[finneyp]

Tejas, better to get the Paint sealant (exterior) treatment done for your new car.

[pillaian]

Got my Volkswagen Polo 1.2 Petrol Trendline Interior and Exterior cleaned by 3M, they did a mind-blowing job, the car looks clean and white as it just came from the showroom, below are some after pics, in the excitement forgot to take before pics

[ThE Godfather]

Originally Posted by tejas08

Can anybody tell me what is the Time-Frame after the purchase of a new car would one need to go for Car Detailing Interior & Exterior, considering that the car would be more of a weekend car and not a daily use car?

I am guessing, one would really not require to go for such detailing at least within the first 12-18 months from the date of purchase.

I dont think there is any time frame. One thing you can do is get a Paint Sealant. Apart from it, detailing is only required when you car lose its detail. Swirls, Hazy Shine, Scratches, logos/emblem stuck with dust.

[ghodlur]

Last Saturday got the 3M anti rust underbody coating done for my Punto. Costed me Rs 3.8K and the entire process took around 3hrs. As usual the service at 3M was best with the car being immediately attended and the delivery was right on time. Along with the anti rust coating got an UV protection job free which was nothing but a wash and wax job.

Mr Sheshadri was at loss of words when I showed him the damaged 3M Nomad mats which I had got from 3M. The damage is the mat going bald at the area where my shoe heel rests.

[tejas08]

Went to the 3M showroom at Thane on Saturday. The visit was for the Underbody Coating inspection and touch-up, if any of my 6 month old Honda City. I was looking at the following alongwith the inspection.

1. Exterior Detailing - Powershine (thinking about doing it every six months alongwith the Underbody Coating Inspection)
2. Front Windshield CR70 Film

The whole experience was kind of a mixed-bag.

Saturdays seem to be a busy day for 3M but still the Store Manager seemed to be saying that the load was considerably less. I really don't want to be going on any day which has more load than the day I went. It was already a busy day for them. So much so that the experience so slightly becoming a disheartening one.

Pros:

1. Quality products used
2. Workmanship is good (But can seriously get downgraded depending on the number of cars)
3. Explanation of each and every step of each process

Cons:

1. Untidy cleaning of the car after application of CR70 film on the front windshield.
2. With more cars in the showroom, the guys doing the work kept on switching here and there, leading to confusion of what is completed and what is not.

Damages to my Pocket:

Exterior Detailing Powershine – Rs. 3740 + Taxes (Service Tax)
CR70 Film (Front Windshield only) – Rs. 7090 + Taxes (VAT)

Total – Rs. 12,178 (Including taxes)

Here are some of the photos from Saturday’s whole process in the order mentioned below:

1. CR70 Film Cutting and Sizing (Heating the film to get it to shrink a little it seems) (2 Photos)
2. CR70 film application from the inside (This is the point where they sprayed the front windshield with Soap water. Later on they did clean the dash-board but forgot some other places where the soap water had fallen)
3. Exterior Detailing Powershine – Washing (Pressure spray and foam wash both, forgot to take a snap of foam wash)
4. Exterior Detailing Powershine – Prepping with white tape for the Rubbing and Polishing
5. Exterior Detailing Powershine – Rubbing
6. Exterior Detailing Powershine – Polishing
7. Powershine Demo (Purposely took a snap of the overhead light falling on the bonnet to indicate how the light looks like before and after the detailing)

Finally when I paid the bill and was stepping into my car, I noticed that the rubber beading at the bottom was not cleaned after some of the workers used it to step on it and do part of the work on the front windshield and roof (in both cases; Powershine as well as CR70 Films application). I don’t think I am over-expecting that somebody should clean the interiors (just a quick rub with a cloth) after having done both these things.

This morning I saw some dried soap-water marks on my MID glass which remained from the CR70 film application.

There is an additional experience (not related to my car) that I want to share.

A guy comes in the store with a Mercedes E-class. It seems that he is a very good friend of the Franchisee owner and a big-shot too. This guy talks a lot. I was on the workshop floor looking at the proceedings on my car. This guy starts looking at the cars around while his car is being taken for washing. There is another Honda City other than mine there in the workshop. He opens the door casually looks in to check-out the car. It’s fine till that time. There is an Audi Q3 also there for some exterior and interior detailing. Meanwhile, we start talking about stuff. He says that he has 7 Mercedes, 1 Range Rover, a Jetta and about 19 cars in total. His wife is after him to buy an Audi Q3. All the time I was listening with one eye on my car for the work being done.

