I have used it for 2 years on my Mercedes CLA and now I am getting it done on my Jeep Compass as well.

BHPian vattyboy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Ceramic Coating was on my list for my Jeep Compass because the shiny, glossy and smooth exterior delivered by it is unmatchable in the market today with any other products.

I am confidently speaking about the positives of the ceramic coating after experiencing them personally for 2 years on My Mercedes Benz CLA. Since I got my 2 cars ceramic coated and I was standing beside my car for all those hours during which the car was getting coated.

In this thread, I want to give you all the information regarding-

• What is ceramic coating?
• Steps followed in the procedure of Ceramic Coating?
• How to maintain Ceramic Coating on your car?
• Should you do Graphene Coating or Ceramic Coating?
• PPF vs Ceramic Coating - which one should you go for?
• Lastly, choose the best detailing studios for yourself

What is Ceramic Coating?

A ceramic coating is made of SiO2 (Silicone Dioxide) and is a type of semi-permanent clear coat that is applied to the exterior of a car to protect it from weather, UV rays, and other environmental hazards like bird droppings and tree saps etc.

• It provides a superior shine and gloss to the paint job and it typically lasts for two to five years depending upon its price.
• Price increases with the thickness of the Ceramic Coatings and a thick coating will last on paint for more years.
• On the positive side, ceramic coating can help to prolong the life of the paint job and make it look better for longer. It can also help to protect the car from minor scratches.
• On the downside, ceramic coating can be expensive for many but for Car Lovers like us, it is worth every penny. Ceramic Coatings can't protect the exterior from stone chippings.

Choosing the Best Detailing Studio for Yourself

Let me tell you why I chose "Detailing Devils"

They manufacture their ceramic coating and use them on their own

• I have seen many detailing studios that buy the ceramic coating of the brand which they get for a lesser price and they keep on shuffling between brands which they get for less to maximize their earnings. For 3 months they use brand A and then for the other 3 months, they use brand B if they get it for less price.

PAN India Warranty Claims and Service

• Suppose I got my car coated in X city and now I got a transfer to Y city, so I can get my car maintained at Y city's studio at no extra charges.

Decent Price

• A 5-year warranty package costs Rs 30 to 35k depending upon the size of the vehicle and I got approx 25% discount on it.

5 years of Free maintenance of Coating

• Every year 1 free maintenance is given in which they detail the car like washing, rubbing and polishing.

All steps followed in the procedure of Ceramic Coating

Preparation:

The first step in the car coating process is to thoroughly clean and dry the vehicle. This ensures that the surface of the car is free from dirt, dust, and other contaminants that could interfere with the application of the coating. After washing the car, they do clay bar treatment on the car.

Clay Bar Treatment

Over time, the paint becomes contaminated with pollutants like road grime, tree sap, dust, bird droppings, and more. This can create a dull, faded appearance that’s difficult (or even impossible) to clean away with conventional methods. Fortunately, there’s an effective solution to remove these contaminants and restore paint’s original lustre – by clay bar treatment.

We can do this at home with the Wavex Claybar kit available on Amazon.

• After good wash and drying, remove the clay bar from its packaging and divide it into smaller, manageable pieces and mould the clay bar into a small, flat disc shape.
• Spray a generous amount of clay lubricant or detailer spray onto the paint section you’ll be working on. This step is essential – the clay bar will stick to your paint without lubrication, which could cause damage.
• Lightly rub the clay bar over the lubricated or spayed paint surface in a back-and-forth motion. You’ll know you’re doing it right when the clay bar starts to slide smoothly over the surface.
• Wipe away any remaining clay lubricant or detailer spray with a clean microfiber towel.
• Fold the clay bar over to a cleaner side and mould it back into a disc.

Paint correction:

If the car’s paint has any scratches, swirl marks, or other imperfections, they will need to be corrected before the coating is applied. This involves rubbing and polishing the paint to remove any defects and create a smooth, even surface.

Application:

Once the car’s paint has been properly prepared, the coating can be applied. The specific application process will vary depending on the type of coating being used, but it typically involves applying the coating to the surface of your car using a specialized applicator.

Curing:

After the coating has been applied, it will need to cure for a certain amount of time before it is fully hardened and able to provide maximum protection. The curing time will vary depending on the type of coating being used and the conditions in which it is applied.

How to Maintain Ceramic Coating on Your Car

Coating Daddy Nano Rinse Shampoo is recommended by them to wash the ceramic coated car followed by a wipe with a soft microfiber towel but any ph-controlled mild shampoo can be used. I also have 3m car shampoo, shineXpro car shampoo and autobros car shampoo.

Dos

• Give your vehicle a 100% hand wash.
• Wash in a top to down manner, doing the dirtiest sections in the last to prevent cross-contamination.
• Always use a pH-neutral car wash shampoo or soap.
• Use a 350 gsm or above microfiber cloth for washing and drying (I have 1600 gsm Shine x pro microfiber which wipes the whole car in one go)

Don’ts

• Never use abrasive products such as cleanser polish or wax.
• Don’t give your vehicle an automatic wash.
• Never wax the coating as it doesn't bond with the coating.
• Never try to remove the spots too aggressively.

Should you do Graphene Coating or Ceramic Coating?

Graphene coating was Rs 10k more expensive than ceramic coating. In my eyes, if it was 3-4k more expensive then we can think about considering it but for 10k more I think it doesn't provide the value.

But if your car colour is on the darker side then I think you can consider graphene coating.

Advantages

• Graphene containing one layer of carbon atoms is the strongest material that exists on the earth.
• Graphene Coating is much sturdier and stronger than ceramic coating.
• Graphene coating makes the surface of the ride amazingly rich, glossy, and beautiful more than any ceramic coating can do.
• The graphene material has a higher contact angle because of its unique honeycomb structure and chemical composition which doesn’t let the water settle down, unlike an ordinary ceramic coating.
• As ordinary ceramic coatings retain the heat and form water spots on the surface of the ride, a simple combination with graphene coatings makes the surface more heat resistant decreasing the water spots significantly.

PPF vs Ceramic Coating - which one should you go for?

• While my car was getting coated, 2 customers came. 1st customer has the complaint that the PPF has started to come out from the edges of the car. So this is the bitter truth, no matter how good it is installed on the car, It is destined to come out from the edges at one point in time.
• The 2nd customer had a minor accident on the rear bumper in which the PPF took the whole impact and saved the paint from getting scratched. In this case, the whole PPF needs to be removed and applied again which will cost similar to getting the whole bumper repainted.

These are my 2 cents, depends upon your choice.

Some pictures of my CLA after Coating.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Turtle Wax offers appearance products for paintwork, wheels, tyres, upholstery and plastics.

US-based car care products brand Turtle Wax is set to open two new Car Care Studios in Bangalore. The new facilities will be inaugurated by India’s first Formula 1 driver Narain Karthikeyan on August 3, 2022.

Kar Care, located at Allalasandra Main Road, opposite the HPCL petrol bunk in Yelahanka New Town will be inaugurated at 9.30 am.

The inauguration of second store, Limitless, situated at Jayanthi Nagar, Horamavu Post, opposite BBMP office in Ramamurthy Nagar, will take place at 10.45 am.

Turtle Wax forayed into the Indian market in June 2020. The company offers appearance products for paintwork, wheels, tyres, upholstery and plastics, as well as its Hybrid Solutions Ceramic range aimed at professional detailers.

Turtle Wax Car Care studios are also present in Delhi, Gurgaon, Pune, Chennai, Palakkad, Kochi and Kolkata.

You will find this facility being used early in the morning by people who are on their way to work; during the evenings, by people who are returning from work and yes on the weekends.

BHPian raveesh_k recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Hi Friends,

With the growing road network infrastructure worldwide, the appetite for extended road trip adventures has only increased, and does not show any signs of slowing down. This subsequently has led to the implicit need for us to respect our cars even more so than before, and also pay a lot more attention to its upkeep, both mechanically and in terms of general hygiene. Unlike in India, where getting helpers to clean our car (at the cost of leaving swirl marks all over) almost daily is a common practise, in Europe (...and perhaps elsewhere as well) on the other hand, is not. And therefore the prevalence of car wash at every nook and corner of cities here is quite understood and obvious.

Speaking of Germany, the automotive capital, with some of the best car producing companies within its boundaries, these companies have their enthusiast customers, who themselves are crazy about the upkeep of their cars. This high demand, combined with German engineering and you have some of the fanciest, state of the art and the biggest car washes you would have seen in a while.

I will in this blog, share my always so joyful, experience of washing my car in one of the such car washes of Germany - Mr Wash.

I also attempted capturing my car wash experience in one of the episodes on my channel BeermanTalkies.

Usually I follow a 3 step process for cleaning my car which takes approximately 1.5 hours of cleaning end to end.

Step 1: Bug removal + high pressure rinse:

Because of high speed driving on the autobahn, there are a lot of road bugs that hit the nose of the car which when left over days, dry up and firmly stick to the paint of the car. Additionally when driving in snowy conditions on the roads here, that are treated with salt to lower the freezing point of water to further delay the process of ice formation on the road, this salt also get splashed onto the body of the car, sticking on it. Now if the car wash brushes, in the process of cleaning my car, were to rub this salt against my car body, it would create scratches on the paint. To take care of these problems I first go to a high pressure wash facility to give my car a quick rinse to wash off this stuck salt. And before I give it a rinse, I also spray this bug remover on the nose, with which the bugs loosen out a little and are washed away easily.

