I was the first one to use this coupon in all of Calgary, since I booked my appointment at 9:00 AM this morning. One thing I will note is that the people there are very nice. I dealt with Jason and everyone there is very accommodating. They are still setting up their shop, so it might be hard to find them since they don't have a sign yet (as of today). I found them though.
I brought the car in with a clean exterior and interior dash since my car is always clean. I mainly wanted my scuffs buffed out and get an extra shine for the exterior and a shinier interior. Unfortunately, my interior was slightly dirtier after the detail in certain areas.
Now, this is a $59.00 deal so the review will be based on that. And really, that is exactly what you are getting. Is it a good deal? Yeah, but the slight problem I have is that the things that are mentioned in the coupon that value up to $300 was not done to my car so you aren't saving 80% off. You're getting a detail that is a good deal for $59, that is all.
Here are the things that they include on the coupon, but I did not receive, appeared to not be touched at all, or not complete (in BOLD):
EXTERIOR – INCLUDES HAND WASH CLEANING OF ALL CORNERS & CREVICES
* Steam Clean Tires & Wheels
* Remove All Road Tar, Pitch, & Sap
* Machine Polish Finish Removing Scuffs, Scratches, & Oxidation
* Hand Wax To Protect Finish & Enrich Gloss With 100% Carnuba Wax
* Dress All Exterior Rubber
* Clean Chrome & Glass
* Wipe Out Door Jambs
INTERIOR – INCLUDES A HOT SHAMPOO ON ALL INTERIOR FABRICS & UPHOLSTERY
* Shampoo All Interior Fabric And Upholstery, Seats, Carpets, And Mats
* Clean Dash And Door Panels Blowing All The Dust Out Of The Seams
* Clean And Dress All Vinyl And Leather
* Clean Interior Windows And Vacuum Trunk
As you can see, a lot seems to have been left out. Again, the only reason I am not complaining is $59 was still a great deal for the power polish because the scuffs I wanted out was taken out. Now whether or not it was the correct process that Renee/Chatalaine Auto Spa would have done is unknown to me.
Here are some pictures for my review:
The marks on the pedals are from me, but on the carpeting, they did a decent job since it was encrusted from months of Winter driving. I'd say 90% clean. Those brown spots could have been taken care of though.
Unfortunately, the person doing the detailing left a a dirty hand print on my seat. I looked at my seats further and I'm not sure they were even shampooed. Dust spots still on them, etc.
All the vinyl and plastic on my car was not "dressed", just wiped down. As you can see here, there is still dirt in my speaker holes and dirt from entering/leaving the vehicle that was there before the detailing started. None of my plastic dash pieces or side doors were shiny.
Some crevices or hard to reach places are still dirty.
All over my car, there is little bits of sap. This was not taken care of, as the sap is still in various places of the car.
Rubber air dam is not wiped or dressed with a rubber protectant.
Doesn't look bad far away, and the three main scuffs/scratches I wanted to be taken out was done.
This water mark was not there before; I could see various bits of this all over the interior of the car.
This looks clean, but it was actually cleaner before. There is water marks on the entire dash, and it looks really dry. Before, it looked a bit shinier due to a protective layer I put on it. This looked like it was wiped down with soapy water and left to dry.
Dust in between cracks of seats, and all over seatbelt area. Not sure if the seats were shampooed to be honest.
Crap, this picture is a bit blurry, but the blurry part is the rubber that seals my rear window. I'm not completely sure but it seems like through wiping or power polishing, the guy might have rubbed against it and cause it to loosen up a bit. There is bits of sand and whatnot in the gap (top left area near silver trunk). I hope that overtime, it does not rip off.
Under door jambs.
Bits of sand and stuff in window lining on both sides of car, which was not there before.
Nothing was done regarding any air vents being blown out.
I don't know what it is, but it is some oil of some sort near my passenger seatbelt. Gross. This was not there before.
Me wiping this oil on the sheet after touching it.
I decided to get an engine bay clean while they were doing the detail. $30.00. It was so-so, definitely not perfect. As you can see, there is still gravel and rocks on certain areas and some hoses are still dirty. Majority of the engine bay is clean.
One last thing.. I can't take a valid picture of it, but my inner windshield was not cleaned. There are still some fingerprints there that was there previously and sucker marks from my GPS.
Final Verdict:
All in all, I came with a clean exterior and interior, and came out with an even cleaner exterior, but dirtier interior (in certain areas, since carpets were great). I'll have to spend 30 minutes or so cleaning my interior again and spraying off the sand off the exterior. Also, I'll have to glue the rubber seal on my rear window that loosened up.
I am happy with the exterior, but I also hope that correct methods were used that didn't damage my clear coat. I guess the lesson here is that you cannot expect all detail places to have the same care and attention to detail as Renee and Chatalaine Auto Spa does.
This review is just to let people know what to expect. It is still a good deal for $59.00, and if you want some exterior scratches and whatnot taken out. Interior and engine bay cleaning services need improvement. Tar/sap removal on the exterior needs work too.
I wanted to bring the Z there initially, but based on my detailing experience and closer inspection on the workmanship, I think I would only want Renee to touch my car. I pay extreme attention to detail and I notice every thing. Renee was the only person to ever exceed my expectations. I don't like bringing my car to places where I could do the job 10 times better.