Ha. Yeah. AGO; y'all are jerks. Costing me money
Same here though. I did NOT consider myself a 'detailer' of any sorts. Just a guy who took good care of his cars. Then, on a completely unrelated forum, someone mentioned 'swirls' showing up on my paint because of how I was washing it. I looked up 'swirls'. Realized I had them! Then began reading, delving into it more, learning, and landed on AGO!
Now I realize how nasty 90% of the cars are on the road, AND how much work I have to do to de-swirl two motorcycles and my wifes car. Plus, I gave AutoGeek (and Amazon) a bunch of money to get all the junk I needed!
Though I was amazed to find the number of pro detailers, mobile detailers, and people with a real appreciation for the craft. I like doing it on my own car, but my hat is off to you guys; because I know I would not have the motivation to do the kind of work you guys do on someone elses car. It would really be a chore. ESPECIALLY knowing many of them are going to come back swirled-up from the automatic swirl-installer at the gas station.
This site gets me excited about detailing. I feel if I do ask a question I will get a good answer and not made to feel like lesser of a person for asking.
This is BIG.
This forum I can best compare to a Photography forum I used to frequent, but no longer. I know photography and detailing aren't the same but the 'forum base' essentially is. You have people who are new to the hobby with low end equipment, then you have 'enthusiasts' with high end equipment and deep pockets. Then you have professionals, both newbies and experienced pro's.
The photog forum though, is not newbie friendly. I've literally been told on that forum just to give up, because it wasn't any good and I was wasting their time. I'm not a pro photographer, nor am I trying to be the next Ansel Adams. I just like taking pictures (my wife is into it a lot more than I am and far better at it, but sometimes I steal her gear and go do some shooting!). And, of course, DSLR photography is a lot more advanced than just a point and shoot. So all I'm looking for is what to improve on!
Here at AGO; as I said, it's a lot the same- in terms of who is on the forums. A spread from brand new newbie, to respected and renowned professional. However here, people are friendly. They give advice. They eagerly want to teach. It's easy to learn here!
So thanks AGO! Well, no-thanks for costing me a bunch of money and forever ruining me (thought my car looked pretty good before... Jerks..), but thanks for being friendly and a great learning environment!