[unk9ja]

Been to the Sarjapur road 3M for Germkleen+ interior cleaning and a wash and wax job. The car had been to some interior parts of Mangalore over the weekend and had been dirtied. Called them up in the morning for an appointment and dropped by at 1130. Was out of the shop by 1400. Since there were no cars around at that time, everyone on the floor jumped upon and ensured the turnaround time was minimum. They did a good job as always. Damage to the pocket came to 7k. The price increase has been 100% since I started to use their service from the HSR outlet around 4 years ago. However the job done was excellent by any standards.

Sorry no pics as my phone was on standby mode.

[mpksuhas]

Thanks to one outstation trip, car was covered mud on the inside and food items and mud on the inside. Wanted to get the interior cleaned by any reliable cleaners since carpet was also dirty at many places.

Checked with 3M Sarjapur and they said they do not have any specific interior floor cleaning package. The cheapest package which they have as per them will cost around Rs 3000. Instead suggested me to go for exterior cleaning and wax package and that they will get the carpets and seats too cleaned along with that.

Charged me Rs 1550 for the same. Cleaning was completed in around 45 mins and no complaints about the same.

However, have a doubt that they were moving vehicle inside the cleaning area by engaging 4th gear instead of 1st. Not sure about the same, do keep an eye for the same.

Have always wondered what each package of 3M means. Here is details of few of those -

[rajathv8]

I recently got the 3M GermKleen interior treatment done for my car. I have described my experience in segments to paint a comprehensive picture. This post is more of a review of the GermKleen than of the 3M outlet.

Background
My ride is a 7 year old pre-worshipped black A-Star which has been with me for about 16K Km and a shade under 3 years now. It is from the batch that had interiors of a dark and light gray combination. The car has been used sparingly and with only me in it for about 75% of the time. I do not drive with the windows down and I am very particular about no eatables being consumed in the car. I also am very cautious with what items are kept on the stock seat fabric.
As such it is not too difficult to maintain the interiors. My usual interior cleaning regime involves thorough vacuuming of the carpet and seats once in 6 months and a detailed wipe down of the plastics once every two months. The ASS folks have been banned from washing my car and so the interiors do not get cleaned by them. On one instance after getting offended by said ban they offered to clean the interior alone but returned the car in a jiffy with a comment that they didn’t find anything inside that needed cleaning. I love having a clean interior since it is out of reach of external agents like bikers and baboons.
While the dash, door pads and carpets were in top notch condition the one bit that I wanted to get fixed were the stains on the seats and few dark patches on the headliner.

Research
I spent some time pondering over various products available in the market but was not completely satisfied with the method of application. For instance some dashboard cleaner labels tout the ability of the products to clean seat fabrics as well. Let’s say I apply the solution and rub the hell out of the seat, the dirt only gets into the seat foam. Also the sheer number of stains meant considerable effort would be required if I go down the DIY road. An episode of Wheeler Dealers comes to my mind, where the skilled Mr.China sucks the dirt out of the carpet of some fortunate car using a wet vacuum. That is exactly what I wanted, a service with a wet vacuum cleaner. I chanced upon a few videos of the 3M service and was satisfied enough to give them a try. My main aim was to get the stains out of the seats and head liner.

Process
The A-Star falls into the small category and the process was to take 2 hours. First the boys empty the glove box, and boot along with the rubber floor mats. The power window switches and ICE are taped off using masking tape. Then they start attending to the interior at the rate of one guy per quarter. So 4 guys get in and start spraying copious amounts of soap solution all around inside while I, having never seen any form of liquid being spilt inside my car, picked up pieces of my jaw from the floor and tried to assemble it back onto my face. This is followed by rigorous brushing of all interior parts right from the headliner to the gear lever knob. The seats were not spared either as the boys step out and start spraying on the seats prompting blood to spew out of my eyes and ears. After the first round, out comes the foam canisters. Now, we have all read about how many BHPians say the best part of the 3M foam wash is when they see their car all foamed up as though it has passed through a snow storm (though in Blore it may as well be foam from Bellandur lake instead of a snow storm) . Well, this is exactly how the interior looked - all foamed up. This is followed by another round of brutal brushing. I, having reassembled my jaw, was feeling rather good at this point in time hoping that the stains would be defeated and scrubbed into oblivion. Next they sucked out all the liquids thoroughly using a wet vac. I was happy with the amount of time spent in each of these steps rather than hurrying up. Each area received multiple rounds of brushing and vacuuming.
One of the boys was preparing a large sheet of masking paper and I was wondering if this would go onto the rear or front glass of the white Creta whose exterior was being attended to nearby. To my surprise it went onto the driver’s seat in the A-Star. Apparently the seat will take a while to dry up hence the gift wrap. Next, all the plastics were polished and the glasses were cleaned. With this the process came to an end and all my belongings were placed back into the cleaner version of where they were earlier. I was asked to keep the glass open by about an inch that night. I nodded knowing fully well that I wasn’t going to do that and let dust get in. Did I say it came to an end? Not quite.

Post process
After they put down their weapons I took a look around. The plastics were dry and shiny but the seats were wet. It was a couple of notches above being moist in the sense you could see liquid on your fingers after pressing it on the seat. I drove out cautiously with my feet slipping and sliding over the polished rubber mats.
The car was really cool! Literally! All the moisture inside made me feel like a king in an ice box on the burning inner ring road on a Saturday afternoon. I kept the AC on full blast to dry up the interior and drove on as the strong smell of the foam agents gave me a mighty headache. I reached home with a bursting cranium and a really nauseous feeling - I didn’t like the strong odour one bit. Think of it as someone spraying an entire bottle of cockroach hit on your nose.
For the first time in my life I hunted for a spot where there was no shade and parked. Got home and crashed onto the bed whist mumbling something to the wife about the car looking good and smelling bad. I woke up two hours later with my brain having slightly recovered from the assault and walk to the car only to find all the glasses fogged up to thick white from inside just as I expected. I opened up all the doors for a couple of mins and then lock the car to let the greenhouse effect take... well... take effect. I repeat this process the whole of the following day and by 4pm the car seems acceptably dry and the smell bearable. The rubber mats were removed to allow the carpets to dry. Since I am a non ABS variant of a human being I removed the polish from the rubber mats using a damp cloth to avoid slipping and sliding while driving.

Final thoughts
The treatment didn’t seem to have a significant effect on the plastics though I do feel the light gray shade has brightened up. The carpets looked just as clean as before. The speedo console had moisture condensation within though it didn’t last more than a week. I did not like the glossy polish that was used. Apparently the polish has UV protection properties. The gloss had reduced significantly over the first week and does not bother me anymore.
The effect on the seat is like night and day. The fabric feels more porous to touch and is certainly a couple of notches brighter while the seat foam feels firmer. All the stains have vanished except one which is an oil stain. I was informed beforehand that oil stains cannot be completely eliminated. The headliner looks noticeably brighter and cleaner with all stains successfully removed.
The GermKleen treatment I opted for cost Rs.2100 while the GermKleen plus which additionally involves AC vent cleaning costs about Rs.900 more. Would I like to go back in the past and undo the expense? Nope because it made a perceivable difference and has improved my ownership experience. Would I take the car back in two years? Probably not. I do not think the interiors would deteriorate to a significant enough extent anytime soon under my supervision. Perhaps after 5 years or so. For the amount of effort the boys spent scrubbing and the change it has brought in the one thing about the interior that was poking at my brain I feel it was well worth the money spent. The odour was a pain but it subsided the very next day and now the interior smells neutral. Considering my objectives were met I am satisfied.

Place
I visited the 3M Sarjapur outlet. I do not have anything particular to say about the outlet except that I do not have any negative comments.

