What is it with people that have money?

ziggo99 said:
I cried on the inside....I don't get it, I simply don't.
Maybe it's because I've always been taught to take car of my cars (even my Power Wheels got washed on Saturday morning by yours truly), so I don't see why it's so hard to take care of them. It's a large investment, why do people let their cars get trashed?

:rant: and maybe it's because I'm young and overly obsessed with detailing and keeping a clean car, but it drives me up the wall to see people say "Cleaned my car!!! :)". If you would've keep a month's load of clothes in the back seat and washed it maybe even bi weekly, it wouldn't have this complete transformation when you clean it. And who thought that giving teenagers black cars was a good idea? Heck before ANYONE can buy a black car, they have to sign a waver outlining a cleaning maintenance plan, because the car will turn grey over the period of ownership and people like us will look at it and die a little inside.

And then it becomes "I don't have any money to get it cleaned"....as if pedicures and manicures and tanning don't cost money? I suppose it all boils down to priorities...

"But it'll just get dirty anyway..."...and the tan will fade and the pedicures and manicures will look bad as well, and that'll get redone in a heart beat, because fashion police forbid they venture out in public with bad nails....:rant:

I dunno. I just take offence to it somewhat easily. It's something I need to fix. Before I had picked up the polisher and did everything by hand, just claying, Meguair's Cleaner Wax and NXT 2.0, my friends would all comment "Oh my gosh! Your car is so clean...and nice!" Now I moved on to machine polishing and onto the forums, it makes me look at everything different. And they know I do this, and I like doing it. Only one friend has followed through and actually paid me to spruce up their car. If you don't want it done, just tell me straight up. I don't like excuses, and neither does anyone else. Either follow through and get it done, or don't talk about how dirty your car is around me.

I gotta get me a cold class of Arnold Palmer iced tea-lemonade...I'm all worked up now.
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Great rant!
I've never understood how anyone could let their vehicles get as filthy as they get! Unbelievable.
 
it never does cease to amaze me....I have a 09 Jeep Wrangler which is my daily driver, I detail out of it, and take it camping to an offroad park every month. I drive it to the park, haul my trailer there. Beat the piss out of it, drive it home.....After all this, and many many weekends out on the rocks giving it hell, it still looks better than 90% of the cars I see on the road...it is truly a sad thing
 
It's not JUST people with money... Generally speaking, people do not value, respect, care for their vehicles as well as people on this forum... Just one of those things you have to accept in life, if not, you will just continually walk around wondering what these people problems are.
 
Everybody has different priorities. Some people obsess on a clean house or the pursuit of money. Everyone is different- that's what makes the world go around.
 
Deep Gloss Auto Salon said:
It's not JUST people with money... Generally speaking, people do not value, respect, care for their vehicles as well as people on this forum... Just one of those things you have to accept in life, if not, you will just continually walk around wondering what these people problems are.
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I agree with Deep Gloss and BWG. I'm sure that many people who own nice cars appreciate this fact and make some effort to keep them looking good. It's just that the percentage that don't care will obviously stick out to us because of their status and surroundings (i.e. they've got money so we guess they should be pretty smart, therefore they should know better or at least appreciate the fact that they enjoy some of the finer things in life).

The ladies and gentlemen on this forum are here because we appreciate automobiles and are often hyper aware of how others neglect their cars, be they beaters or bimmers. :)
 
Here's another angle.

A lot of people with cars like this are up to their eyeballs in debt just to have them and put on a "show", and can't afford to have them detailed.

And a large percentage of those also keep their homes just as filthy. It's a way of life. Ever watch that show "How Clean Is Your House" and others like it? Well, that is a LOT more common than you would think.

People will go out of their way to look spiffy themselves and let their homes and vehicles get filthy. Cleanliness is not as important to people as it used to be.
 
I've thought this for some time now as well and I wish I had a quarter for every "nice" ride that was dirty out there, on nice days, on the weekend! I mean you've got money but maybe not alot of time, well, touch-free wash w/ a little wheel cleaner before hand and a little extra time afterwards (what, 10 minutes will kill you or what!)

Now as far as those cars in the garage, well, unless you can really, really see them, they might now be in the best shape, you know "looks good from far but far from good'. Speaking of garages, I hate when you see people with a bunch of crap in their garage and the car must sit outside, I'd kill to have a garage because I live in an apartment right now, damn!

Years ago I detailed a BMW Z8 and the guy just brought it back from FLA and it was really, really bad, even though it just made a long trip you could tell it wasn't well taken care of, yeah, a $140k car to boot! The guy was one of the customers I used to deliver to and didn't really know me from Adam and didn't say "don't drive it around", "where's it going to be parked overnight", nothing, that's when you know someone has too much money I guess. I had the car for an extra day because he had to look for some property, again, didn't say anything to me again. When he picked up the car, he checked it out and liked it and when looking inside, he grabbed the window to open the door and left finger prints, this is what we're talking about here, right!!

BTW, I didn't take the car out, not even around the block and didn't overcharge him either.
 
Like someone said, it's all about priorities. Some could argue that those people driving expensive cars are putting their efforts more into making the money to be able to afford a car that pricey.

I know here in the Atlanta area, there is a lot of "keeping up with the Joneses" and people buy a Lexus, BMW, MB, etc etc because they want to be one of the cool kids.

I can ALMOST forgive a dirty car, but what really sets me off is 1 working brake light on an $80,000 Mercedes that is less than 2 yrs old.

In this town, you can find a "hand wash" on almost every street corner for $20. Sure it won't pass the swirl test, but it'll knock the dirt off... Again, priorities.

