My first customer tomorrow

2wheelsx2 · 05-03-02, 01:10

Well, after soliciting advice from you guys, and humming and hahhing for a while, I finally was encouraged to take a customer from my friends. A friend's relative (they are all well off) has a 1998 pearl white Avalon which has been professionally detailed once, but is generally neglected. The only care has been touchless or hand car washes for the last couple of years. They are not car buffs so they are not worried about swirls. They said they have some rusty looking flecks in the paint which was buffed out by the detailer but is coming back. I assume this is some sort of metallic fallout, and borrowed my brother's PC and pads (to save my shoulders) and bought a new bar of Clay Magic (blue) in preparation for tomorrow. I have everything else: foam applicators, MF's, cotton terries, 3M PI-II, #7, #9, #20, and Mother's pre-wax cleaner and pure carnauba wax. I have made up a price list based on some of the suggestions given to me here. Thanks for the encouragement guys, and I will make a report at the end of the job tomorrow!

Dr. Jones · 05-03-02, 01:13

Sounds like you know what your doing and have everything you need. If possible you should post some before/after pictures... and even if you don't post them, i find the customers really enjoy seeing how bad their car used to look, compared to how it does now. This is especially true for friends/family.

BradE · 05-03-02, 07:46

If the rust spots were removed, but then came back the "professional" detailer did not totally remove the ferrous metal particles. He probably just used clay and took the "bloom" of the particle off but the bottom portion remained in the clear. This is the reason for the spots reappearing. To totally correct the probelm the body of the car would need to be soaked in fallout remover.

Even though you don't have the stuff to do this you can explain what I have told you to your customer, wow them with your knowledge. It's important to make a good impression.

Jngrbrdman · 05-03-02, 07:49

Darn you Showroom! You stole my post.

I was going to say the same thing.

Congrats on your first job! Don't let it stress you out. I did a car last week where I quit detailing forever about 4 times durring the process of cleaning it. Some jobs just push your buttons a certian way. There is nothing better than having a customer ooh and ahh when you bring their car back to them and they see the change. I hope you take before and after pictures.

Good luck!!

2wheelsx2 · 05-03-02, 10:10

Thanks for the tips guys. Unfortunately, I don't have a digital camera yet (don't even have a regular one since it got stolen), but I am hoping to correct that with these little detailing jobs.

Yeah, I know what you guys mean by the wow factor. That's kind of how I got this job. I was over at the friend's house, and they were working on a white Volvo that had heavy oxidization. They were applying #9 and the haze was not coming off and said it wasn't working. I told them to pull it out of the sun and into the garage. I pulled out one of my foam application, dabbed a little product, and worked it in with some decent pressure, and voila! Man, the owner of the car was SO impressed! I #9'd, #20'd, and then #26'd the big panels (that's the products they had) and man, they were just beaming! So I guess they told a few people I knew what I was doing. Next thing you know, this lady calls and says that she wants her car done, as she is going out of town and doesn't need it for the weekend.

Anyway, she will be dropping it off in about 15 minutes and I hope to be done by 1 or 2 PM at the latest.

Thanks for the info, Showroom, and Jngrbrdman! I will have a look at the car, and if appropriate, wow them with my Autopian knowledge!

BradE · 05-03-02, 12:13

Quote:

Darn you Showroom! You stole my post. I was going to say the same thing.

Well, you know what they say about great minds.

Jngrbrdman · 05-03-02, 01:27

Quote:

Originally posted by ShowroomLincoln

Well, you know what they say about great minds.

...yeah. They usually share a room in the same asylum. lol

BradE · 05-03-02, 01:46

Quote:

...yeah. They usually share a room in the same asylum. lol

LOL!! Were not that far gone yet, if we are ever put there I hope they have some cars to detail.

2wheelsx2 · 05-03-02, 06:15

Whew! I just finished everything. There were some nasty stains on the paint. There were a few metal fallout particles, but most of the "rust" stains were old tree sap, road tar, etc. that were taken off with the wash. So I did the following:

1) Clean wheels and tires (Simple green and brushes)
2) Dawn wash (this took 45 minutes - there was even a section where there was spilled Coke!!!)
3) 3M PI-II (PC on large panels, by hand on all other areas)
4) #20
While the #2 was curing, I did these:
5) Wipe down interior
6) dress tires
7) dress vinyl and plastic
8) clean windows

That's it. One of my neighbours had to come over and "Wow!" as he saw it when the lady brought it, and when I was buffing off the #20. This took about 5 hours. I gotta learn to be more efficient.

Jngrbrdman · 05-03-02, 07:18

That sounds like a long day. You'll get faster as you go along. Have you ever heard the theroy "Hire a lazy person to do a job. They'll find the fastest and easiest way to do the job."? That sort of applies. When time is money you tend to find the fastest and eaisest way to do something. Sometimes the fastest way isn't easy, but it beats the alternatives. Nobody will tell you that using SMR with a PC on an entire car is fast or easy but compared to using a sponge and SMR it is a cake walk.

You'll find the shortcuts and the fastest order to do things in soon. It looks like you are on a good start. Bravo on completing other tasks while products cured. I can do the entire interior while the SG is curing on a car.

There is another saying that goes "Eat a frog first thing in the morning. That way you know its the worst thing that will happen all day and you can face the day with a smile." It sounds like that car was your frog for the year. Congrats on getting it out of the way early! I've got my frog next week.....

2wheelsx2 · 05-04-02, 12:39

Thanks, Jngrbrdman. It's funny, but after I finished the car, my GF came over to help me drop off the car and to cook me dinner, and while she was cooking, I decided to wash her car. It was SO easy, after this morning's job (but then I had did the same routine with hers just two weeks ago, and that took 5 hours, even with her help). 20 minutes to wash and dry, then I decided that I didn't like the way the hood was beading, so I slapped another coat of #20 on the hood and roof. Boy was she impressed with how it looked afterwards.

Nothing like a cold one after a job well done!

bretfraz · 05-04-02, 06:27

Quote:

Originally posted by 2wheelsx2

Nothing like a cold one after a job well done!

Dude, what did your girlfriend cook for you?

J/K of course, sounds like the Avalon came out nice. I'll bet it'll lead to even more business. Time to get your own PC and make some $$$.