What Got You Into Detailing Cars?

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69chevymaro

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First of all, I'd like to apologize in advance if a post like this already exists out there (I looked but couldn't find one)

We are all passionate about detailing cars here on this forum and it got me thinking about what it was that got me hooked on detailing cars as a hobby.

For me, it was a bottle of Meguiars Deep Crystal paint cleaner 11 years ago. I purchased a bottle to try on my mother's 1992 Mazda Protégé. After applying it by hand and seeing how much it made the paint pop, I went back to the store and picked up step 2 and 3 (polish and wax).

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After almost having my fall off after step 1, I went back to the store and picked up a super cheap 10in polisher similar to the one below.

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With a new polisher in hand and some cool new product, I was able to achieve these results. (sorry about the bad quality pics, I lost the originals so I had to get screen shots)

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As a 16 year old, these results blew my mind and I was hooked; little did I know that I was only dipping my toes in the deep end.

That's my story. How did you guys get into car detailing?
 
37 years ago I worked at my family's car dealership as a lot attendant prepping cars for delivery. Been keeping them clean ever since. Moved back into detailing as a strong hobby/side gig not because I have to but because I enjoy it.
 
COVID-19

And beach closures

I need to have a hobby to keep my sanity. Plus, I kept telling myself that learning how to properly detail a car, one needs to actually get off his couch and get to it. And I’m talking OCD levels of detailing.

Since I don’t offer packages to anyone, I just do a 100% thorough job… My buddy asked me, “what do you offer?”

My response: “show me one part of this car that looks dirty”.

… Not chasing perfection levels of paint correction, but… Sending the customer off and knowing I could have done more, that really eats me up. So guess what, it takes me 12 hours or more to detail a car sometimes. So be it!
It’s a fun hobby for me and I like doing it.

One of my friends has been in the detailing business for 30 years, he did my car and he missed quite a lot of spots. But I get it, he hast to do multiple cars a day, and earn a living at it. In fact I can’t even talk to him about Auto Detailing because we’re really speaking two different languages.

I don’t have 30 years of experience, but I definitely have the patience to do high end detailing, which is a whole different discussion that we should have. What is high end detailing considered?

It took me 30 hours to do my own car over a period of five days. I would consider that high end, because there was nothing done improperly or rushed. And I don’t think it’s exclusive to expensive automobiles...it just means like, “make this car better than show room new.”

Hold my soda...




*Sent by Siri, who has horrible voice to text conversion
 
I got into detailing 23yrs. ago when I bought my 1st Cadillac.

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It had been sitting for a couple years so it was pretty much a complete mess when I bought it. The 1st thing I did was pick up a bottle of Meguiars Gold Class and that was the 1st detailing product I fell in love with. I also fell in love with washing my car every Friday to make sure it always looked good for the weekend.

Another product I constantly used for many years were the Meguiars Leather Wipes. I loved the way they smelled and just thinking about that makes me miss them because I haven’t tried them is so long.

I remember when I 1st found this forum way back, must’ve been 15yrs. ago [I lurked for many years] I would see a bunch of people talk so much crap about those leather wipes and how only complete noobs who don’t know jack would use them... It’s funny now, but back then they nearly motivated me to create an account just so I could defend my use of those wipes and declare that they weren’t crappy at all. Lol.
 
My 1st car a 90 accord i got in 91. My pride and joy. 15” prime 5 stars 195/50 tires chrome fender trim and lowered on eibachs with a rockford fosgate system.

I always washed and wax (alot) and then i found this amazing new product that would wash your car with out water (dri wash, i believe its still around as dri wash n gaurd).


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TTQ B4U said:
37 years ago I worked at my family's car dealership as a lot attendant prepping cars for delivery. Been keeping them clean ever since. Moved back into detailing as a strong hobby/side gig not because I have to but because I enjoy it.
Click to expand...

Same exact story here. I think I started in 94-95. Started in 8th or 9th grade as my first job.

My mom and dad told me a story about when I was 3-4 years old I was picking rocks out of tire treads in the showroom.

Relaxing, rewarding, and just a productive hobby.
 
Coatingsarecrack said:
I always washed and wax (alot) and then i found this amazing new product that would wash your car with out water (dri wash, i believe its still around as dri wash n gaurd).
Click to expand...

My brother introduced me to drywash about 15yrs. ago... He used to detail airplanes and said they would use it on the planes and that it worked sort of like wax when used as a lsp.

