc.), Medium (Honda City, Verna etc.), Large (Civic, Octavia etc.), Extra Large (SUVs).

I met Vinay and his brother who run the place. Indeed the place is quite large. Vinay said that the premises were custom build for the purpose. He seems quite passionate about cars and knowledgeable.

The bays are also very large and can easily accommodate large SUVs without obstructing other bays while driving in. They also have washing facility within the premises which has an under-body wash facility constructed within. Ample parking in the front too. A lounge with a wi-fi on top for those who want to wait on.

Directions are very simple. Coming from Sony Signal, cross Maharaja junction and it is on the left, a few meters ahead.

What I liked about the place:

1. Spacious and well equipped per 3M standards
2. Great location with ample parking in the front
3. Very experienced staff - seems some of them worked for other large European brands
4. Personal attention from Vinay and his brother on each car
5. Technical knowledge of the owners and staff

Here are some pictures - both Before and After. I have also captured the work area to give other readers a view of the place.

Note especially the paint prior to treatment and after. The depth of shine is apparent. Similarly the underbody prior and after is another picture that I have here. Also note the scaling across logos which was completely removed and looks close to brand new.

[Gannu_1]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to Bangalore, Team-BHP Directory. Thanks for sharing!

[poloman]

I would say the quality of work looks impressive, but the rates are atrocious. Are these treatments really worth 13K?

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by poloman

I would say the quality of work looks impressive, but the rates are atrocious. Are these treatments really worth 13K?

Agree the rates are fairly high. 3M has always been so. For me the fact that the car had not undergone some cleaning for a fair bit of time weighed in on the cost benefit decision.

Further as I have two toddlers at home who use the car, I wanted the interiors really clean as these kids keep mouthing every thing that comes to hand and are prone to infection.

The underbody was scraped and was starting to rust so I opted for that treatment.

Even with volumes, 3M has been always on the higher side. Despite that we see a fairly high traffic in these centers. I guess it's a demand based pricing that 3M commands.

[dark.knight]

3M has always been inordinately expensive, I've heard from people that they also have a tendency to ignore small cars like hatches because they know that there is less scope for business there. They do have the foam-wash basic clean package but they are usually very hesitant to accept that. They'll gleefully accept orders like wrap/total paint care/mats so on, all products seemingly priced to be 10x the manufacturing cost. I agree that they have people who need to be paid, huge costs relating to rent, electricity, machinery etc so it is quite justified.

However to most people the costs will not make sense. I've never used their service, just basic cleaning from fresh water through a hose 2 times a week. Happy to say there are none-very less swirl marks after 6 years (the cleaning guy uses a soft absorbent cloth) & I also trained him to strictly remove all water droplets from the base of the car so that they don't dry up and form water marks. If I'm in a mood once every 5-6 months I thoroughly detail the finer areas using Colin spray, remove the grease+dust within the engine bay using dry tissues, then a bit of shampoo for the outside (2 drops) & the car is good to go for another few months. Even now people think the car is almost as good as new.

I might try this branch someday though, hope its a good experience.

[vinayrathore]

Wow, your civic looks better than a showroom car! Where exactly in Koramangala is this place? My Viva badly needs a day out there.

[Tassem]

Took my verna in for a foam wash and I must say I'm very impressed. The place is very spacious and well equipped to handle the most meticulous among us.

Vinay is absolutely hospitable, friendly and extremely customer centric. Even more refreshing is that the employees seem to exhibit the same level of customer centricity.

The work is done downstairs while there is a brilliant customer wait area upstairs. There are a lot of 3m/Meguiars products on display. I bought a Diesel fuel additive. (Rs.655)

I am very happy with the work done on my car and will gladly recommend this place to anyone. The foam wash costs Rs.440 for my car. The rates are standard across 3m.

Vinay can be reached on 988-602-3040.

The place is bang opposite Vasudev Adigas / Dell Store / Petrol Bunk on 80ft Road.

Map here

I did not have my camera with me, so will leave this cell phone pic here for now. Should give you an idea about how spacious it is.

[Ajaybiz]

Been there last month to get front windshield sun control film and black wrap on my cars roof, need to visit them again to get the side windows done with sun control film.

[nareshtrao]

Originally Posted by vinayrathore

Wow, your civic looks better than a showroom car! Where exactly in Koramangala is this place? My Viva badly needs a day out there.

Depends on which direction you are driving from.

1. If coming from Sony Signal, cross Maharaja junction and it is on the left, a few meters ahead.

2. If coming from HSR, cross Wipro Park signal towards Sony world and then take U turn at Maharaja Signal.

You can call Vinay in case you get lost. His number is 98860 23040

[kutlee]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

3M has always been inordinately expensive, I've heard from people that they also have a tendency to ignore small cars like hatches because they know that there is less scope for business there. They do have the foam-wash basic clean package but they are usually very hesitant to accept that. They'll gleefully accept orders like wrap/total paint care/mats so on, all products seemingly priced to be 10x the manufacturing cost. I agree that they have people who need to be paid, huge costs relating to rent, electricity, machinery etc so it is quite justified.

However to most people the costs will not make sense. I've never used their service, just basic cleaning from fresh water through a hose 2 times a week. Happy to say there are none-very less swirl marks after 6 years (the cleaning guy uses a soft absorbent cloth) & I also trained him to strictly remove all water droplets from the base of the car so that they don't dry up and form water marks. If I'm in a mood once every 5-6 months I thoroughly detail the finer areas using Colin spray, remove the grease+dust within the engine bay using dry tissues, then a bit of shampoo for the outside (2 drops) & the car is good to go for another few months. Even now people think the car is almost as good as new.

