If You Want It Done Right, Hire A Merc!
I don’t wash cars. I correct paint — and I have been doing it long enough to have logged over 66,279 hours of correction work, the most of any shop in Saskatchewan. Modern exotics, old-school muscle, lifted trucks, the bike you baby all summer, and everything in between — if it’s got paint, I can make it as perfect as possible. Multi-stage correction, Gtechniq accredited ceramic coating backed by a 9-year guarantee, and permanent paint chip repair I have been refining since 2004. Owner-operated in Regina since 2012 — with 30 years behind the polisher. WE ARE CAR PEOPLE!! — and it shows in the finish.
Straight answers, no pressure. Tell me the vehicle and what’s bothering you about it.
Read this first
A drive-through brush. A dirty wash mitt. A weekend polisher in the wrong hands. Any one of them will put swirls, holograms and burn-through into a finish that costs thousands to put right — and on a leased or financed vehicle, that damage comes straight off what you get back.
Paint correction is not washing. Most shops level defects by cutting away a measured amount of your clear coat — once it’s gone, it’s gone. My process is different: a controlled blending of the clear coat that removes the swirls while keeping the clear coat itself intact, so your factory finish and your resale value stay protected. It is the one job in this trade where experience is not a nice-to-have — it is the whole thing. That is what the 66,279 hours are for.
Modern exotic to old-school muscle to two wheels — if it’s got paint, I can make it as perfect as possible.
That’s the honest version. If you’re still reading, we’ll get along fine.
Why the number matters
66,279
Hours Jason has spent polishing since 1996 — and counting
That is decades of full-time work with a machine in hand — and it is still climbing. It is the difference between a shop that owns correction equipment and a shop that reads paint — knowing by feel when a clear coat is soft, when a panel has been resprayed, when a defect can be blended away and when chasing it would do more harm than leaving it.
From a single-stage refresh to the deepest multi-stage correction, every project gets the same razor focus — swirls blended out while your clear coat stays intact. It is the part of this trade I love most, and it is why people drive in from outside Regina to have it done.
See exterior & correction servicesWhat I do
Paint correction, ceramic coating and permanent chip repair — all of it done in-house, by hand, by the same person who answers the phone.
The core discipline
From a single-stage refresh to the deepest multi-stage correction, at any stage in between. Swirls, holograms, oxidation and etching corrected properly — blended out while your clear coat stays intact, not filled in with glaze that washes out by spring. The most experienced correction shop in the province.
See correction services →The protection
Accredited Gtechniq installation — including Crystal Serum Ultra, which the public can’t buy at any price. A 9-year guarantee on Ultra, 5 on Light, rated by Gtechniq from −40°C to +250°C for real Prairie weather. Gloss, swirl and chemical resistance no wax can touch, on a surface that sheds tar, sap and hard-water spots instead of letting them bond.
See ceramic coatings →Signature service
Not a get-rich-quick internet system — a proprietary process built since 2004, using the same paints and practices that exceed industry standard. Repaired permanently, and matched so well most customers have to look twice to find the spot.
See paint chip repair →Included with the work
Every correction or coating booking starts with a full decontamination — the paint has to be surgically clean before a pad touches it. Iron fallout, tar, bonded contaminants and old sealants all come off first, so the correction works on bare, honest paint.
See the correction process →The proof
Before-and-afters, show cars, community events, and the vehicles coming through the bay — posted as they happen. If you want to see what a Merc correction actually looks like under the lights, and keep up with our latest news and events, follow along.
Follow us on Instagram →Ceramic coatings
I started with coatings back in the late ’90s, when they were a little less than satisfactory. Since then the products and the industry have taken a huge leap forward thanks to nano technology, and today they are a genuinely reliable way to protect your favourite ride.
