You are wasting Your Time and Money, All of You!

slimnib said:
A full 90-95% detail in the NY Metro area by a top detailer runs that easy.

Also, if detailing is a hobby, none of my comments are important, because the detailer works on his own car and is just filling time,
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Ah, I see, NY Metro area and top detailer. In my area there just no way to pull that kind of $$$ and most of my customers are Dr's and professionals, well not for me anyway. I have a career and work cars on the weekend, I guess it satisfies the perfectionist in me. Love seeing the finished product too, and having my obsession pay for my families vacations feels so good.

PC
 
Wait....you said he owns a Volt, nuff said!

Sent from my SPH-M930 using AG Online
 
Darion said:
Ah, I see, NY Metro area and top detailer. In my area there just no way to pull that kind of $$$ and most of my customers are Dr's and professionals, well not for me anyway. I have a career and work cars on the weekend, I guess it satisfies the perfectionist in me. Love seeing the finished product too, and having my obsession pay for my families vacations feels so good.

PC
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Understood
 
Luckily my whole family are car guys. My Body Shop Manager Uncle actually bragged to me that at his shop. He gets to use filtered water for his own car. Free of cost lol
 
It's a waste of time, until they get a scratch or rub a pole in a parking lot. Then it's, hey can you remove scratches? Funny how that works,
 
Some people think they know everything when in reality they know nothing. Atleast about car care in this situation.
 
Once you realize you dont NEED to own a million products and try out everything, detailing is very simple and not expensive hobby once you got your necessities (buffer, pads, coatings, etc.). Just do the math, Opti Coat is like $70 and if all you do is your car, those $70 will last you a good 5 years to do 2-3 applications.

I think it gets out of hand when the beginners are overcome with this need that you have to have everything, every color pad, every wax on the market, and that can get costly and very unnecessary.
 
fly07sti said:
It's a waste of time, until they get a scratch or rub a pole in a parking lot. Then it's, hey can you remove scratches? Funny how that works,
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Gonna enjoy that day if it comes!
 
slimnib said:
You family member is correct if you are a three years and out person. Generally a once a mouth washing will keep a car looking nice for three years. If you lease a car you do not even need to worry about resale value.

I like a super clean car and will generally AIO it twice a year and wash it every two weeks. Under no circumstance will I pay some 300- 400 for a detail, unless I was selling a really high end car on the open market and it looked awful.

I know many of the members of this forum make a living from detailing, but it is the way it is.
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To each his own. Some people like to work on their cars and other peoples' as well to make em shiny. I know I do, plus I make a living doing what I enjoy. As I see it investing in keeping your exterior and interior clean and protected is the same as tuning your car or changing the oil. All money well spent.
 
Darion said:
Gonna enjoy that day if it comes!
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It's happened to me at least 3 times. But it's cool, because they usually get bitten by the detail bug after I've done the correction.:buffing:
 
wompasaurus said:
You should maintain one panel on his volt he can maintain the rest and lets see what it looks like in a few months hahahaha then he will understand
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:iagree: I really like this idea. Reminds me of this one guy in the UK who did this to his sister's car to prove a point to take care of it. He Opti-coated half the hood on a white car. It took only a year to start seeing the difference. You don't have to use Opti-coat but any high UV resistant coating that lasts at least a year to prove a point.


Your brother in law might know allot about his field of work but very few people, if any know everything about everything.
 
Kaban said:
Once you realize you dont NEED to own a million products and try out everything, detailing is very simple and not expensive hobby once you got your necessities (buffer, pads, coatings, etc.). Just do the math, Opti Coat is like $70 and if all you do is your car, those $70 will last you a good 5 years to do 2-3 applications.

I think it gets out of hand when the beginners are overcome with this need that you have to have everything, every color pad, every wax on the market, and that can get costly and very unnecessary.
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Yeah but what's the fun in that? It's a hobby and it's fun trying out new products because if you're anything like me you get bored of using the same thing over and over. Plus new things come out all the time that work better than old products and make my life a lot easier.
 
KillaCam said:
Yeah but what's the fun in that? It's a hobby and it's fun trying out new products because if you're anything like me you get bored of using the same thing over and over. Plus new things come out all the time that work better than old products and make my life a lot easier.
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I know OP is being sarcastic, but my point was... detailing doesn't have to be a waste of money or time *hint at thread title*. I get bored of using a product that is ineffective. Yes, if I buy a product that doesn't work as well as advertised, I will look at other options, but I don't see a point in buying a ton of product just to have a variety of stuff laying around when one product can do the job. Yes, there truly are revolutionary game-changing products like iron-x, nano skin pads, Flex DA, etc...and it makes sense to get that if you are looking to use the best of the best and become a more efficient detailer, but having twenty jars of wax laying around in a mini fridge is overkill and is for collectors only.
 
Wait. He's a really smart guy and he drives a Volt? That's like an oncologist who smokes....
 
Rayaz said:
Wait. He's a really smart guy and he drives a Volt? That's like an oncologist who smokes....
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Yup drives a Volt. Ya know I got to drive that car and I must say it works really well. Quick enough to get into traffic without issue, big enough for his needs and get enough electric miles for him to avoid a gas station for months. All in all its a clever car that GM needs to figure how to package into an Equinox to appeal to families.

That being said, in his mind owning that car just shows how intelligent he really is. He really likes the car, great for him, but he goes on and on about it. We bought a Denali Yukon XL some months ago and I thought he was going to fall of his seat when he found out, rolled his eyes. He has also turned super green since buying the Volt even looking at cost comparisons for Solar panels on the house and some super efficient heat and cool system.

Ya would think I don't like him after reading all this but he just perplexes me. He's all about tolerance but doesn't seem all that tolerant himself these days, last several years. He's a good guy and we do share a hobbie but I just understand him anymore.

To all that have replied too the thread thanks, its been interesting and a fun read,

PC
 
This reminds me of that southpark episode where Kyle's dad gets a prius and acts like he's above everyone, moves to san Fran and starts enjoying the smell of his own darts.
 
BLUF: It's allegorical.

It's just like shining shoes in the military- the act itself is nearly pointless but it shows you who's willing to pour effort into something to make sure you get the last 1% out of everything. THAT is what matters.

If you break yourself down getting the last 1% then obviously your priorities are wrong, but if you watched 3 hours of TV and you battle buddy spent the same detailing his car, it's easy to see why this matters.

You don't have to have nice stuff to take care of it. I drive an old salvage title truck with 311,000 miles. It would not have much paint left if I didn't work hard at keeping it clean and protected, but my $2,000 truck has lasted 10 more years, still looks presentable, and draws compliments anywhere you find people that change their own oil.

Alternate logic: Paints are clearly superior today, so instead of expecting 20-30 years if maintained perfectly, why not take care of it and go for 50+ years? Call it "preserving history".

Cheers/TK
 
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