A FINAL TOUCH DETAILING

Learning what to ask

This is the page where we teach you the questions you should be asking any person or business who is going to do paint reconditining work to your vehicle. If you ask the right questions, then you can make a accurate comparison of work. Just like many other areas in life, knowledge is power. In our opinion you need certain knowledge and the answers, to make sure your choosing the correct business to work on your vehicle. No matter what your vehicle may be, from a daily driven 4 door sedan all the way up to a one of kind chopped custom hot rod vehicle or over to your 100K+ exotic, you the customer need to ask the right questions of the people who are going to be doing detailing related services on your vehicle before you consider using their services. These are some of the questions we think are important to know the answers to so you can gain the knowledge you need to make an informed decision.

• Q: Does the business have insurance?
• A: Just because a company is mobile in nature doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have insurance to protect their work. No matter how competent or skilled the detailing business and their workers are, things can occur in real world conditions. Be sure you as a customer have some level of protection and that the company is insured.

• Q: Does the business have to physically see the vehicle before they give you an estimate?
• A: This is a labor and product based business. The only way to know how much labor and what products need to be used it to physically see the vehicle that needs the work. No business can give an honest estimate of the labor or product needed to accomplish what you want, without looking at a vehicle first. That’s just simple common sense. Any business can bid $100 for a "XYZ package detail". What this actually buys you the customer is a set amount of time. It may be 30 minutes or it may be two hours regardless it means at the end of the bought time, the business is going to stop working on your vehicle. It will look like however it looks at that point, that doesn’t mean your vehicle is going to look the way you wanted it to. It may also mean the business is going to increase their initial estimate at that time. We don't play that game, low bid to get the job and then increase the price during the actual work. Get yourself a real estimate by being sure whatever business your dealing with actually looks at the vehicle they are making an estimate on.

• Q: Does the business provide you with a before and after paint thickness reading?
• A: Your factory paint has an actual thickness level/depth when it leaves the factory. It varies from vehicle to vehicle and by manufacture. What’s important to note here is that any cutting or polishing decreases this thickness/depth. Ford, GM, Chrysler and other manufactures actually have maximum allowable reductions in the thickness/depth. Once you have reached those recommend numbers, it’s advisable that no further reduction occurs. There are actual paint thickness gauge/tools to measure this and we use them to provide the before/after measurements. You need a business that can give you those readings if possible. Depending on the material your vehicle is made of it isn’t always possible, but for the majority of vehicles it is. We as a business believe so strongly in the fact you need those readings before you can provide a correct estimate that “basic levels” are taken during our no cost consultations. We also keep track off all readings before and after our work so we know exactly to what level we are reducing the depth/paint. Finally we keep the paint thickness information in our records for our customers, so the proper suggestions to all future work can be made.

• Q: Does the business show you photos of work they have done in the past?
• A: This is as common sense as you can get, as they say. If your interested in getting work done by a business on your vehicle that involves how it will end up looking, then THE ONLY way to measure what kind of work the business may do is to look at other work they have done. If the business can't provide more then a few pictures you should be moving on.

• Q: Is the business asking you the right questions about your vehicle?
•  A: There are a large number of factors that can effect what product or procedures need to be done to the paint to get it in the condition the customer wants. A game plan can only be developed if the business is asking you as many questions as they can. The business should be asking you questions such as-

• Age of the paint
• Specific issues with the paint?
  
• Any customization to the paint?
• Any repainted areas?
• Has the vehicle been in an accident?
• Any current damage you are going to repair in the future?
• If the vehicle was repainted how long sense it was?
• Does the vehicle have a custom/aftermarket paint job with specific paint manufactures or procedures that were used?
• How much of the defects do you want to remove?
• Do you have a wax or sealant preference?
• How do you want the paint to look/appear?
• Is this a “garage queen” or a daily driver?
• How do long do you want the wax’s or sealant’s protection to last?
• What’s your budget?

If the business your dealing with isn’t asking you at least the questions listed, be suspicious that you may end up with not getting what you want in regards to your paint.

CONTACT US

Phone: (619) 253-5257

afinaltouchdetailing@yahoo.com

Ready for a no cost consultation or estimate or have specific questions? Give us a call or send us an email.

Our work prices start in the $25 price range and we offer no fee consultation and estimates within a 25-mile radius of the middle of San Diego, so contact us.

We are mobile paint reconditioning specialists who serve all of San Diego County (North and South). We also serve the Riverside and San Bernardino Counties on a case-by-case basis.

Don't be drawn in by a business using low one price fits all price structure. This is called "leader advertising" in the automotive world. It's an advertising trick to make you feel some sense of urgency to book work with a business. In our experience, businesses that use that pricing tricks will just add additional work and cost once they have your vehicle to work on. It’s no bargain for you, if you're paying a higher rate and for the same rate you could have had the work done by Final Touch Detailing. If you choose Final Touch Detailing, then you can have your work done by professionals who provides a complete no cost estimate before doing any work.  

If you’re locked into a price range or comparing our work to a competitor who has a set price for given work, please contact us as our prices are 100% competitive with our insured competition for given matched work. We can say this because we know the prices of our competition. We have detailed files with all our competitors pricing and if you provide us with a quote of specific work from our competition, 10 out of 10 we will be priced competitively. 

Inquire with us for our policies for a consultation outside that radius.

Run a car club?

Put on a car show?

Part of the active military?

Can you gather a group of people together that all need detailing work at one time?

Any of these scenarios are sure to get you a discount, free group consultation, demo day with product samples given away, or any combination of those things. Be sure to let us know if you fall into one of these categories when you contact us.

Join our mailing list for technical tips and current specials we may be running- TECH LIST

CONTACT US

Phone: (619) 253-5257

afinaltouchdetailing@yahoo.com