Most missed areas !!!

**Clean Dean** · 05-09-2008, 01:10 PM

Most missed areas.

I have a few friends that I detail with from time to time and I guess I could refer to them as “semi-professional”. All of them are very proficient with the rotary, and can cut a polish out a black car as good as anyone I know, just at a much slower pace. As far as areas these detailers seem to miss, these are the most common I find when detailing with them:

Glass around tight areas and corners.
Door jamb inside the b-pillar. (Most commonly missed).
Truck jamb around trunk strut.
Wheel wells not entirely cleaned.
Center console, particularly inside crevices.
Carpet area under the rear window.
Rear cup holders.
Wheels particularly around the lug nuts.
Area inside engine bay just beneath the wipers. (I hate finding debris there).
Underside of the hood/trunk.

I sometime miss one of these areas myself and usually (hopefully always) discover them on my final walk around, but these are some basic pet peeves I find to be quite common.

What areas of an auto detail do you find to be the most missed?

**JaredPointer** · 05-09-2008, 01:13 PM

The side mirrors - on the "inside area" of the mirror housing, closest to the window. Easily missed on the outside, very visible from the inside of the car.

Also, most of the "detailers" in my area have a hard time understanding that you clean undercarriage and wheel wells, insides/backsides of the rim, jambs (door, hood, trunk).

**Bellydawg** · 05-09-2008, 01:36 PM

The spare tire on a pickup. I find it strange that the time is taken to make sure the black is black yet miss the spare tire completely. When you are sitting behind the truck it looks good until you see the gray of the tire treads hanging below the bumper. How hard is it to hit it with the spray and just let it dry.

Also the key holes on the doors and trunks. There tends to be an accumulation of dirt/grease that is easily cleaned in seconds with a Q-tip and APC.

**cwcad** · 05-09-2008, 02:18 PM

The under side or back side of almost everything.

I have read about the under carriage and have even looked at it a few times but have never actually cleaned it.

**Troy@Protekt** · 05-09-2008, 05:13 PM

Maybe not the most missed but certainly the one that bugs me most is when the emblems aren`t polished. I can`t believe when I see a Mercedes that was just "detailed" and the hood ornament isn`t brightly polished.

Talk about a fairly easy thing to do that can really take away from a detail.

Other areas:

The under area of doors
Flip out cup holders that look like part of the seat.
Headliners
Vanity Mirrors (guilty)
Underneath side mouldings
Plastic air dam below the front bumper

**Beemerboy** · 05-09-2008, 06:29 PM

I`m perfect I never miss anything

...except the lower parts of the bumpers, under the outside rear view mirrors, corners of the inside back window and lots of other areas....Outside that I`m perfect!

**dr_detail** · 05-09-2008, 07:13 PM

Glad you touched on this topic... What I`ve found over the years (and come to expect) that it`s not that perfect reflection the customer notices, it`s that missed spot the size of a pencil erasure.

Here`s some of the things my helpers miss that`s starting to tic me off...

When they don`t roll down the frigen windows and clean the upper lip!!
Cleaning the lower rocker pannels all the way down to the pinch rail!!
The door jambs not fully cleaned and/or dried... as well as the hood and trunks!!
Streaks on the windows -- especially the front!!
Between and under fold down seats in SUV`s and Mini-Vans!!

**Old Pirate** · 05-09-2008, 08:06 PM

I always missed something, but i do spent some time going over the car to be sure of myself. Front or rear inside windows is my most missed area, but catch it in the end.

**9D4E420** · 05-10-2008, 10:12 AM

I find the people that I have worked with over the years don`t know how to use a rotary so major swirls and holograms on the paint would be first. other areas include: The lower agea of the front bumper, the lower area of the rocker panels, in between front seats, streaky windows, console cracks and inbetween the piping and stitching on the seats. I`m sure I could go on for hours!

**swirlnuts** · 05-10-2008, 06:27 PM

middle door post on a 4 door vehicle, the top inside lip on minivan doors, wheel wells, compound and wx in cracks, rubber seals. Cant make the guys that work for me get those spots no matter how hard i try.

**Stephan** · 05-12-2008, 04:09 AM

Originally Posted by Beemerboy

I`m perfect I never miss anything

...except the lower parts of the bumpers, under the outside rear view mirrors, corners of the inside back window and lots of other areas....Outside that I`m perfect!

Me too!!!

This is a good thread and I just picked up a new customer this way, she said her old detailer never did the door jambs...at all! So I will be doing her car shortly...