Most of the "self service" car wash stations in Europe run on timers, and the quantum of time is what you buy from self service terminals. For example the wash station I go to gives me a 100 seconds for every 1 euro. And in these 100 seconds I can choose whether I need soap wash, soap brush, clear wash, hot wash or shine wash. Either I use everything one after the other (what many people do), or only choose what you want. In my case, since I will get my main wash done in Mr. Wash, I only choose a quick soap wash followed by clear wash to wash out the bugs and the salt off my car. The last option in most of these self service timer based washes is the shine wash, which is simply softened water which when dries, does not leave any water spots behind on the car. Its almost as if the car was blow dried after the wash.

Some pictures demonstrating this step of the cleaning process:

 Using the insect removal spray before the rinse:

Inserting euros in the self service, five wash terminal:

Washing the salt off especially in the side skirts area, that bear the maximum splashes:

Drenched/ dripping wheel arch:

Time to exit the high pressure wash facility and head to Mr Wash:

Step 2: Outside full body cleaning including underbody:

For this step I come to Mr. Wash, which is an experience in it own, and I strongly recommend it, if you are this side and driving around. The Stuttgart branch of Mr. Wash is considered as one of the world's biggest car wash facility, but even still, the Dusseldorf one, where I go to, is by no means small. I am sure you will realize it when you see the video. You think of a service related to your car, and it's available under this roof. Even though the name of the facility is Mr. Wash, in addition to cleaning service it also has regular car service packages, oil change, waxing, detailing etc. Depending on the extent of cleaning (/service) you wish to get done, there are different packages available here. I mostly choose the 15 euro one, which includes the thorough all round exterior car wash including tyres and under body, and also gives me access to interior cleaning bay which I have described in the step 3.

If its sunny and not raining, and its a weekend, you would always find a long queue here which just reiterates what I had mentioned earlier, that people really pay a lot of attention to their cars here. You will find this facility being used early in the morning by people who are on their way to work; during the evenings, by people who are returning from work and yes on the weekends.

For the exterior wash there are two washing zones in this facility and in each one of these zones there is a conveyor belt onto which you have to load your car, and off you go into the wash cabin sitting in the car. It take a little getting used to aligning your wheels to the conveyor belt but there is enough assistance here - a person guiding you and also, there is a live television showing real time tire alignment of your car as you get onto the conveyor belt. Also, as soon as you board the conveyor belt you have put the car on neutral (not the P mode in automatic transmission). This is to ensure that your car can roll freely and consistently maintaining the gap between other cars on the conveyor belt through all the cleaning stages.

Inside the wash cabin there are water jets and cleaning brushes of different kinds that do their magic. As much as I would like to describe it in words, its best seen in my video above.

The last section in this wash cabin, is the blower sections which comprises of high pressure hot air blowers that blow each and every droplet of the water from the drenched car. After passing this last section, you can exit the wash cabin and the conveyor belt, put the car in drive mode (or in a gear) and drive off.

Some pictures demonstrating this step of the cleaning process:

Mr Wash - Hafen, Düsseldorf:

Check in line at the reception:

Entering the drive in washing zone (two wash cabins here - left and right):

Washing brushes performing ballet:

The ballet performance continues:

The final stage in the washing zone - hot blower section:

Step 3: Interior cleaning:

For the third and the final step we have to head to the upper deck of Mr. Wash for which I get free access, in the cleaning fee that I had paid earlier. As you can also see in the video, this upper deck has numerous cleaning bays, and with each cleaning bay you get a set of vacuum (two vacuums, one for the right side of the car and the other one for the left of the car), a set of high pressure air jets and a floor mat cleaning machine. Additionally, there are also water cleaning stations, and also alcohol wipe vending machines.

Before getting into the interior cleaning, I use a micro fibre cloth to just wipe clean my car, especially in areas like under the ORVM and near the reverse parking camera's which are not expose to the hot air blowers from the last section of the car wash zone in step 2. I also find it quite important to wash my micro fibre towels regularly to clean them from trapped dirt and dust particles which may also scratch the paint when wiping the car clean. It is one of the main reasons why I am always watchful of the car wash brushes that I use for cleaning my car - for example I never use brushes that are kept dipped in a bucket full of dirty water in fuel stations, because I am sure that the bristles of those brush will have a lot of dirt trapped in them from the already dirty water which can cause serious damage to my car.

I start the interior cleaning process with the floor mats which get the dirtiest during travel. With the help of the floor mat cleaning machines installed here, I just insert the mat in the machine, push a foot pedal that kicks off a few cleaning brushes to roll inside the machine and cleans my floor mats, spec free. These machines are for carpet mats. For cars with rubber mats, the water stations can be used which have a connected high pressure water jet hose to take care of the hardest of muck on your mat. Foot mat cleaning process is followed by vacuuming, using the very effective vacuum cleaners which can reach each and every corner of the car. After the first round of vacuuming, I use the high pressure air jet to bring out all the hidden /unreachable things from under the seats, from inside the dashboard trays, bottle holders, side pockets etc., and then do a quick second round of vacuuming to remove them.Finally I use my own wipes to clean the dash, centre console, door handle area, door pockets, phone charge tray etc., followed by a quick check under the hood if anything needs cleaning and thats it!

