The Reason I Hate Autopia

[Mad iX]

This isnt detailers anonymous, what else did you expect?
Same goes for pretty much any car forum.

[getright]

Gotta love getting new detailing stuff in the mail. Especially when it comes fast like poorboy's! I am very gratefull that a site like this exists because i too have caught the detailing bug. I am one that does sometimes get sucked in by the hype but the only way to find out is if you try it yourself. I must admit that since joining here and detail city i just can't stop buying products. But i wouldn't know of them or how to use them if it wasn't for the pro's on here.

[r12rex]

Wow. I feel the same way...haha. I have a love/hate relationship with Autopia.

[specs]

i ditched class today to look for the cheap foam gun that they sell in walmart because it was only 6 bucks and was given decent reviews from members on the board. i went to the first walmart to find that they only had one gun left but the bottle was missing. so i drove to another city to get it. all that because i got excited about it after reading about it last night.
before this site, i was so happy with otc products from megs, now im having second thoughts about them now. now my detailing supplies is starting on their second row on the shelf, and the cost for getting good products have gone way high. hahahaha
but at least now i know that the cars are going to be protected.

[xspwrstang]

Originally Posted by 1SLOW50

I hate Autopia because every time I get on here someone has tried something new out and is raving about it, and then I have this uncontrollable urge to buy it and try it out too.

Hey guess what I just tried this new wax that is just AMAZING!!! Seriously though I've been here every day also just looking at pix and reading the posts, finally registered and I am also hooked to "protecting my cars!"

[paperchaser]

I've been detailing cars for about 15 years now I started when my uncle was dealing hot rod and antiuqe autos in the early 90's I couldn't belive the difference a detail could make even in an already beutiful car and I was honered to be able to work on model T's,early camero's,and restored antiques.We had a fair sized collection of products and made daily use of them.After sometime I started picking up a few details from friends and family on older daily drivers and while there was alot more work involved it was amazing to see the results. About this time I started a regular job, bought my own car (a 1975 toyota corona)and all but forgot about the satisfaction of polishing a diamond in the rough.It was several years later when I started buying nicer cars(actually trucks and suvs) when I caught the bug again I couldn't get enough brushes, buckets, bonnets, polishes, waxes, ect., ect., ect. Every time I went to a parts store or anywhere I could find detail supplies and equipment I'd spend 200 bucks and everyone was always commenting on how it always looked like I was driving a brand new rig. But as things go I had a child, was burdened with more responsibility at work and lost time and thought for the beatification of my vehicles. Now years later I'm back and this time things have changed (or have they?) there are whole new lines of products,equipment,and supplies. I don't hate autopia not even in a joking way in my years caring for cars I have never seen or heard of such a wealth of information available. I've now joined with my uncle who first taught me the art of detailing and opened a shop were detailing,running a limousine service,and are planning to add spray in bedliners as well as paintless dent repair and more. It's funny though I had more equipment and supplies as a hobbyist. I mean as a pro how many different waxes do you want? I probably have about 6 and yet I use the same one over and over unless the customer pay for sealant instead of wich I have 2. In conclusion to my seemingly endless ramble I would say embrace what you love but don't let destroy you, unless you have 20 completly different cars you probably don't need 20 different products that do the exact same thing.


P.S. LONG LIVE AUTOPIA!!!!!!!

[GTO Pete]

$400 spent since I joined. $200 more about to be spent. Damn Autopia!

[JohnnyDaJackal]

aBay and the Trading Post are your friends

Try getting samples of the "hottest" products to cut down on prices. I also use them to sell some of the stuff that didn't exactly work out how I wanted. "One man's trash is another's treasure".

At this point, I've spent a pretty penny on all my stuff, and I'm pretty confident in what I like and what I don't. I feel my lineup is pretty set, I'll only try new stuff if Autogeek or any other vendor does their "trial promos" where I get them for free.

[Scottwax]

When I came here I was pretty much using Meguiars 80 series polishes and #26 wax exclusively plus doing everything by hand, so yeah, I'm obviously buying and trying a lot of products.

[Pennypacker]

Great story, paperchaser. And to think..now you're getting paid for doing something you've always loved--that's even better.

And yeah, I've got the bug too, I believe. I've spent about $370 in one month's time. I already had the Zaino system as well. So technically, I didn't need to buy anything else, but I sure as heck wanted to.

Now when I go shopping for other things, groceries and such, I think of savings in terms of detail supplies--"Hmmm, if I get the cheap pasta sauce, then I can save 5 bucks and get another MF towel!" Who needs milk and eggs, when you can get swirl remover?

[Nicky Pass]

I thought Liquid Glass was the sh*t until I joined here....
2 cars later and about $500 worth of detailing products....I just spent another $125 for my Cobra....and I started the process all over again after hearing about OP, VM, EX-P, SSR....all these friggin abreviations that I've learned too......!

[Master Gaignun]

Every time I walk into an auto parts store, I'm always looking at the OTC products and trying to think what I'm missing. It's like a kid in a candy store.