[SX4LOVER]

okay guys....i tried out the 3M Viman Nagar after one of my friend whom i lend the car to left is do dirty that i knew it needed professional care. gave my 4 yr old SX4 for the antibacterial internal wash. went back after 5 hrs to collect and was left with my breath taken away...it looked almost spanking new...

So i have decided that i will get the exterior detailing done on the 30 mar 13. my car is 2008 mfd, done two years in assam (highway under perpetual construction), the whole xar is full of minor scratches. a sample polish left me quite impressed as i could see my face clearly. im told itll cost me 5k. looking forward to it. will post before and after pics .

[noopster]

I had a mixed experience at 3M Car Care on Baner-Pashan Link Road recently. I went for an interior cleaning job and there were two packages on offer: Germ Clean for 1999/- and Germ Clean Plus for 2999/- (plus tax) . The difference being the AC vents cleaning and scenting. I opted for the latter.

No complaints on the actual interior job, which was done well. But...

• They had just about finished the cleaning job when one of the workers, in his eagerness to get an old sticker stain off my windshield, cut my front windshield film with a knife. I was standing right next to him and immediately yelled at him to stop using the blade, but the damage was done. I hadn't asked for any sticker stains to be removed so it wasn't my fault. The guy claimed that he didn't know there was film on the windshield, which is ironic considering he is a 3M employee. I was furious and asked the guy in charge who asked them to touch my windshield. He sheepishly admitted to telling the worker to do it and then offered to replace my film for free.
• I have Global Diamond 70 sunfilm on my front screen and they promised to replace it with the same brand. I even connected them with my regular accessories guy so he could source the exact same film. But they sourced it from elsewhere. I suspect this is some cheaper no-brand film they have used (though he insists it is the same brand).
• Reason I am more suspicious is that my accessories guy told me later that the 3M guy had come to him once in the past and demanded to have the cheapest film available. When pressed as to why, he admitted that their staff had damaged the sunfilm on a customer's car and this was a free replacement, hence cheapest.
• Anyway, my film is more than two years old so I didn't sweat it. The fitting seems to be an OK job.
• I had to wait two days for them to procure the film and replace it. There were no offers to pick up and drop the car: I had to drive it myself there the second time (which is fine because I wanted to see them do the job myself). But they should have at least offered.
• When I finally got the car back to my satisfaction, I drove off, checked my mirrors and...WHOA! Where's my mirror? Seems they had taken out the IRVM and kept it in the glove compartment while putting the film on and forgotten to put the mirror back!
• I went back and asked them to do it. They couldn't. The staff member told me it's done: I twisted it a little and it came off. After that he got desperate and tried to force the thing in. I told him to leave it alone and drove off in disgust. Got it done at my accessories guy (same guy who told me about the film) and he didn't even charge me.

You could say they did right by me in the end but the whole experience left a most unpleasant taste in the mouth. I am certainly not going back to 3M Baner again. They don't even have any escalation mechanism: that Tapas guy is nowhere to be found and the shop is run by a guy who doesn't seem to have much authority. They have started cutting corners in service as well. The staff doesn't look that well-trained and professional anymore. The lower-cost packages have vanished from the menu. Seems to me 3M has a steady stream of Q7s and Mercs that land up for all manner of body and interior cleaning jobs and don't seem to think retaining an old customer is that important anymore.

[KALINGA]

3M Car Care Banner has done a good job with my car. I took the Color protection and the interior waxing package. The result was excellent. Also had very good experience with other cars in my family.

Some snaps from 3M Baner :

[S_U_N]

@Kalinga: Please take no offence, but for a brand new car, does it really take any effort to shine it up? You posted pics of a car with temp. plates.
Real effort is needed only when the car is incredibly dirty or not maintained for a very long time.

[KALINGA]

Originally Posted by S_U_N

@Kalinga: Please take no offence, but for a brand new car, does it really take any effort to shine it up? You posted pics of a car with temp. plates.
Real effort is needed only when the car is incredibly dirty or not maintained for a very long time.

Yes, You are absolutely right.

I took delivery of the car on 11th July then after 3 days I drove around 150 KM. If you are from Pune then you can remember the heavy rain during that time.

So the car was very dirty at that time. I am posting some of pics before the 3M treatment.

OT : As a car lover ,i can not see my new car in that condition...hope you understand..

[noopster]

Originally Posted by noopster

You could say they did right by me in the end but the whole experience left a most unpleasant taste in the mouth. I am certainly not going back to 3M Baner again. They don't even have any escalation mechanism: that Tapas guy is nowhere to be found and the shop is run by a guy who doesn't seem to have much authority. They have started cutting corners in service as well. The staff doesn't look that well-trained and professional anymore. The lower-cost packages have vanished from the menu. Seems to me 3M has a steady stream of Q7s and Mercs that land up for all manner of body and interior cleaning jobs and don't seem to think retaining an old customer is that important anymore.

Update on this: I got a call from Tapas, the owner of the 3M Baner centre asking for more detailed feedback on the above incident. I thanked him for calling and told him where exactly the interaction had gone bad. He gave me a patient listen and he has offered his personal apology along with the hope that I come back again. Told him I appreciated it and may well go back.