The facility at Mr. Wash is really state of the art and there is no time constraint whatsoever so you can take as much time here as you want to clean your car peacefully. When you are up here, on the upper deck, you will see a lot of people really taking time and enjoying the cleaning process - men, women, children...everyone!

Some pictures demonstrating this step of the cleaning process:

Upper deck with multiple bays for interior cleaning:

Wiping the car clean with a micro fibre cloth:

Carpet mat cleaning machine. Press the foot pedal, the cleaning brushes roll inside, move the mat up and down between the brush and viola! spec free mats:

The high pressure vacuums, one one either side of the car. These vacuums are always on:

Vacuums can reach every corner of the car:

High pressure air jets on either side of the car:

Using the air jets to expose hidden objects from under the seat:

Wipes cleaning the dash using alcohol wipes:

Under the hood check to see if anything needs cleaning there:

Mirror finish car:

More of the mirror finish. Always brings a smile, always:

The huge deck with numerous cleaning bays:

Leaving the state of the art cleaning facility which has all the car related services that you can think of, under this star studded roof:

Now that I have shared the car cleaning procedure that I follow, it will be incomplete to not mention some other general aspects as following:

• Driving around a visibly dirty car in Germany can give you a lot of stares on the road.
• Maintaining a black car is difficult, even in Europe! No dust here, but rather it's the rain and the resulting slush, that takes the discredit.
• In cities with dust and rain prevalent (like in coastal regions), its a nightmare to maintain the exterior cleanliness. With a layer of dust on the car, followed by a rain or drizzle, leaves horrible chicken pox (or leopard ) style of print of the car.
• If you are the kinds of always wanting to see a mirror finish on your car, then you need to have a garage to yourself. If you do not, and have to park your car in the open (street parking for example), then you probably will spend more money in your car wash than renting yourself a garage.
• Its a struggle most of time to get a garage for yourself here, if you don't have one along with your apartment. So like finding apartments for rent, people also search for garages for rent here, and the closest available garage might not be next to your house! My garage for example is 300 meters away from my apartment.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Our car cleaner not only climbs on the vehicle’s tyre but also onto the scuttle panel, hood, wiper and windshield.

BHPian Sidjohri recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I’m posting this to share my (and our) experiences on practices followed by our revered car-cleaning personnel to supposedly keep our drives spick and span. How many times have you cringed to find your car unclean as you rush to beat the morning traffic? The satisfaction one gets to see both wiper blades in an upright position (a sign indicating your car’s daily grooming) is often priceless!

But all good things come at a cost. How often have you noticed unexplained nicks and depressions in your prized possession(s) which seemingly did not exist yesterday? I was experiencing such instances over the last few days with minor scratches appearing every day (progressively) on the front fender of my car and hood. While I initially brushed these off as routine mobility-related bruises I was (one not so fine morning) appalled and shocked to see this: our car cleaner was literally undertaking some over-adventurous manoeuvres to show off his novel car cleaning practices! As you can see in the CCTV grabs below, the gentleman not only mounts himself on the vehicle’s tyres (could be common practice) but goes that extra mile by climbing onto the scuttle panel, hood, wiper and windshield! On all twos!

I uncharacteristically lost my cool and confronted the said person. I was informed that he is a recent replacement for our regular cleaning guy. He, being of slightly short stature, had no option but to perform such heart-in-the-mouth moves. Heart in the mouth big time for me – not sure about him!

While I have received an assurance from the gentleman that going ahead he would be gentler towards my (and other’s) steeds, the incident has indeed left me a bit shaken. No matter how much TLC you give the forces of nature will somehow slip through the cracks and confront your motor! I would be happy to know the views of our esteemed BHPians on this subject along with any such instances you might have experienced.

Sorry for the low-quality images – the idea is not to put the spotlight on the gentleman in question but just to showcase his antics.

Here's what BHPian shancz had to say about the matter:

Short guy and tall car don't work very well with cleaning.

Ask me, cracked a plastic roof rail since I was using it as leverage to balance myself when standing on the tyres to reach the far end of the roof.

Standing on the hood/windshield part is wrong and unnecessary.

Just get the guy a sturdy plastic stool/small stepladder (non-metal) if you want to avoid the antics.

TLC is only possible personally, IMHO.

Here's what BHPian ashis89 had to say about the matter:

Climbing on the tyres is a common practice, climbing onto the hood is NOT.

As suggested earlier, ask the guy to get something like this (or get him one).

On a side note, the most cringe-worthy cleaning practice (and unfortunately, the most prevalent one too) is the cleaning guy using a single bucket of water and a cloth to wipe a dozen cars. The first car they touch in the day is the luckiest, the last one...

The cars look clean from a distance. Upon close look, you realise the dust/mud/grime has been wiped and spread across the body. With time, swirl marks and scratches appear on the windscreen and body. Learnt it the hard way and decided to do the job myself.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

A lot depends on what scale you are looking for. I have seen simplest of setups, where you need a water connection, water tank a water pump for washing. A vacuum cleaner to vacuum cars, a couple of guys and you are good to start.

BHPian Livnletcarsliv recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

What do you think is the cost of setting up a detailing business?

What are the most needed things and what are the things that are good to have?

When can I become profitable?

Here's what BHPian Rachit.K.Dogra had to say on the matter:

I happened to have some discussions around setting up a 3M franchised store in Gurgaon.

From a 3M store perspective, there was a pretty sizable initial cost that needed to be given to 3M, under which they will setup your shop and will give you a stock of products for the remaining value. I was a bit taken aback knowing that that total cost of those fancy detailing roof lights was close to 15 lakhs.

If let's say you don't go through a franchised model, here is what I think is essential for a good car detailing studio to attract good customers:

• Good washing area and equipment. (Cost can vary depending upon the if it's indoor / outdoor or if there is a lift installation or not)
• Good quality products. (Cost will depend upon tie ups and stock procurement)
• Some fancy roof white lights, which brings out the smallest of the swirl marks in customers cars, so that they get tempted to spend to get those polished.
• Staff training

A lot depends on what scale you are looking for. I have seen simplest of setups, where you need a water connection, water tank a water pump for washing. A vacuum cleaner to vacuum cars, a couple of guys and you are good to start.

Here's what BHPian anantpoddar had to say on the matter:

If you're looking at the essentials of starting a detailing business, check out the YouTube channel of Dallas Paint Correction. This guy covers the basics of starting.

Cost will depend entirely on the scale at which you want to start. Some of the basics that you need to answer based on your areas of strengths and weaknesses:

• Whether you want to start small and test the waters or go all out at once.
• Access to prime location or otherwise
• What kind of services you want to offer: initially and in the medium term

You need to define the vision for your business which will influence your strategy.

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't think of starting a detailing business if I cannot break-even within the first quarter.

The biggest challenge in the detailing business is retaining talent. Most of these guys get paid anywhere between 8 - 12k + commission, per car. The supervisor level guys get paid around 15k - 20k. I hardly see any of them last more than a year at the same place.

Here's what BHPian nkrishnap had to say on the matter:

Cost of setting up a detailing studio depends on the below.

Capital expenditure

• Rental deposit, if the place is not owned. Cost of the place and rent will be dependent on locality/location, sq ft area, no of bays you want to have etc.
• Infrastructure related to presentation of the studio. Electricals, lighting, plug points, machinery, etc. For example a good steam washer (automotive purpose one) will cost at least a couple of lakhs. Other machines such as vacuum cleaner, polishing machines etc. All of these are available from a low price to high price. Example, Karcher dry ice machine mrp is around 22 lakhs.
• Marketing and Human resources cost. Putting in infrastructure, because personnel hiring does cost you now a days even though it is a blue collar job. Digital marketing services can turn out to be expensive too. All depends on how you are approaching it.

Fixed Expenses

• Fixed costs
• Rent
• Salaries - depends on the skill set. Cheap untrained ones come for 12 to 15k and trained ones for 25k

Electricity

Water charges and other sundry expenses.

Product & Workmanship

1. There are tonnes of products, not every product will suit the market need. So how you build your services around the available products and differentiate your services is what will get you customers. Stick to practical possibilities than marketing your services as fire proof, scrarch proor, 10H (some folks are claiming 12H too). Do remember you can fool or hide the reality from the customers only for a short term. Long term it will hit you hard.
2. You labour is what gets you customers even if you have the best product. A good product in untrained hands can only do so much. I have seen certified detailers unable to extract 3 months life from a top notch ceramic coating whereas even a basic coating can outlast the durability of such certified coating (when done by a trained hand) from these certified detailers. Do not compromise here.

Tricky question. Investment vs returns. You need to look at pricing your services with complete consideration of your investment and how quickly you want the returns.

Note: Going low prices not necessarily will bring volumes.

Also get into it only if:

• You are passionate about the work you would do.
• Willingness to get your hands dirty, learn the job and master it.
• Loads of patience dealing with the blue-collar folks. It is easier said than done. They will leave you high and dry when you least expect it.
• Do this only if you can sustain for a long term. Short term you will lose money.

Here's what BHPian AJ56 had to say on the matter:

As someone who operates a detailing business in Gurgaon, let me try and answer each question to the best of my ability and knowledge.

Taking my own case as a point of reference, for a 1500 sq.ft 4 bay + customer lounge set up in Delhi-NCR you’re looking at around 30-35L. This is all inclusive of interiors (major cost) + equipment + chemicals + insurance and brand and logo copywriting. Salaries and marketing will be extra on a monthly basis obviously.

You can lower this cost significantly by a few lakhs if you decide on a smaller 2 bay set up but I wouldn’t recommend that as you’ll lose business eventually as you’ll always be short of space and will have to turn customers away due to a lack of free space. Demand is very non-linear and some days you may get 1 car and other days you might get 8.