I might try this branch someday though, hope its a good experience.

+1 to that. I have done paint sealant treatment from 3M. Once before repainting the car once after repainting. The work is good. 3M has set up a strong process to give consistent results. The results when car came out of shop was good. But the sealant does not last very long. I don't give car to washer boys and i expected longer life. But simply did not deliver. I got better results from Collinite and other brand waxes. Since the car is not washed daily, there is no salt build up. When i visited 3M, they tried to sell their packages. Luckily i did not take. Initially i thought package made sense. I have seen Koramangala outlet. There is plenty of parking space. That itself is a very good thing to have.

[gopa99]

Originally Posted by dark.knight

3M has always been inordinately expensive, I've heard from people that they also have a tendency to ignore small cars like hatches because they know that there is less scope for business there.

Was this feedback any store specific? I learnt from a fellow 3M'er that small cars still continue to be their bread and butter and contribute to upwards of 60% of their total revenue. Given their elaborate customer data base tracking infrastructure, i believe these figures should be spot on.

[tharian]

Visited this outlet of 3M Car Care yesterday for some wrap work on a friends new XUV.

We had visited the Indiranagar one first since it was closer. But, due to lunch time and unavailability of the person who does the wrap, decided to visit the Koramangala one which was around 3-4 kms away.

There were few cars already inside getting the body detailing done . We were attended to immediately by the store in charge and explained to him what exactly we were expecting , which was matt black wraps on the pillars and the carbon fibre wrap on the front grill.
This was a base silver colored, previous version XUV and we wanted to do something to get rid of the all silver body.
The pillars were done exactly like how the other versions of the old XUV came from the factory. Someone who did not know that the base comes with body colored pillars would not realize it was wrapped.

The front grill was the tricky part since they have done the same on another XUV(in pic) , but it was not a complete wrap and we wanted a complete wrap with no body color showing . That took a while and which ever corners that did not stick perfectly were re-done and the end result was satisfactory.

The only negative was the time taken, which was more than 3 hours which I guess was required for a good end result.
Good they opened opposite a Adigas or vice versa.

Overall a satisfactory job.

On a side note. Saw the sleeper Turbo SX4 from Chennai in the outlet, that was featured in the Modifications thread sometime back. Had a chat with the owner,who also happens to be a touring car racer . He had purchased it from the thread opener. Absolute stock looking car , but moves and sounds great.

[Rotorhead]

Had given my Black skoda rapid for powershine and germkleen plus work last weekend and I must say I am very happy with the end result. The exteriors and interiors are almost close to when i brought the car new 3 years back now.
Its not just the workmanship of the guys in this franchise, but its also an absolute pleasure to interact with the brother duo(vinay & kishore) who run this franchisee. Vinay and kishore are always around to greet the customer and walk them through the process personally take keen personal interest in making sure that each customer and the cars gets the attention. They are always about on the work floor rather than in their cabins.
I would absolutely recomend this place.

[Nikhilb2008]

I visited this place yesterday for just a wash and was not too happy with the service.

I still feel that 3M's standards have gone down. If you leave it to them, you will find lots of water marks once you leave the place. I monitored every panel and insisted they use a dry cloth to wipe again but in spite of that, I missed the front bonnet and then this morning I cleaned it myself at home.

Also, I noticed that the guy washing the car(after the foam was sprayed) used the same cloth to wipe the panel and then rubbed the underbody and then immediately continued wiping the rear quarter panel. I shouted at him (I'm not proud of it, but seeing black foam being spread on a recently detailed car got me riled up) and told him to wash the cloth and then use it.

But clearly they dont have different cloths for the underbody and for the rest of the car. Later on, I did speak to the concerned employee and told him not to feel bad. I told him how much care I take of my care and how I wash it myself most of the time. He grinned and accepted his mistake. So, thankfully no hard feelings there.

The boys seem well intentioned but there is clear cost cutting going on. Using the same cloths even when it is dirty, using the same wet cloth to keep drying the car when all it does is just spread the water marks, etc...

The manager, Santhosh is quite nice. And the people there were nice to me. I am very particular about not removing everything from the car and they still worked with my limitations and accomodated me.

However, just being nice isnt enough when they dont have enough cloths to dry the car.

I think the franchisee owner and 3M have to do something drastic to improve their quality. A layman may not realise but someone like me who is very particular about their car will never return.

I have now taken a vow never to visit 3M unless I have ABSOLUTELY no choice or time to wash my own car.

[gpa]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

I still feel that 3M's standards have gone down. If you leave it to them, you will find lots of water marks once you leave the place. A layman may not realise but someone like me who is very particular about their car will never return. I have now taken a vow never to visit 3M unless I have ABSOLUTELY no choice or time to wash my own car.

Nikhil, your experience seems a deja vu to me when I went to another 3M center a while ago. They did a very poor job. I'm equally particular about areas such as the bottom half of door panels and running board being cleaned and polished well and they skimped on these areas as the areas were rough to touch. I also made the mistake of taking delivery late at night and couldn't do a complete final inspection.

I haven't gone back since, although at times, I have to eke out time to wash/wax the car myself.

-gpa