Big Cat Diaries

Ok, not quite a diary, but felt like a long time!!

I was contacted by a gentleman who had recently acquired a Jaguar XJ8, but was disappointed with the finish. On viewing the vehicle, it was immediately clear what the problem was. There was so many swirls and scratches that it had dulled the paint finish.

After a discussion it was decided that a multi stage machine polish was the best course to enhance the vehicle's appearance.

The first job was to get the vehicle clean and prepared for polishing. The next step was to find a polish and pad combination to achieve the aim.

The second picture shows a panel after three stages.

Now rain stopped play during the first round of polishing, but in the next two pictures, you should he able to see the difference in the finish on the front wings.

So once the machine polishing stages were complete, the colour was really starting to show through.

Then the paintwork was prepared with a pre-wax cleaner, before a layer of a premium carnauba wax was applied, then buffed off.

Some completed pictures

2011 Ford Galaxy - Burnham-On-Sea: Full Valet and Odour Removal

Shine My Ride were called by a charity with premises near Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset to work on one of their lease vehicles.

It was decided that the vehicle required a full valet inside and out, shampooing of the seats and flooring, and anti-bacterial odour fogging to remove the stale urine smell.

This was the vehicle on arrival:

2011 Ford Galaxy before valeting near Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset

2011 Ford Galaxy before valeting near Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset

2011 Ford Galaxy before valeting near Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset

2011 Ford Galaxy before valeting near Burnham-On-Sea, Somerset

So after a thorough clean outside, including the wheels and arches etc, the exterior was polished with a pre-wax cleaner from Concours Car Care, before being protected with Concours' LiquidShield spray sealant.  The tyres and trim were dressed to enhance their appearance, and give them some protection as well.

The exterior after:

2011 Ford Galaxy after valeting near Burnham-On-Sea

2011 Ford Galaxy after valeting near Burnham-On-Sea

You can see from the pictures the gloss now evident.  Certainly a turnaround from how it was when I arrived!


Once the exterior valeting was complete, the interior was fully valeted, with carpets and upholstery shampooed.  Due to a smell of stale urine, the interior was fogged with an antibacterial fogging solution.

It was a pleasure to see this vehicle now looking as it should for it's age

2011 Ford Galaxy after valeting near Burnham-On-Sea

2011 Ford Galaxy after valeting near Burnham-On-Sea

2007 VW Golf GT TDi 170 - Exterior Pre-sale Valet

Shine My Ride were contacted by a young gentleman near Ilminster.  He was reluctantly selling his VW Golf, which was a rare 170bhp version of the GT TDi.

Due to being parked under trees, there were some stubborn stains, which he had tried to remove using T-Cut.  Many people do not realise that T-Cut is a very harsh product, and in this case it had created hazy areas all over the car, particularly by the door handles and the bonnet.

The owner had a propsective buyer travelling all the way from Norfolk, so wanted the vehicle to make the right impression.

So once the vehicle was clean, it was time to try and improve the appearance of the paintwork.  A light machine polish with a pre-wax cleaner was enough to remove the cloudiness and bring depth and gloss to the paintwork.  The paintwork was then waxed with a liquid wax product, to further enhance the gloss, and give some protection to the paintwork. Tyres and trim were dressed to enhance their appearance, ready to create a good impression.

So once the exterior work was complete, this was the result.

2007 VW Golf GT TDi 170 after an exterior valet near Ilminster, Somerset

2007 VW Golf GT TDi 170 after an exterior valet near Ilminster, Somerset

2007 VW Golf GT TDi 170 after an exterior valet near Ilminster, Somerset

2007 VW Golf GT TDi 170 after an exterior valet near Ilminster, Somerset

Land Rover Freelander Commercial - Full Valet and Odour Removal

Shine My Ride was asked by a Bridgwater company to valet one of their sales team vehicles, a 59-plate Land Rover Freelander 2 Commercial. 

Due to change in staff, they wanted a full valet carried out.  In addition, the previous employee had carried their dog with them in the vehicle, so there was a very strong smell inside the vehicle.

So firstly the exterior was thoroughly cleaned, including the wheel arches etc.  The paintwork was polished with Concours Car Care Perficio pre-wax cleaner, to provide a clean smooth base for Concours Car Care LiquidShield, a spray sealant product.  The trim and tyres were dressed to improve their appearance.

The interior was also fully valeted, including shampoo the seats and carpets and load area mat etc.

Once the interior valet was complete, the odour fogging could be carried out.  The vehicle interior was fogged using an anti-bacterial fogging fluid in a fogging machine.

Land Rover Freelander 2 after full valet in Bridgwater

Land Rover Freelander 2 after full valet in Bridgwater

Land Rover Freelander 2 after full valet in Bridgwater

Land Rover Freelander 2 after full valet in Bridgwater

Land Rover Freelander 2 after full valet in Bridgwater

Weekly, Fortnightly, Monthly Valeting

We have a number of customers that take advantage of having their vehicles valeted on a regular basis.

This can be advantageous to both private and business customers, as it can free up time to spend on other things.

Some customers request that their vehicles are looked after on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis.

Because Shine My Ride is a mobile valeting service, we come to you at home or work

52-plate Porsche 911 Carrera - Pre-Sale Mini Valet

So Shine My Ride was asked to head over to Langport, Somerset to do a mini valet on a 52-plate Porsche Carrera.  This was so that it could be put up for sale.

Sadly, this car had not been looked after too well over the years, with a number of battle scars, and the paint bubbling on the wheels from too much acid from car washes.

So this was the sight that greeted me on arrival:

So once the vehicle was washed throughly and dried, the car was polished by hand with an all-in-one polish.  An all-in-one polish was selected to both enahcne the appearance, and give the paint some protection while it was advertised for sale.

Once the vehicle was polished, the tyres etc were dressed, the interior vacuumed, and glass cleaned.

So the afters:

Rover 200 - Full Mobile Valet

So this was a 1998 Rover 200 that I was asked to perform a full valet on near Bridgwater, Somerset.

So once the nooks and crannies had been dealt with with an all purpose cleaning product and detailing brushes, it was time for a thorough wash, using a non-scratch wash pad.  The vehicle was then dried using microfibre drying towels.

Then it was time to revive the finish on the car, so Perficio pre-wax cleaner from Concours Car Care was chosen.

So this was the passenger door before polishing:

Haziness showing very clearly here

Then once the door had been polished, by hand, the difference was clear

After polishing

So this product was used over the entire exterior, and then the car was protected using a polymer spray sealant.

Once this was completed, the plastic trim and tyres were dressed to enhance their appearance.  The interior was fully valeted, including shampooing the seats and carpets etc, and cleaning the dashboard and plastic surfaces.

Does this look like a 14 year old car?

It really doesn't matter what age the car is, it does not stop us putting in the same amount of effort, as if it were our own vehicle 

Shogun - Not ShoBad Now - The Afters

If you have seen the first post on this vehicle, then you know what the task was like to turn this around.

So after a thorough wash process, including cleaning the corroded wheels as best as possible, it was then time to sort the exterior.  The paintwork and brightwork was thoroughly polished to bring back the gloss, and also give it some protection.  The interior was thoroughly valeted, with all carpets shampooed, and the vinyl seats thoroughly cleaned.

Tyres and trim were then dressed, and all glass cleaned.  So the after pictures:

And how about a couple of side-by-sides for comparison