Having done a crazy amount of product testing, I arrived at a wonderful conclusion. Gtechniq is the innovator in ceramic coatings. They started in 2001, and their smart surface science combines nano chemistry and supramolecular chemistry with rigorous real-world and laboratory testing. Here’s what most people don’t know: their flagship, Crystal Serum Ultra, can’t be bought by the public at any price — Gtechniq restricts it to accredited installers. I’m one of them. So the best coating they make is one you can only get through a shop like this one.
And it’s built for exactly this climate. Gtechniq rates Crystal Serum Ultra from −40°C to +250°C — a hard 10H top layer over a flexible base, so it fights swirls in summer and won’t crack through a Prairie winter (those hardness and temperature figures are Gtechniq’s own published specs). Add their EXO top layer and you get a slick, road-salt-resistant skin made for Saskatchewan roads. No wax comes close, and nothing you buy in a bottle lasts past the first spring.
Running a wrap or paint protection film? I also coat vinyl, matte and satin finishes with Gtechniq HALOv2, so a wrapped exotic or a matte bike stays slick and protected without killing the look.
Here is the part most shops skip: a coating is optically clear. It does not hide swirls, it magnifies them, and then locks them under a nine-year guarantee. That is why correction comes first, always. Give me a shout and I would love to tell you all about it.
Crystal Serum Ultra is the best paint protection Gtechniq makes — unsurpassed abrasion and chemical resistance, a deep, rich, high-gloss finish, and real swirl resistance. Hardness and temperature figures are Gtechniq’s published specs.
Every Ultra install is registered with Gtechniq for its 9-year guarantee.
Paint chip repair — since 2004
Before Mercenary, there was Di’s Auto Paint and Chip Repair — conceptualised and opened by Diane Weibel. That is where I learned this work properly, performing everything from chip repair to small blending to full paints. After Di’s closed (long story), I took the knowledge I had gained and brought it to Mercenary.
I do not use some janky, get-rich-quick internet system. My colour matching runs on Duxone Paint Systems by Axalta — the same refinish paints a body shop uses — matched with a digital spectrophotometer against the manufacturer’s formula database, not eyeballed with a touch-up pen. That is why the repair is permanent, and why the colour holds up in daylight instead of showing as a blob the moment the sun hits the hood.
Customers tell me the same thing over and over: they know where the chip was, and they still can’t find it unless they go looking.
Read how chip repair worksStone chips are not cosmetic. Once the chip is through to primer or metal, Saskatchewan road salt gets underneath the paint and the chip becomes a rust bloom. Repairing it properly is cheaper than repainting a panel later — considerably.
The shop has narrowed
Mercenary no longer offers car washes or basic detail packages. The bay is now dedicated to paint correction and Gtechniq ceramic coating, with permanent chip repair alongside them. That’s not a smaller business — it’s a sharper one.
A wash bay and a correction bay want opposite things. One rewards speed and volume; the other rewards a slow, controlled hand and a vehicle that can sit for days without anyone rushing it. Trying to run both meant the correction work was always competing for time against jobs worth a fraction as much.
So I stopped splitting the difference. Every hour in the shop now goes to the work that took 66,279 hours to learn — and the vehicles that come through get all of it.
If that’s what you’re after, phone me anyway — I’ll point you to someone in Regina who does it well.
Correction and coating work is quoted by the hour, because no two vehicles arrive in the same condition. See the rate and the reasoning below.
What Regina says
Real reviews from real customers. The same themes come up every time: the paint match, the attention to detail, and the fact that the owner is the one doing the work.
Mercenary did a full 3-stage paint correction and ceramic coat on my car — I was speechless. The love and care he puts into his work, it’s the best. He’s the OG in this industry. Unreal job, 100/10 — book your ride in ASAP!
Brought in my truck for a full ceramic application. Jay and his team were super accommodating and worked with me to customise a plan that was affordable and made sense. The finished product looks amazing and no detail was spared. Great work, and great customer service.
Jason, the owner, took care of a few stone chips on my hood. The paint matching he did is amazing, and the repair is barely visible unless you really look for it.
A buddy of mine who does dent repair referred me here to get some paint chips done. He did a fantastic job and actually repaired more than what I asked for, without charging me for it.
