Interesting article about detailing among younger people

[Dan]

I guess mustache wax is in and car wax is out...

https://m.startribune.com/interest-i...ing/571045702/

[GearHead_1]

Can’t read it, it wants me to subscribe.

[gorram]

Can’t read it, it wants me to subscribe.

Copy and pasted from the link, Brave browser here:

Millennials don`t love their cars the way their elders did, and if you make car wax, that`s a problem.
As baby boomer car buffs age out, Turtle Wax, Meguiar`s, Mothers, Collinite and other products must court a generation that is the first to largely find car ownership a headache and driving a chore — and see cars as an encumbrance rather than a status symbol.
Makers of car-care products have had to adapt marketing strategies, trying to deal with customers` differing demands even as producers of small-batch boutique waxes try to cherry-pick their most valuable customers and as professional detailers trade wax for advanced compounds.

RJ de Vera, global customer engagement leader at Meguiar`s (which is owned by 3M), had been observing a slow degradation since around 2007, as car show attendance dropped, car magazines collapsed and cars failed to capture the imagination of kids as they once did.
"Even my nephews," he said. "I remember being 8 or 10 and really into cars, and they didn`t care at all."
In 2015, a study commissioned by Turtle Wax found a shift in attitudes between generations, but also within generations. One group saw car cleaning as a way to protect the value of their investment. They wanted fast, easy, inexpensive cleaning products. The other group were detailing devotees who still wanted to lovingly buff their rides to an attention-getting gleam, and were willing to pay to get it. The split was about 70 to 30.
Wax-makers had to develop various product lines to address the split, as well as separate advertising strategies for two audiences, all on one budget. "The reality is you run out of money really, really quick if you are going for the mass market," de Vera said.
Attracting younger buyers has required a strategic shift to social media, video gaming and events. Turtle Wax has been placing ads on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, and in the past via Xbox. Meguiar`s will have its brand appear in CSR Racing 2, a video game for mobile devices, and it has been holding meet-and-greet events with influential social media personalities such as TJ Hunt.
The big manufacturers have been pressed by a proliferation of boutique brands looking to pick off lucrative car-care aficionados, positioning themselves as superior to affordable mass-market products. That was the strategy of Dodo Juice. Funded in 2007, it promotes its products as handmade in small batches.
How much share boutique brands take from big manufacturers is unclear. "I have a lot of customers that are die-hard Meguiar`s brand, but when something new comes out, they are going to order that," said Meghan Poirier, chief operations officer for the Palm Beach Motoring Group, which operates the car care product websites Autogeek and Autopia.
Meanwhile, professional detailers are moving away from waxes and into synthetic coatings. A properly applied and maintained ceramic coating can last years, compared with around a month for wax.
"Waxes are becoming obsolete; they are for the enthusiast," said DJ Patterson, president of the International Detailing Association. "Ceramic coatings are the longer-lasting paint protection."
Most wax-makers have responded with their own ceramic "hybrid" products, like spray waxes that contain silicone dioxide or titanium dioxide, common ingredients in ceramic coatings. "A spray wax that is ceramic-infused, it makes the wax more durable but isn`t a ceramic coating," de Vera said.
Small manufacturers, like McKee`s 37, which managing partner Nick Rutter said generally caters to "the 30-and-older crowd," has introduced a spray-on ceramic wax. "The younger crowd," he said, "is gravitating to the instant gratification products."

[GearHead_1]

I think that article pretty well sums up what I’ve both suspected and seen over the past decade. The kids in my neighborhood wouldn’t wash a car if their next meal depended on it. I’ve seen more than a handful of kids that aren’t even interested in getting their drivers licenses. Man, when I was a kid that was like a right of passage, we started planning for it when we were like 10 years old. Getting the license, having a car of your own, keeping it clean so you could get out and drag Main Street meant you had arrived. It just isn’t a thing anymore.

[Accumulator]

Heh heh...wax lasts "about a month"

Given that most people don`t really own their cars (at least according to how I`d define "own") the whole lack of interest actually makes sense to me...not that I`d approach it that way, but it still makes sense.

Standards of care have changed; when people don`t make an effort to take even basic care with their personal appearance I wouldn`t expect them to do more for a car that`s going to get turned in for a new one (regardless of its cosmetic condition) within a few years. If somebody doesn`t shine his shoes, why expect him to shine his car?

[Dan]

I think that article pretty well sums up what I’ve both suspected and seen over the past decade. The kids in my neighborhood wouldn’t wash a car if their next meal depended on it. I’ve seen more than a handful of kids that aren’t even interested in getting their drivers licenses. Man, when I was a kid that was like a right of passage, we started planning for it when we were like 10 years old. Getting the license, having a car of your own, keeping it clean so you could get out and drag Main Street meant you had arrived. It just isn’t a thing anymore.

Yep. I think I had a subscription to a few car magazines when I was 12. I started studying the drivers handbook at 14.

[Dan]

Heh heh...wax lasts "about a month"

Given that most people don`t really own their cars (at least according to how I`d define "own") the whole lack of interest actually makes sense to me...not that I`d approach it that way, but it still makes sense.

