Any Santa Fe (or anything close) detailers?

S

Scottwax

New member
I have a very long term customer (since 1994) who has sold his business and has decided to retire to the Santa Fe area by the middle of June. He currently has a 2004 Porsche Cayenne Turbo and a Lexus LX470, both black. I've been taking care of both since new. The Cayenne is his baby, he is pretty particular about it. The Lexus is his wife's vehicle and has had acid rain damage since new (doubt wetsanding will fix it, laughs at the rotary), so a good light polish with filling capability is fine with that one.



Trust me, this gentleman is a customer you want. You will not meet a better person than he. He takes good care of those who do the same for him, so it is important to me that if there is a quality Autopian detailer, I get you and him together.



Just reply in this thread, I have turned PM's off due to constant "how do I detail my car, I need to know every step and every product to use" PMs.
 
Scottwax said:
... I have turned PM's off due to constant "how do I detail my car, I need to know every step and every product to use" PMs.
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I truly sympathize with you Scott. :wow:



Wish I could pick up that regular of yours in the Santa Fe area, hehe.
 
Hey Scott,



I play in the Santa Fe Opera during the summer. There are a few, but I cannot recall their names at the moment. One on Harrison Road and a few on Rufina Court(Road). I'll reply again once I get that information.



best,

Jeff
 
Hi Scottwax,



I'm brand new to this site and just starting off detaling. I'm a hobbiest at best so I'm not sure if you want this guy coming to me; might be best to wait a few weeks and let me get some more experience under my belt. The reason I want to detail is to finish my wife's Honda Accord which I recently prep'd and painted myself. It was my first time painting a vehicle and it's been quite the learning experience. I've done some hobbiest airbrushing in the past but mostly modeling and nothing on this scale. The end result, however, actually came out very well but the car still needs more fine sanding and I'm going to do another couple layers of clear. So right now I'm 1000 wet sanding the whole thing down again in preperation for that. I've spent 20+ hours sanding on this car and I'm ready for it to be DONE!!!



I do however have a friend that buffs/polishes for Eclipse Avation-he showed me the ropes a few weeks back and sparked my interest in detaling. This guy definately knows his stuff but he said his normal fee is around $500 for a color sand and polish. This guy is a pro and does this for a living so I'm sure it's worth every penny. He did the front fender on my freshly painted B92P Nighthawk Black Accord and the results were stunning. He was using 3M products from what I saw: Dewalt rotary with a more aggresive wool pad for compounding, a lighter wool pad and Finesse-It, then finished with a grey foam pad and polish followed by a light paste wax. Not sure on the exact products used for the compound and polish but he called the "middle" polish "Finesse" so I assumed it was the 3M product.



Instead of paying him $500 to do my car I decided to take the knowledge he gave me and invest in some detaling products. After my friend "trained" me I jumped online and found tons of sites, including this one, and ended up buying a bunch of chemical guys products to finish my Accord. To give you an idea I currently have:



1500 Diamond Cut Compound

Orange Lake Country CCS 8" Pad for application

Pro Polish Acrylic +

White Lake Country CCS 8" Pad for application

M-Seal Micro Finish Sealant

CG Quick Detail Spray

Tons of MF applicators and towels



This was just the first round of products to get me familiar with buffing and polishing. Since I'm going to re-clear my car anyways I've been practicing with these products doing 1000/1500/2000 wet sanding and a three stage buff/polish. I'm looking at some other CG products right now to add to my "kit":



Citrus Wash + Gloss

XXX Carnauba Wax

VRP Rubber/Vinyl Dressing

Leather Cleaner/Conditioner Combo

Medium Duty Clay Bar



I'm very interested in claying and seeing what all the hype is with the carnauba wax products.



I'm also in the process of picking up a better rotary. I'm kinda torn between the DW849, PC, or going for broke and getting the Flex VRG. I'm sure either one will produce amazing results.



Also I think I'm ready to try some wool pads. The salesman at CG recommended the orange pad for compounding but I'm wondering now if it's got enough cut combined with the Diamond 1500? The results are quite nice but I think it could be better. CG does sell a wool pad but I know nothing about it. One of the main reasons I just registered here was to ask some questions about wool and I saw your post while checking out this site.



As far as me I'm a professional IT guy for the past ten years after I finished college. I make good money so I won't be quiting my day job anytime soon. I've grown a huge interest into detailing as it's quite rewarding work IMHO. Obviously with the money I'v e invested into products I'm thinking along the lines of a small business/weekend job as I get more experience under my belt.



I'll be pretty busy through the 4th of July weekend with family coming into town, but that will also give me time to get more products and my new rotary since I'm ordering all of it online.



Sorry I know this is slightly off-topic and you probably just want a guy that is a already accomplished...but given time I know I'll be turning out professional results. Just need the experience to back it up the products. It really helped that I did all that prep and painting on my car too-espeically with color sanding.



I'm doing some smaller jobs here and there and will be taking lots of before and after pictures if you're interested in those. I've been checking out cars in my work parking lot and helping out co-workers with oxidation and such just to get experience. Nothing like working for beer! ;)



My PM should be enabled by default if you want to chat.
 
I know of a few Detailers here in albuquerque.





One in particular I think would be able to help, I don't let anyone touch my car but if my arms were cut off and I was forced to have someone clean it for me there would only be one person I would allow to do so.





Would you like me to find some pics of his work for you/your client?
 
Hey Scott, i am in albuquerque....i would lend a hand if you havent found anyone as of yet...im very limited on my schedule however, im only free on saturdays right now....i can send you some of my work if you want to ever get a hold of me..i can email you some pictures....it should be known from the start that i dont have near the experience that you do
 
jordanrossbell said:
Did you end up finding someone scott?
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Go ahead and e-mail me some of your work. My e-mail address is in my profile-can't post it this thread since it is a commercial e-mail address.



I am sure weekends are good for him, not sure how regularly he wants his vehicles taken care of. I wash his Cayenne pretty much every week and probably at least be waxing it in a few weeks. I believe his ETA for the move is late August.
 
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