What is a detail?

Mr Dream Machines said:
Geez boys I thought I was on another detail forum there for a minute
Don't give us autopians a bad name either please.

He who exalts himself will be humbled
Glad you all sorted it out.

Anyways my work is different most of the time
yes I do the $130 to 165 dollar speed shine jobs with one step machine polish and your exterior and interior general cleaning and protection (no wet vac) but my specialty is paint rectification and enhancement

Some of my customers are showcar people and happy to spend $500 on me spending 10 to 14 hours to buff the paint with menzerna etc.
The most I've spent on a car is a week. That was for an extremely fussy porsche owner but in the end the car blew everyone away and it was so good in the rain that he got home and the car looked just washed. It should be after seven coats of Wolfgang DGPS and four coats of p21s wax (was back in 2004)

IMO us pro's here don't detail, we refinish cars.
Car cleaning is what shops do for car yard vehicles, general public's pig cars & mobile washes.
Detailing is much more involved and covers most of the people on forums. Definately do excellent work for sure.
Refinishing is the top class where you spend whatever time it takes to take the car beyond what it's ever been before.

Paint, glass, wheel, wheel arch, tyre, interior etc cleaning, polishing, burnishing and protection.

I've never seen any pics of your work justin but I won't be a wanker and judge you, I have trust in alot of autogeeks
Some mobile guys amaze me with what they can do for the time they spend

Just glad I have my workshop.
Now can we get back to sharing, learning and growing.
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:goodpost:
 
All of you are good at what you do and i'm sure each and every one practices good work ethics but at the end of the day you guys are all beaten out by a girl from Illinois (AL417) :buffing: :eek::p:)
 
joe.p said:
All of you are good at what you do and i'm sure each and every one practices good work ethics but at the end of the day you guys are all beaten out by a girl from Illinois (AL417) :buffing: :eek::p:)
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She is damn good I must say!

Thanks for this post. I pretty much sums up how I and others here feel about one another's work.

See, me and joe worked things out about a month ago. If we can, ANYONE can!!!!

LOL!
 
Showroom Shine said:
Stop drinking the Hater Aid People!
If a guy spends 2 days on a vehicle and a guy spends three hours on a vehicle. The main issue is Client Satisfaction! I realize that some of you good people are top notch pro's and some of you are speacialist. We are all striving for one thing. To Satisfy client's and ourselves. We all have a Passion For Cars! We also like to see them looking good. That's what we do!
Have Fun while we are working!
Have a Great Day All!


Richard
Showroom ShineFeed back please
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Richard, this is truly what detailing comes down too. If I spent 5 days on a vehicle and the customer was not happy, I failed. If I just washed his vehicle and he sent me 5 clients, obviously I succeeded!!!!

Thanks for this post bro!
 
Great thread boys! I am glad that Meghan left it open so that we could handle it like adults. Looks like we did fine!

In any regards, back to topic:

What is a detail to me? Personally, I believe that it is completing a request made by a customer (end-user) that pertains to the cleansing of their vehicle. This can be a full 3-step polish, or just a wash 'n wax.
 
P1et said:
Great thread boys! I am glad that Meghan left it open so that we could handle it like adults. Looks like we did fine!

In any regards, back to topic:

What is a detail to me? Personally, I believe that it is completing a request made by a customer (end-user) that pertains to the cleansing of their vehicle. This can be a full 3-step polish, or just a wash 'n wax.
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:iagree: with :whs:
 
P1et said:
Great thread boys! I am glad that Meghan left it open so that we could handle it like adults. Looks like we did fine!

In any regards, back to topic:

What is a detail to me? Personally, I believe that it is completing a request made by a customer (end-user) that pertains to the cleansing of their vehicle. This can be a full 3-step polish, or just a wash 'n wax.
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So far a detail is............

What the customer wants:
15

What we want:
0

So pretty much a detail is what meets the customer's expectations after qualifying their wants and needs. Just like in any sales/product transaction!!!
 
justin30513 said:
So far a detail is............

What the customer wants:
15

What we want:
0

So pretty much a detail is what meets the customer's expectations after qualifying their wants and needs. Just like in any sales/product transaction!!!
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Sounds familiar

MotorCity Honda said:
The key here is knowing what the customer wants and being able to deliver it..plain and simple.

If you are a one man shop then you need some people skills.

Don't know what all the hub-bub is about?
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I still think people are missing the point-detail to me means to do all the steps, wash-clay-polish(includes remove swirls, not hiding them), lsp. If you are going to wash and wax that is exactly what you are doing. Not trying to start anymore bs like yesterday, but think about the word detail.I even explain to customers that is considered main. I feel it should be described as is, because lets be honest when you wash and wax vehicle you are not bringing the vehicle back to its best condition unless it sits in a garage or your customer takes his/her time to get it properly maintained. Its like getting your oil change(main), versus your 15,30,45,60k complete service.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
I still think people are missing the point-detail to me means to do all the steps, wash-clay-polish(includes remove swirls, not hiding them), lsp. If you are going to wash and wax that is exactly what you are doing. Not trying to start anymore bs like yesterday, but think about the word detail.I even explain to customers that is considered main. I feel it should be described as is, because lets be honest when you wash and wax vehicle you are not bringing the vehicle back to its best condition unless it sits in a garage or your customer takes his/her time to get it properly maintained. Its like getting your oil change(main), versus your 15,30,45,60k complete service.
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If you read what you just wrote, you will understand what we are saying!

