Other detailing forums

[Auto Care USA]

With Autopia being the best site for detailing info on the web, what are your second and third choices.

[C. Charles Hahn]

hmm.... does the answer, "good question" satisfy?



Honestly I haven`t found that many other forums where people are all that "informed" about detailing- most are still stuck believing that "muguiers cleaner wax" is the best product to use on their vehicles, with "old bath towels."



But if I had to list a second and third choice, I would say the only other two I atleast read frequently, which are Off-Topic.NET`s show and shine forum (moderated by our very own Scottwax) and the S-Series Forum`s show and shine forum.



Look forward to hearing other responses.

[Jngrbrdman]

Other choices? Are there any? Actually, the only other detailing forums I visit are on message boards that are built around a particular car or club. I haven`t hung out on many dedicated detailing boards so I just stick to Autopia and my club boards. I think most of the people on those other detailing boards share the same info here so its not so different on the other ones.

[safetyman2010]

Originally posted by Auto Care USA

With Autopia being the best site for detailing info on the web, what are your second and third choices.

I know I am going to get slammed for this but I think Autopia, while entertaining is best suited to the enthusiast or DIY and not a professional. If you look at how much BS is thrown around here about topping this product with 20 coats of that etc... and Porter Cable this and rotary = bad I find it hard to take most of the people here seriously. I am a member of several private detailing forums which are geared ONLY to professionals which cuts through all the marketing jargon and discusses issues relating to running a professional detailing operation. I come here just for fun and to try and help where I can but when I want to discuss detailing I usually keep it on the private forum with other people who make their living doing this and have had some true professional training. I am sure this will ruffle some feathers but it was not intended to do so - just some constructive criticism from an objective outsider. After all - how many of the people posting in the Professional Detailers area of these forums can actually back up the claim of being a professional? Look at some of the questions posted and I think it would be hard to disagree with me.

[Jngrbrdman]

uh oh... lol



Actually, it is because you can make comments like that and not get flamed for it that makes Autopia the best place to be. Its true that most of us are enthusiasts. There are a few pros here who help out, like yourself, but most of us are just looking for info for our hobby by others who share the hobby. If we were seriously doing this for a living then I doubt there would be many people debating the shine quality between Souveran and P21S. This is an enthusiast board. If the hard core pros want a place to talk industry talk then there are other forums out there. Autopia is the place for a newbie to come and not get chewed up and spit out for asking a "stupid question". Its pros like ShineShop and others that add the `hard core professional` perspective to our hobby and make our work stand out from the rest. As far as enthusiast boards I don`t think you can find a better one. If you are trying to compare the Professional Detailers forum on Autopia to the hard core pro boards out there then that would be like comparing the detailing forum on Off Topic.net to Autopia. They just don`t compare.

[chris0626]

Golly, ShineShop, you make some really good points. What the heck do we have here on Autopia? A bunch of national champion cars, people who teach detailing to other concours/car-show competitors, people who lovingly take care of their cars so they have a good shine and/or so they`ll become well-loved classics 20 years from now. Yeah, you`re right. What a bunch o` losers. So does that mean real detailers are the ones who`ll slap on a layer of glaze to hide the swirls and who would not spend the time it takes to give the durable protection that Zaino, Klasse SG, et al afford? If you`re looking for discussion of profit margins, employee practices and payscales, probably the Pro Detailers forum on Autopia doesn`t quite satisfy the need. But for me, a weekend hobby-detailer, I`ve learned more in a few months here than my daddy ever knew, and I`m grateful for that.

[Redcar GUY]

******edit*********





Sorry I better not put that, I dont want to make anyone or their girlfriends mad





Any hoooo



There is only one place to be

[Scottwax]

Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

If you are trying to compare the Professional Detailers forum on Autopia to the hard core pro boards out there then that would be like comparing the detailing forum on Off Topic.net to Autopia. They just don`t compare.

:nono It`s still one of the best detailing forums on a general board there is :p. I just wish some of y`all would visit a bit more to give your prospectives also. I don`t have all the answers. Besides, I`m willing to bet most of my 17 referrals here came from off-topic.