This guy suddenly goes towards the Audi Q3 and starts looking at the car like a prospective buyer would look at it in the showroom. Starts the car, adjust the driver’s seat and stuff like that (Thankfully doesn’t take a test-drive). Checks out how the sun-roof works and all.

My personal take on this is that the Store people should have not let this happen as after all it is someone else’s car and that person has left behind the car trusting 3M. I know the store manager and other people might be tight-lipped because this person might be a very good friend of the Franchisee owner and that they might not tell the Franchisee owner about the incident too. So, as a customer of 3M, I decided that during billing I am going to take up this. I did not make too much fuss about it, but I did tell the lady at the billing counter that such things should not happen. It did not happen to my car, and really does not bother me, but next time I would not be willing to leave my car at your showroom and will need to sit out 4-5 hours till the whole work is done to avoid such instances.

[milestogo]

2.With more cars in the showroom, the guys doing the work kept on switching here and there, leading to confusion of what is completed and what is not.

Completely relate to your experience here. The floor is not managed well and seshadri is busy networking. I hope they have changed the floor manager - I decided never to go there unless they changed the supervisor.

[tejas08]

Got a call yesterday from Mr. Sheshadri after seeing the post about the experience of my last visit. We discussed about what sort of niggles I faced during the whole service and post the service.

Seems like he will take up these things with the Floor Manager and the friend of his about the incident that I explained. So hopefully the next time I go around to 3M, I should be having a better experience.

[ghodlur]

An update for quite some time.

3M has shut shop at the Louis wadi area and are in the process of opening a new setup at Ghodbunder Road Thane. The setup will be fully functional from 10th December 2015 as per Mr Sheshadri. The shifting to a new location is to get more visibility and cater to the Hiranandani Estate crowd. The exact address is:

Shop no 2, Near Hill crest society, Chitalsar Manpada Naka, Ghodbunder Road, Thane West. Opp to Shreenath Hyundai.

Directions:
Coming from Thane: Right after the Manpada flyover on the service lane (do not take the flyover but go underneath to access the service road).
Coming from Borivali: Before the Manpada flyover but on the opposite service lane. Again go underneath the flyover, take a U turn and access service lane.

They have also started only wash programme too, cost is best to be enquired at the outlet. The new setup is 2 kms from my place, which means I will be tempted to get treatments done quite often provided the cost are competitive.

[krishnadevjs]

Just got my Octavia washed from 3M car care Thane and I have to say, it was a huge letdown.
Went in at 10:15 AM and was second in line. However, the lethargic pace at which the staff doss stuff ensured that my turn came half an hour later.

Interiors were pretty clean to start with, so no major observations there.
For the power wash, the foam they use is now different from what they used earlier. Earlier it was spread with water, but now it's spread using compressed air. They don't spread it around the car well, either. Many spots were not sprayed over.

Post washing, the guy was using some small microfiber cloth, and not the 3M water magnet. This meant that the poor chap was wringing out water from the towel every 2 minutes. And despite the same, water eas still streaking over the paint and not lifted off.

When I pointed it out to them, they said it's too expensive to use for regular car wash. Hello! You charge 850 bucks for a car wash!!

The washing guy did not wipe and dry lower areas of the car like mud flaps, rear plastic cladding etc. And even major, accessible areas like front fender, lights etc had water on them.
The wipe job was so pathetic that I eventually took my water magnet towel from the boot and wiped the car myself!

Overall, a very shoddy job. The daily washes I do with a spray gun and my 3M water magnet do a better job that this 'professional car wash'.

I sure won't be going there again.

[Maverick5490]

Originally Posted by krishnadevjs

Just got my Octavia washed from 3M car care Thane and I have to say, it was a huge letdown.

Maybe you can pay a visit to Maxshine at Flower Valley in Thane. There is a dedicated thread for it, and has good reviews. However he also does not have a proper washing option.

[krishnadevjs]

Originally Posted by Maverick5490

Maybe you can pay a visit to Maxshine at Flower Valley in Thane. There is a dedicated thread for it, and has good reviews. However he also does not have a proper washing option.

I've been to MaxShine twice for my City and have had a very good experience with Mangesh for detailing. However, this was just for a car wash, and as you said, he doesn't have that option yet.

[Nilesh5417]

How is 3M for detailing job? My monster needs a good detailing sessions to bring it back to glory days. Any recommendations if not 3M? Recently saw flyers from Shine INC - never heard about them but recently they had performance cars lined up in Phoenix Market city which they claimed were detailed by them..