We are not calling a wash and wax a detail. We are not calling a interior only a detail. A full detail requires the steps that THAT detailer is using to please the customer and bring the vehicle back.
 
Bit of an old thread revival here, but I happened across this thread and found it very interesting. In my opinion, you can't really define a detail. Look at it this way - it's kinda like buying a cake. You can go to the grocery store and buy a small simple cake for $10-$15, or you can have a huge extravagant cake custom-made that costs thousands of dollars and takes days to make by a cake "artist". It is agreed that there are basic ingredients involved that make it a cake and separate it from, say, a cookie - flour, sugar, eggs, milk, etc. But whether it is a $10 cake or a $10,000 cake, both are undeniably cakes, and each is made and sold according to the desires and affordability of the customer. Same with detailing. If the customer just wants a wash and wax for $100 and he thinks it looks brand new, then in his mind, it was a detail. If the customer wants a 4-step correction, jeweling, sealant, and wax for $1,000, and he is happy with it, then he received a detail as well. But to say "This is a better cake" or "This is a better detail" merely because it cost more or involved more time and skill is in my opinion just plain wrong. After all, the number one priority should not be how well the cake looks or how good the car looks, it's about how happy the customer is. Just my two cents. This thread is a great read if you want to take the time to go through it.
 
It's a question of semantics. Most members in this thread felt a "detail" was what their customer wanted. Dana felt removing swirls had to be included. Another famous detailer, Todd, can spend up to 40hrs on a single car. What would he call much of the work we do?

I mostly do one or two step polishes. If I wash and wax, am I detailing? Some would think not, but what if I go above and beyond what a simple car wash shop would do. E.g., using cutips to clean crevices, cleaning the insides of vents, vacuuming between the seats and center console, dressing the wells, cleaning the insides of rims and etc. No polishing was involved, but we all know most simple car wash businesses don't include that level of "detailing".

So what is "detailing"? Should there be multiple names for the type of "detailing" that is involved? E.g., partial exterior detail, medium exterior detail and full exterior detail.
 
Mr Dream Machines said:
Some of my customers are showcar people and happy to spend $500 on me spending 10 to 14 hours to buff the paint with menzerna etc.
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I have done the same and it has taken a couple days to complete the detail, but the customer/client appreciated the fact that I was honest about needing their vehicle a little longer than expected. I don't see anything wrong with a $400/$600 detail taking two days to complete thoroughly. IMO
 
i wasn't around AG in 2007 to see this when it all started. But man was that a funny read. I found myself reading Justin's comments in a loud angry tone.
 
Wow.. ancient thread haha.

But in my opinion, this is my favourite take on the definition of what we do.

"Detailing enhances paintwork, but paint correction repairs it." ~ Paul Dalton

I think that sums it up nicely.
 
CieraSL said:
Bit of an old thread revival here, but I happened across this thread and found it very interesting. In my opinion, you can't really define a detail. Look at it this way - it's kinda like buying a cake. You can go to the grocery store and buy a small simple cake for $10-$15, or you can have a huge extravagant cake custom-made that costs thousands of dollars and takes days to make by a cake "artist". It is agreed that there are basic ingredients involved that make it a cake and separate it from, say, a cookie - flour, sugar, eggs, milk, etc. But whether it is a $10 cake or a $10,000 cake, both are undeniably cakes, and each is made and sold according to the desires and affordability of the customer. Same with detailing. If the customer just wants a wash and wax for $100 and he thinks it looks brand new, then in his mind, it was a detail. If the customer wants a 4-step correction, jeweling, sealant, and wax for $1,000, and he is happy with it, then he received a detail as well. But to say "This is a better cake" or "This is a better detail" merely because it cost more or involved more time and skill is in my opinion just plain wrong. After all, the number one priority should not be how well the cake looks or how good the car looks, it's about how happy the customer is. Just my two cents. This thread is a great read if you want to take the time to go through it.
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Dude, you're like a dog with a bone...give it up and you'll be ahead.
 
ASPHALT ROCKET said:
I do not take two days to detail a vehicle. So I guess most of the businesses on hear should be called some kind of wash and wax/sealant and not use the word detail in their name. It is called detail for a reason. If you are not getting swirls out of the paint all I can say is once again someone is not getting what they pay for, just like something else.
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You do not have to remove swirls from a vehicle to have it called a detail. Detailing a vehicle is not just about removing swirls and making the paint look pretty, it has to do with cleaning and taking care of the whole vehicle as a whole not just the exterior.

If the person drives their vehicle 100 miles a day there is no need for them to have their paint swirl free. But if they just want a wash, wax, and full interior detail. Then when you detail the inside of the vehicle you better make sure you get everything from A-Z.

Detailing does not always have to be correcting paint but more about taking the time and effort to do everything right.
 
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