The questions worth asking

A wash removes what’s sitting on the surface. A detail removes what’s bonded into it.

Iron fallout from brake dust, tar, tree sap and industrial contamination all embed into clear coat and no amount of washing lifts them. Chemical decontamination and a clay stage do.

That’s before any correction work. Detailing is a process, not a stronger version of a wash.

If the paint has swirls, you want correction first. A coating is transparent and cures over whatever’s underneath. Apply it to swirled paint and you’ve locked those swirls in for the life of the coating.

On a genuinely new or exceptionally well-kept car, a light single-stage polish before coating may be all that’s needed. We’ll assess it and say which.

It depends entirely on the package.

• A maintenance or exterior detail is usually within a day.
• A full interior detail takes a day, sometimes longer if extraction needs drying time.
• Correction and ceramic coating runs to multiple days. The correction is slow, and the coating then needs a controlled cure.

We book one car at a time, so the timeframe we quote is the timeframe.

Usually yes, and this surprises people.

New cars routinely arrive with transport contamination, dealer wash swirls and light marring already in the clear coat. Very few leave a dealership genuinely defect-free.

The best time to correct and coat is before the first wash, because you’re protecting paint that hasn’t accumulated damage yet.

It depends on the product tier, how the car is stored, and above all how it’s washed afterwards.

We fit four: Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra as the flagship, System X where a registered, inspected warranty matters, Ethos Graphene for outdoor cars, and Magnum, whose Australian-made range we are authorised to fit and guarantee. They sit at different durability levels, which is most of the price difference between them.

A coating maintained with two-bucket washing and pH-neutral shampoo will substantially outlast the same coating run through automatic brush washes. The washing does more to determine lifespan than the bottle does.

We’ll confirm the durability tier and warranty terms in writing with your quote, so you know exactly what you’re getting before anything starts.

No. This is the single most common misunderstanding about ceramic coatings.

A coating is measured in microns. It handles chemical attack, UV and washing, but not physical impact. A stone at highway speed goes straight through it.

Nothing you can spray or wipe on prevents a stone chip. If chip protection is the priority, that’s a film product and a separate conversation. Ask us and we’ll point you in the right direction.

Product choice is the last decision, not the first. The paint’s condition matters more than the bottle.

• Gtechniq Crystal Serum Ultra suits a car you intend to keep. Installer-only, hardest cure, best gloss retention.
• System X registers the warranty in the owner’s name and requires annual inspections by an approved applicator. It is documented cover, but it does not transfer if you sell the car.
• Ethos Graphene is for cars parked outdoors. Less water spotting, better heat dissipation.
• Magnum spans a one-year ceramic through to Obsidian S1+ graphene at 9H with a seven year guarantee, and Luminous X at ten. Both long terms need annual inspections.

Tint darkness is measured as VLT, or Visible Light Transmission — a lower number means a darker film. Rayno Phantom runs from a light film you would struggle to notice through to limousine dark, and the front and the rear are usually specified separately.

Factory glass already carries some tint and it combines with the film, so the finished result is usually darker than the film number alone suggests. We account for that when recommending a combination, and we hold samples against your own glass so you can see the shade on the car before anything is cut.

Give it a few days while the adhesive cures. Winding down early is the most common way freshly installed tint gets damaged, and that applies to Rayno Phantom the same as any other film.

Some haze or small water pockets in the first days are completely normal and clear as the film dries out. Clean the inside of the glass with ammonia-free products only.

No, and anyone promising otherwise is either overselling or about to damage your paint.

Correction works by removing a small amount of clear coat to level the surface. If a scratch has gone through the clear coat into the colour or primer, there’s nothing left to level. It needs paint, not polish.

Clear coat is finite and doesn’t grow back. We take depth readings and work conservatively, and we’ll show you what’s realistically achievable before we start.

This matters more than most people expect. Poor washing undoes correction work faster than anything else.

• Two buckets with grit guards, or a proper touchless pre-wash.
• pH-neutral shampoo. Nothing harsh that strips protection.
• Clean, plush microfibre for drying, not a household towel.
• No automatic brush washes. They are the fastest way to put swirls back.

If that sounds like effort, we’re happy to handle scheduled maintenance washes.

Almost entirely because of time and preparation, not products.

A cheap “ceramic coating” is often a coating sprayed over uncorrected, undecontaminated paint in an afternoon. It’ll look good for a fortnight. A corrected and properly prepared car takes days of labour, and that’s what you’re paying for.

Ask any detailer how many correction stages are included and whether panels are wiped down before coating. The answers tell you which kind of job you’re being quoted.

Our full price list is published, so you can see what every service costs before you call rather than after.

The one thing a list cannot tell you is how much correction your paint needs, because that comes down to the condition it is in rather than the car it is on. Send photos in daylight along with the make, model and what’s bothering you, and we’ll come back with a real figure and a timeframe before anything starts. Or just call. We can usually quote on the spot.