2013 Ferrari 458
This client seeked me out for being able to apply 22PLE to his brand new car! He wanted the best coating available with the best looks, so it’s not wonder why he chose 22PLE. It simply looks amazing on its own, and will continue to protect and look like glass for at least a 18-24 months before needing to be refreshed. After we were talking things over, we will probably be re-applying at the 12-18 month mark just to ensure the car is always protected! Simply put, this coating is the real deal!

Over the initial conversation, he didn’t think the car was in too bad of shape and that hopefully all it would need is a light polishing to bring out more gloss and apply the 22PLE. Having done Ferraris in the past many times, I have only come across ONE that didn’t need much correction. Would his car be number two? Let’s find out when I get my lights on it when I get there!

I arrived at his place at 7am in a cool 40degree morning. Being in So Cal my whole life, I have no idea how the detailers on the east coast do it! Its freezing and my hands were numb after just one hour! We went over the car and I asked him to show my any problem areas he saw that bothered him. As we went over the car, he pointed out a couple areas, but I was noticing a lot more as we passed by them. The entire car was lightly swirled up to the naked eye, but with the 220 lumen LED light I use, the damage was MUCH more severe! This paint job had everything from swirls and scratches, to holograms and sanding scratches in most of the corners and the entire rear end. You cant see the sanding scratches without the LED lights.

Here are the before pictures that I took: pretty indicative of the entire car front to back:



Sanding scratches here







Since I had set him up with a clear bra installer, I removed the factory applied film from fender area behind the front wheels. The whole front end would be wrapped in xpel film the next day, so I needed to get everything as perfect as possible before the film was applied so that the defects didn’t show through the film!




Here I am working on the front end and correcting the side skirts on Day 1.




Some more damaged paint under the LED lights:


Sanding scratches never touched by the ferrari detailers. Before and after just the compounding. Polishing refined the finish further!

 

And after 17 total hours on the car, here are the final shots out in the sun: