[MyLife_MyCar]

Got the ceramic coating done about 3 weeks ago from 5C Car Care Gurgaon, owned by our own TBHPian AJ56. He is really passionate about what he does and has immense knowledge on everything related to car detailing and its maintenance. He even personally inspects each and every car before that it leaves his shop to ensure that customer gets more than what he/she pays for.

Backstory

As everyone keeps talking about 3M, it was the first brand in my mind when I thought of ceramic coating. A quick Google search showed a 3M Car Care near my home and I called up the guy. He quoted amount X1 (dont remember exact amount) with a maintenance application every 4-6 months for 2 years.

Called up another 3M Car Care (at NFC) and he quoted amount X2 (which was significantly higher than X1) with 2 maintenance application every 6 months. Confused at how two 3M stores differ so much in the price and maintenance schedule, I looked up for information on the 3M website and came to know that NFC is the only authorized 3M branch in New Delhi!

Anyway, still not convinced with both, I came to the Google of the car world (of course, TBHP) and started looking at the threads on ceramic coating. That's when I came across 5C Car Care (Professional Car Detailing - 5C Car Care, Gurgaon) and though of giving it a try.

Setting up an appointment

Called up Anish Jain aka AJ56 to fix an appointment. He briefed me about the process and said that I need to leave the car for 3 days with him. One distinguishing point here was that there won't be a need for a maintenance pack every few months, as was the case with 3M. They use the SystemX Ceramic Coating.

Since I had to take a business travel for a week, I planned to leave my car 4 days before I travel so that I could collect it on time. Also, Anish mentioned that there is a 6-day curing period for the coating where it should not be exposed to heavy rain/water. It also worked well for me as the car would be sitting in the parking for the week that I was away.

Attaching few before and after pics. You can easily see the swirl marks left by the cleaning guy at the dealer. I think my car had to be cleaned 2-3 times before delivery as it was raining for a few days in Delhi back then, and they had to wipe the car once before PDI and once before the delivery.

Bonnet


Door Handle


Tail Lamps


Overall, it was a fantastic work done by Anish. He is very knowledgeable and has an eye for detail. Even a speck of dust can't escape from him. He ensures that his team is taking proper measures for handling the car. There are couple of water tanks to store RO water and numerous washing/cleaning mitts for wiping the car. I opted for glass coating as well as an add-on.

The evening I went to collect the car, there was heavy traffic as usual. Though I tried to leave as early as possible, I was late due to some office meetings. Anish had to wait beyond his closing time just for me to collect the car.

Exposure to hard water

10 days after getting the ceramic coating done, I was at my in-laws place where they had a garden hose and I decided to wash the car there on my own. After happily seeing the car enjoying a full wash, I got to know that the tap that I connected the garden hose to gets the hard water.
By the time I realized this, it was already too late and hard water left its mark on the car.

Below is a sample image from Google. Could not get a picture of my car:


With a heavy heart, took it to a detailing shop near my home to get a thorough foam wash. They owner of that shop started asking me about the ceramic coating - from where I got it done? What is the duration for applying maintenance pack etc.

Without going into much details, I replied that I got it done from Gurgaon, and there is no need to reapplication if maintained properly. Hearing this, the guy started doubting the quality of the ceramic coating and told me that I might have been fooled as all ceramic coatings need a reapplication/top-up after 5-6 months. He was being sarcastic when telling me this (or at least I felt so). Hence, I told him that I got this done from 5C Car Care and they use SystemX ceramic coat.

The guy meekly said okay and did not probe any further adding that SystemX is good.

He, however, suggested me to take the car back to 5C and get it checked there for removing hard water spots as he did not want to risk applying some solution that might harm the ceramic coat. I appreciated his honesty, thanked him, and left the place.

Setting up second appointment

Messaged Anish immediately and told him about the issue. Since he was committed to some other customers, he asked to bring in the car after 2 days.
In those two days, there was a light drizzle in Delhi. Delhi is yet to get proper monsoon - there is a streak of hot sunny days, followed by some winds and shower randomly. Although I have a covered parking, there is lot of dust in the area as there are construction work going nearby (metro and buildings). Somehow, the rainwater, mixed with dust, found way in the parking (due to the winds), all settled and eventually dried on my car. Not a good scene to watch.

Anyway, after 2 days, on a Thursday morning, took the car to 5C. Anish's staff immediately took the car in and gave it a nice foam wash to start with. The car was back to its glory..........., or at least that's what it thought after seeing it from a distance. On a close inspection, found that the hard water marks are still there, sticking firmly to the surface.

