Porsche Enthusiasts Club Forum

My 928 S4 is in pretty good nick, but previous owners had left very bad paint swirls all over the body. I'd added my own scratches from being careless when leaning into the cavernous depths of her V8 engine bay (a lot of 928 jobs involve spreadeagling yourself over bonnet!).

Anyway with NEC Classics coming up and with my RO kindly inviting me to display, I wanted to get the swirl marks taken out.

Anthony and his team at Arden Auto-Val (between Stratford-upon-Avon and Henley) did a fantastic job. They were very enthusiastic and knowledgeable throughout, and conscientious enough to add stages to the polishing when they weren't happy with results (apparently 928 paint is very hard stuff). They worked on the car all day, and charged £200 for renovation, polishing and then final finish with Autoglym HD. If your car requires less work then you'll pay a bit less.

I'd held off getting the work done prior to this as I hadn't had any reliable local recommendations, but I was very reassured by a long conversation with Anthony which made my mind up to let them do the work. Was also considering buying a DA polisher but cost of that, materials and suitable accessories would have exceeded Auto-Val's cost of what is after all a job you only need do once really.

Their website is http://www.ardenautoval.co.uk and you can email them at info@ardenautoval.co.uk

I asked my RO to consider arranging a visit to them for a club night next year, as I thought my fellow members in Central might like to consider them for similar paint polishing. They also do the full range of usual exterior and interior valet services.

The indoor lights at NEC show up the most minor scratches, so photos will give you some idea of what they achieved. Just wish I'd taken before and after shots. Despite appearances car was on TIPEC stand, but our friends at neighbouring PCGB stand were rather enthusiastic with their branding!

This looked fantastic last weekend as did all the others but this one in particular. Artificial light & dark colours are not normally a good mix & are particularly harsh but this one certainly stood up.

Adrian I thought the car looked fantastic when I saw it at the Tilford meeting - (so own up you had it re-sprayed) Full marks to the Arden Auto-Val team for a first class job - Will it win the the coverted dirtiest car of the Merry Miller meeting in December ?? .... see you there...........

Thanks for kind words Andrew.

The car always looked nice outdoors - the swirls were only obvious at certain angles in strong sun hence I was also pleased with how she looked at Tilford. At any rate I didn't feel too ashamed parked next to Rob Burrell's GT!

Indoor lights especially fluorescent show up every flaw ruthlessly, which is why I was keen to have machine polishing before NEC. No re-spray honest but I was surprised how many people visiting the stand found it difficult to believe paint was original.

Thanks Jim!