Swirls at LA auto show

[Oggle]

I was at the LA auto show and damn, 99% of the cars there are filled with swirls, even many of the high-end exotics.

And then I went over to Kentia Hall, where all the aftermarket stuff was at. Lots of detailing companies there, including McGuires. Guess what? Swirls on the majority of the cars there too. In fact, every car I looked closely at in the McGuire's booth had them!

Am I just becoming super anal about swirls or is that how most of the fellow Autopians are too?

[ShineShop]

Originally posted by Oggle
I was at the LA auto show and damn, 99% of the cars there are filled with swirls, even many of the high-end exotics.

And then I went over to Kentia Hall, where all the aftermarket stuff was at. Lots of detailing companies there, including McGuires. Guess what? Swirls on the majority of the cars there too. In fact, every car I looked closely at in the McGuire's booth had them!

Am I just becoming super anal about swirls or is that how most of the fellow Autopians are too?

This should come as no surprise to you. Most of the people in this industry create more problems with cars than they fix.

[CharlesW]

Originally posted by Oggle
Am I just becoming super anal about swirls or is that how most of the fellow Autopians are too?

Yes, you are and yes, we are.

Charles

[Oggle]

And the funny thing is, once I started pointing out all the swirls, my friends were making fun of me, saying I'm way too anal.

[Jngrbrdman]

I can't even go to car shows anymore. I've got such an OCD problem with fingerprints on cars and people leaning on cars that it just drives me nuts. I like seeing the cars but it makes me upset all day to see people treating cars like that.

Every now and then I'll see that one car that is deep black and totally swirl free. That makes it all worth while. Seeing one car like that at a car show makes everything alright with the world. lol I am so sick...

[geekysteve]

At media day last week at the LA Auto Show, I watched (in utter horror) as a video photographer was filming a guy in a Meguiar's detailing outfit do the following:

1) Start by buffing the front wheel in a circular pattern; buffed the same 8" diameter area for about 2 minutes while the photog played with camera settings.

2) Moved on to the hood, repeated the 8" diameter pattern for what seemed like 5+ minutes. The guy was panning, zooming, etc., and the "detailer" was using the same grimey looking towel that he had used on the wheels.

3) Repeat #2 on decklid.

The vehicle: 2004 Jaugar XJR, green.

The "detailers" at this show look like ex-McDonald's employees that Meguiar's slapped a vest on, handed a bottle of QD and a dirty towel and told them to "clean something....anything." (No offense to McDonald's employees - I used to be one myself, some 15 years ago...)

[blkZ28Conv]

Auto shows are now horror shows. Sometimes I wonder if I was better off before learning the higher level of detailing here at Autopia or the uninformed detailing I was previously doing. It is pretty anal to be Q-tipping hidden spaces in the engine compartment, lower seat switches and air vent louvers. :scared
Sometimes ignorance is blessed.

[Redcar GUY]

Originally posted by blkZ28Conv

Sometimes ignorance is blessed.

pass the Q tips please

[JB in Irvine]

Went to the New Years Day "Car Show" at Pepperdine University. Lots of great cars....but man the detailing was well...crap...I could not believe how bad some of the cars were.



More photo's of the show and the later Boxster drive can be found at:
http://www.brackenrig.net/newyearsdrive.htm

[Cindy H]

Nah, you're not being too picky. I noticed the same things at the LA Auto Show. They had "cleaners" walking around with dirty rags and a bottle of QD, rubbing the heck out of the cars. The same guys polishing the Chevy Cavaliers would do the same job on a Lotus. Yikes.

The Meguiars booth was slightly better in that their "cleaner" used a microfiber towel, but their show cars didn't look especially great, swirl marks, etc.

[Intel486]

Originally posted by Cindy H
The same guys polishing the Chevy Cavaliers would do the same job on a Lotus. Yikes.

So?

[BW]

Yup, the "detailer" at the Meguiar's booth was QD'ing this orange Ford Expedition with swirls. And here is a pic of a brand new Porsche Cayenne S with swirls: