Big Bert's vs.Hillsborough Detailers

[boksnadriver]

For Hillsborough, they have a big tent/ Tarp set up that seems to accommodate more than 5 cars (I did not count), no particular delineation of a wash or dry section. It wasn't as impressive as Big Bert's and doesn't look as organize either with regards to wiring and equipment. What caught my attention was the cigarette butts and the candy wrappers scattered in front of their tent/tarp set up. I also noticed that it seems that the surrounding area is used for "yosi breaks" by the workers in the nearby offices.

[boksnadriver]

ooops sorry.. i posted the same text twice. Ill try to delete this

[boksnadriver]

Premium Wash Service
Exterior - Wash
Big Bert's starts off your car in the wash section, for the rinse and soap/shampoo activities. Multiple persons work on a particular car, they simultaneously work on two cars at a time with no particular person assigned on a specific car. It seems that they are assigned per task or activity; activities done in this section are car rinsing, shampoo/soap for the body, shampoo/soap for the tires and once done with the rinse they have a silicone/soft rubber squeegee looking device that they used to remove the excess water.

At Hillsborough attendant informed me beforehand that I was third in queue and politely asked me to park perpendicular to the first two cars. I was parked outside the covered area of the tent/tarp set-up, same area which I described earlier as littered with candy wrappers and cigar butts. They proceeded to work on my car in the same spot where they asked me to park together with the first two cars so they were working with 3 cars simultaneously, as far as I recall they started with my car first (Note: I did not ask them to prioritize my cars over the other). Similar with Big Bert's set up, multiple persons were working together on the cars, this time it was more pronounced that they were assigned per task. The activities done are also the same with the exception of the squeegee part. I'll have to note though that during the soap/shampoo activity of the body, top to bottom wasn't followed.

NOTE: for both shops, I haven't explicitly seen them use two bucket method, one for soap, another for rinse. This might be my fault, my mind at times drift off away from the shops.

[boksnadriver]

Exterior - Dry and Interior
After the wash/wet activities, Big Bert's attendants will asked you to move your car to the drying section, alternately they have a designated person who can do that for you (one of their detailers). I would usually do the latter I just hand off my key to their supervisor. At the drying section, multiple person would again work on drying your car using drying towels, one of them would use a blower on parts hard to reach, in between doors and the grille. They would also dry off the the inside parts reached by the water opening the doors and the trunk. By my observation they don't usually open the engine hood.
They would also remove your mats and vacuum them, in my opinion though it was not very thorough.

During my visit at Hillsborough, since they were working on 3 cars simultaneously, they had to re-rinse my car as the water seems to start drying on its own while they were working on the other two cars. After the re-rinse, the one that seems to act as the lead asked me to move my car inside the tent/tarp set up for the drying activities. Initially only one person was working to dry my car using a towel, one of his peers told him to switch towels by throwing him another one. Other attendants joined in later, one worked on the hard to reach parts, opening the doors, trunks and the engine hood.
The same attendant then proceeded to remove the mats and vacuum them, they were a bit more thorough and can be observed by the way they handle the mats and how the air vacuum sounds.
Before the whole process was almost done the one acting as lead used the same vacuum equipment to blow the hard to reach the parts, this made the water splash little droplets to the otherwise already dried panels, he dried them again using his towel.

Note: I was not able to inspect the drying towels used by both shops.

[boksnadriver]

Others
Big Bert's attendants are in uniform a yellow shirt and blue shorts. Hillsborough guys on the other hand have a uniform shirt but pants/shorts seems to be the person's choice. I mentioned this because one their guys was wearing jean shorts, this are designed to have metal buttons, though I never got to check if his shorts/pants has buttons (that would have been weird if I did.)

Conclusion/Personal Opinion
In closing based on my experience I was surprised that Hillsborough were mentioned in the same breath as Big Bert's. The (Hillsborough) Magallanes location which is about to open in two weeks (mentioned by the guys in Eastwood) may be a different story. Just another note, I've only tried Hillsborough once, I probably caught them in a bad time.

[willyfernando]

Others
Big Bert's attendants are in uniform a yellow shirt and blue shorts. Hillsborough guys on the other hand have a uniform shirt but pants/shorts seems to be the person's choice. I mentioned this because one their guys was wearing jean shorts, this are designed to have metal buttons, though I never got to check if his shorts/pants has buttons (that would have been weird if I did.)

Conclusion/Personal Opinion
In closing based on my experience I was surprised that Hillsborough were mentioned in the same breath as Big Bert's. The (Hillsborough) Magallanes location which is about to open in two weeks (mentioned by the guys in Eastwood) may be a different story. Just another note, I've only tried Hillsborough once, I probably caught them in a bad time.

Which shop had the most durable result in terms of waxes, sealants, etc.?

[boksnadriver]

Which shop had the most durable result in terms of waxes, sealants, etc.?

Sir unfortunately, as mentioned on earlier post. My experience with both shops are very minimal. 3-5X for Big Bert's and only once for Hillsborough. My conclusion/opinion is a comparison of their versions of a (basic) premium wash.

My car is currently under the 1 year paint protection program of Big Bert's, so far I'm happy with it. I haven't tried such services with Hillsborough on the other hand.