5ft Rule

Z

zey

New member
Dear Autopians, I would like to know whether most of you follow the "5ft Rule" when it comes to evaluating detailing result. Any of you observe the finish to the extent of using magnifying glass? Thanks.
 
I use it for my car. Its daily use and have to park in outside when i go to office :wall . So its not gonna be a perfect car............
 
I eventually adopted this rule regarding my Jet Black BMW. The alternative was insanity. I recently sold this car and now have TiAg and I can now look very close and still be happy.



Black car now = insanity later.
 
Evaluating your paint from 5ft away. If it looks good from that distance, you walk away.



I'm too OC to not look at it closely...5ft is not good enough, even knowing that no one will notice...I will!
 
My car is about perfect at 2-3 feet, I try to get my customer's cars as close to perfect as possible.



I have a black car that was not well taken care of cosmetic-wise before I bought it and the car is a daily driver. Too time consuming to keep it perfect.
 
I like keeping my car as close to perfect as I can get it. Instead of using abrasives all the time to remove defects though, I use the glazing routine to hide everything. I can get my car 99% perfect glazing the hell out of it. It's when glazes can't hide stuff that I polish things out. but for distances? When i'm glazing I get right up on the paint in direct sunlight and if i can still find defects I continue to work the area.
 
Yeah, I inspect my S8 and even the minivan with magnification when I polish them. Which is hardly ever since I'm *VERY* careful how I wash 'em and they don't get touched between washes. Don't think I'm gonna keep the minivan flawless, just too much work on a daily driver, but the S8 I *do* want virtually flawless (I plan to trade it over tiny flaws from the deer-incident repairs; my "good" car I want better than showroom). IMO even a beater oughta look virtually flawless from five feet away so that's not a very tall order and generally wouldn't be close to what I expect our cars to look like.
 
Scottwax said:
My car is about perfect at 2-3 feet, I try to get my customer's cars as close to perfect as possible.



I have a black car that was not well taken care of cosmetic-wise before I bought it and the car is a daily driver. Too time consuming to keep it perfect.
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Bingo!







Some paint defects (deep scratches, water spots, swirls) require removing too much clearcoat/paint to be 100% perfect. On the newer vehicles I work to a higher stature, but on older ones, I let the customers know in advance where they should expect it to go. I have never had any complaints with this logic.
 
My car is about perfect at 2-3 feet, I try to get my customer's cars as close to perfect as possible.



I have a black car that was not well taken care of cosmetic-wise before I bought it and the car is a daily driver. Too time consuming to keep it perfect.

__________________



Good point Scot, it is not in the polishing process that make me use the rule. It is in the maintenance routine that make it really a PITA to keep a daily driver in perfect condition, especially if it stay outdoor for most of the day.
 
I think the 5ft rule is kind of a little joke around here, some use it to rule weather a reg. customer needs another deep polish, but really i think we all try to get customers cars as perfect as possible. As for my car, its perfect when i detail it every spring, then i glaze it every two months or so, and by the end of summer it has a little marring in some places...I have learned to deal with it...getting your car perfect is impossible... :getdown



-Justin
 
DanoWatt said:
I use a maginifying glass to determine the extent of some scratches and paint chips.
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Yup so do I... Especially on wife' s metallic jet black 2006 Hyundai Getz 1.4 16V...



I also use the "under the streetlight" method which an old man taught me. He was wiping his 64 Impala (he said it was his first car since the car was brand new from the dealer and they grew old together)



Here you park the car under a street light and inspect the car under the yellow light of the mercury lights after sundown... (I tried it and found the light to be ruthless in showing blemishes but it was of no use to me because there is no remedy at that very moment)



Also fluorescent light gives away a lot...



I always look at the car from different angles and try to see from all around.
 
Murat said:
..I also use the "under the streetlight" method ..

I always look at the car from different angles and try to see from all around.
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Try using a high-wattage incandescent trouble light in an otherwise dark garage, using your method of varying the viewing angle. I've found I can pretty much duplicate those unforgiving lights that way- no surprises when I inspect under the lights at the local gas station that always show everything. Put a 200-300W bulb in the trouble light and you won't miss much; I see a *lot* that I can't find under halogens, let alone fluorscents.



I know I'm always talking up the high-wattage incandescents :o but it's like discovering a whole new way of inspecting paint. I always used to get those unpleasant surprises after I had a lot of LSP layered on. It's a drag to find out you quit polishing too soon...
 
Murat said:
I also use the "under the streetlight" method which an old man taught me. He was wiping his 64 Impala (he said it was his first car since the car was brand new from the dealer and they grew old together)



Here you park the car under a street light and inspect the car under the yellow light of the mercury lights after sundown... (I tried it and found the light to be ruthless in showing blemishes but it was of no use to me because there is no remedy at that very moment)





I always look at the car from different angles and try to see from all around.
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Yes! The only way I've ever been able to see every blemish and scratch is under diffused lighting on the street at night - much better than in a garage, IMO. Walking around the car and varying the "angle" and position relative to the street lights works like a charm.
 
my car looks decent from a couple feet-some minor scratches and spiderwebbing. Under mercury vapor lights it looks like crap-acid rain spots. In the spring I'll polish it again.
 
wannafbody, are your acid rain spots irregular in shapes? Mine is tiny pittings/pinholes all over the car.
 
I think it depends on several things, what is the car used for? What color is the care? What does the owner expect? How much is the owner willing to pay? Is it possible to get it perfect?

For my personal car I have the halogen light 2 inch rule. lol My mom's I use the 5 foot rule becaue its black and she hates when I spend a lot of time with it (guess I should be doing HW or something lol). Some other colors, such as my Tundra's grey you cant tell the difference between 5 feet and 5 inches.
 
percynjpn said:
Yes! The only way I've ever been able to see every blemish and scratch is under diffused lighting on the street at night - much better than in a garage, IMO. Walking around the car and varying the "angle" and position relative to the street lights works like a charm.
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The QT convience store/gas stations have absolutely the best lighting and by best, I mean most unforgiving to your paint.



Don't think they have any in Japan though...
 
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