Restore your paints shine by removing the imperfections
The goal of paint correction is to remove swirls and imperfections so your car can shine. Depending on what you want, we can aim to remove 65% to 90% of the imperfection from your paint. This is where we do an intense cutting and polishing step, called a 2-step correction, to get the most gloss and clarity from your paintwork.
Some scratches or imperfection are far too deep to remove. This may be because of how deep the scratch is, the type of imperfection that it is, or maybe it’s unsafe to polish on a specific panel due to the clear coat being too thin.
This is where we’ll make the proper judgement call on what we can safely remove off your paint. It’s not just about removing as many imperfections. It’s also knowing when enough is enough to keep the integrity of the paint healthy and within good working boundaries.
We can spend 20 hours or 5 hours polishing your paint. It’s all just based on what you’d like to achieve.
And yes, for newer vehicles, even if it’s just 4 months off the lot, the paint can still require a 2-step correction service. Although you’ve only had the vehicle for a few months, the car has been transported and handled for many months by many people (in many different places).
It’s during this time that the car is moved, washed, transported, washed, stored, etc… It’s no surprise that new vehicles, regardless of the make and model, leave the showroom with heavy amount of swirls and imperfections.
Paint correction is a commitment you’re making to the vehicle. If you’d like to keep your paint in great condition, you have to properly maintain the vehicle after the service is complete. If you don’t properly wash and dry the vehicle, you can easily put all those swirls and scratches back into your paint in just a few washes.
This is the most tedious service for detailing. Depending on your vehicle, the condition of the paint, and the results you ant, it can take between 8 to 15 hours of work to complete.
R3 Auto Detailing offers a wide range of services for your vehicle. Our goal is to offer the best quality service and results we can. Some of our popular services include:
Over the last 14 years, we’ve worked on all types of vehicles in sorts of conditions. Whether it’s a Ford GT that you want to preserve for many years or a new-to-you vehicle that you’d like to freshen up, we use the same process to deliver great results.
Here’s a general breakdown of what the service includes:
Clean Wheels, Tires, & Fenders: Detail starts with a thorough cleaning of the wheel faces, wheel barrels, tires, and inner fender liner
Gentle Foam Hand Wash: Vehicle gets a thick layer of foam and a gentle hand wash (while we clean the jambs, gas cap, and remove bugs from paint)
Chemically Remove Iron Particles: To ensure a clean surface, we remove iron particles from your paint via a chemical decontamination
Clay Bar Treatment: The next step to a clean surface is a clay bar treatment to remove any remaining embedded dirt and debris (your paint will feel really smooth).
Tape Off Sensitive Areas: To decrease polish build up or staining, we’ll tape off and protect any trim/chrome/sensitive areas
Step 1: Compound Phase (Correction): Safely remove a majority of the swirls and scratches from your paint with a machine polisher, cutting disc, and compound
Step 2: Polishing Phase (Polish): This will increase shine and clarity by polishing the micro-scratches that are leftover from the compound phase
Paint Wipe Down: To inspect true condition, we’ll wipe down the paint to remove any leftover polish residue that can be hiding imperfections
Apply Paint Protection: Based on your choice of protection, we’ll apply a wax, sealant, or a durable ceramic coating
Dress Tires, Plastic & Trim: To give the exterior an extra pop, most of the exterior plastic and trim will be dressed to an even black finish like the tires, fenders, and trim (it will not be greasy)
Clean Exterior Windows & Mirrors: We’ll complete the detail with streak-free glass cleaning on all exterior surfaces
Final Touch Ups: We’ll do a final inspection of all exterior surfaces and touch up any areas that need are attention
We’re not a high-volume car wash that gets cars in-and-out as fast as possible. So our process and the time it takes to complete is going to take much longer than what a volume car wash lot will tell you.
There’s been cars we’ve worked on that have taken three days to complete due to the size or condition of the vehicle. It’s a very tedious process and in order to deliver the best results, it takes time and effort.
Price is based on size, condition, and type of clear coat. General prices shown below. Please contact us for a more accurate quote.
Mustang, Camry
$450 – $700
F150, Range Rover
$500 – $800
Large Truck, SUV
$750 – $1,100
The goal of our paint correction services is to remove the swirls, scratches, water spots, or any other form of imperfections from your paint to restore the gloss and clarity
So once we’re done with the job, the car will be shinning like never before. However, the key to maintain those results is proper maintenance. You shouldn’t take the car through an automated car wash where they use the high-speed bristles to wash your car. Reason being is the bristles basically slap your car the entire time, and if they have embedded dirt or debris in those bristles from previous washes, it’s simply going to scratch up your paint or even cause damage.