So the very 1st time I did the whole 5 step Meguiars system [the maroon bottles] Wash, claybar, paint cleaner, deep crystal polish, wax... Instead of wax [Meguiars NXT was the big craze back then] I used drywash as my form of protection.

I didn’t know the difference between a swirl and a squirrel back then, but my car sure looked good.
 
•In the Spring of 1958, my Dad proposed that
if I would wash and wax his 1950 Chevy 2-Door
Sedan on a regular basis, he would “help” me get
a new bicycle from our local Western Auto Store.

{Note: Not only was this my initial detailing gig,
it was also my first (and last!) foray into the wild
and wacky world of revolving credit.}


•Looking back: Fair trade?
-At the time (and in my young and, evidently,
easily malleable mind): Having two paper routes
necessitated such an arrangement.
-Also: “Honor thy father...” ~Exodus 20:12

Lessons learned.


Bob
 
Eldorado2k said:
My brother introduced me to drywash about 15yrs. ago... He used to detail airplanes and said they would use it on the planes and that it worked sort of like wax when used as a lsp.

So the very 1st time I did the whole 5 step Meguiars system [the maroon bottles] Wash, claybar, paint cleaner, deep crystal polish, wax... Instead of wax [Meguiars NXT was the big craze back then] I used drywash as my form of protection.

I didn’t know the difference between a swirl and a squirrel back then, but my car sure looked good.
Click to expand...

Yeah, car was shiny and swirled up as all sin! Remember my car had about 2 months of winter crud on it and i pulled it out to show a friend how it work. Boss was a distributor and sold it for $20 id carry a couple bottles around and get $5 if i sold one. Back then $5 was 1/3 of a tank of gas.

I’m sure i swirled the bejeezus out of her but spring and summer she stayed clean and shiny


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Coatingsarecrack said:
Yeah, car was shiny and swirled up as all sin! Remember my car had about 2 months of winter crud on it and i pulled it out to show a friend how it work. Boss was a distributor and sold it for $20 id carry a couple bottles around and get $5 if i sold one. Back then $5 was 1/3 of a tank of gas.

I’m sure i swirled the bejeezus out of her but spring and summer she stayed clean and shiny


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Click to expand...

My 92’ Cadillac Eldorado was pearl white, so an unknowing noob trying to spot swirls had a slim chance of actually happening. Lol.

I do remember the time I scratched the hell out of my hood with the brush at the coin op 1 day... The scratches were so bad even I could immediately tell. Doh!
 
I started doing bodywork and painting cars when I was about 15 (1968). Obviously I wasn't very good at the beginning. But to this day, every time I do something I try to do it better than the time before. That's my nature.

Back in those days we had gravel for compounds, wool pads, fifteen lb., 2500 RPM, single-speed rotary polishers and the finest sandpaper available was 600 grit. Times have certainly changed.

I got pretty good pretty fast. In my early twenties I was painting "Best in Show" winners. I know a lot of you "Detailer" guys don't hold "Body Shop Detailers" in the highest regards but they are definitely not all the same. When you are turning out "Best in Show" paint jobs you certainly better know a little about polishing.

Anyways, although I've never done detailing exclusively as a profession, detailing was always a part of what I did for many, many years and my start came from my painting days.
 
In 1968 I moved in with my grandma and grandpa when I was 5. He was German and Austrian and I called him opa. He had a 1966 white Chevy Impala that he liked to keep clean. I wanted to do whatever he did so I also wanted to keep the car clean. We used Dupont No.7 car wash powder in the silver can, a sea sponge, old bath towels and Turtle Wax with Brillium. Once in a while we would use Dupont rubbing compound or polishing compound. The white walls on the tires were cleaned with Brillo or SOS pads. Pledge furniture polish kept the tires shiny as well as the dashboard.
From that point on I always had a passion for shiny cars. There were some years where I did not exercise that passion due to life getting in the way. Work, college, marriage, house renovations (all at the same time), took time away from proper vehicle care. Now I spend almost every day trying to do something detailing related even if it is just talking to you guys. Thanks for being here.
 
It all started for me the minute I drove my factory ordered Ram off of the lot.

In my teens & 20's, I had old beaters that I had to replace engines/transmissions in. I enjoyed that back then, and certainly didn't even think about paint care.

In my 30's, I had mainly used trucks that I kept "washed".

The minute I drove the Ram off of the lot, I knew something was different. I was in love with this truck, and I knew I wanted to take the best care of it.

