2010 Nissan Skyline GTR... used and abused!

[Apollo_Auto]

Hi all! I wasn`t going to post this any time soon (I`ve got a million other things going on now and some of you know what they are :D) but this one threw me for a bit of a loop (upset me in other words) and I thought I`d share with the rest of you so you don`t get into the same situation as I did. I waxed this car about 1 month ago and polished out a very noticeable scratch that was on it (only a few weeks old at the time) and then scheduled it for a light polish to remove the dealer-induced swirls, which was 1 week ago. A mere month had passed and since then the "homies" :) had taken their toys (Scuderia, M3, GTR) out to the lake, the track, etc. Unfortunately I don`t have the capacity to wash their cars at will (as they`d like, because they need them washed very sporadically) so they take their cars to the local car wash next door. I warned them of the dangers but they don`t care as long as I can polish it and make it better again (as much as possible... good for me :)).



Anyway, when I scheduled the "light polishing" the state the car was in could have been cleared up with a finishing polish and a DA... maximum 3 hours. When I got the keys last week :) (awesome car to drive...) I was completely shocked at the state it was in after only a couple of weeks!!!! Take a look >>



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_1.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_2.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_3.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_4.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_5.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_6.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_7.jpg



Nice foam bath and then a wash...



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_8.jpg



revealed this >> :angry :nervous2:



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_9.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_10.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_11.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_12.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_13.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_14.jpg



So my dilemma was that the keys were left for me along with the agreed amount of money, but the car was in roughly 4x worse condition than when I saw it last. What`s a boy to do??? My premeditated combo for this buttery paint didn`t really put a dent in the damage that was on the car, therefore I opted to bite the bullet and make my customer *a VERY good customer* happy and do a one-stage rotary correction, which threw my schedule completely off. I started off with a medium polish that would technically finish most jobs hologram-free, but this was crappy Japanese paint so it corrected well but the time it took to finish perfectly was far too much than I`d originally alloted. So I had to step down to a lighter polish that didn`t correct as much, but left a hologram-free finish with the one step that I had time for.



I always strive for perfection and if it`s not achieved, yes I do lose sleep because it drives me nuts. The owner was happy with the amount of correction I was able to achieve with a one-step, but I wasn`t. There were still swirls in the paint and deep scratches, but I guess I just have to let them go :(. Anyway, I guess the moral of this story is that you should always quote a price for polishing a car right when the keys are handed over. It was a cloudy day when these were taken so you really can`t see the (very minor) swirls in the paint.



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_15.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_16.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_17.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_18.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_19.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_20.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_21.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_22.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_23.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_24.jpg



http://apolloauto.hu/images/skyline_gtr_25.jpg



Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!



- Jesse O`Connor

[MarcHarris]

Jesse man I was getting worried you got lost and couldn`t find your way back to autopia!

Glad to hear you`re doing well and you`re as busy as ever - very deserving. I look forward to the behind-the-scenes plans you have in motion. Aside from that, another top-notch job by one of earth`s best and most entertaining detailers. Thanks for sharing another sample of some work and I look forward to the next!

[Barry Theal]

Jesse welcome back homeboy!!! You actually work on nissans? lmao car looks superb!

[Pats300zx]

Welcome back Jesse. I have missed seeing your work. Stunning work on the GTR...:woot2:

[2005GTPinMD]

Jesse fantastic work...so the owner drove from Germany to get work done by you?

[imported_Bence]

Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let`s say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.

[JohnKleven]

Fantastic work as always Jesse...

[2005GTPinMD]

Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let`s say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.



Thanks for that information - that is great to know :).

[Apollo_Auto]

Jesse man I was getting worried you got lost and couldn`t find your way back to autopia!

Glad to hear you`re doing well and you`re as busy as ever - very deserving. I look forward to the behind-the-scenes plans you have in motion. Aside from that, another top-notch job by one of earth`s best and most entertaining detailers. Thanks for sharing another sample of some work and I look forward to the next!



Thanks buddy :)! Should be revealing things very soon...




Jesse welcome back homeboy!!! You actually work on nissans? lmao car looks superb!



Yeah I had to lower my standards a bit :D!




Welcome back Jesse. I have missed seeing your work. Stunning work on the GTR...:woot2:



Cheers Pat! I`ve got lots more porn where that came from so hopefully I`ll be able to get it up soon!




Jesse fantastic work...so the owner drove from Germany to get work done by you?



Thanks mate! I do have some customers in other countries, but in this case it`s as Bence stated below ;)!




Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let`s say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.



Hmm, I didn`t know they were actually going to be using that paint... I`ll have to monitor it closely and see how effective it really is.




Fantastic work as always Jesse...



Thank you, John!

[Greg Nichols]

So what was the process you used to get to this point? For a bunch of homies that don`t listen to you it turned out fine for them, in the end that is what matters.



Cheers,

GREG

[a_guerrajr]

not bad for a one step IMO



what combo did you use if you don`t mind sharing your secrets :)

[imported_artikxscout]

I know exactly what you mean Jesse. I have clients like that too who just beat on their car and since we always strive for perfection, it`s not always possible in the allotted time. Luckily for me, as long if I make it better, they`re completely satisfied with it, beat it up, and then bring it back in about 2 months for a correction again. At this rate, if I start using a medium polish, the paint will be gone by 2 years!



Great job on the car, it came in dirty and you completely turned it around. You`ll probably see them again soon!

[Apollo_Auto]

So what was the process you used to get to this point? For a bunch of homies that don`t listen to you it turned out fine for them, in the end that is what matters.



Cheers,

GREG



Thanks Greg! This was a one-stepper and I started with my medium polish which took entirely too long to finish with on this soft paint, so then I stepped down to my #1 finishing polish which allowed me to finish up in a normal time. After that I sealed it up with my nano sealant because it`s the strongest thing I`ve got in my arsenal. I went with that for the LSP because he takes his car to a car wash that uses a very alkalic snowfoam and it`s already started to burn the paint. Hopefully my sealant will help prevent that in the future!




not bad for a one step IMO



what combo did you use if you don`t mind sharing your secrets :)



Thanks buddy! I used my finishing polish and a finishing pad for the entire car. You`ll see soon enough what "my" polishes are ;).




I know exactly what you mean Jesse. I have clients like that too who just beat on their car and since we always strive for perfection, it`s not always possible in the allotted time. Luckily for me, as long if I make it better, they`re completely satisfied with it, beat it up, and then bring it back in about 2 months for a correction again. At this rate, if I start using a medium polish, the paint will be gone by 2 years!



Great job on the car, it came in dirty and you completely turned it around. You`ll probably see them again soon!



Thanks buddy! Glad someone else feels my pain :). Yeah I have all those guys on a maintenance plan already! He`s got an X6 coming in this week and we`ll be wrapping it in matte black so keep your eyes peeled for it!

[autoconcierge]

Looks great for a quick detail Jesse, minimum of two days to do right on that paint. Always wonder why someone will get a highline vehicle like this and just trash it, then find a guy of your level and skimp on the portions and not allow you to bring it back up to snuff then keep it that way:confused:

[Apollo_Auto]

Thanks Bob! yeah it beats the hell outta me too...