Most needed things:

• High quality pressure washer (min. 120 bar) with a healthy flow rate and an attachment for cleaning the vehicles underbody. Make sure you have a smaller back up pressure washer in case the main fails.
• Water softener or water filtration system to ensure water being fed to the pressure washer is free of contaminants that can harm paint due to the pressure. (We use an RO system with indoor tanks at our centre)
• Air Blower for drying, preferably electric as there’s no risk of oil droplets being mixed in with the air like with some oil based air compressors.
• Industrial grade wet + dry vacuums with a healthy tank volume, upholstery extractor for dry cleaning. Ideally have 2 vacuums as you don’t want workflow to be interrupted due to a failure.
• A combination of rotary and orbital paint polishers (actual number will depend on number of workers you have) and at the minimum 2 orbital sanders for removing heavier defects/orange peel.
• Great lighting, will consist of led roof and wall lights, focus and spot lights in your detailing bay and powerful handheld flashlights for checking the paint during and after correction.
• Detailing trolleys/brushes/sprayers/wash mitts/buckets/foam pads/etc.
• High quality chemicals, I won’t go into specifics but depending on your market positioning and pricing you should have a combination of shampoos, compounds, polishes, trim dressings, sandpapers of varying grits, etc. most brands like 3M, Capro, Meguiars, Gyeon will have detailer bulk pricing available. Ceramic coatings + PPF is upto you, can definitely start with coatings as the learning curve for actual application isn’t steep.
• Paint thickness gauge, you can get a cheap one for 9-10k on Amazon which will work well enough and give accurate paint thickness readings, this is critical if you want to check if a panel has been repainted or before attempting any moderate to heavy paint correction, as you want to know how much clearcoat you’re shaving off during a correction.
• PPE and Safety - nitrile gloves, dust masks + respirators for ceramic coating, protective eye glasses, rubber boots (for wash bay), fire extinguishers at every corner of the shop, security cameras with night vision, emergency light in case of power failure, alarm system at the shutters entrance points (since high end cars are left overnight during some jobs)
• Power backup - we have a generator that is used almost every day when the power is cut, unless you’re in a city with zero power cuts, this is absolutely essential. Rent or buy is upto you.

For good to have you can include an air compressor and steamer although we hardly find use for them at our centre and they’re strictly optional. Make sure your compressor has a large enough tank otherwise it’ll keep cutting in and out every time you use it. You can also get a roof rail system for the pressure washer hoses but it’s not essential, chemical dilution machines again, optional. Dry ice cleaning machines are expensive and require safety training before use, wouldn’t recommend for a new detailing shop just starting out. Regarding IR lamps for quicker curing of coatings, not needed in my opinion as newer coatings do need it and you anyway should be leaving the car overnight before delivering it to the customer.

Assuming it’s a new brand (not a franchise) and your service is top notch, you’re looking at roughly 1 year, can be a few months before or after depending on your monthly cost of operation. Your rent and salaries will be the main cost heads, chemicals should never exceed 10% of your total monthly cost of operation. It takes time to build a loyal customer base, I took 10 months for my first centre to break even before I opened the second, which took 6 months since I had a base by then, always remember repeat customers are much more profitable than new ones. Avoid spending too much on marketing initially as word of mouth is the most powerful and consistent method of acquiring new customers.

One more thing, know that like with any business it takes a lot of effort and time (and money) to set up and operate, you’ll be working 9-10 hours, 6 days a week for a year but the rewards at the end will be well worth it. Educate yourself first before investing anything on the basics of detailing and then work your way up to higher levels, there’s boatloads of great information on detailing channels on YouTube, follow them. Feel free to message me if you have any further questions, happy to help. Good luck!

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

Watching them cleaning my car with the same dirty cloth in and out literally broke my heart. They were using some strange liquid solution to polish the interior, which was sticky in nature and had a weird smell.

BHPian im_chandan recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I own a Tata Nexon and I am used to cleaning the car myself. Most of the time I use the 2 bucket method. I prefer turtle products for car cleaning needs. I am especially impressed by their Ice Seal n Shine product.

Turtle Wax Ice Seal and Shine hydrophobic effect after parking car in the open for a night in light rain:

Recently, I had been to a service center for my car's 2nd service. Nowadays, almost all service centers have switched to dry cleaning for exterior cleaning.

Watching them cleaning my car with the same dirty cloth in and out literally broke my heart. They were using some strange liquid solution to polish the interior, which was sticky in nature and had a weird smell. They were cleaning the dirty bottom part and the upper part of the door panel with the same cloth in one go. It was very scary to watch them cleaning my car in this way.

Finally, after the service, I took my car to a local car washing shop for a thorough wash. Then I brought the car back home and did all the polishing by myself.

Now I have decided that I will never use the dry car washing service at the ASS.