I do have to agree with Shine Shop to a certain extent if you are a full time professional because even in the pro forum here, since the vast majority of us are small operators, a dedicated pro site is better for those who want to seriously expand their business or to learn more about rotary buffers, extractors and other such equipment.



For someone with a 1-5 man detailing operation, Autopia is a very good site, and questions by those who are just starting out are actually answered without massive flaming like on the delphi board (although a couple of guys really deserved it...one who came here and ended up being banned).

[Scottwax]

Originally posted by Lynn

Golly, ShineShop, you make some really good points. What the heck do we have here on Autopia? A bunch of national champion cars, people who teach detailing to other concours/car-show competitors, people who lovingly take care of their cars so they have a good shine and/or so they`ll become well-loved classics 20 years from now. Yeah, you`re right. What a bunch o` losers. So does that mean real detailers are the ones who`ll slap on a layer of glaze to hide the swirls and who would not spend the time it takes to give the durable protection that Zaino, Klasse SG, et al afford? If you`re looking for discussion of profit margins, employee practices and payscales, probably the Pro Detailers forum on Autopia doesn`t quite satisfy the need. But for me, a weekend hobby-detailer, I`ve learned more in a few months here than my daddy ever knew, and I`m grateful for that.

No, that isn`t really what he is talking about. He means more about how the use of a rotary is routine on pro boards were here, the PC is king and it is hard to get advice on their use here. Just that you can`t get the large shop pro experience on this board. I think he and Auto Care USA are the only large operators who regularly visit the board. He did give credit to Autopia for being very good for the enthusiast. Let`s face it, most of us pros don`t have either the time nor clients willing to pay for 20 layers of Zainos on their cars.



Shine Shop is a good guy with a class operation. He is just very blunt in his posting.

[safetyman2010]

Originally posted by Lynn

Golly, ShineShop, you make some really good points. What the heck do we have here on Autopia? A bunch of national champion cars, people who teach detailing to other concours/car-show competitors, people who lovingly take care of their cars so they have a good shine and/or so they`ll become well-loved classics 20 years from now. Yeah, you`re right. What a bunch o` losers. So does that mean real detailers are the ones who`ll slap on a layer of glaze to hide the swirls and who would not spend the time it takes to give the durable protection that Zaino, Klasse SG, et al afford? If you`re looking for discussion of profit margins, employee practices and payscales, probably the Pro Detailers forum on Autopia doesn`t quite satisfy the need. But for me, a weekend hobby-detailer, I`ve learned more in a few months here than my daddy ever knew, and I`m grateful for that.

I don`t believe I referred to anyone on Autopia as a "bunch o` losers" or anything of the sort - your words, not mine. Also, I do not consider the majority of people in the detailing industry professionals either. I have no idea where you are coming from with your comments as I said that the vast majority of people using Autopia were enthusiasts - thank you for proving my point. We do discuss profit margins, employee practices and payscales as well as marketing, business plans, industry news etc... on the professionals only forum but overwhelmingly we discuss proper processes and procedures which is often not the case here on Autopia. A true professional can diagnose, repair and then beautify and protect a vehicle using processes and procedures that will not harm that vehicle today, tomorrow or six months down the road. Conversely, debating endlessly the benefits of topping Klasse AIO with multiple coats of P21S or whatever does not get down to the core problem of correcting a problem through proper surface preparation, correction and protection. Sorry if you`re offended that I have an opinion that differs from yours but I am sure you`ll get over it. Debate conducted in a professional manner is not a bad thing IMHO.

[safetyman2010]

Originally posted by Jngrbrdman

uh oh... lol



Actually, it is because you can make comments like that and not get flamed for it that makes Autopia the best place to be. Its true that most of us are enthusiasts. There are a few pros here who help out, like yourself, but most of us are just looking for info for our hobby by others who share the hobby. If we were seriously doing this for a living then I doubt there would be many people debating the shine quality between Souveran and P21S. This is an enthusiast board. If the hard core pros want a place to talk industry talk then there are other forums out there. Autopia is the place for a newbie to come and not get chewed up and spit out for asking a "stupid question". Its pros like ShineShop and others that add the `hard core professional` perspective to our hobby and make our work stand out from the rest. As far as enthusiast boards I don`t think you can find a better one. If you are trying to compare the Professional Detailers forum on Autopia to the hard core pro boards out there then that would be like comparing the detailing forum on Off Topic.net to Autopia. They just don`t compare.

