Detailers... top mistakes customers make

Rod73

Rod73

Member
I was looking to start a thread of the top mistakes Auto Detailers see from people in terms of maintaining their cars. Primarily when the wash their cars.
 
Steel wool
single bucket
nylon brushes
no pre rinse
letting water dry on the surface
not enough soap
wash bottom to top
wash half the car without reloading with soap
wash wheels with same media as for paint
bath towels
rub too hard
dawn
 
Thinking "dealer-installed swirls" from novice-and-inexperienced detailers using a wool pad on a rotary buffer means the paint has been "properly" detailed.

There are horror stories galore about vehicle owners cleaning their paint using:
1) Comet and scratch pad used for cleaning dishes (yes it works, but really.. what were you thinking!)
2) Steel wool on chrome (OUCH!!!)
3) Laundry soap for car washes (Powder not being mixed, but hey, if it cleans fabric well it MUST clean car paint.
4) Wiping a dirty spot on a car with your handkerchief or finger nail.
5) Cheap paper toweling and Windex on plastic lens/covers of dashboards (subsequent scratches that even plastic polishes cannot remove)
6) Demoted bath towels to dry car (if only they wouldn`t rub so hard!)
7) Not removing watches, wrist jewelry, or finger rings and washing or polishing/waxing vehicles. Especially rings! (My Bad! Guilty as charged)
8) Well intended children using the spray hose up the tail pipe to clean the exhaust. (Then they wonder WHY the car wouldn`t start! Yep, saw that happen firsthand.)
9) Using Coke-Cola (the soft drink soda) to remove bugs from a front grill and bumper. Actually, this one works OK in a pinch, as the phosphoric acid in Coke dissolves bug guts thoroughly. Just make sure you rinse it immediately. Also works as a rusted thread buster (Like Liquid Wrench). Remember that the next time you get a flat tire on the boat trailer and the lug nuts are frozen on the wheel studs. Pour Coke on the lug lugs, wait 4-5 minutes, and try turning the lug wrench. (Beats strained muscles or broken wheel studs!)


My NUMBER ONE pet peeve (though it`s not detailing related):
Sitting or leaning on my car like its a chair and then sliding their rear end around to get comfortable.
Had this happen to me at a dealer new car lot when the salesperson did so to my vehicle (`85 Red Toyota MR2) while he talked to another customer. Needless to say I read him out. Where does it say Lazy-Boy anywhere on the car?!! Sit IN them, not ON them.
 
Rolling down the window as soon as they pick up the car. Then they roll it back up and get lots of streaks as I`m walking away :)
 
Setting things on the car and leaning/putting their hands all over it rubbing the paint.

When I had my neatly polished Diablo Black Kawasaki ,my roommates already knew how much I hated people touching my paint ,so anytime we went on rides and someone would approach the bike they would yell out "don`t touch the paint or Miguel will freak out on you!!"
 
Migue said:
Setting things on the car and leaning/putting their hands all over it rubbing the paint.

When I had my neatly polished Diablo Black Kawasaki ,my roommates already knew how much I hated people touching my paint ,so anytime we went on rides and someone would approach the bike they would yell out "don`t touch the paint or Miguel will freak out on you!!"
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I always think that`s very rude. Friends and acquaintances used to sit on my bike and the first thing they would do after getting into riding position is rub their hands all over the tank. I never understood this. I would never ask to see someones cell phone and rub my hands all over the screen. This is why I`ve adopted the "touch my bike and die" philosophy.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
I always think that`s very rude. Friends and acquaintances used to sit on my bike and the first thing they would do after getting into riding position is rub their hands all over the tank. I never understood this. I would never ask to see someones cell phone and rub my hands all over the screen. This is why I`ve adopted the "touch my bike and die" philosophy.
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Bikes are like women.

You NEVER touch another man`s bike!

Sent from my D6708 using Tapatalk
 
Clients who use any cupholder that is too small and short for Venti Starbucks Latte`s, etc., that always turn over and spill all down the sides of the console and carpeting..
Now you know why I have a big Mytee extractor and Steam... :)
DanF
 
Interesting thread for this Non-Pro, though it`s a bit depressing too...what`s *wrong* with people (well, people who presumably care about how their vehicles look, otherwise they wouldn`t be your customers)?