Free advice?
Certainly, why not!
- I would suggest assigning two days for the treatment for one cannot use a car with wet and smelly interiors.
- The car will take at least two days to dry and more so if you are not comfortable leaving the window glass down overnight. Summer heat helps dry the car. I would not get this done during humid and cool weather conditions.
- Take precaution if you are sensitive to strong odour.
- For the love of god do not take anyone else who owns a nose, specially kids, while picking the car back.

Picture time

Four guys attack the interior


Foam being sprayed on the door pads. The whole interior looks that way at a certain point. The foam is supposed to have anti-bacterial properties.
The duster in the backdrop had a nasty scratch on the bonnet due to vandalism. The exterior protection/sealant demo on the scratch seemed to mask most of the damage.


After the foam application the door pads are scrubbed and in the process the foam becomes soapy. A Verna going in for a foam wash and a Breeza getting its roof wrapped in white in the background.


The ruthlessness of the scrubbing seemed to suggest he was possessed by the spirit of a daemon. They did a thorough job on the seats. Notice the taped off ICE.


The AC lounge that I would retreat to often to cool down.
Happiness is getting to see your car being worked on while you sit nice and pretty reading newspaper or watching TV in a cool environment


Now for the before and after pics of few particularly nasty areas.

Rear seat Before. Notice the horrible stains on the light section of fabric.



Rear seat After. Satisfying no?


Inner bolster of front passenger seat before.


After. Day and night.


Black/dark coloration on headliner near driver side B-pillar.


After. Looks better in person than in this pic.


Few more pics of the rear seat

[Mad Max]

Took the Vento over for a clean up. Exterior wash plus wax and interior cleaning (wiping) is 1300₹. Some pics











Pros:

The process was good and the guys paid good attention to all the vehicles that were there. There was a Red Brio that looked amazing after the wax. A XUV was getting teflon coating being done.

The place is very close to my home

Cons: none that I can think of / observed

[gururajrv]

Planned / Unplanned visit: I should rather say Unexpected one!

Store Owner currently: Mr.Suhas, Ex-Corporate employee - atleast serving notice period with his previous employer when I first paid a visit to his newly acquired store back in Aug 2017. He's a big fan of 3M and products which dragged him to this venture of owning one of the outlets.

Available Products : 3M Paint Sealant, 3M Sun Films, Interior cleaning, Surface Refinement, Underbody Corrosion treatment, Car Graphics, 3M Car Mats, ScotchGard, Paint Protection Films widely known as PPF and car wash.

Products bought from this store: 3M car wash, 3M PPF applied to areas behind door handles and door sidings, 3M gloss wrap applied to ORVM and rear spoiler.

Overall expenditure: Total 7k. (Apologies I am unable to find the bill with amounts paid product wise). But I can say the car wash was complimentary for the products I bought from them.

To those who are worried about their cars paint, pay a visit to this insurance store. Store owner Suhas is very courteous and knowledgeable in answering all your doubts when it comes to products offered by 3M. His team members were helpful as well. Overall job took about 3 hours due to the volume of incoming cars they had in hand. They kept asking if I and my wife were bored and like to have some snacks due to the delay. We were happy with his and the entire staff gesture attending to our needs whenever required during the busy 3 hours stay at 3M. They also were very kind giving us a send off after all the work they'd done on my car and Suhas inspected the work in person to ensure everything was just fine. Too professional and at the same time courteous towards the interests of their customers. If you live in the vicinity of Sarjapur / HSR / Haralur, do pay a visit to this store and you'll not regret. Get in touch with Suhas to get all the glimpse of 3M powerful magic to be showered on your car

PS:

I do not have all the pics unfortunately as it didn't occur to me then, I would be writing a review of the store. Besides, it was dark by the time the work on my car was wrapped up completely. Anyways, I do have a pic that was taken after 2 days from the time I had got the complete wash - please note the car had been driven under heavy downpour in those 2 days and it remained quite neat. Not sure if 3M uses water resistant solutions

Please ignore the dirt spots on the cladding you will notice due to downpour;

[amvj]

I am using detailing products on my two wheeler for more than 3 years and I have a fair bit of idea about how to use them. When I recently got my first car, I want to go to the "famous" 3M car care centers to do under-body coating and polish & wax for the exterior.

