Detailing – Not Just for Aston Martins
There’s a common misconception that car detailing is only of value to high-end vehicles. At Auto Curators we’re fond of saying that ‘You don’t need to own an Aston Martin to enjoy our services.’ So, in this article, we thought we would expand on that thought a little further!
The Cost of Detailing:
At Auto Curators we’d be the first to admit that the cost of detailing a car is a significant investment. So, we understand why some people say – ‘Oh, you wouldn’t want to bother with my old ‘xyz’, it’s not worth a lot of money.’ But, the work we do can be of higher value on a ‘regular’ everyday car. That’s because a vehicle that lives outside and serves as a daily driver needs more protection than the rarely used sports car. After all, that vehicle might only come out to play on the occasional sunny weekend.
Of course, the relative cost of the service compared to the value of the car may appear more significant. A £600 detailing treatment might seem a lot to spend on a car worth £5,000, as opposed to one worth £200,000. That said, the advantages of protection and ease of care can be of significantly higher value to the owner of the lower-priced car.
All Vehicles Great and Small:
At Auto Curators we have detailed cars that are worth less than a good suit! Examples have included a Peugeot 406 Estate, classic Minis, and old BMWs. We regularly detail new cars like Ford Fiestas and Minis. A recent visit to the detailing studio was a Kia Picanto. The owners of these vehicles all wanted to protect their car and have it look; it’s very best.
We also work on lots of cars in the £50k to £300k price bracket. This range of vehicles might include, M BMWs, RS Audis, AMG Mercedes, Porsche, McLarens and Ferraris.
At the top end of the scale, we have worked on unique, championship-winning Formula 1 cars, helicopters, and valuable classics. Examples include a 1954 Mercedes 300SL (worth circa £1.5m), a Ferrari 250 SWB (worth circa £12m) and yes, an Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato (worth £12m+).
B is for Benefits of Detailing:
Aesthetically, the cars we work on will always look their best by the time we’ve finished with them. For some people this is important because the vehicle represents an achievement of hard work, for some, it’s a status symbol, and for some, (me included), it just makes them happy to see their car looking perfect!
For others, who enter their car into competitions, our work maximises their chances of winning and therefore will raise the value of the vehicle. In 2018 we prepared the 1972 Porsche 2.4S that won Best in Show at the coveted Salon Privé Concours event. We’ve also prepared a car that won the Ferrari Owners Club national concours event.
For those clients who come to us with their everyday drivers, our treatment help to protect their car from the rigours of daily use. These customers are typically busy people who have no desire to spend hours cleaning a car at the weekend. We take the hard work out of that chore. Instead, they can spend 20 minutes cleaning the car, and it will look fantastic again. This efficiency leaves our clients free to spend more time doing what they love instead.
Bespoke Services:
At Auto Curators we don’t offer a one size fits all approach when it comes o detailing. Everything starts with a conversation so we can establish what is important for you. Once we understand your needs, we can assess your car and come up with a plan, keeping your budget in mind.
Let’s say you had a second car in the household, used for local errands. You don’t want to spend a lot of money on paint correction, and a few swirls aren’t important to you. However, you worry about the paint being damaged by bird droppings because it’s parked under trees at work. Those same trees leave sap that you sometimes struggle to remove. In this instance, we’d make sure your budget went towards protecting your car and ensuring ease in removing those contaminants.
As another example let’s say you’ve just bought a black Porsche. It’s new to you, but not a new car. You’ve saved hard to buy your dream car. You couldn’t stretch to the £100k+ it would have cost for a new Porsche, but this is the next best thing. You’ve found the best used Porsche in your budget, and mechanically it lacks nothing. But the paint is a bit flat, and there are swirl marks everywhere. So, it doesn’t feel very ‘new’. In these circumstances, we will build a package that concentrates in both paint correction and protection. We’ll ensure your car looks as good as it possibly can and that it will stay that way. This might involve having some repairs at the bodyshop, so we can manage all of that as well.
But, we do detail Aston Martins too:
I genuinely couldn’t tell you exactly how many Aston Martins we’ve detailed, but it must be more than a hundred. The stand out ones for me have been the extremely rare and exquisite Zagato models. We have worked on a 1950’s DB4 GT Zagato, a 2012 V12 Vantage Zagato, and more recently, one of the few Vanquish Zagato Speedsters to stay in the UK.
Whatever car you drive we can ensure it’s well protected and looks a million dollars. Contact us so we can establish a detailing package that works for you.