Before I even stepped foot into Mercenary, I knew I was going to have a great experience. I reached out to Jason about getting some rock chips taken care of, and he was able to schedule me in quickly.
The price was extremely reasonable and the service was amazing.
The work speaks
Exotics, muscle, classics, trucks — a look at what a Merc finish actually looks like under the lights.
My promise to you
Here’s how I work. Before anything begins, you get a walk-around and a straight assessment — what I can fix, what I can’t, and what it will cost. When the vehicle is done, we walk it together under the lights. If a repair I performed isn’t right, it comes back in and I make it right. No argument, no invoice. Thirty years working as a paint correction specialist — polishing in Regina since 1996 — stands behind every job I take on, and I stand behind the work personally.
Straight answers
Because no two vehicles arrive in the same condition. A three-year-old daily driver that’s been through automatic washes needs a completely different amount of work than a garage-kept weekend car, and quoting both the same price means one of you is being overcharged. Hourly means you pay for the work your vehicle actually needs — not a package average. Rates are $125 per hour of service performed, and I’ll give you a realistic estimate of hours before I start so there are no surprises.
Two numbers, and they’re both true. I’ve worked as a paint correction and chip-repair specialist in Regina since 1996 — that’s 30 years of hands-on experience. I founded Mercenary Auto Care as a business in 2012. So the shop is younger than the experience behind it: three decades of polishing, under one roof since 2012. The experience figure climbs on its own every year.
On the right vehicle, yes — and the guarantee is the tell. Crystal Serum Ultra is warranted for nine years, it’s rated by Gtechniq from −40°C to +250°C for our climate, and it’s a coating the public literally can’t buy — accredited installers only. Nothing you wax on lasts past a Saskatchewan spring. What you’re buying is a hard, optically clear, chemically bonded layer that takes the abuse instead of your clear coat, keeps the gloss, and makes tar, sap and hard-water spots release rather than etch. If you’re keeping the vehicle and you care how it looks in five years, it pays for itself on resale alone.
Close enough that customers who know exactly where the chip was still have to hunt for it. I’ve been doing chip repair since 2004 using a proprietary process and the same paints and practices that exceed industry standard, and the repair is permanent — not a filler that shrinks out over a winter. Bring the vehicle by and I’ll tell you honestly what I can achieve on your specific colour before you commit to anything.
You can, but I’ll talk you out of it. A ceramic coating is 100% optically clear — it doesn’t hide swirls and defects, it magnifies them and then seals them under a product warranted for up to nine years. Correcting first is the whole reason a coated car looks the way it does. Skipping it means paying premium money to make the flaws permanent.
No. Mercenary is now a paint correction and ceramic coating shop — that plus permanent chip repair is the whole menu. Standalone washes, vacuum-and-wipe packages and fixed-price detail bundles have been retired so the bay stays free for correction work, which needs days rather than hours. If a basic wash or interior detail is what you need, call anyway and I’ll point you at someone in Regina who does it properly.
2355 1st Avenue in Regina. The fastest way to book is to phone 306-533-9668 and tell me the vehicle and what’s bothering you about it — or send a message using the form below and I’ll get back to you.
We partner with the following
When a job needs something outside my lane, I send you to people I’d trust with my own vehicle — and they send their customers to me.
What I put on your vehicle
I’m proud to say I offer the best practices the industry has to offer — and the products to back it up. Nothing touches your paint that I haven’t tested myself.
Carbright
The Rag Company
If You Want It Done Right, Hire A Merc!
At Mercenary Auto Care we’re focused on providing the best auto detailing the world has to offer, and on bringing those practices, products and expertise to you — and to all of Regina, Saskatchewan. The quickest way to get a real answer is to phone. You’ll be talking to Jason.
The more you tell me, the more useful my answer will be.
Pressing send opens your email app with the details filled in — just hit Send. Prefer to talk it through? Call 306-533-9668.