Standards of care have changed; when people don`t make an effort to take even basic care with their personal appearance I wouldn`t expect them to do more for a car that`s going to get turned in for a new one (regardless of its cosmetic condition) within a few years. If somebody doesn`t shine his shoes, why expect him to shine his car?

You are right, standards have changed. As well as expectations. Love people that look like they are going to do some trash pickup expecting the royal treatment.

[01GreyStangGT]

Yep. I think I had a subscription to a few car magazines when I was 12. I started studying the drivers handbook at 14.

I did similar. I’ve been a regular reader of Car and Driver and MotorTrend since 8th grade.

[The Driver]

Copy and pasted from the link, Brave browser here:

Brave FTW! Can`t go without it.

[acuRAS82]

Lame (the folks who have no pride in making things look nice and taking pride in what they drive in and the work they put in to keep it nice.

The article itself is nice, thanks for sharing!

[Lonnie]

"Young people gravitating to the instant gratification products?" I can tell you WHY that has happened:
1). The concept of "WORK" is no longer taught to them. the only hard, physical labor is in sports and training to be a college scholarship student-athlete.
2) They see technology as the answer and solution to all their problems.
Learn to drive; WHY?! It is an outdated human skill replaced by Uber or autonomous vehicles.
Remember or memorize facts or anything, WHY? I`ve got Google and Wikepedia in my hand-held smartphone.
WHY learn hand-written script anymore; it`s all about typing and texting to communicate. No wonder they cannot understand the original written documents of the US Constitution or Bill of Rights; they cannot read it! OR hand-signature a contract or legal document.
3) The concept that EVERYONE is a winner, regardless of the endeavor. While Utopian (no pun intended to this forum!) in intent, it is just not the reality of life, and unfortunately, that heartbreak of when it happens can mentally crush young people.
4) Our societies` definition and acceptance of what a family is. There is no more guidance and correction from a female Mom and male Dad. Young children decide for themselves what is right and wrong or even their own gender identity, which now, they "legally have a right" to do!
I find it sad and disturbing we as a society see discipline as "hurting a child`s well-being and self-worth", but are willing to spend billions of dollars on penal correction systems (AKA, prisons) or mental heath or pharmaceuticals to "rehabilitate" and "treat" adolescent problems.
5) We have passed the responsibility of parenting and teaching "morals and values" to our children on to day care providers and private and public school teachers. Respect or even social manners, like "please" and "thank you" or "excuse me`; who teaches that anymore?? WTF is a publicly and socially acceptable language no longer viewed as vulgar or obscene or offensive (which it is to me). Ask any young person about the musical group LMFAO and what it stands for, they`ll tell you.
6) Fast foods are just that. When was the last time a family sat down together to a REAL home-cooked meal without their cellphones at the table. Lack of good nutrition causes more problems than we realize. I`ve seen 5th and 6th graders, both boys and girls, "fuel up" on Monster or Red Bull energy drinks to play the next game in a basketball tournament. Who taught them that??

Sorry to rant but I am not sorry for the content. To me, the real problem is parents and parenting or lack thereof. If the truth hurts, so be it. (Or Captain Obvious should be banned from this forum for being socially divisive!)

[DetailZeus]

I get it. Why would I spend hours waxing my Uber. I also can`t imagine trying to keep a vehicle pristine in the city. Just watched the whole line of cars on my street get destroyed the other week.

[Lonnie]

Cars and vehicles are not a priority anymore by parents and are not the "status symbol" of society and part of the "American Dream". They are looked on as "appliances" of utilitarian transportation and treated as such. If parents are not "car guys" or "car girls",chances are their children probably won`t be, either. Is it any wonder why vehicle manufacturer`s are dropping sedan cars and making SUVs and Crossovers. So many vehicles from different vehicle manufacturers look so "cookie-cutter" alike that they have no "distinct styling". And why should they; the American buyer is leasing "appliances", not vehicles.

I do think, though , that today`s young people have a much "different" view of society and what is important to them. Cars and the internal-combustion engine represent a major cause of "Global Warming" and hence, are vilified as a threat to their future existence and of the world`s ecology (and by extension, economy) in general. Is it any wonder, then, that the "American love affair with vehicles" is fading fast and all things associated with it, like detailing.

[Accumulator]

Sure glad the younger people I know aren`t like that...they still have Values (to which I relate).

As far as the "vehicles as (mere) appliances", well...actually I get that. Mine are appliances, not works of art or techno marvels or "lifestyle statements". But I take the same kind of care of all my appliances too. It`s like IUDJing my trashcan (inside and out) every week; I take care of my stuff.

IMO it`s silly to be impressed by what somebody drives anyhow...there`s no real "status" or "sign one has arrived" in vehicle ownership; if there ever was there isn`t any more. Anybody with a credit rating can drive most anything he wants; I know people who don`t have much $ at all yet drive (leased) 6-figure cars. And just get me going on people who have *never* attended even a single high-perf Driving School yet drive (street) cars that would`ve been competitive *racecars* just a few years ago Impressed? No, I see how they`re driving those things and I feel disgust.

[Bill D]

I just got a new fridge a few weeks ago and yep you guessed it, I LSPed it. So far it has two layers of Souveran on it. Boy does it have depth now!