What did you do today, in regards to detailing?

Eldorado2k said:
He should be having all those conversations with the detailers who installed on his car, not you. At this point he’s sort of wasting your time when you could’ve just done a proper job to begin with. It’s not your problem, right?
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Very true. Sometimes I feel that I’m too nice but now that the mystery has been solved and he’s on his own. A part of me wanted to know what this coating was which is why I continued to help him and I did feel bad for him. Unfortunately this guy wasn’t the only person in my neighborhood to fall victim to this detailer.
 
opie said:
Sometimes folks need to learn the hard way, sad to say.

Im cheap compared to what the actual buisnesses around me charge for the same work. I personally cannot justify charging more, i feel like id be ripping folks off if i did. I feel that i do good work for a good price. Folks are happy and i keep getting work, and i still make money.

I kinda feel bad for the guy too. But not much ya can do really other than tell him...sucks to suck jk

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The guy told me that all of his friends with Teslas had their cars coated by this guy. Not one of them found it strange that a 2 year coating starts around $700 and this guy was somehow able to offer a 7 year for $600. The sad thing is none of them know anything about car maintenance and for the next seven years are going to drive around thinking that have a bulletproof dirt shield on their cars.
 
While the g/f was napping on the couch I decided to head out to the parking lot to do a RW on the EN. Tonight's choice was DIY Detail RW...pure clean! Now it had very light water spots from yesterday's morning storm where it sat in the rain but looked pretty good to be honest

I also used some of the leftover RW to even out the tires & wheels...soooo good here

I decided to clean it real good as my girlfriend and I are going to Maine this weekend so even though it's going to sit clean from today till Monday late morning when we get back, I just feel better with it having a clean slate

I'll be off the grid for a bit unless I see some special car in Maine, somewhere I've never been before, nor the east coast for that matter besides going in a d out of NJ about 15 yrs ago
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Optimus Grime said:
I had to have a somewhat unpleasant conversation with a former prospective customer.

He originally was going to come to me to have his Model X coated. I’m a home based detailer and because my operating cost is low I consider myself to be an affordable coating installer but he found a detailer installing 7 year coatings for $600 (red flag #1) and he had that detailer apply a coating to his car. He came to me for some advice after it was coated, he lives in my neighborhood, on how to maintain it and I told him to find out what kind of coating so that I could tell him the maintenance products. The detailer never revealed the coating (red flag #2). He came to me yesterday after finally being told that the coating came from a Majestic Solutions store near me. The customer recalled that the bottle looked lavender so I did some looking around on the web and found the coating and informed my neighbor that his coating was a 2 year topper called Shield Repel.

I’m a little torn though. Part of me feels bad for the guy. His first experience with a coating was when he tried to apply Adam’s Advanced Spray Coating and ended up with the entire car being a high spot and scratched to hell. Then he just wasted his money on a subpar coating that is underperforming as his car is always dirty and the coating has poor self cleaning capabilities. He didn’t say it, but he looked completely dejected when he found out the coating. The other part of me is saying this is what you get when your only consideration for something is the price and not quality or the integrity of the detailer. If something is too good to be true, it probably is.
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I'm going with column B there, Optimus. Entirely unrelated to detailing as I'm in IT but just today I was chatting with someone else that's been at my firm for ~40 years like I have and we were lamenting how the quality of work done by our outsourcing vendor (replacing skilled staff that were RIF'd) is sub-par. I shared one of the sayings of a former colleague of ours (retired, not RIF'd) who says "You don't always get what you pay for but you always pay for what you get". It seems very Mencken-ish but have never found an actual attribution; certainly sums up your neighbor's experience IMO.
 
Klasse Act said:
While the g/f was napping on the couch I decided to head out to the parking lot to do a RW on the EN. Tonight's choice was DIY Detail RW...pure clean! Now it had very light water spots from yesterday's morning storm where it sat in the rain but looked pretty good to be honest

I also used some of the leftover RW to even out the tires & wheels...soooo good here

I decided to clean it real good as my girlfriend and I are going to Maine this weekend so even though it's going to sit clean from today till Monday late morning when we get back, I just feel better with it having a clean slate

I'll be off the grid for a bit unless I see some special car in Maine, somewhere I've never been before, nor the east coast for that matter besides going in a d out of NJ about 15 yrs ago
525c943456f3124c315e27b5f5fd17cd.jpg


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I just got back from a stint through NYC and upper Michigan (but not UP), and there's just no place like home! However, I would leave home to check out Maine. That's on a list.

Looking to try some new Kamikaze products this weekend after a few off... no place like home!

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Klasse Act said:
I decided to clean it real good as my girlfriend and I are going to Maine this weekend so even though it's going to sit clean from today till Monday late morning when we get back, I just feel better with it having a clean slate

I'll be off the grid for a bit unless I see some special car in Maine, somewhere I've never been before, nor the east coast for that matter besides going in a d out of NJ about 15 yrs ago
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Enjoy!
Maine is nice. We went to Acadia and Machias a few years ago. My girlfriend wants to go back.
 
Optimus Grime said:
The guy told me that all of his friends with Teslas had their cars coated by this guy. Not one of them found it strange that a 2 year coating starts around $700 and this guy was somehow able to offer a 7 year for $600. The sad thing is none of them know anything about car maintenance and for the next seven years are going to drive around thinking that have a bulletproof dirt shield on their cars.
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Yeah thats pretty sad. And shame on the guy offering a joke of a "7" year coating.