Thus, begins the experiment from Anish and he tried applying some solution (don't remember the name) to the bonnet - first with X% dilution, then with Y% dilution and so on. At some point, it worked! The marks were almost gone, but to treat the whole car, it would take time. So, Anish asked me to leave the car and collect it the next day (Friday).

Collecting the car post treatment

Started from my home on Friday evening after wrapping up my calls by 5.30 pm. Figured that it would take me an hour to reach 5C. However, the Murphy Uncle paid a visit and it started drizzling. Traffic jam, followed by water logging and evening peak hour rush, resulted in a delay and I reached 5C after 7.45 pm.
Around 7.15pm, I dropped a message to Anish informing that I'm on the way and stuck in traffic. He told me that it's raining heavily and water logged roads in Gurgaon, and asked me to collect the car next day. However, I was just 4-5Km away now, and going back would mean wasting all the efforts for coming so far, and repeating same thing the next day (forecast said it would continue to rain next day).
I requested Anish if he could wait for few minutes. Although it was his closing time and his staff all left, he patiently waited for me, yet again.

On top of that, he did not charge my anything on goodwill (just for this once). Really appreciated his gesture!
The car is back to its original form, and now I have learnt a lesson to always check the source of water that is being used to wash the car. The black color is really a tough one to maintain and needs lot of pampering. However, the shine of a clean surface and then the smile on your face is totally worth the effort.

Watching the Glass Coating in Action

As I opted for an add-on glass coating from 5C, I got to see it in action on my way back to home after collecting the car. It was still raining but the water on the windscreen was no issue. During my journey from 5C to home, which was almost 35 km, I had to use wiper only 2-3 times. Even it being night, it was fairly easy to drive without the wipers in the city lights. I was, of course, extra cautious and did not exceed beyond 50kmph, but wanted to highlight the ease of drive with the coating on the glass.
The pics below do not do complete justice.





Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with 5C Car Care. This post is purely based on my interaction and experience with Anish and 5C Car Care.

P.S: I need to click pics more frequently to capture all the memories with the car.

[lxskllr]

Originally Posted by MyLife_MyCar

Got the ceramic coating done about 3 weeks ago from 5C Car Care Gurgaon, owned by our own TBHPian AJ56.

The results speak for themselves, your car looks stunning! Thank you for the detailed review!

[asingh1977]

Great results. This place is like 2 mins away from my house. Will visit them.

Do they also put in fixed seat covers.

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by asingh1977

This place is like 2 mins away from my house.

You have hit a jackpot.

Do they also put in fixed seat covers.

Sorry, I don't know about the seat cover installation. However, I doubt that they do it as they are not an accessory shop, nor did I see any seat covers in the shop. Better to call them up and get the information.

[prateekswarup]

I visited 5C a couple of weeks back. Didn't know the owner was a BHPian. I gave him the reference of LeoShashi. T

Overall had a good experience. Anish is very enthusiastic and knowledgeable.

My Outlander & Polo were there for wash only. I do plan to visit for interior detailing sometime post monsoons since this is quite close to my place.

[arjunrudra]

Im so glad I found out that this thread Exists !

Ive been a long term loyal to Anish and 5C Car Care. All my cars are detailed and maintained by him. Like most of us Anish has an OCD view about cars and i love the way he peronally looks into the process. He is also one of very few or actually the only person I've noticed in Gurgaon who uses RO Water to wash cars. His process is meticuluous and actually takes about 90 mins for a car wash and interior clean.

He is also super knowledgable and gives only honest and correct advise. He is also open about things he cannot do like off wheels cleaning as the correct torque spec has to be maintained to put the wheels back on, similarly with engine deep clean as its never safe !

I highly recommend all Gurgaon users to go here and experience the care for yourself.

Here are some pics of my cars. The later is a 17 year old corolla.

[Leoshashi]

Was at Gurgaon again, this time for a longish stay and visited 5C quite a few times for external wash. I also opted for a roof liner cleaning job since the liner was mildly stained around the edges and grab handles. Always a pleasure speaking to Anish, and despite increased traffic, happy to report that his quality has remained consistent.

[Shubhendra]

I must appreciate Anish's honesty and uprightness. My friend was visiting Delhi for 2-3 days and wanted to get his new Fortuner ceramic coating done. I referred 5C and he visited the place. Anish was upfront about his packed schedule and offered to do the job later in the month.
It's very common in this industry to take a vehicle and either do a shoddy work/cut corners or delay the delivery. He didn't do either