BHPians, do you still prefer getting your car cleaned at a service station?

Here's what GTO had to say on the matter:

Service center only if it's being offered free, which a few do. But if they are charging a pretty fee for cleaning, then it's best done outside (just like wheel alignment or detailing). The sole reason I can think of in favour of service center cleaning is convenience; since the car is already there, why not get it done too vis a vis taking the time out for a separate visit.

Here's what BHPian Leoshashi had to say on the matter:

I prefer getting it washed from outside. Have been availing Maruti's Service on Wheels facility, where they send their service van to my home, and although they have water on board, it's not sufficient for any decent job. So I politely deny and they offer me to get my car washed at their main facility by mentioning it on their bill. So as of now I have 3 such "tokens" but I'll never get my car washed there. Reasons:

1. They are too overloaded to do any decent work.

2. Risk of them using improper methods of washing, Yes I'm a bit finicky for those things.

3. Time taken for a wash is actually less, but then the drama begins of moving the car out through congested premises, waiting for other cars, billing time etc. For the same reason I call their van for service, they do the required things in an hour max, and send me the bill over whatsapp, which is far convenient than spending unproductive hours at the workshop.

4. The nearby washing center/detailing shops do a far better job. Owner is my friend and I get my cars washed before/after their normal operating time. That matches perfectly with my office timings and secondly, they do a far more comprehensive job as per my needs, which sometimes includes drenching the entire underbody and cleaning deeply.

Yes I do end up spending close to 200 rupees monthly extra for this, but it's entirely worth it.

Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.

I am sure that many of the seniors would have experienced and noticed this change in the way we treat a car over few decades.

saikarthik recently shared this with other BHPians.

I was sitting in my home on a holiday and was ordering some car care items online, which led me to this thought - why am I buying all these stuff? I never bought these many products or services for my previous car that was purchased 13 years back adding to the cost of ownership. This change in the way we care or operate our car might be because of more exposure and maturity in us or the affordability (more income and spending mindset), availability of options etc.

I am sure that many of the seniors would have experienced and noticed this change in the way we treat a car over few decades. Let us not make this thread about just the driving habits, modifications, basic accessories or cost (example how fuel/taxes were Rs. xx back then while it's Rs. xxx), but discuss the way we and our methods/habits about car care & usage evolved or changed in past 20 years - 2000's and now. There are definitely both sides positives and negatives on this change. Some of those which I could think of are:

Keeping the car clean and in better shape

Once a wise man in the movie Transporter said "The way a man treats his car is how he treats himself".

This was always the first pointer to identify whether a person takes care of his car or not, not like judging by the cover of a book though. The habit of keeping cars clean is not a new habit by itself, but the amount of products and the ways have come a long way in just a few years. Comparing to early 2000s, cleaning used to be a daily ceremony for quite a few with minimal products like a soft cloth, probably soapy water, once in a while pressure wash and rarely detailing/coating. But now, there are a lot of products, services and outlets to clean. While some normal people employ someone to clean their car every morning and detailing once in a while, others take interest to keep their cars clean by themselves. Some of the points that I would list has increased:

Equipment:

Evolved from cloth and brush to micro-fiber cloths, water magnets (absorbers for quick dry), mitts and dusters, wax coated dusters (read Jopasu), foam applicators, special brushes, spray bottles/foamers, personal pressure washers (Karcher/Bosch), Vacuum cleaners.

Consumables:

Evolved from car shampoo to Oh! there too many and will limit to few mentions - windshield washer fluid, waterless wash concentrates, wax coats, dashboard detailers, degreasers etc.

Time & effort:

What used to be a quick dust and wash now takes hours. People watch videos and go through thousands of lines on forums to follow best practices.

Outlets:

Evolved from wash stations to car spas, automatic washing centers, detailers.

Extra care:

Some may think it an overkill, but it is essential to have extra care on few things like using RO water to fill their windshield wash tanks to prevent scale & clogging of washer jets/nozzles.

Special mention:

Interior detailing and cleaning now takes a lot of focus than before, even maintaining air quality using electronic purifiers, charcoal bags, perfumes and a lot more. People use dustbins in car now, earlier the ashtray used to be the closest thing.

Protecting the car

Now there are three things here that people used to consider - protecting the car from outside physical damage due to daily drive, theft/sabotage and keeping the car functional/reliable.

External coatings:

Evolved to anti-rust, anti-rodent, PU coat, PPF, Ceramic coat, anti-fog for windshields, vinyl wraps.

External hardware:

Now the bull bars/flag poles are illegal due to pedestrian safety, sun films (like old dark ones) are not legal, so mostly they are restricted to door guards and simple stuff.

Interior:

Simple rubber mats evolved to 3D/7D and what not, full floor carpeting, sill plates.

Security:

Earlier, only few variants and models came with in-built vehicle alarm systems, so people used mostly accessories such as remote CDLs with sirens. Now we get access to GPS locators and geo-fencing tech. Dashcams are also very important that people spend a lot on to avoid legal harassment or road rage.

