I left my car with my boyfriend's sister for a couple of months while I left town. She said she'd look after it for me. Her idea of looking after it was to move it under a row of mimosa trees, where she completely ignored it for the entire summer (during a 100+ degree heat wave) as tiny leaves, dirt, bird poop, sticks and pollen accumulated in every crack and crevice of the car, 3"" of crud piled up under the sunroof visor, dead leaves baked into every inch of rubber, and mulch formed in the wiper wells! When I finally went to pick it up, it looked so bad that I cried (and then I called AAA to jump-start it).
My car, which had only 25,000 miles on it, looked as if it should be towed to a junk lot. I thought I would have to take it to the Bronx or the 'burbs to deal with it. I cried a lot. And then I went on Citysearch and saw the reviews for Audio Designs.
So I drove on over and met with Michael Angelo. Now, the price he quoted me wasn't the lowest in town. But I knew that my car was well beyond those ""Westside highway"" drive-up car washes, and needed a minor miracle. Plus, my inspection sticker had run out, and he told me the guys in the garage next door could do it fast right then, which they did. Ten minutes, in and out.
Cut to: almost 4 hours of loving care by Steve, the amazing in-house detailing guy, who does every step of the work himself, and takes real pride in his work. When I came to pick the car up, I couldn't believe it. My car looked new. It was shiny, beautiful, just incredible!! I have no idea how the dude did it, but it's like, for the price of a detailing, he gave me back a brand-new car. He even somehow magically erased the white paint mark my nephew had created from hitting a parking column.
Plus, he offered to remove the cracked-in-half plastic sunroof visor -- which the dealership told me had to be replaced, and could not just be removed -- thereby saving me over $100.
All of this, and in the middle of Manhattan. I strolled down the Highline to Chelsea Market while they worked on my car, and got some sushi.
Freakin' amazing. Five stars. Worth every penny. I just wish they were mechanics, too.
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