Top reply valeter, Chris it's well worth the extra money having the job done properly I spend roughly three hours every weekend cleaning mine and it looks great but last October I had it detailed by a chap who runs his detailing outfit on our farm in one of our units and wow it looked better than when it was brand new and it was only a year old then , as soon as our weather picks up and they have stopped chucking the salt about its going back for another treatment , what he does to cars is just amazing I have seen him bring back so many dull cars back to life , it was nice when he said my car was the cleanest car he has ever cleaned , I'm near near Oxford I would have recommend him to you but it's to far for ya . 

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I was reading a thread on Detailing World earlier. A guy (football Manager) took his Range Rover Sport into the local Hand Car Wash then the Car Wash owner decided to take it for a drive as he recconed he had a family emergency.
He drove into a fuel garage & filled the diesel tank with petrol & drove off = Result was £17,000 worth of damage.

I did a valet on a Range Rover Sport today = A Standard Service + Engine clean + Polish. To wash a RRS properly with drying takes a good hour & a half. I spent 5 & a bit hours on it & charged £100. I am doing their other one on Monday (weather permitting)
then every 2 weeks I do a standard valet on both @ £50 each. Standard Valet is detailed wash including blasting wheel arhes, cleaning door/tailgate shuts with detailing brushes & there are loads of nooks & crannies on a RRS, Detailed vacuum which is all main areas + under/down sided of seats/lift up rear seat etc, wipe dash & trims with a damp leather, clean windows & dress the tyres. This is a regular business price as a first visit is usually dearer as I don't know what I will be faced with. (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
(Past) RR Evoque Dynamic Lux Si4 In Firenze Red.
(Past) RR Evouque Pure Tech in Barollo Black with bespoke Firenze Red colour coding.
(Present) Freelander Metropolis 2015 MY In Santorini Black with Ivory Premium Leather.

I will add that I am not a Detailer as they are in a league above but I am a Detailed Valeter. I have one customer who is particularly fussy about everything & once when I stopped doing some of the valeting as I was concentrating on another business she would not even have my employees do their cars, it had to be me as I was so she said in her words "The Best" & trustworthy.
I have another regular customer with a Mini Cooper, RRS & a Bentley say the same thing but I correct them & say I am NOT the best, there are others much better (more expensive) but I am very good in the services I offer. Can't be fairer than that lol. (Past) Freelander 2 HSE 2010 MY In Rimini Red.
(Past) RR Evoque Dynamic Lux Si4 In Firenze Red.
(Past) RR Evouque Pure Tech in Barollo Black with bespoke Firenze Red colour coding.
(Present) Freelander Metropolis 2015 MY In Santorini Black with Ivory Premium Leather.

Since I said I was going to say look you up to the OP, but can you be careful not to break the Commercial Posting Rules
 Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

I think The Valeter has mentioned some very good points. Anyone who thinks that the local European car wash service is like getting a proper valet done is in cuckoo land! If you pay peanuts you get monkeys.

sorry to jump in here ..So whats the best cloths & sponges then...? Iain

I prefer wash mitts, and then leather , but many prefer micro fibre cloth to dry with.

Npinks, just a query without trawling through all the rules,how did valeter contravene the posting rules. I didn't really see much in the way of advertising, only a forum member trying to help and advise.

Bambi Thats why i said to be careful NOT to break the rules, as he hasn't so far

He is advising on best practice, but if he starts placing his number up to get work then he will have, Im sure he knows not too Former Mod/Member, with the most post & Chicken George Arch nemesis

Cool

I am seriously worried about some of the time and money some of you guys spend on your cars.

By the time you have bathed and powdered it and then added bigger wheels , different tyres, stuck on a few chrome bits, changed the colour of the badges, swapped all the bulbs to LED's , upgraded the headlights, changed the radio etc Do you ever go out in it.

Seriously , I can understand that you want a clean car and 'customised' to suit you BUT I cannot get to grips with the total waste of money on what is basically an everyday hack.

I spend money like water on my old cars much of which is essential , some is less so but at least the cars are not depreciating like a modern.

Lets face it the dealer will give you little if anymore for a super clean , tarted up car than a clean tidy standard one. In fact if the add ons are a bit odd then you make get less.

I think I will pour a cup of coffee and wait for the action  MY 09 GS manual in Lago Grey, Wood Co arm rest and side bumper strips - now sold.

MY 15 SD4 SE Auto Orkney Grey with colour coded Bumper Door Mouldings

Wait for the action - my thoughts exactly. Although I agree totally with Reeventu and am constantly resisting the temptation to say something similar myself! I think we just have to accept that Land Rover owners are changing, and that many/most of them actually just want a road car these days and the off-road capability is just about prestige, not for use.

In some ways this benefits the brand, in that in injects cash which can be used to develop and improve the range. But at the same time it changes the direction of that development and LRs are now more about luxury executive transport than off-road ability. Who would have thought a few years ago we'd have seen a LR without low range. Or with heated seats and steering wheels. Personally I don't like the way LR are now going. But at the same time I fully understand the economics and why they have to persue the new markets which present themselves. I just hope they don't give up in their traditional market altogether, otherwise I'll have to buy an X-trail or go back to a Forester

Reeventu, I'm not planning to do many upgrades, as my car is only 18 months old and I like it the way it is. I'm going to order some MY13 foglight surrounds and piano black grab handles, but nothing else as yet. I don't particularly care what my car is worth in a few years, I just want to enjoy it whilst I have it. I will probably sell my FL2 when it's 4-5 years old and I will have to see what it's worth then.

So what do you guys use to wipe the inside of your exhaust pipes, mine is a blackish colour

Are we meant to wipe them?