1973 911 T, light green
Original paint, soft and thin in places. Eighteen microns taken off at most; every panel stayed above ninety-five.
Vernis
You see the finish before you see the car.
Vernis is a detail studio in Ancoats, Manchester. We correct paint, seal it with ceramic and bring interiors back — one car at a time, for owners who notice how a panel catches the light.
Correction · Coating · Interiors
Example Works, Manchester M4
Corrected panel by panel, sealed once, and handed back in a finish that reads like still water.
- Paint read on every panel
- Five days in the studio
- Five-year coating
Treatments
Three treatments, one standard of light.
Every car starts with an inspection under daylight lamps. From there we agree one treatment or a combination, and a price that does not move once the car is in.
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Paint correction
Swirls, holograms and wash marring polished out in two or three stages.
We work panel by panel under inspection lamps, compounding only as deep as the readings allow, then refining until no haze is left in the reflection.
- In the studio
- 2–3 days
- From
- £680
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Ceramic coating
Two layers of glass-hard coating that make the gloss last and the washing easy.
Applied after correction, levelled by hand and cured under infrared. Water beads and rolls off; road film lets go with a rinse. Five-year warranty with a yearly check.
- In the studio
- 1–2 days
- From
- £890
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Interior care
Leather cleaned and fed, fabrics extracted, every vent and seam brushed out.
Matte stays matte: no silicone shine on the dash, no perfume in the cabin. Only the smell of clean leather and a car that feels newer than its mileage.
- In the studio
- 1 day
- From
- £240
Paint readings
We read the paint before we cut it.
Clear coat is thinner than a sheet of paper. Before a polisher touches the car we take a gauge reading on every panel, so correction stops where the clear coat says stop. The readings go home with you — these are from an estate that came in last month.
PanelPaint depthMicrons
- Bonnet118 µm
- Roof124 µm
- Tailgate112 µm
- Front left wing121 µm
- Front right wing117 µm
- Front left door126 µm
- Front right door119 µm
- Rear left door214 µmResprayed panel — refined by hand only
- Rear right door122 µm
- Rear left quarter109 µm
- Rear right quarter113 µm
- Rear bumper98 µm
Factory paint on this car: 95–130 µm. Bars to 240 µm.
Recent cars
Cars that left the studio this season.
2023 coupé, black on black
Dealer swirls on a car with three hundred miles. One-step polish, two coats, and a cover for the drive home.
1966 convertible, Nassau blue
Lacquer that had not seen a polisher in decades, on a bonnet that had seen too much sun. Finished by hand, the hood cleaned and proofed.
1952 roadster, black
No machine near seventy-year-old paint. Refined by hand over three days; the leather cleaned and fed twice.
1979 911 SC, olive
A respray full of orange peel from a previous owner. Flatted, corrected and coated — the reflection now runs straight.
The studio
One car in the studio at a time.
The bay at Example Works holds one car. Nothing else is sanded, polished or sprayed in the room while yours is there; the air is filtered, the floor is heated, and the lamps are the colour of a clear afternoon.
- Daylight lamps on three sides of the car
- Coatings cure at a steady 20 °C
- Collection and return within 30 miles
Five days
A working week for one car.
A full treatment runs Monday to Friday. At the end of each day you get a photo and the readings, so you know where the car is without having to ask.
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Monday
Inspect and measure
Lamps, gauge and notes. Every chip, scratch and respray is photographed and agreed with you before we start.
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Tuesday
Wash and decontaminate
Snow foam, a two-bucket wash, iron fallout and tar dissolved, then clay on every panel until the paint feels like glass.
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Wednesday
Correct
Compound and polish, panel by panel, re-reading the gauge as we go. The day ends with a look under every lamp.
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Thursday
Coat
A panel wipe, then two layers of ceramic, levelled by hand and cured under infrared overnight.
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Friday
Finish and hand over
Glass, wheels and cabin, a last look under the lamps, and the keys handed back with the readings and an aftercare kit.
Owners
Owners, in their words.
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“I had been told the paint on my 911 was too thin to touch. They measured it, showed me the numbers and found a way. It looks like 1989 again.”
Daniel Okafor1989 911 Carrera
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“A photo every evening. By Wednesday I could see my reflection in the bonnet; by Friday I could see the street lamps in it.”
Hannah Reid2019 Range Rover
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“Two years on, the coating still beads like the day I collected it. I wash it every other Sunday and that is all.”
Marcus Bell2021 estate, daily driver
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“The cabin smelled of nothing when I got it back. No perfume, no gloss on the leather — just clean, which is what I asked for.”
Priya Nair2014 Volvo V70
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“One car at a time really means it. Nobody else’s car was in the room, and nobody rushed mine.”
Tom Hargreaves1972 MGB GT
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“They talked me out of the most expensive package. That is why I went back with the second car.”
Elena Rossi2018 hatchback
Questions
What owners ask before booking.
How long will you have my car?
Five working days for a full treatment, one to three for a single one. We agree the dates at the inspection and keep them.
Will every scratch come out?
We remove what the clear coat allows. A scratch through to the colour can be made much less visible, not erased — we show you which is which under the lamps before we start.
How long does a ceramic coating last?
Ours carries a five-year warranty with a free yearly check. How long it really lasts depends on washing, so we show you how at handover.
Can I still use a car wash?
Please avoid brushes. A touchless jet wash is fine in a pinch; a two-bucket hand wash, or our maintenance wash, is better.
Do you collect the car?
Yes, on a covered trailer, within thirty miles of Manchester. It is free with any five-day treatment.
What does an inspection cost?
Nothing. It takes about forty minutes, and you leave with your paint readings whether you book or not.
Aftercare
A coating is not armour. Wash it gently, dry it softly, and the gloss you collected is the gloss you keep.
- Two buckets, a clean mitt, never a brush.
- Rinse before you touch; dry with a plush towel.
- Bring it back once a year — the check is free.
Maintenance wash every six to eight weeks, £95.
Book a maintenance wash
Book an inspection
Forty minutes under the lamps.
The inspection is free. You leave with paint readings, photos of anything we find and a fixed price. Tell us about the car and we will call to agree a time.
- Studio
- Unit 4, Example Works
Ancoats, Manchester M4 0ZZ - Hours
- Monday to Friday, 8:00–18:00
Saturday by appointment - Phone
- 0161 000 0000