Keeping car functional & safe:

Again, keeping car serviced is preventive which has no change but the comfort of pick-up and drop, service reminder mails, RSA, start-ups trying to consolidate FNGs and offering services like gobumper and gomechanic. One downside in service area is making fraudulent claims of replacement of parts and inflating bills. There are some beliefs involved too (take it in neutral sense), so people used idols on dashboards which evolved to a lot of fancy illuminated stuff and hanging accessories from IRVM.

Another aspect in this is when you meet with some incident or emergency situation like a tyre puncture, accident etc. We now spend some good amount on getting equipment like jump cables, tyre inflators (in place of puncture kits), fire extinguishers, first aid kit (from simple pouch earlier to a comprehensive kit). There is an increase in spending on TPMS sensors and many people fill nitrogen nowadays.

Others:

• Document carrying has become hassle free with digilocker or mparivahan app.
• Paying challans are easy now compared to the manual challans issued earlier (god only knows if they are legit).
• DIYs - earlier most of these were mechanical/electrical, now many are trying their hand in electronics/coding.
• Paying toll - a miserable affair earlier, a less miserable affair now thanks to Fastag.
• Subscription - now we have connected cars for which we pay one time sim cost and navigation license, but with EVs and other features will we get into subscriptions?

What else do you think has changed from the past 20 years in the way we treat and spend on a car? In some cases, I think we are doing a little too much where it is not necessary to.

Thanks to saikarthik once again! Check out BHPian comments for more insights & information.

Turtle Wax Car Care Studios to be launched in 23 cities in the coming months.

Chicago-based car care brand Turtle Wax has opened co-branded car care studios in Gurugram, Pune and Bangalore.

Turtle Wax Car Care Studios offer a range of car detailing services for both the exterior and interior of the vehicle. Customers can choose from various care packages including ceramic and hybrid solutions.

Here are the treatments available at the Turtle Wax Car Care Studios:

• Hybrid Series - Basic Exterior Wash, Rinse and Dry, Paint Correction, Hybrid Wash & Wet Wax, Hybrid Spray Coat.
• Ceramic Coat Protection - Paint Correction as per standard detailing processes, pre clean, ceramic coating.
• Exterior Restoration Treatment with further three types - Smart Shield TechnologyTM Treatment with Paint Correction, Super Hard-Shell Shine and Clean & Shine.
• Interior Detailing Treatment - For basic interior cleaning or comprehensive interior detailing which includes Carpets & Upholstery, Roof Cleaning, Plastics & Vinyl, Seats, Leather, AC Vents, Air Freshener, Dressing, Rubber Beading, Door Jams, Seatbelts, Glasses.
• Specialty Treatment - Odour treatment, Headlight lens restoration, Rain- repellent coating, Trims and Chrome restoration
• Wash - Quick 45-minute cleaning which includes Cleaning, Vacuuming, Cockpit Cleaning, Pre- Wash, Rinse, Alloy Wheels & Tyres Cleaning, Foam Wash, Spread, Rinse, Dry, Glass Cleaning, Tyre Dressing.

To mark its launch in India, Turtle Wax has partnered with ex-F1 driver Narain Karthikeyan and NK Racing Academy. The company plans to open outlets in 23 cities in the coming months.

Chicago-based car care brand Turtle Wax has launched its range of products in India.

The company is offering appearance products for paintwork, wheels, tyres, upholstery and plastic. These include Hybrid Solutions Ceramic range aimed at detailers and the Quick & Easy range that is designed for novice users. The brand also plans to introduce its Professional series and Ceramic coating range.

Turtle Wax has launched a car care kit which includes the following products -

• Ice Snow Foam Wash
• Quick & Easy Turtle Wax Interior 1 Cleaner - a 1-step cleaner for fabric, carpets and vinyl
• Quick & Easy Turtle Wax Inside & Out Protectant - designed for plastic, vinyl and rubber surfaces
• Turtle Wax Ice Seal n Shine - infused with Carnauba wax that seals and protects the paint
• Turtle Wax Odor-X - a travel spray with a Caribbean Crush Scent
• Clearvue Rain Repellant

Turtle Wax also plans to organize road trips and vintage car shows in India in the coming months.

Maruti Suzuki has released car care tips to ensure cars are in good condition after the ongoing lockdown to contain the Covid-19 pandemic ends. The company claims to have sent more than 25 million SMSes to inform customers on the tips and that many have been reached out to multiple times to reiterate the points.

The car maker recommends customers to switch on the engine and keep is running for at least 15 minutes. For cars with the Smart Hybrid system, keep the engine running and headlights on for at least 30 minutes. It is also recommended to switch on your AC for 1 minute with all the windows rolled down.

For vehicles, whose free service, warranty and extended warranty was scheduled to expire between March 15, 2020, and April 30, 2020, Maruti has extended it to June 30, 2020.