Our Detailing Process | Platinum Detailing
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A paint thickness gauge resting against a dark panel, taking a depth reading
Process

What actually happens to your vehicle.

Seven stages from first conversation to handover — including who decides what, when you are told, and what it costs.

No stage left vague

Handing a car over to someone you have not met is the part most owners are quietly uneasy about. So here is the whole sequence, start to finish, with no stage left vague. Nothing is charged before the vehicle has been seen, nothing is committed to before you have been told what it needs, and nothing is added on the day without being agreed first.

Start to finish

The same sequence applies whether the job is a 90-minute maintenance visit or a multi-day correction. Only the middle stage changes length.

  1. 01 Day one

    The conversation

    Call 01803 362002, message on WhatsApp or send a few photographs. We want to know three things: what the car is, how it is used, and what you want from it. A daily driver kept outside and a weekend car in a garage need different answers, and the honest recommendation frequently costs less than what the owner came asking for.

  2. 02 Before any price is agreed

    Assessment

    Photographs get us most of the way; the paint itself decides the rest. Where correction is involved we take paint depth readings and inspect under controlled lighting before quoting, because clear coat thickness — not budget — sets the ceiling on what can safely be done.

  3. 03 Once the car has been seen

    The quote

    You get a specific figure and a specific scope, not a range that moves later. Package prices start from £60 and correction from £220; coatings are quoted per vehicle because size and condition genuinely change the work. If something is discovered mid-job that changes the scope, we stop and call you rather than presenting it at collection.

  4. 04 Agreed in advance

    Booking the slot

    Work happens either at the unit in Paignton or mobile to you, whichever suits the job — full correction and coating work is unit-based because it needs controlled lighting and a dust-free space to cure. We tell you the realistic duration up front rather than the optimistic one.

  5. 05 From 90 minutes to several days

    The work

    Decontamination, correction and protection, in that order, with the vehicle inspected between stages. The technical detail of what happens to the paint is set out in the paint correction guide — the short version is that nothing is polished before it is clean, and nothing is protected before it is right.

  6. 06 Before you are called

    Final inspection

    Panels are wiped down to strip polishing oils so what you see is the true corrected finish rather than a temporarily filled one, then the car is checked under a second light source. Glass, jambs, badges and shuts get a final pass. If it is not right, it does not get handed over.

  7. 07 Collection day

    Handover and aftercare

    We walk you round the car and explain what was done and why. Coated vehicles come with a curing window — leave the first wash seven days — and a wash method that will keep the finish rather than undo it. Nobody is sent away with a coating and no instructions.

For what physically happens to the lacquer during the correction stage — depth readings, test sections, cutting and refining — see the paint correction guide. For how coatings are chosen, the ceramic coating guide.

How we work, regardless of the job

These four apply to a from £30 exterior tidy and to a signature correction equally.

Nothing is quoted before the vehicle has been assessed. A price given over the phone for correction is a guess, and guesses get revised upward at collection.

Nothing is added to the bill without a conversation first. If the paint turns out to need more than expected, you decide, not us.

We will recommend less work than you asked for when the paint does not warrant more. Selling a signature correction to a car that needs an enhancement is easy money and a bad reputation.

We decline coating over uncorrected paint. It permanently seals the defects in, and no protection is worth preserving swirl marks for two years.

The practical questions

The things people want to know before they pick up the phone.

Maintenance work is 90–150 minutes. A deep clean runs 4–7 hours and the Platinum Executive Detail 5–7.5 hours. Correction is measured in days rather than hours: Correction time depends on paint condition, not vehicle value. A single stage enhancement takes a day; a full multi-stage correction on a larger vehicle can run to 30–40 hours.

Not necessarily. We run both a fully mobile service and a dedicated unit at the Yelberton Trading Estate in Paignton. Correction and coating work is unit-based for lighting and curing reasons; maintenance, deep cleans and fleet work travel well.

A clear description of how the car is used, any panels you know have had bodywork, and honesty about the wash routine. All three change the recommendation. Personal belongings out of the cabin helps, though we work around what is left.

Cash, Bank transfer, Debit card, Credit card — settled on completion, not up front. We do not accept cheques.

We hold public liability cover and damage to goods worked upon, extending from family cars to supercars. We are also Pro-Valets accredited, which required proving both a track record and the correct insurance before the work was inspected against a standard.

More answers on the FAQ, where we work on areas covered, and finished jobs in the portfolio.

A corrected black bonnet reflecting the inspection light bars as razor-sharp lines
Process

Start at stage one

A conversation and a few photographs cost nothing and will tell you more than any price list. Call 01803 362002 or send the details through. If you would rather see the outcome before the method, recent work and customer reviews are the honest version.