Ballito’s paint scientist: Absolu Car Care

What started out as an innocent gift of an amateur polishing machine from Naeem Karim’s wife is now the basis of a science that embodies the beating heart of Ballito’s most esoteric car detailer, Absolu Car Care.

Walking around his purpose-built, climate-controlled detailing studio at home, one feels transported back to a time when quality was king. Naeem’s work is more than ‘car care’, it is ‘paint evolution’.

For the last few years, the 32 year old IT software developer has dedicated his time and strength towards breathing life into cars that have seen the harshest of conditions – whether the daily runabout or the timeless classic.

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Having grown up around the world of car tuning and even circuit racing with his father’s BMW E30 track car, Naeem’s attention started to stray into automotive restoration after a friend had witnessed his ability to apply exquisite detailing onto his own car. Deep cleaning, polishing, buffing and restoring the original cosmetic nature of material is what detailing is all about – not merely a bucket and sponge.

When the garage doors roll up and the chandelier sprinkles the luminescence about the floor, owners know exactly why they’ve sent their cars to be detailed by what can only be labelled a ‘connoisseur’ of automotive bodywork – the attention to detail.

With clients across the country sending him their cars for him to dote on single-handedly, the arcane car fanatic is booked up as far ahead as March 2020. But it isn’t the type of cars which Naeem details that makes him an exclusive treat for your car: it’s his eye.

“Some manufacturers apply their paint in a texture that only shows up under certain lighting conditions, but under different lumen environments, true errors begin to show,” he explains.

A textbook stickler for doing things properly, Naeem exhibits his work as an extension of his appreciation for things done to the best that he knows they can be, not merely to match expectations. Having self-taught and practiced his techniques, he experiments products and methods on his own cars before his customers’ vehicles, but maintains that car care is actually an outward expression of an old-fashioned ethos.

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Whether it’s a deep clean from bumper to bumper including the engine bay, undercarriage and interior, or a ceramic coating treatment that cures on the paintwork at a certain temperature overnight, Naeem pampers each vehicle as if it were his own.

“It’s not the products or equipment I use that work magic, but my own conviction to see the job done to best of its ability,” says Naeem.

“Having your car detailed is as personal as getting a tattoo and people want that single-handed, undivided attention on their vehicles.” Questions about why Naeem hasn’t expanded Absolu Car Care into a full-time experience are answered swiftly and simply – it is the personal touch that he shares with each car that brings each client the result they desire, and this is not something he is willing to sacrifice.

Being fully aware of the local market and affordability range, the products Naeem uses are suited to his audience but keeping in times with the evolving car care industry. While relaxing, he researches new techniques and maintains his clinical approach to car care while attempting to expand into the fields of leather and plastic restoration.

‘Telling it like it is’ is what keeps clients returning for an honest opinion and avoiding ‘hack detailers’ whose work he inevitably ends up redoing. From Ferrari F12 Berlinettas to ultra-rare priceless golf carts and motorcycles, Naeem has done them all.

“If I am driving behind you and I can see the dirt on the side shafts and rear axle of your car, that isn’t clean to me. I prefer the car to be showroom spotless,” Naeem explains firmly.

If you want to give your own vehicle a treat at the hands of Absolu Car Care, contact Naeem via his Facebook page – you will need patience though, as this steward of automotive excellence will slot you in behind a long queue of die-hard, doting car fans waiting to get their vehicles lavished with a labour of love.

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