I try to tell everybody, look..this is a 2-3 year coating. BUT in order to get the performance out of it, you need to do the maintainance washes. It is key to success. Also proper wash techniques. Heck that last black gmc pickup i did.... i know that one and his new blue 1/2 ton duramax i did in may is not going to make the distance. It doesnt get the proper care. Its a shame but i can only lead a horse to water...

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Karl_in_Chicago said:
I'm going with column B there, Optimus. Entirely unrelated to detailing as I'm in IT but just today I was chatting with someone else that's been at my firm for ~40 years like I have and we were lamenting how the quality of work done by our outsourcing vendor (replacing skilled staff that were RIF'd) is sub-par. I shared one of the sayings of a former colleague of ours (retired, not RIF'd) who says "You don't always get what you pay for but you always pay for what you get". It seems very Mencken-ish but have never found an actual attribution; certainly sums up your neighbor's experience IMO.
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This actually reminds of the last maintenance wash I did. For vehicles that I have coated I have a reduced cost maintenance wash and Tuesday I washed a friend/customer’s CRV. She just threw it out there that I should check out the guy on the corner who charges $60 for an in and out. This is the same person who’s car looked like absolute #### before I got my hands on it because she went with a cheap wash and wax. Her paint was trashed, trim severely faded and I’m not sure if those things on the front still qualified as headlights. I fixed all of that to the point that her neighbors were asking for my number.

I flat out told her that I refuse to compete. If she wants to go with the cheap guy to save a few dollars don’t call me when your paint starts flaking and your car looks like you’ve driven through barbwire. Cheap isn’t good and good isn’t cheap.
 
Coatingsarecrack said:
I would go fulle Karen and talk to the manager and if the place was an insurance recommend them as well.


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I didn't have to go full Karen. Geico is going to handle it. It's gonna be another inconvenience but another shop will handle the correction and pay me for having to redo the coating again.
 
I’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok and flat out deceived!

A guy booked a ceramic coating and in his message to me said that he was thinking it needed a wash, clay and then coating. When the vehicle was dropped off last night it was a totally different story. Water spot etchings over every exterior surface. I was ready to tell the owner to take his piece of trash and get to stepping but since he happens to be my closest friend (who is paying - I don’t work for free for anybody except my dad and wife) and it’s a gift for his stepdaughter I decided to go ahead and work my magic. After a triple bath in Carpro Descale to dissolve the minerals I’m now working on the etchings and it’s coming out quite nicely. I must say that when I’m finished this Audi A6 will be much too nice for a high schooler’s first car.

Before






A little before and after shot of the hood.
 
Optimus Grime said:
I’ve been hoodwinked, bamboozled, lead astray, run amok and flat out deceived!

( - I don’t work for free for anybody except my dad and wife)
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You're a good man with good priorities!

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Uncbrs said:


You're a good man with good priorities!

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I’m actively trying to have a better business mindset. This is a side job but I file taxes with it and have expenses. No more freebies.
 
A quick FROTHe rinseless wash followed by a wipe-down with Armour Detail Amplify. I’m really liking Armour Detail products.

Thanks, Guz.
 
Prange said:
A quick FROTHe rinseless wash followed by a wipe-down with Armour Detail Amplify. I’m really liking Armour Detail products.

Thanks, Guz.
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Armour detail supply does make some really nice products. Amplify is really slick

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Applied Autoglym Instant Tyre Dressing to the passenger side tyres of the Qashqai, again, for the third time this week. I'm glad I went with wider tyres when they were replaced last time. Also used Ech2o to wipe off the greasy finger prints on and around the door handles, it was on school pick up duty again today.

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Sunday afternoon maintenance wash. Wanted to do it early, but sleep was more important. Dealt with some sun and a little bit of clouds. Of course, when I was finished it was all cloudy. Finished with TWHSWW.
 
So we just got home from Maine this morning, got off the plane @8:15, grabbed an Uber and was home by 9 a.m. After a quick look at the EN it was time to mount up️

Started out with Brake Buster in the IK Foam Pro 9 and 3 brushes, easy work here but then it was time for the EN itself

It had tree debris, dust, dirt, water spots and a bird bomb on the rear window, time to bring out the big guns! I filled the IK Foam Pro 12 w/ 5 oz of Bilt-Hamber Touchless and a gallon of water and let it dwell for over 5 minutes. I had water spot rings of this brown stuff that had to mix with the one tree, mixed with rain it leaves this brown sh!t on the paint!

After the longer dwell I rinsed it off and beads were incredible, especially the roof, so I wash happy...but I wanted to "make sure" it was all good so I reached for my Gyeon Restart for the carwash soap (basically out of it now, have to get more over winter). I added 2 oz of this and it sud'd up good and i got washing the EN w/ the 2BM and it was sooooo satisfying to wash each panel and rinse, the paint was C L E A N

For a drying aid I reached for Bilt-Hamber QD at 3:1 in my 1000 ML Mirolax sprayer and it finished out nice using my large DPC drying towel. I finished by drying the tires and wheels and now I'm done...with this car, the g/f's Cruze is next but it goes through the touch-free wash and then grocery shopping

I do get to drive the EN later as I need to get my daughter from daycare, I do miss her after this recent trip to Maine

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