I had joined a Ram forum about 3 weeks before the truck arrived at the dealer, and had asked a few basic questions about detailing. One guy on there recommended Autogeek. :)

I spent about a year just reading on products in the store, and lurking here on the forum. I was reluctant to join AGO, because my other forum experiences were horrible. (That Ram forum was the worst).

But, I took the plunge and found that this forum is head and shoulders above the rest. Many people reached out to me with advice, PM's, and answers to my newbie questions. HUGE thanks to Mark (custmprty) and Ron (ronkh57). Rest in peace, Ron. These two men went above & beyond and made me feel comfortable asking newbie question after newbie question.

So, long story short....... The purchase of my truck and the incredible people on this forum got me into detailing.
 
I grew up watching my brothers’ cars and how they loved them. I’d also watch my brother in law wash his Cadillac. When I got my first car, I’d keep it clean even in the winters in St Louis, Mo. I recall going to the self serve wash bays (they were heated) and cleaning my Buick Skylark. Kept that passion all the way through an early retirement in 2013. I found myself drawn to detail videos and instructions (I don’t recall how I found the sites nor what I was looking for). I’d watch Junkman, Darren, Ammo NYC, Joe at Next Level Detail, etc so much that my wife thought I was having an affair on my iPad as I was on it daily at night. I asked my wife for a GG6 for my birthday in April 2014. She got it for me and I didn’t use it til I learned how to. Anyway, I fell upon Auto Geek and saw the detail camp given by Mike P. I started looking at other detail instructors but kept coming back to Autogeek Detail camp. Mike P had a class in Sept 2014 and I wrote Mike on a whim to see if the class had any openings. He responded immediately that if I signed up and paid that day, I could attend (the class was being held within a week). I told my wife about the class and she didn’t think I was serious. I went and after attending, I learned tons but it also confirmed my love for detailing. I used what I learned, kept researching and bought my products, designed my website, got my biz cards printed and the rest is history. I’m 63yrs old and love detailing.
 
At the time, believe it or not, it was Chemical Guys Butter Wet Wax. A friend of my girlfriends waxed his Black GTI with it, and he kept the paint pretty clean and I was like woah damn what did he do to that thing. I started off with youtube videos from Chemical Guys, eventually found videos on all the chemical guys products then found this forum. At around the same time, I was looking at a new car and I thought all the swirls on a car meant a repaint. I was like damn all these cars need repaints whats going on. Found this forum after a month or so reading the Meguiar's forum and off I go.

Went to Canadian Tire (Canadian version of auto zone) and picked up Meguiars Ultimate Paste Wax. At the time, it was one of the best ones I found that was also commonly available. I hand rubbed my new car with Mothers Pure Polish then applied the Ultimate Paste Wax. Before all of that, all I did was use Mothers interior detailer and protectant on the black vinyl of the car and kept the inside looking quite good. But at the same time, I was still taking my old car through the brush washes. Then after reading more and more, I found an auto-geek reseller in Canada, ordered a whooole bunch of stuff, more than I should've. Eventually I would buy one thing every week or so just to test it out. I threw out a lot, and kept a lot and gave a lot to friends. Then one day out of the blue, I just polished and coated my car. It took me a 20 hour day to do all of that, and I figured there had to be an easier way to polish cars?

Then research research research. Loved 205, but the dust killed me. Tried out CarPro fixer and reflect, dusted too much as well. Tried different pads, different polishes, etc, then dialed everything in. DId a few friends cars here and there. Bought a second car, more stuff to test. For my own needs, I've basically dialed it down to a few products that I HAVE to have and a few others that are nice but only needed when its full detail time. My dads car is a constant test in progress of different things.

What got me down the rabbit hole of researching products was actually Larry from AMMO NYC. It was actually a disagreement I had with his theory that lead me down, because some things didn't make sense although I see what he was talking about, I just didn't agree with him.

I also found myself sitting in my garage, and having a cigar and staring at the polished and coated paint of my cars. I unno, that's gotta be a mental illness right?
 
Ahahahah I should've known better. Don't get me wrong, the stuff looks amazing and is a pure show car wax. Lasts about a week or so, but during that week that paint looks wetter than a lake.
 
WillSports3 said:
Ahahahah I should've known better. Don't get me wrong, the stuff looks amazing and is a pure show car wax. Lasts about a week or so, but during that week that paint looks wetter than a lake.
Click to expand...

I’m only kidding. I’m sure it does what it’s good for.
 
Grew up in the hood and got tired of seeing new body's laying in the streets so I needed to start a business that cost the least amount of money so I could build enough money to get out the hood so detailing it was Long story short......
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