WaxAddict said:
No one seems to know how to properly dry a car except us.
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I`d say "wash a car" myself ;) Other than now blowing most of the water off with the AirWand, I basically dry cars the same way I`ve dried most anything else since I was a kid, except I have better towels these days.

TuxedoTaurus said:
You NEVER touch another man`s bike!
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That`s what I was taught (by people you did NOT [tick] off). Even if they let you sit on it, you simply DO NOT TOUCH or you get injured.

vega said:
.. I`ve adopted the "touch my bike and die" philosophy.
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Heh heh, plenty of people are downright *literal* about that in certain circles.

Lonnie said:
Sit IN them, not ON them...
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A whole lot of (sometimes famous) Car Guys sit/lean/etc. on cars all the time. Makes me cringe...
 
Touching the car. Most people are better off not laying a hand on the car and just running it through a touchless car wash. It won`t be totally clean but the paint won`t be hammered.
 
Vega@Autopia said:
I always think that`s very rude. Friends and acquaintances used to sit on my bike and the first thing they would do after getting into riding position is rub their hands all over the tank. I never understood this. I would never ask to see someones cell phone and rub my hands all over the screen. This is why I`ve adopted the "touch my bike and die" philosophy.
Click to expand...

Yes thank you!!!! The thing with sitting down and tank massaging killed me every time, why do people do this...WHY. I startled the skin off a friend`s brother who after sitting on my bike ,went "man this thing is sexy " while rubbing the whole tank, I yelled at him so quick that he jumped out as quick as he could and apologized. People that don`t respect personal property just cause my fuses to blow out regardless of whether it`s something "nice" or not.
 
When I was a 20y.o. I would wax my car with turtle wax and drive around with it like that for a day so it would "bake in". Holy jeepers was it hard to buff off.
 
Setting bags with rubber wheels that pick put grit on the top of a perfectly polished car *gag*

using a California duster and applying tons of pressure to get the dust and sand off the car, a nice red Jaguar *cringe*

setting keys and shoes on the trunk after I polish it. A BMW owner did this and I cringed because I just polished marks from bags sliding off the trunk to perfection :scared:

I haven`t even had many customers yet...
 
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I saw someone literally waterless washing their car (dry towel on dry paint without any products). That one takes the cake for me.

I saw someone else using Windex as quick detailer at a car show.

A lot of people lick/wet their finger and rub off bug`s/contamination.

People think they look cooler when the lean against my SRT, this one really pisses me off.

When I was a kid we would slide across the hood of my father`s friends Tans Am and Corvette like in the TV shows. We`d also jump over the door and into the drivers seat (with the T-top open and windows down). It was fun but in hindsight, I feel bad for the paint.

I see a lot of people on my street using their relatively dirty household mop buckets and plastic bristle brushes to wash their cars. These people also leave their cotton or shammy drying towel on the ground until they are ready to use it.

A Jamaican friend of mine literally fought with me to dry his car with his shammy from the trunk of his 1992 Lexus SC400 (the shammy was likely as old as the car). When I shook the towel it was so full of dust and dirt I couldn`t help but laugh. I might as well used my from doormat to dry the car. I put my foot down and told him to use it on a CD first and if it scratches then no go on the paint. That`s the only test that got it trough to him that it was going to scratch the paint.

Most people leave their rings, belt, necklaces, ect on while washing. I`ve tried pointing it out to people but they just don`t listen.

My mother always has her car keys in her hands when she gets in or out of the car and puts that hand on the A and B pillar. The drivers side of the car is full scratchs from her purses metal buckles scraping accorss the paint. The lid of the truck is exceptionally bad (she puts her perse down there). Where as the passangerside of the car is basiclly perfect (we car pool to work and I keep my side clean). Shes 64 years old and shes set in her ways, but it really gets me when she holds the keys in her hand and tries to get in my car. I stop her 3 feet short and ask her to put her keys in her pocket or purse. My friends think I`m an ass cuz they can`t tell a swirl from a squirrel.

Just a few ways I`ve seen a lot of damage occurs to cars paint.
 
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