When did you realize detailing was your passion?

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Niko Molina

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Question directed towards Mike, but others are welcome to chime in.

Was there a defining moment? Something happened and you just knew your vocation was a professional detailer?


There is a book called "Mastery" written by Robert Greene and its about how "masters" became masters. Albert Einstein, Leonardo da Vinci, etc. etc. and they each had at defining moment that when it happened, they knew what their passion was. They knew what they wanted to do with themselves. Sometimes it's an interest of theirs when they were children...typically it really is something they were interested in when they were children or something happened when they were young that sparked their interest.

For example, Einstein's dad gave him a compass when he was young and the way the needle moved due to some invisible force (magnetic poles) amazed him and he spent his life studying and making a career out of something he was truly interested in: to discover more about these invisible forces that effect the world, how they work and if there are more. Physics was the language to understand (or at least try to) and he used that to pursue his vocation.


Or is it a fun and money-making way to channel your case of OCD? Cause let me tell you, I've got a bad case of OCD and detailing seems to just fit right with that lmao
 
I started detailing when I was 15 (now 26) when I got my first car. I realized it was also something I could do for a few bucks. My Aunt Lauren supported my interest in doing something at a young age that would give me a skill. She made a deal if she fronted my first order (then Autopia) that I'd do her 3500 4 door dually. I did it (almost died) but I loved it. I loved that bright, shining white truck. I did that.

I went on to own and run my own small outfit through half of college. I have a bachelors in environmental science and I come home and want to polish my car. I want to do this. I love the difference it makes when people look at their car again like the day they bought it.
 
I am 38, but my very first car was a 1984 Camaro when I was 15 1/2. My mom would move it out of the garage for me and park in under the tree in the front yard, EVERY morning before she went to work in the summer. I would wash and wax that black car every day and I used the TURTLE WAX rubbing compound and polish compound with old t-shirts. I remember my chest, neck and face sun burnt to a red tomato from leaning over the hood. Sitting on the ground polishing the chrome Cragar rims...boy the good old days!
 
I think mine started in the mid/late 80's when I had a '76 Monte Carlo w/SS, light blue metallic paint. It didn't really explode until I got my first Camaro in 1987, a 1983 charcoal-gray Berlinetta w/T-tops. It really bit a few years later when I started working for a detail shop and started to learn the use of a random orbital. It's all been downhill from there.
 
I realized about 7 years ago after watching a pro detailer clay and wax my car. I said to myself, "I can do this". The rest was history. LOVE it to this day. I've come a LONG way!
 
I started quite young, helping my dad wash the family car back when I was 8 or 9 (when he actually cared about his cars). I tackled the wheels, cleaning the alloys and getting the outline white letters of the Eagle GT's nice and white and the tires nice and shiny. Then a friend of mine and myself used to wash his parents cars every Sunday for a few dollars.

Once I started driving, I always kept my cars clean and protected. I did not know what I know now, but I took pride in what I did none the less.

I was always OCD about my cars and have been passionate about cars for ever. Detailing is just a natural way to channel some of that obsession in a healthy way, and its my escape.
 
I'd say I'm passionate about protecting my investment and having pride in a beautiful car...not that l love sweating my butt off, inhaling chemicals, spending too much on products, and feeling like truck hit me once I'm done.
 
Jaretr1 said:
I started quite young, helping my dad wash the family car

, and its my escape.
Click to expand...


I wasn't allowed to help my dad wash HIS car, it was a cherry red '65 Plymouth Satellite and it was his BABY. Man I wish I had that car now!

Detailing would be my escape too ... if I could get the wife to stop yelling "Are you done YET."
 
It started for me when I bought my first car in college 20 years ago. I always was very meticulous about keeping it looking good. Of course back then it was dish soap, NuFinish, and cloth diapers or terry cloth towels. I hope I've come a long way since then.

My focus has never been on the art of detailing itself, but the preservation and/or restoring the beauty of the vehicle to a like-new or better condition. I'm a rabid car fanatic so it's all about the cars.

Like others mention, I find it therapeutic...similar to mowing the lawn.
 
Started before I got my permit, went simple with learning how to wax and do wheel cleaning, then went big for my supplies. Everybody I know,knows me as the car guy. Everybody was shocked to see a 10 year old car look more or less three.
 
I think the detailing bug bit me when I wanted to keep my 2013 Volvo XC90 looking in top shape. I found the AMMO video series very approachable and educational. Once I got a good procedure down I started getting the compliments on how well it looked. In addition the process itself was calming and therapeutic. I do it weekly whenever possible. This works as a 'reset' button for the week and then I get ready for the upcoming week. The OCD/process oriented character traits I have is of course soothed and encouraged with this task.

Funny in writing this out I see it is more of a emotional reason for doing it as opposed to mechanical or aesthetic reasons.
 
Lock Em Up Key Cars

I got one (a trans am) back in the early 80's, probably 83, which would have made me 7 years old.

It came with a pouch of Turtle Wax. My Dad told me the hows and whys of the wax, so at that point I knew how to keep the paint in good condition.

Fast forward to mar/apr of 1996. My Dad takes me to see a band some business associates were in. The drummer's cymbals were unbelievably shiny and clean. When I asked him how he did that, he directed me to Murray's auto parts store, and the Meguiar's Deep Crystal system.

Once I got my cymbals done I moved to the car (s). I took a break for a bit in the early/mid 2000s, but came back gradually in about 2008 or so. I really enjoyed it at first, and missed it while I was on sabbatical. I'm absolutely loving it these days! It's been a trip, and has helped me in other areas of life I never would have ever thought, not to mention the helping the wallet both empty, then replenish funds.
 
/\ Actually, they were called Gold Key Lock-Ups.
 
Started on my Father's 1965 Black Mercury Comet. He was in Vietnam and my Mother and I used to was it and wax it with TW and old t shirts. I still remember how hard it was to get the white residue off, but man did it shine!
 
I started when I search for good wash technic and tools needed online. Since there, I found Autogeek and others...
:D
 
When someone that was checking out my car asked my how much I would charge to do that to his car.

A hobby that pays for itself and makes me some extra spending money!
 
I don't know about it being a "passion," but I just like clean cars.

When someone asks, "Has that been repainted?"...I know I must be doing something right.

Bill
 
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