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PSA: Those "amazing" detailing jobs you see...aren't that great

Any detailer can detail a brand new car. The paint is blemish free and hopefully orange peel is at a minimum. I LOL when I see some "pro" (posting pics of the job on a forum btw, lol yeah he's a pro alright), polishing a new car with a buffer. That's just stupid. It doesn't need it...and it wears down the clear coat and eventually there will be no room to work with when you actually do need to rub down the paint. I also LOL when I see them using filtered or bottled water, how stupid...water marks are removed during light polishing anyway, and in no way effect the paint. It is a gimic a guy in LA started to get the attention of movie stars etc...these "pros" seemed to have missed that.


Now show me a restored car...that didn't take "OMG 8 HOURS!!!!" but a month.

Show me a car which is prepped for Pebble Beach...then we're talking.

Until then, now you know these camera snapping forum posting "pros" are really just posers trying to imitate what they've seen from real detailers.

 
Posting li'l JPEG's is silly too... as is bothering to take pictures when the car is in shade. I did some research on cleaning awhile back and a couple silly things were commonly repeated like some retarded mantra: 1) removing the hose nozzle for rinsing off soap. Err, time to get a better nozzle with variable settings? 2) using a bucket of water for rinsing the wash mitt. Err, hosing off the mitt actually removes the dirt as opposed to immersing it in swill.
 
"It makes me sad. Our cars are made to be driven, not polished."

- Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche II, in response to being asked what his reaction was to seeing his family's cars painstakingly detailed by owners for show.
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
"It makes me sad. Our cars are made to be driven, not polished."

- Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche II, in response to being asked what his reaction was to seeing his family's cars painstakingly detailed by owners for show.

Contrarianism is ever fashionable. But it's missing the mark if the car is simply well cared for as well as driven. Ferry surely wouldn't be happy if people neglected the cars... unless it prompted higher $ale$. At a certain point the cost and status is going to prompt even the wealthiest owners to be overly cautious with what is simply a car, afterall. Ergo, you can't have it both ways.
 
Originally posted by: Sluggo
Originally posted by: Oceandevi
I don't wash my car. In texas it wont rust until its in the junkyard anyway.

Exactly, whats better than a nice thick protective coating of dirt?

thick protective coat of bird sh*t
 
Originally posted by: DivideBYZero
They are just doing what's in your sig. I don't see the problem.

I think his problem is that they are getting paid $3,000 to detail a car and he is not. 😛
 
I think he means people who think they are 'detailing' a brand spanking new car when it is basically already flawless to begin with.

Kinda like polishing a coin that just came off the mint; pointless.
 
Originally posted by: exdeath
I think he means people who think they are 'detailing' a brand spanking new car when it is basically already flawless to begin with.

Kinda like polishing a coin that just came off the mint; pointless.

I dunno, the Astra before and after was pretty significant. Most of the other details I saw were not of new cars. Specifically, the Veyron was fairly "high mileage" for a supercar, and the paint showed that.
 
Originally posted by: exdeath
I think he means people who think they are 'detailing' a brand spanking new car when it is basically already flawless to begin with.

Kinda like polishing a coin that just came off the mint; pointless.
Actually, removing flaws in the factory finish have been significant portions of both of the XKR and R8 detailings posted in this forum.

And by posting the XKR detailing job, I wasn't encouraging everybody to go out and pay for that type of detailing, I was simply marveling at the amount of time and detail involved and also drooling over some beautiful pieces of automotive art.

Personally, both my cars go to the local car wash nine times out of ten.
 
Originally posted by: Auric
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
"It makes me sad. Our cars are made to be driven, not polished."

- Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche II, in response to being asked what his reaction was to seeing his family's cars painstakingly detailed by owners for show.

Contrarianism is ever fashionable. But it's missing the mark if the car is simply well cared for as well as driven. Ferry surely wouldn't be happy if people neglected the cars... unless it prompted higher $ale$. At a certain point the cost and status is going to prompt even the wealthiest owners to be overly cautious with what is simply a car, afterall. Ergo, you can't have it both ways.

How the f*ck do you get that I'm encouraging neglect in my post? There's a world of difference between "well maintained" and "DON'T BREATHE ON MY PAINT!!!!!!". The minute someone starts holding up a Pebble Beach detailing job as something to aspire towards, they've crossed the line into the latter group.

Drive the damn car. Take care of it, wax it once or twice a year, vacuum the interior once or twice a year, but don't obsess over stone chips or having a perfect mirror finish or worry about getting mud on the floormats or about eating in the car.

8 hours is an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to spend on detailing a car. Completely insane. And the OP is claiming that a detailing that takes "only" 8 hours is somehow deficient.

ZV
 
Originally posted by: Woofmeister
Originally posted by: exdeath
I think he means people who think they are 'detailing' a brand spanking new car when it is basically already flawless to begin with.

Kinda like polishing a coin that just came off the mint; pointless.
Actually, removing flaws in the factory finish have been significant portions of both of the XKR and R8 detailings posted in this forum.

And by posting the XKR detailing job, I wasn't encouraging everybody to go out and pay for that type of detailing, I was simply marveling at the amount of time and detail involved and also drooling over some beautiful pieces of automotive art.

Personally, both my cars go to the local car wash nine times out of ten.

The problem with spending that much time is you don't want to drive it. One patch of barely wet in the road (even lawn runoff) and hours of time are wasted in an instant. The problem for me is I'll get by with a polishing cloth or a duster, but once there are hard spots on the car I'm forced to wash it.

I will only hand wash mine, but only when it's dirty. I don't fancy running my cars through an automatic wash that involves high velocity brush impact in a facility that could have just been driven through by a mud bogging 4x4. I usually just use a duster to keep it clean and prolong washing except in the case of rain spots or rooster tails; then I'll wash it as soon as I can, since I'll stop using the duster when there is a film of dirt spots from the rain. I'll get glass and interior spotless (2-3 hour job) maybe every 2 months and keep a cotten T over the driver seat to protect the suede from smelling like human on hot summer days.

But overall, I bought my car to enjoy and tear up the road, not to decorate my garage.

Next time though I need to take a small comb to the radiator and heat exchanger to get all the bugs and rocks out... not looking forward to that one bit...
 
Originally posted by: exdeath
Next time though I need to take a small comb to the radiator and heat exchanger to get all the bugs and rocks out... not looking forward to that one bit...

use air from a compressor. if you have room and can remove the cowl easy, it makes things simple but a little messy.
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Auric
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
"It makes me sad. Our cars are made to be driven, not polished."

- Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche II, in response to being asked what his reaction was to seeing his family's cars painstakingly detailed by owners for show.

Contrarianism is ever fashionable. But it's missing the mark if the car is simply well cared for as well as driven. Ferry surely wouldn't be happy if people neglected the cars... unless it prompted higher $ale$. At a certain point the cost and status is going to prompt even the wealthiest owners to be overly cautious with what is simply a car, afterall. Ergo, you can't have it both ways.

How the f*ck do you get that I'm encouraging neglect in my post? There's a world of difference between "well maintained" and "DON'T BREATHE ON MY PAINT!!!!!!". The minute someone starts holding up a Pebble Beach detailing job as something to aspire towards, they've crossed the line into the latter group.

Drive the damn car. Take care of it, wax it once or twice a year, vacuum the interior once or twice a year, but don't obsess over stone chips or having a perfect mirror finish or worry about getting mud on the floormats or about eating in the car.

8 hours is an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to spend on detailing a car. Completely insane. And the OP is claiming that a detailing that takes "only" 8 hours is somehow deficient.

ZV

Did I ever say not drive the car? No.

And are you going to drive around a classic with rusted paint? Nahh I'd rather spend a little time on it first.
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
8 hours is an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to spend on detailing a car. Completely insane. And the OP is claiming that a detailing that takes "only" 8 hours is somehow deficient.

ZV

i'm guessing a restore, as referenced by the OP, is a little more involved than the standard detailing.
 
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
Originally posted by: Auric
Originally posted by: Zenmervolt
"It makes me sad. Our cars are made to be driven, not polished."

- Ferdinand "Ferry" Porsche II, in response to being asked what his reaction was to seeing his family's cars painstakingly detailed by owners for show.

Contrarianism is ever fashionable. But it's missing the mark if the car is simply well cared for as well as driven. Ferry surely wouldn't be happy if people neglected the cars... unless it prompted higher $ale$. At a certain point the cost and status is going to prompt even the wealthiest owners to be overly cautious with what is simply a car, afterall. Ergo, you can't have it both ways.

How the f*ck do you get that I'm encouraging neglect in my post? There's a world of difference between "well maintained" and "DON'T BREATHE ON MY PAINT!!!!!!". The minute someone starts holding up a Pebble Beach detailing job as something to aspire towards, they've crossed the line into the latter group.

Drive the damn car. Take care of it, wax it once or twice a year, vacuum the interior once or twice a year, but don't obsess over stone chips or having a perfect mirror finish or worry about getting mud on the floormats or about eating in the car.

8 hours is an absolutely ridiculous amount of time to spend on detailing a car. Completely insane. And the OP is claiming that a detailing that takes "only" 8 hours is somehow deficient.

ZV


I referred to Ferry, not you. Poor reading comprehension aside, and judging by the rest of your rant it seems we are mostly in agreement.
 
If I could afford a Porsche I would wash it often. But the ford focus.. it will be worth 2k after 10 years no matter what.
Some cars would be worth it to me, just to clarify.
 
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