edit: added more pictures
I just bought a BRZ in New Hampshire on Nov 1 and drove it home to Memphis. I heard good things about a place called Word of Mouth Detailing, so I made an appointment to get Opti Coat put on. They said it was going to cost $200 if the car didn't need polishing. I dropped it off on Monday night, Nov 11. The owner, Joe, called me on Tuesday morning and let me know that there were scratches/swirls on the paint (which was true) and that the car would need to be polished and clay barred. I asked the cost and he said another $275. I wasn't excited about it but I wanted the car to look right, so I agreed.
Joe called back at about 3:00PM and told me that the car would be ready at 5:30PM. He said that the Opti Coat would probably take a couple of days to cure since it was cold outside. He told me to leave it in the sun during the day and garage it at night. Joe then lets me know that since the car is black that there may be some spots that show imperfections, but that the work's been done right and that it looks good. This is not really want I want to hear after the work is already done and I've paid over double the price I was originally intending, but I don't make a big deal of it.
I got to the detailer at about 5:30PM and it was already dark. There are not any street lights anywhere near my car, but I have some light from the inside of the shop, and from what I can see, the driver's side looks good. I paid the $475 and got into my car and immediately notice that the inside has been detailed. Once I get home I also notice that the tires have been cleaned and had product applied to them. This bugs me a little because I never spoke with anyone about having a full detail done and if I could have just had the polishing done at a cheaper price, then that's what I would have wanted. I put the car in the garage. It's pretty dim in there, but with a flashlight I find a spot near the gas cap that looks like it may have been missed when the Opti Coat was applied.
The next morning, I have to leave early, but I pull the car out of the garage and look at the spot I had found and it's obviously different than the rest of the finish, and there is a bigger spot just above the first with the same problem.
Once I get to work, the sun is coming out and I get to look the car over fully, and I find a bunch of smoky sort of swirls. I can't tell if it's a problem with the polishing that was done, if the Opti Coat is just not right, or if there is something on the surface that can just be rubbed off, but I don't plan on touching any of it until I take it back and have them look at it.
At this point I'm really disappointed. 90% of the car looks great, but I feel like I paid more money than I should have for this result. I just found a good flashlight and took some pictures of the spots that look like they were missed. The smoky swirls are not visible under this LED flashlight, so I guess I will have to wait until the morning to try to get pictures of that.
I haven't talked to anyone yet, but I plan on taking the car back by Word of Mouth in the morning to see what they tell me. Just wanted to check in here and make sure that my expectations weren't just too high and to make sure that I am not being unreasonable.
I was able to get some pictures of the smoky swirls now that there is some daylight.
