Advice needed!

[KJW Detailing]

So tonight i was detailing a Lexus ES (im thinking like 00'-05' model but leaning more towards 00')

Anyway while i was working on the exterior, i really began to question my work. I honestly think that im just to hard on myself but it might also be due to the time constrants given at work...

The car was a marron color with heavy heavy swirls (between the swirls and the lack of TLC this car got the color had slighty faded and the flakes weren't easily seen)...so i pulled out the rotary and i got to work...well this was after i cleaned and clayed the car...so i pulled out a green pad (light swirls and polish) and yellow pad (medium cut) (i will leave out the brands name b/c im not sure if i can say it in this forum) and some compound...i generally use our compounds together with one another (again i will leave out the brands name) but one was a gritty compound while the other works with swirls.

I ran the rotary over a section of the car with the green pad and realized that i needed to use the yellow pad...this work great with taking out the heavy swirls and some heavier scratches...it also brought back the true cars color and those flakes!

But at the same time i can see that alot of the scratches are still left behind and light swirls can still be seen...

Now apart of me understand that i could have went with a wool pad to take care of the really heavy scratches and that i could have went back over the car with the green pad to take out those remaining swirls but with the time constrants that lexus has on these details its almost impossible to go around the car a second time...

So i sit and wonder, is it me, is it the car, is it the products we use, or is it the contrants that lexus puts on us?

Trust me i would love to spend 6 hrs on a car but it would be a cold day at work when that much time is given...4 hrs at most and thats already pushing it...

What do you all think?

 

[Whitethunder46]

Def Constraints if you ask me. There's no way you going to be able to get a heavily swirled car "perfect" with a cutting pad and a compound, no matter how good you are. Even if you leave no scratches/micromarring, etc., you're still not going to have that great reflective shine. You really have to follow it up with some kind of polish/finishing polish.

 

[nick19]

So tonight i was detailing a Lexus ES (im thinking like 00'-05' model but leaning more towards 00')

Anyway while i was working on the exterior, i really began to question my work. I honestly think that im just to hard on myself but it might also be due to the time constrants given at work...

The car was a marron color with heavy heavy swirls (between the swirls and the lack of TLC this car got the color had slighty faded and the flakes weren't easily seen)...so i pulled out the rotary and i got to work...well this was after i cleaned and clayed the car...so i pulled out a green pad (light swirls and polish) and yellow pad (medium cut) (i will leave out the brands name b/c im not sure if i can say it in this forum) and some compound...i generally use our compounds together with one another (again i will leave out the brands name) but one was a gritty compound while the other works with swirls.

I ran the rotary over a section of the car with the green pad and realized that i needed to use the yellow pad...this work great with taking out the heavy swirls and some heavier scratches...it also brought back the true cars color and those flakes!

But at the same time i can see that alot of the scratches are still left behind and light swirls can still be seen...

Now apart of me understand that i could have went with a wool pad to take care of the really heavy scratches and that i could have went back over the car with the green pad to take out those remaining swirls but with the time constrants that lexus has on these details its almost impossible to go around the car a second time...

So i sit and wonder, is it me, is it the car, is it the products we use, or is it the contrants that lexus puts on us?

Trust me i would love to spend 6 hrs on a car but it would be a cold day at work when that much time is given...4 hrs at most and thats already pushing it...

What do you all think?

You can say the product names.. it's an open forum..

Those swirls/scratches you saw after compounding was left because the polish wasn't broken down all the way, and the abrasives in the compound lightly scratched up the paint. This is common amongst new users. The compound needed to be worked in longer.

I don't think it's you, it's your "job". I think you're taking it a bit to serious, and how you would do it on your car. You're getting paid marginal money (I know because I applied at a Lexus dealership and laughed at them when they told me the wage), so don't take it very seriously. When time restrains you, just do your best in the given time.

Over time, you will gain more experience, and more knowledge, and these details will move right along.

I wouldn't say it's you, or the car, but time restrants and products.

A professional detailer doesn't see the same paint every day, and has to adjust accordingly. Almost the same way you do.

You're doing fine.. and I was in your position a year ago. I worked at lots of "car wash" places that had detail bays, then worked my way up to working first hand with professional detailers, and finally did it on my own. Its the best way to get experience. Costs nothing to you, but your time and energy.



Take care my friend.. don't let this bother you. :cheers:





-Nick

 

[KJW Detailing]

thanks for the great replies!

i know that its the constrants and at the same time its my personal drive to make things the best i can that also gets me sometimes...

every detail i work on i try to make it look as best i can...haha no just about none of the cars will ever look as good as mine haha but i try my best with what i've got...i have been working at lexus from almost 2 yrs now and i have learned a few things but then again a few of those things i learned there i found to be incorrect practice here...

i love detailing because of that feeling you get when you finish a car...that feeling of wow look what i did, i just made this 5 yr old car look brand new!

i've been working at lexus for 2 yrs now and yes when i started the pay wasn't that great but i have put a great deal of effort into that dealership and my hard work shows...although i have a pretty good idea that my current salary doesn't really justify the work i do, i cant say that i am complaining b/c its the best money i have made ever, i like the poeple i work with at the dealership (not ness. the detailers), and im very comfortable!

at the same time there are many many things i dislike about the dealership...but it is what it is and for the most part its what is expected when working at a dealership...its just a good thing that i work at night...during the time when most of the bog shots are gone...

after being told of this forum, i have begun to spend more and more time here trying to learn some new things in order to become a better detailer...haha i think the biggest thing i have learned here is the fact that i was taught to use the rotary at the incorrect speed (2200 rpm while cutting and polishing) b/c of this forum i now cut and polish no higher then 1400 rpms while the rest of the detailers do what they please, i just know better...

i have been kicking around the idea of trying to begin my own little detailing business...this would be a side thing that would go along with the 40 hrs of work i plan to already do at lexus this summer...i have been asked to work out of a buddies garage...i am hoping that this opportunity will allow me the chance to detail cars the way i see fit...i will be using products i want to use...and i will be able to take the time needed to truly make a car look brand new...

 

[ScottB]

A Camry by any other name is still a Camry ... (absolutely nothing to do with post, other than car)