Pro-detailer from England...

[hotwaxxx]

Hi all,

I decided to join up as a member with Autopia as I thought it about time I post some of my works at America's biggest detailing site.

I hope you enjoy what I post up and I am looking forward to joining in on some hot topics.

Cheers - Dave S
Hotwaxxx Car Detailers (UK)

[jdoria]

I have a question for you.

Detailing seems so much more integrated into consumers minds in the UK than it does here in the US.
DW has 3000 new posts everytime I login. There are also clearly millions less cars on the UK roads.

What do you see the as the reasons for this?

[karburn]

Welcome aboard. DW is one of my favorite sites in addition to this one.

[hotwaxxx]

Originally Posted by jdoria

I have a question for you.

Detailing seems so much more integrated into consumers minds in the UK than it does here in the US.
DW has 3000 new posts everytime I login. There are also clearly millions less cars on the UK roads.

What do you see the as the reasons for this?

That's a very good question and although DW is far more busier than Autopia Forum I still feel a lot more people are aware of car detailing in the States/Canada than they are in the UK.

Of course, it is a growing trend in the UK and with more and more meets being organised, more and more people are becoming aware of detailing. I feel the UK have a lot of work ahead of them before detailing becomes more of a national past-time as most people are still unaware of what swirlmarks are let alone on how to get rid of them.

A good example was when I had a customer recommended to me by a mate. My mate told me the owner was planning on a complete respray which he had been quoted £2,100 and asked if I could inspect the paint to see if it was worth a respray. When I had the opportunity to inspect the car it was simply suffering from swirlmarks and I corrected the same within a day for £275 and the owner was astonished and admitted he didn't have a clue what detailing was before I had got my hands on the car.

What I will say though, as a professional detailer, is that the detailers in the States/Canada seem to spend a lot longer than the UK detailers in perfecting the cars and dare I say it, the UK detailers are a little off what the American/Canadian details are achieving as per correction.

[jdoria]

Good info. I was under the impression that the cost of gas and a high VAT pushed people into preserving their cars in the UK.

Are you a DoDo user? I still dont think it took off in the USA.

I will add that you guys on DW put a lot of effort and work into yur websites and banners. I dont rememebr thelast time I looked at my site.

[hotwaxxx]

Originally Posted by jdoria

Good info. I was under the impression that the cost of gas and a high VAT pushed people into preserving their cars in the UK.

Are you a DoDo user? I still dont think it took off in the USA.

I will add that you guys on DW put a lot of effort and work into yur websites and banners. I dont rememebr thelast time I looked at my site.

Gas (fuel) has cooled down very slightly over the past few months although it has been creeping up over the past few weeks again and VAT has dropped to 15% from 17.5% so it is helping matters. However, the UK is suffering recession at the moment and I have to say it has been a quieter winter than previous winters. Although it has now began picking up again for me as the warmer weather begins to hit us.

I've used some of the Dodo Juice range and personally, am not entirely impressed with it. Customers have seen the range and publicity has been good so it is very popular in the UK. However, I am not entirely convinced with the lineup and although they have a few good products I am more inclined to use a Swissvax or Zymol wax than a Dodo Juice wax plus I absolutely love Victoria Concours and Collinite 476S. However, customers have jumped on the DJ bandwagon and most customers do opt for a Dodo Juice wax as the lsp. However, they have one very good product which gets a lot of use by me - Dodo Juice Lime Prime Lite - which is a cleaner fluid prior to waxing. It is very easy to apply and remove and I prefer it to Swissvax Cleaner Fluid and Zymol HD-Cleanse for ease of use and finish.

Is Dodo Juice readily available in the States or do you have to order it from the UK?

We do take pride in our websites/banners - something I note American/Canadian detailers don't rely on for some reason.