I went to the 3M car care (Sarjapur road, Bellandur, Bangalore) last Saturday for under-body coating and exterior polish wash stuffs. It will be shown as Ambalipura in 3M website. To me this was a horrible experience . Let me explain.

I was quoted a bill of close to 10K for under-body coating, silencer coating and polish & wax stuffs. I agreed for that. I went there around 11 - 11.30AM. Service advisor told me that the car will be ready by 3 - 4PM that same day. I then left.

I went there again by 4PM to collect my car but only under-body coating was done. The car was not even water washed. After I was there, they rushed up, sprayed the car with just water (No shampoo) and wiped off with some microfiber cloths. You can see the photos below.

They have done "claying", used adhesive cleaner, rubbing compound, polish, wax, tyre dresser on my car.

Washing:

1. Car was not properly washed. Wheels, mudflaps, front grill were covered with mud. When I asked, they said it will be wiped at the end but that did not happened. You can see the photos below.
2. In the 7th photo, the car was washed and yet the wheels were full of dirt. I have just wiped it with my finger and taken a photo of it to show the amount of dirt in a washed car.
3. It was not just me facing this issue. There was a Skoda octavia for the paint protection film. They did the same shoddy job to that car also. The car was ready yet the wheels, front bumper were full of dirt. Film was not properly applied as well. The owner of that car came in the evening with his family to collect it. After seeing that he was really in a bad mood. Because he came with his wife and two kids, he has no option to stay like me for the cleanup to happen. He then drove with his car immediately.

Detailing:

1. Some of the workers there wear "rings" on their fingers and are doing this. Imagine a small move along the panels can create a huge ugly scratch.
2. No masking tapes were used to mask any plastic area while applying rubbing compound and polish. Some of the rubbing compound were applied on my car's headlight and some on the plastic panels by the polisher.
3. The guys were just ruff. I don't think a 3 week old car requires intense rubbing compound with the polisher. I am sure he removed a major portion of the clear coat on my car.

Tyre dressing:

1. Without even cleaning the tires, one of the worker just applied Tyre dressing on the car in the end.

Equipment stand:

1. Your car windshield is the resting area for the rubbing compound, polish etc.

Material quality:

1. Microfiber cloths they are using to clean / wipe the car are absolutely horrendous. Don't take my word just see the last photo. I wouldn't even use these horrible Microfiber cloths on my lavatory.
2. Not sure what the Jopasu kind of duster is doing in 3M car care and look at the condition of it.

Summing it up:

1. Insanely expensive for what they are doing, poor quality workmanship and poor equipment. I have spent close to 10K in 3M and got a good dose of words from my wife as well. Since I am already spending hell load of money on detailing products.
2. 3M guys are not properly doing their job. Since most of the car owner don't even bother to wipe their car (they usually employ some one for the washing). They may not know what is happening on their car. To me these guys are just ruining the car (paint).
3. Check Meguiar's video in Youtube about how to properly detail a car.
4. Poor quality materials used.
5. Like car service centers, you better sit there and see what they are doing. Remember, they did all these shoddy jobs in front of me. Don't know what will happen without owner's presence.
6. Poor time management / Not punctual. I was in the service center from 4PM to 6PM for the jobs to complete.
7. While paying bill, the cashier want me to look into their yearly subscription for this shoddy thing. I did not say a word, just left from that place.
8. I will never go to 3M, atleast never to this particular 3M center.

[Mad Max]

Wow! Very sorry to hear about your experience. Especially those cloths.

You need to inform 3M customer care immediately. What I've noticed is that there are a few guys who do a really good job. If they're not there, I think it's just another day for everyone else. I'll mention this next time I go by there. This is insane that they treat a fellow TBHPian like this.

Can you please share your invoice? Wanted to see what all they did.

[amvj]

Here is the bill. I am not bothered to go again and hence I am not bothered to call any customer care. There are lot of garages who do for much lesser price. I can provide materials (Rubbing compound, polish, wax, microfiber cloth, clay etc) and let those guys do the job.

[gururajrv]

Originally Posted by amvj

Here is the bill. I am not bothered to go again and hence I am not bothered to call any customer care. There are lot of garages who do for much lesser price. I can provide materials (Rubbing compound, polish, wax, microfiber cloth, clay etc) and let those guys do the job.

Sorry to see your ordeal. Did you meet with the owner Suhas? He’s a couteous man and would’ve helped in fixing the disconnect. I stay close by to the outlet. May be when I visit him next, I’ll share this along.

[whitesquall]

Originally Posted by gururajrv

Sorry to see your ordeal. Did you meet with the owner Suhas? He’s a couteous man and would’ve helped in fixing the disconnect. I stay close by to the outlet. May be when I visit him next, I’ll share this along.

I am one of the regular customers there. The latest update (from in-charge Mr. Manu) is that Mr. Suhas will not be available at the shop regularly.

[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by amvj

I went to the 3M car care (Sarjapur road, Bellandur, Bangalore) last Saturday for under-body coating and exterior polish wash stuffs. It will be shown as Ambalipura in 3M website. To me this was a horrible experience . Let me explain.
[*]I will never go to 3M, atleast never to this particular 3M center.[/list]

This is a fairly common problems across 3M. Even here in Delhi, they use dirty microfiber cloths and a very hard cutting compound. A friend got his car fully detailed at one of these shoddy workplaces and the compound was everywhere, painful when its in the diffuser mesh also.

A dirty microfiber is worse than using a bad cloth. I would highly recommend you check the car for polishing marks once its done a month or so.

[Jaguar]

Has the ownership changed again? The last I went was a couple of years ago to get sunfilm and the experience was good. Not so anyore. Maybe, I should have checked this thread before.

Coming to the point, I visited this center a couple of weeks ago to get the interiors and AC system cleaned. Even before explaining the details of the procedure I wanted, the manager started pushing me for some package worth 20k and I had to endure a 15min lecture on how it would save me money. If it was not for the paint smell and the dusty interiors due to some denting and painting work on my car, I would have walked out. Finally he agreed to just do the interior cleaning and basic wash and wash for the outside.

The work was not upto the mark either and I had to make them clean certain parts again when I went to pick up the car. Overall a big letdown.

[topse]

Yesterday ford service in Kannur, Kerala did the Germkleen on my vehicle. Before handing over my vehicle to them I had just told them to clean the interior as well. After servicing they included Rs. 2900/- for the job on my final invoice. I argued with them that I could have done the same job from local at less than Rs. 1.5k. Then they gave me 10%discount at Rs.2610/-. My advice, if you tell the service center guys to do this or they ask you to do Germkleen, first ask them for the price quotation, only then you should go ahead. I don't think Germkleen is needed for every vehicle unless the interior is very dirty and covered with monsoonal mold/fungus.

[TejasKinger]

Gave the car a (slightly delayed) third birthday gift—a full interior and exterior detailing at 3M Car Care Sarjapur Road. The quality of workmanship was good, and she has received a new lease of life again.

[arindambasu13]

Originally Posted by TejasKinger

Gave the car a (slightly delayed) third birthday gift—a full interior and exterior detailing at 3M Car Care Sarjapur Road. The quality of workmanship was good, and she has received a new lease of life again.

Could you share the costs of interior and exterior detailing? Is there a list of prices and packages which 3M offers?