Boom! Test spot got me the job from skeptical customer!

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KirkH

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I had a guy contact me today with a 2004 Infinity SUV, black paint, bad shape. He asked me if I could "make it look better until I can afford to get it painted."

I said "I'm not a magician, but bring it by."

He was totally skeptical that I could do anything but he came by anyway. He asked how much to "see if I can make it better."

I agreed to do a test spot for free. Here's how it came out:

Optimum compound II + orange pad
Pinnacle Advanced Finishing polish + white pad

34210072466_2a6520e167_h.jpg


33409312344_32a2c71529_h.jpg


Boom! I got the big job and saved this guy $1500 in a paint job!

I will show progress of how it goes tomorrow when I do the job.
 
Holy cow, very nice!!!

Is that water spotting or some sort of built up film on the paint?

Almost looks like clear coat failure, crazy!
 
It's a mess. Extreme oxidation, water spots, etchings, everything. You should have seen his face when I whipped out the Cyclo 5. It looks like a hair dryer from the 1950's or something. I started with orange pad and Meguiar's cleaner wax (not much help) , went to Sonax Hybrid NPT ( a little better)T, then Wolfgang Uber AIO (starting to get somewhere) and then Optimum Compound II did the trick. Dude's jaw dropped after I polished it with Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and a white pad. It ain't perfect, but he ain't spending $1500 on a paint job anymore though!
 
Nice job! I get lots of people hooked by doing a test panel. Usually a front fender or in a recent case the hood of a mini cooper. Nothing screams "hire me" like doing a test panel while a customer enjoys a coffee or soda.
 
pdqgp said:
Nice job! I get lots of people hooked by doing a test panel. Usually a front fender or in a recent case the hood of a mini cooper. Nothing screams "hire me" like doing a test panel while a customer enjoys a coffee or soda.
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It's funny you said "hooked." The guy looked at my wife and said, "he's like a drug dealer. he gave me a little bit, now I'm paying for the whole thing!"

:laughing:
 
Congrats man! That's a great way to show your customers your true abilities. And your test spot improved the paint by a ton!
 
Nice work man, I've been looking for a portable polisher to get decent correction from for this reason.

$1500 for a paint job is cheap, I need to get a pint job where you are, just half of a Mazda CX-5 in socal is 4.5k

Sent from my Pixel using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Cool! Glad to hear you got the job and... made a believer out of your 'potential' customer. Way to go, looking forward to your full write-up and pics!
 
LOL. I was thinking something similar about giving him just a taste. Of course he can't drive around with just part of his car corrected now.

Is $1500 what a paint job costs there, or $1500 beyond what you'll charge?
 
Thanks everybody!

He was going to get only the hood and roof painted, so that was my guess at what he would pay.
 
After washing, before clay. Here's what I am dealing with:

34252425235_e6d532e95f_h.jpg



Test spot in the picture- still some swirls in the test spot, gonna have to go a little longer when I do the whole panel:

34212057876_09aa776505_h.jpg
 
KirkH said:
I had a guy contact me today with a 2004 Infinity SUV, black paint, bad shape. He asked me if I could "make it look better until I can afford to get it painted."

I said "I'm not a magician, but bring it by."

He was totally skeptical that I could do anything but he came by anyway. He asked how much to "see if I can make it better."

I agreed to do a test spot for free. Here's how it came out:

Optimum compound II + orange pad
Pinnacle Advanced Finishing polish + white pad

Boom! I got the big job and saved this guy $1500 in a paint job!

I will show progress of how it goes tomorrow when I do the job.
Click to expand...

Way to step through the products… Very nicely done! Thanks for the description!
 
KirkH said:
It's a mess. Extreme oxidation, water spots, etchings, everything. You should have seen his face when I whipped out the Cyclo 5. It looks like a hair dryer from the 1950's or something. I started with orange pad and Meguiar's cleaner wax (not much help) , went to Sonax Hybrid NPT ( a little better)T, then Wolfgang Uber AIO (starting to get somewhere) and then Optimum Compound II did the trick. Dude's jaw dropped after I polished it with Pinnacle Advanced Finishing Polish and a white pad. It ain't perfect, but he ain't spending $1500 on a paint job anymore though!
Click to expand...

Ummm, of course this was what I meant to quote... :cool:
 
Great, can't wait to see the final results, there a lot of cars that are neglected and a good compound and polish, and added protection can make a car nearly new look thus saving a lot of money from a respray, I bet he doesn't repaint the car if the rest comes out just as good !!!!


Sent from my iPhone using Autogeekonline mobile app
 
Nice improvement.

I'm just curious as far as paint thickness goes. Did you take any paint thickness readings before performing the test spot?

With that kind of neglect the clear coat may be close to gone or is it single stage paint?

Burn through could be a real issue with neglected paint like that.

The only reason I ask these questions is to protect your personal liability.
 
custmsprty said:
Nice improvement.

I'm just curious as far as paint thickness goes. Did you take any paint thickness readings before performing the test spot?

With that kind of neglect the clear coat may be close to gone or is it single stage paint?

Burn through could be a real issue with neglected paint like that.

The only reason I ask these questions is to protect your personal liability.
Click to expand...

I do have a HighLine Meter Paint Thickness Gauge 2nd Generation, and I will be measuring before polishing tomorrow. I wasn't worried about it for the test spot, because he was planning on painting it anyway.
 
KirkH said:
I do have a HighLine Meter Paint Thickness Gauge 2nd Generation, and I will be measuring before polishing tomorrow. I wasn't worried about it for the test spot, because he was planning on painting it anyway.
Click to expand...

Cool. As you know, people are unpredictable, hey you said you could fix this and you ruined my paint.

Looking forward to the full write up.

I'm with you, the test spot is the key , and if they don't sign up they have to drive around with a shiny spot and then someone asks them, what's that? What happened to the rest of you car, why isn't it as shiny as that spot? :buffing:
 
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