We see it all the time. We’ll get cars in our shop with deeper scratches across the paint because there was some rock or debris that was dragged along the paint while it was getting washed.
That’s why to keep your car looking it’s best you want to use the right tools, products, and techniques.
If you take your car somewhere for a hand wash where they’re using low-quality wash mitts and drying towels, that can start to abrade your paint and add swirls. It can take only a few washes to get your paint back to swirled and the gloss is gone again.
Whether we maintain the car for you or you do it yourself, the goal is to perform proper washes to keep your paint glossy.
When done properly, you might just need a light polish once every other year to clean up any light swirls from the paint and get it back up to standard.
Ceramic coatings are the most popular option of protection after getting your car polished. A ceramic coating is a very durable form of paint protection that can last several years. The goal of the coating is to help repel the dirt, water, and road grime from your paint so it doesn’t stick to it.
And the next time you go to wash your car, you’ll give the car a rinse and a majority of the dirt and grime will sheet off. So it makes maintaining your vehicle much easier compared to if you didn’t have it on your car.
That being said, ceramic coatings do not help prevent rock chips or other forms of impact on your paint. That would be reserved more towards paint protection film.
It’s important to hire a professional detailer to handle your paint correction so you only get results and not problems.
We’ve seen it dozens of times where we need to fix another detailers problem due to the tools or techniques they used.
One of the most common things we see is buffer-trails on the paint due to a detailer using a high-speed rotary buffer with a big wool pad and going to town on the paint. This leave what looks like smears all over the vehicle.
Or worse, if the detailer is not careful, they can burn through your clear coat or chip off paint and the only solution to those is getting touch up paint or a respray on the specific panel.
We use a variety of dual action and rotary polishers and a wide range of pads like wool, microfiber, or foam to deliver the best results we can.
Where are you located?
Our detail shop is located at 12155 Cutten rd. We’re right down the street from Willowbrook mall. Depending on the level of work, it can take 2 to 3 days to complete the service. We also offer limited mobile detailing services to the Houston and surrounding areas (paint correction is shop-only).
What tools and products do you use?
We have a variety of polishers, pads, compounds, polishes, towels, and lights that we use to get the job done. We have 1″, 3″, and 5″ polishers to help us get into any small or tight area we need to polish. If there’s heavy swirls, we can use our more aggressive tools and pads to safely achieve the desired results.
Before we start the polishing process, we use our paint thickness gauge to read how much paint we have to work with. This is important to know so we don’t go overly aggressive on panels that don’t have the clear coat for us to do it. We don’t want to end up causing damage because we were chasing the swirls.
What’s the difference between a wax and paint correction?
A wax does not remove any swirls or scratches from your paint. It only hides the very light swirls and can be completed in a few hours. Paint correction actually removes the swirls in your paint. This is what makes the paint shine like crazy. It also takes a substantial amount of time and energy to complete. Usually one or two full days (depending on size, condition, and desired results)..
My paint is chipping. Can you still polish it?
If there’s panels on your paint that are chipping, cracking, or heavily oxidized, then there’s a chance it’s too far gone for us to work on. That being said, on the other panels, if they’re still in good condition, we can still polish them normally. But if the paint is at the point where can’t do anything, your next solution would be to get that panel repainted.
Does the color of the car matter when it comes to polishing paint?
The process will be the same but if you have a darker colored vehicle like black, you can see far more swirls and imperfections than you can with a lighter colored vehicle like white. Black is a great color but it’s often the most difficult to upkeep because you can see every little imperfection in the sun. With the color white, a lot of it is hidden because it blends in with the paint color.
How often do I need to polish my car?
It’s one of those services where you shouldn’t have to do it every year. You have a limited amount of clear coat on your paint and the more you polish it, the more you take off and thin it out. That’s why it’s important to maintain your vehicle with proper washing so you can prolong the results and not require your paint to be polished every year.
Tue - Fri: 9am - 5pm Saturday: 9am - 2pm Sun & Mon: CLOSED
281-450-3147
12155 Cutten Rd Suite 104 Houston TX 77066
