$7000 detail... A "feel good" tale

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Preachers Sheets

New member
I just did the whole:



1.) swirl mark removal

2.) klasse all in one

3.) klasse galze



My question is, I want to go back and do my polishing to my car but I want to know is there any easy way around this without stripping everything off of my car? Like could I re-polish my car with 3M swirl mark remover right on top of the klasse combo and re-klasse ontop of the new polish?



Can I just use a heavy soap on the bottom half of the car, from the half of the door and up I am happy with the results, just from the bottom half of the door down I am not.
 
I am not Ron K but here are my thoughts



1> What are you not happy with? Do you sill see swirls/scratches?



Keep this in mind always. You may have polished fine. Then applied Klasse. It is possible(no offending comments intended here at all) that you placed some minor swirls in the Klasse when you buffed it out. That can happen..I have seen it on my car.



So you want to try and figure out, are the swirls/marks in my Klasse coatings, or in the clear themselved?



2. The polish that you use, depending on abrasiveness level will remove Klasse. (ie. 3M swirl mark remover, Pinnacle PPL, etc) so you can work these areas over without stripping the Klasse from it first.



However, now you can get into a purists question..one I face regularly. "Do I really get to the paint's "surface" by polishing overtop of Klasse, "removing" it with the polish, or is it better to strip the Klasse and then polish?"(in the thought of your question)



Well, you could do this. Take a 50/50 water/isoprophyl alcohol mixture in a spray bottle and spray it on the areas you want to "strip". Then wipe off. You can visually test the area for shine, slickness, water sheeting/beading to see if the Klasse was removed on the first pass.



If Klasse was not removed, spray and wipe off again. Of course I would suggest washing the car first before applying the 50/50 mix to remove any surface dirt.



Now, look at your paint in those areas, are the swirls/marks gone? Then you know the swirls were in the Klasse coating, not your clear. I say then re-Klasse and be careful of what is used/how you buff it out.



This way you can "spot" strip the Klasse, then polish, check your results, and then re-Klasse again over those spots. Taking care to use gentle buffing techniques.



I hope this helps..Ron K will certainly give you a more pro analysis of your question.



SJ
 
What you said what fine, don't worry about hurting my feelings, I'm all grown up, I can take a bad comment or two :)



The main problem is, the hood was re-painted and I was polishing really nicley, late last night I looked and I think I did SOMETHING a little too hard because I had quite a few micro swirl marks. Then again I am still not too sure because there is residue all over my car and as I am removing it, the swirl marks are coming off as well. So it looks like the resiude just left haze. The hood however doesn't look that lucky, I don't mind re-klassing the hood at all.



My room mate told me it looks as shiny as a lake with water that is dead still, I was quite happy after that.:bounce
 
First off, I forgot my camera so no pics with this story, but it's a good story.

A customer was looking to trade his vehicle in and needed it cleaned up. It was a late model Ford Expedition XL. A really nice truck with a 2 tone leather interior and a very different blue paint on the exterior. Nice wheels and tires as well. When I got there I had a talk with the owner, he had been laid off from a job that paid him over $100K a year and was now struggling to make $50K. He had 3 kids and needed to get into something more economical with a lower payment. He informed me that at his last run of the dealerships they were only offering him around $18k trade-in value and although $ was tight he needed to spiff up the truck to get more money. I felt bad for the guy so I told him I would do what I could to help.

The inside was trashed....3 kids and a dog....it took me over an hour just to vacuum!! All told I spent over 5 hours inside and out. When I finished it looked awesome, the leather looked new ( vx5000 thank you! ) and the blue paint just popped ( Opti-Seal ). He told me it never looked this good as long as he has had it. I left feeling pretty good about the whole thing. About 3 days later I ran into the guy by accident and he came right up to me and shook my hand, but really hard, like a death grip! A huge smile on his face. He said, " Man I gotta thank you!". I assumed he was happy with his trade in and he let me know I was right. He said he made another run to all the dealerships and ended up trading his vehicle in at the Chevy dealership and got $25K for it!!! :Dancing Dot: He told me how his family now had a brand new more fuel efficient SUV and $150 lower payments. He could not thank me enough.

Now... can I take credit for all $7k worth of added value?? Not really sure, but it certainly validated my hard work and knowing I had really helped this guy out of a jam was priceless. I was on a high all day and am still wondering if I undercharged by $6,800!!! :biggrin:
 
Great story Rich, that should make you feel pretty good!! It's always nice to help someone out in a pinch. I bet he and his wife can breathe a little sigh of relief and hopefully takes a bit of stress off of their difficult situation.

Nice work!! :thumbup:
 
Rich,

As long as you feel good about what you did (and you should), you charged the right amount. Feel good about it, you did a good thing for someone who needed it. Just remember, what goes around, comes around.:angel:
 
bmw5541 said:
Rich,

As long as you feel good about what you did (and you should), you charged the right amount. Feel good about it, you did a good thing for someone who needed it. Just remember, what goes around, comes around.:angel:
Click to expand...

I agree, I was just making a joke about undercharging. I actually gave the guy an extra hour at no charge to make sure the job was done right.
 
Sal329 said:
Enjoy stories like this its good to see there are still good stand up people in this world
Click to expand...

and you seem to be one of them....one always gets back what they put out.. your blessings will come my friend. can you explain your process with the steam machine. i purchased a vx3000 and want to clean my interiors too...
 
Cool! Good job... I did an Audi that brought a few thousand more than it should have! It had 195,000 miles on it, but it was bright RED! And the interior was very nice.

I got 200 bucks.:D
 
Great story, and (even without pictures) great work! Let it be a (lost to who do not know) lesson to those who don't care. The world is round... thanks for the smile.

Jack
 
same thing happened with my ex-gfs blazer. We visited a few stealerships and they offered us around 2500-3000 for it. I took it for a day last summer and did a complete interior and exterior detail. We took it to a new dealership the following day and they gave her $8000 for it:w00t: I was not paid for my work in $$$ but in another form that I gladly took :tongue:
 
Rich,
Such a win-win story - I am so proud of you !!

I just know that you made this big dog nicer than when it was new, and that is what really makes most customers really happy!

You, my friend, will get your much bigger, better payback in the form of more referrals, friends, who will get you yet more work, with opportunities to get more dinero for your hard, selfless, beautiful work.

Am also interested to hear, when you have time, how you liked the Steamer - I really want one, and it looks like it would have to be a big timesaver on dirty leather, etc., and perhaps some stains on carpets too.

If you have time, please advise your thoughts on the Steamer, where you got it if possible, etc..

Again, thanks so much for sharing such a cool story !!

Dan F
 
I love stories like that. I have traded a personal car and sold a personal car since taking up detailing and received top dollar for each. Presenting a clean car really helps.

It sure is nice when you can help someone out of a jam too. He tell will his friends and it will come back to you. Good Job!
 
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