You make some excellent points and I agree that Autopia is a great place in many ways that other forums are not. My point was to take issue with a forum being labeled "Professional Detailing Forum" and not being used by true professionals. I`ve seen it happen on several other forums where the pros just get sick and tired of seeing "how do I wax my car" over and over again in the professionals section of the forums and just get sick and tired of having to wade through the posts to find something useful to them. Newbie questions should be asked in the appropriate forums and answered there by more experienced detailers.

[safetyman2010]

Originally posted by Scottwax

:nono It`s still one of the best detailing forums on a general board there is :p. I just wish some of y`all would visit a bit more to give your prospectives also. I don`t have all the answers. Besides, I`m willing to bet most of my 17 referrals here came from off-topic.



I do have to agree with Shine Shop to a certain extent if you are a full time professional because even in the pro forum here, since the vast majority of us are small operators, a dedicated pro site is better for those who want to seriously expand their business or to learn more about rotary buffers, extractors and other such equipment.



For someone with a 1-5 man detailing operation, Autopia is a very good site, and questions by those who are just starting out are actually answered without massive flaming like on the delphi board (although a couple of guys really deserved it...one who came here and ended up being banned).

Like I said in my original response it`s excellent as an enthusiast site but not geared toward professionals. I do agree that the flaming has been an issue on other forums but only with a few jerks who did really deserve it (cough......Knight.......cough). I really don`t think it makes a difference how big your operation is, just how professioanl you want to be. I know I keep hitting on that point - being professional. Ask yourself how many doctors, lawyers, dentists, mechanics etc... there are out there who are working in and are respected in their field who are not educated, trained and certified in some way. Why are detailers any different? Now ask yourself how many detailers out there have actually spent even as little as 2 days receiving some professional training or certification of some sort and are not just trained by "some guy" who was in turn trained by "some guy".

[Taxlady]

Originally posted by ShineShop

Like I said in my original response it`s excellent as an enthusiast site but not geared toward professionals. I do agree that the flaming has been an issue on other forums but only with a few jerks who did really deserve it (cough......Knight.......cough). I really don`t think it makes a difference how big your operation is, just how professioanl you want to be. I know I keep hitting on that point - being professional. Ask yourself how many doctors, lawyers, dentists, mechanics etc... there are out there who are working in and are respected in their field who are not educated, trained and certified in some way. Why are detailers any different? Now ask yourself how many detailers out there have actually spent even as little as 2 days receiving some professional training or certification of some sort and are not just trained by "some guy" who was in turn trained by "some guy".

Maybe we should say that Autopia is the best public detailing site.



I don`t think there is anything wrong with an apprenticeship approach to learning. Especially when accompanied by study (instruction or self directed). I`m a certified Intuit Advisor, but I learned more by myself than from the course. I do keep up with the seminars, but I don`t learn much that I haven`t already figured out by myself or learned on the advisor forum.



I can see that the Professional Forum here may not, on average, be as professional as you. There are seem to be a lot of weekend warriors and just-starting-pros here.

[Taxlady]

Originally posted by ShineShop

You make some excellent points and I agree that Autopia is a great place in many ways that other forums are not. My point was to take issue with a forum being labeled "Professional Detailing Forum" and not being used by true professionals. I`ve seen it happen on several other forums where the pros just get sick and tired of seeing "how do I wax my car" over and over again in the professionals section of the forums and just get sick and tired of having to wade through the posts to find something useful to them. Newbie questions should be asked in the appropriate forums and answered there by more experienced detailers.

I just had a browse of the Professional Detailing Forum and I don`t really see many posts that don`t seem to belong there. I can see that many of them may not be of a level to interest you very much. If you see something that really doesn`t belong in there, you can always point it out by PM to one of the moderators. I`ll be happy to move something posted in the wrong forum.



Linda (token Canadian moderator )

[medic159]

One thing to keep in mind between the professional detailers and "amateurs" who do it for the love of it/ The amateur is able to spend much more time on a car to achieve very special results, the professional cannot and has to perform his/her work in the aloted time in order to make a profit.