Have any of the mobile detailers here thought about partnering up with a local high end valet restaurant and offering detailing services while patrons get their fine dining experience on?
 
It drives me crazy when people have really nice toys and they treat them like crap.
I give some exeptions to the older generation like 60 years or older because they cant detail and maintain there toys anymore, like they use to.
So I give them a discount rate for a quick hand wash, and I have a customer for life.

Because detailing is a passion.
 
Tundra1316 said:
It drives me crazy when people have really nice toys and they treat them like crap.
I give some exeptions to the older generation like 60 years or older because they cant detail and maintain there toys anymore, like they use to.
So I give them a discount rate for a quick hand wash, and I have a customer for life.

Because detailing is a passion.
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I'm guessing you are under 30. It's amazing how perceptions can change when one gets older. I'll be 58 in a couple of weeks and can go 8 - 10 hours detailing my cars. Granted I'm in decent shape but generalizing that those who are 60+ are pretty much ready for the glue factory might be a little off the mark. (But I'm sure I would have agreed with you 30 years ago).
:birthday: to me.
 
I think a lot has to do with how you came about your money. On Long Island, you name the car we see it at the local strip mall. But I think there are two kinds of those car owners, those who worked hard and those who were part of the lucky sperm club. Luck sperm club tends to treat cars like crap cause they know they can get another or have someone clean it for them, or really just don't care. Those who worked hard for their money tend to take better care of those things or have the means to pay someone to take care of the cars. I can afford to have my car detailed, but I enjoy the process and labor it takes to make my car shine.
 
Age today is becoming more and more a number because of lifestyle and personal choices. Obesity and poor heath in younger generations are approaching epic proportions. It's no surprise that with age comes limitations in physical ability and endurance but with a little common sense these can be kept in check for a long, long time.

There will of course come a time when I can't do the things I do now but right now and in the distant future I don't see things changing much except for dropping a few pounds...

I'm tuning 60 this fall and almost nothing is more relaxing and satisfying than spending 6 to 8 hours on a car and be able to step back and admire my skills.

Me last fall in

Yellowstone_001.jpg


Me cutting and splitting wood 2 weeks ago...

Woodworking-02.jpg


Back on topic....

8 close friends of mine are very wealthy, I mean jet helicopters and all. These guys are meticulous in every sense of the word and take care of their toys. Now I'll freely admit they personally don't maintain them like we do however they have them professionally done and take pretty good care of them in between details..

It's more of an individual trait than anything else...
 
We should penalize these damn rich ppl with a tax for leaving stuff on their car(s)

Yours

Obama
 
From 1999-2005 I had a 1976 Saab 99 EMS. I used it as a rolling advertisement for our photography studio. All of our money went into the business. Many of our clients were well to do and because we had a very classy studio they thought we were in the same league. We weren't. We lived in a 2 bedroom 2nd floor apartment for 15 years. Anyway the Saab had fresh bright yellow paint. It had Saab turbo Aztec wheels, front and rear spoilers and looked like a higher end sports car. I always maintained it well washed and waxed. Clients would ask me what kind of car is that. I would tell them a Saab 99. They'd say not what year, what model? I'd laugh and tell them it was a Model 99 from 1976. They couldn't believe it. It was because it was so well maintained and detailed. You don't need money to have a classy car. I had only about $1000 dollars into the whole car. When I bought it it had sat in a barn for about 20 years and I paid $250 for it.
 
Forgot to add I always had more pride and elbow grease into my cars than money. My wife had a 92 Saturn SC she bought brand new when someone stole her 83 Mazda 323. When she sold it in 2005 it was 13 years old with 130K miles. We always kept it clean and waxed. Plus the plastic body didn't hurt. At 130K miles it looked very close to showroom new. If you take care of your cars they take care of you, unless your an unlucky Chrysler owner with early clear coat failure.
 
One last thought. My sister in law and her husband have money. They have late model Chrysler 300 and Kia Sedona. The 300 is white the Kia Black. One of their sons backed the car out of the garage not knowing the Sedona was there. The Sedona is a little over a year old. So for over 6 months they are driving around with Black paint transfer on the white car and white on the black SUV. It drives me nuts every time I see it. They never wash or wax the cars. They have 2 strapping young teenage boys. They don't do it or wash and wax their late model Pontiac Grand Am. I told them next time I visit I'm going to buff them out just so I don't have to look at it anymore. To them they are just transportation nothing more. I personally could not stand to have 2 almost new cars look like that. I'd have no rest in my ass till the paint transfer was off both cars. So there is a real life example for you.

One other thing that drives me insane is a nice newer car or a classic car covered with bumper stickers. My wife always says that over her dead body would we ever put a bumper sticker on any of our cars.
 
bulldog shine said:
My son and I were driving home the other day in one of the rich sections of town. We looked in this garage there sat a 60's Mustang (sorry I don't know my years on stangs) with 2 recycle tubs sitting on the hood of the car. My son 12 goes " Dad that will but scratches in the paint." Even he is smart enough to know that. Then today I was taking my daughter to school, there sits a older Porsche with all kinds of junk sitting on it and around it. It just blows my mind that peolpe do this to these classic cars. Sorry bout my rant, I just had to get that off my chest.
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I know how you feel, bro! Guess some of these spoiled rich people don't have the respect for their cars because it's so easy to go out and buy a new one, cuz they're rolling in the dough.

We 'poorer' people on the other hand....we had to work hard to get our present cars, and we want to preserve our second biggest investment with proper care (detailing, maintenance, etc).

And NEVER feel sorry about ranting. That's what this forum is for.
:dblthumb2::dblthumb2:
 
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