[Hurrycane12]

Originally Posted by noopster

Update on this: I got a call from Tapas, the owner of the 3M Baner centre asking for more detailed feedback on the above incident. I thanked him for calling and told him where exactly the interaction had gone bad. He gave me a patient listen and he has offered his personal apology along with the hope that I come back again. Told him I appreciated it and may well go back.

I stopped the 3M Baner Centre visits too; I had installed new sunfilm through them and I was not happy with the installation there were air bubbles which I had brought to their notice. They informed that it will go off in a few days once its exposed to the sunlight, then they tried the heat treatment with a blower and in the process they they damaged the speaker rings and also the rear defogger.

[Contrapunto]

Anyone aware of any 3M detailing centres in Hyderabad? I tried the 3M India site- and found it pretty much useless- just a set of static, boring pages of corporate/ product info and doubtful interest. I tried their "car care" page and it just returned a list of most of the large Maruti dealers in the city !!! And guess what, I just called one of them (Varun) and he said that they don't deal with paint protection film etc.

[Jimmy_u]

Hi Team,

Do the 3M guys work on Bikes, touchup / polishing / teflon etc.

I am looking for a good vendor who can work on my New TBTS 500.

(Mods please remove if this is not the right forum for this question)

[KALINGA]

Originally Posted by Jimmy_u

Hi Team,

Do the 3M guys work on Bikes, touchup / polishing / teflon etc.

I am looking for a good vendor who can work on my New TBTS 500.

(Mods please remove if this is not the right forum for this question)

I believe 3M do not work on bikes.
They are limited to car only. I will check again with 3M Baner.
For touch-up you can check with any local paint guys. The best idea is to buy a matching paint spray can and do the "DIY".

[ajay_satpute]

Just came back from 3M Car Care, Baner. I had left my Vista for basic wash package in the morning and the result is outstanding, similar to all previous instances. Nothing much to complain, except a delay of about 15-20 minutes.

I spoke to Swapnil, in-charge of the centre in absence of Tapas Kumar, the franchisee owner, regarding the 2 incidences reported above and he did acknowledge those and said that it was a mistake which they don't want to repeat. I told him that TeamBHP is well known and such reports are taken very seriously in the community.

Total bill amount was 430/- minus 10% corporate discount, as my company has a tie-up with 3M.

Also met Anoop who had come there to get the complimentary wash for his Swift which was promised to him by Mr. Tapas due to the mistakes they made in the above report. Nice meeting you mate after long time.

OT: There was a brand new 2013 TJET in the awesome blue shade at the centre. Its quite a looker and the interiors are pretty good IMO compared to the older versions of Fiats in India.

PS: I inquired about 3M Bike detailing and I was told that very soon 3M is opening two wheeler detailing centres across the country.

[Sawyer]

What is the experience of using 3M interior detailing work in Pune on genuine leather seats that are in good shape except for accumulated dirt in the creases? Is the life/supple feel of the leather maintained after the work has been done, or does the leather crack after some time or deteriorate in any other way?

[santoshr]

Got the Wash and Wax which they call paint protection from the 3M shop @ wanowrie. Had been to a drive which had lots of mud and water and so wanted the bottom cleaned.

Checked in at 0930 with a promise that he will deliver the car at 12/12.30. I elected to wait and monitor the process :

• Do note they no longer use steam wash for the engine bay and use the standard high pressurized water jets. I refused to have them clean by engine bay. Had to again point out to the manager when the car was being washed.
• Doors opened and the side walls are pressure cleaned, this is a little risky as the splashing water can seep into the speakers through the door.
• Used a petroleum based solution to wipe off the tar from the body. This did a pretty neat job. Since I don't have mud flaps the region behind the wheels right near the door hinge had a whole lot of tar on it.
• Waxing on and waxing off left the car shiny as new.
• The alloys were not properly cleaned, had to point it out and get them done.

Over all a pretty decent job, the car was delivered at 12.30 as promised. I plan to do this only on occasions where I know theres lots of mud and crud under the car. Else doing a similar job every weekend using VAG shampoo and VAG wax keeps the car shiny and bright.


Here are some pics --

Look at the amount of mud and sludge which was in the wheel arches.




Shampoo'ing


Wax On




Wax Off


Shiny and new --

[Jimmy_u]

Originally Posted by ajay_satpute

PS: I inquired about 3M Bike detailing and I was told that very soon 3M is opening two wheeler detailing centres across the country.

Hi Ajay,

Thanks for this info, this is a good update, however would you know anyone in pune who does bikes,looking for a good polish + teflon coating garage in pune.

Regards,
Jimmy

[ajay_satpute]

Originally Posted by Jimmy_u

Hi Ajay,

Thanks for this info, this is a good update, however would you know anyone in pune who does bikes,looking for a good polish + teflon coating garage in pune.

Regards,
Jimmy

Jimmy, why don't you try this one? I had read about them once, but cannot comment on the quality of service and pricing.

http://www.thebikeandcarsalon.com/cntnt/pricing.htm

Cheers!