How perfect do you aim to keep a daily driver

C

cptzippy

New member
A line in another thread got me thinking about this. Is there a point of 'too good' for a daily driver. Here's what I mean, if you work hard enough to keep the paint swirl free are you removing too much clear to shorten the life of the paint?



I've tried to keep my cars good but noticed that there is some micromarring on both my wife's car and mine (hers 2007 mine 2005). I'd like to make them last and look nice as long as possible. Right now I'm not too worried since I've only had a chance to do one polish run on my car (about 2 years ago). However, now that I have a little more time I'd be able to do it more often.



How do you, personally, find the balance of keeping your daily drivers looking good?
 
Merely my opinion, but if you have a daily driver that you are trying to keep clean and awesome looking, have at it and keep it that way. I have an 04 black crewcab F150 that I think is second to none. I get compliments on how shiny and soft the paint is, how meticulous the tan carpet is (even with 2 kids), the cream colored leather is spotless and always conditioned and the engine is follows suit too. I keep after it all the time, that's just the way I like it and I've always been that way.



At the same time, it is also my billboard for my business (no decals or advertisements, just the truck itself). I am a career firefighter/paramedic and people see my truck and wonder what I do. They say wow, if I can keep my truck looking the way it does and I'm not a full time detailer, then I want you to take care of mine too. I get that alot. I do spend a good amount of time on it, but I never let it get to the point of looking bad. Winter just makes me sick, easy to figure out why.



If you want perfection, good luck keeping it that way. I've tried perfection on my truck and there's no way to do it, without driving myself absolutely nuts. Don't waste your time with perfect. You, yourself will always know where the dirtiest spots are, the new dings and dents, etc. The older it gets, the more you'll have. Settle for Wow and not Perfect!! You'll save yourself a ton of disappointment. Just my opinion though.
 
cptzippy said:
A line in another thread got me thinking about this. Is there a point of 'too good' for a daily driver. Here's what I mean, if you work hard enough to keep the paint swirl free are you removing too much clear to shorten the life of the paint?



I've tried to keep my cars good but noticed that there is some micromarring on both my wife's car and mine (hers 2007 mine 2005). I'd like to make them last and look nice as long as possible. Right now I'm not too worried since I've only had a chance to do one polish run on my car (about 2 years ago). However, now that I have a little more time I'd be able to do it more often.



How do you, personally, find the balance of keeping your daily drivers looking good?
Click to expand...



Two words: Proper Washing.



Autopia seems to focus mainly on machine polishing. And that's great, as it certainly is a necessary part of detailing. However, maintenance (like washing) seems to take a back seat, when really it's *the very most important* thing for the non-pro detailer. And it's all in the wash.



As you pointed out, you don't want to thin your clear coat out too much by repeated abrasive polishes. So you must *maintain* that mar free paint. Remember that swirls and marring can *only* happen when something abrades the paint. Other than when you are machine polishing, when is the only time that something touches your paint (which is the only time it could be marred or swirled)? Washing. If you took a freshly polished vehicle and stuck it in a warehouse for five years, then took it out again, guess what? No swirling. Why? *Because it wasn't washed*! The vast majority of defects in paint are caused by washing it.



As long as you get a washing process down that does not induce marring, keeping a car perfectly polished and swirl free takes *very* little time.



Sorry that turned in to one of my rants, but it's a subject that doesn't get nearly the forum time that it should, and mar free washing is something I'm very passionate about.



Here's a link to my take on the whole washing thing: http://www.autopia.org/forum/car-detailing/117979-how-do-you-wash-your-vehicle-3.html#post1255012



I seem to have lost the link to it, but Accumulator has a fantastic guide to mar free washing... I'll keep looking for it, it's worth reading and re-reading.



Edit: Still can't find Accumulator's article. Can someone post a link to it?
 
I try to keep our daily drivers every bit as nice as the pampered garage-queens and I treat them exactly the same. NO, they're not perfect, but using something daily doesn't mean it's any worse than the cars that get used a few times per year. As SuperBee364 noted, it's all in how you wash 'em.



Two examples, both vehicles that get used *hard*:



The '02 MPV (very thin clear) is used year-round as a dog-hauler and is basically just as nice as my ~14K mile S8 (that's only used on special occasions). Other than some stains in the light gray carpet (in the "dead pedal" area), this dog-hauler is *concours* day-in-day-out. Marring? Nah...it's nice enough for KSG (in any lighting ;) ).



My wife's '00 A8 (>90K miles) has some marring I won't correct 100% because of concerns about the so-so repaint of the panels in question, and it has some chips/pitting on the leading edges. But again, it's not significantly less pristine than any of our other vehicles and it's a *LOT* nicer than some of my friends' concours champs (as said pals will readily admit).



I polish the above maybe once every two years at most, usually after somebody else precipitates it.



Every wash has to be marring-free, that's the big thing; don't mar it and everyting's a lot easier. And I do the undercarriages, back sides of wheels, *everything* at every wash. The interiors aren't allowed to get nasty- the dog-haulers get a little cleanup *every* day but just a ~3 minute quickie (the interiors are covered/protected so that's plenty).



SuperBee364- I think that thread on how I wash is in the "Articles" section, but I'm not sure. I keep thinking I need to update it some day.
 
I agree with the above posters. I drive a black vehicle as well and I shoot for better than 90% of the vehicles on the road. It is quite easy to achieve that goal as long as you follow proper washing technique. My car has no been polished in over a year and it still looks better than 95% of the vehicles on the road.



A soft clay this spring revealed a almost flawless finish thanks to proper washing techniques over the winter. Any polishing I could've done would've provided only marginal improvement that would likely go unrecognized by everyone except my "Autopian-self"



JJ
 
Ok, yep, this is what I was looking for. Sounds Like I need to maybe do a mild polish on them and restart on the mar free routine. I'm pretty good at the washing bit (and hopefully that will continue now that I'm using ONR). I think most of the swirls came about when I 'experimented' with different products - california car duster, this waterless wash stuff I tried from a reputable dealer that I won't name because I didn't like it very much, etc. Also, probably have QD'd sometimes when I should have washed.
 
JJ, think that's where my paint is so I'll have to take a good look at it and think about my polish :)



(Well, except for the big scratch a truck put in it at the parking lot :( )
 
I try to keep my DD as clean as possible, since it is a good way to advertise my business (no decals or advertisements, just the car itself)...



I like having a clean car because people can see first hand how I like to keep my car and that I can do the same for their vehicle...



and fyi it is the cleanest in the parking lot ;)
 
Accumulator said:
SuperBee364- I think that thread on how I wash is in the "Articles" section, but I'm not sure. I keep thinking I need to update it some day.
Click to expand...



That's the last place I saw it, too, but it doesn't seem to be there anymore.
 
J.J. Accum and SuperBee are spot on with this one. I agree that proper or 'the pursuit of' a perfect washing technique takes a back seat to polishing. Maybe that's because of the split between pros and DIYs on this site.

I would like to see more washing and technique (or even theory) discussion here.
 
Murphman said:
Merely my opinion, but if you have a daily driver that you are trying to keep clean and awesome looking, have at it and keep it that way. I have an 04 black crewcab F150 that I think is second to none. I get compliments on how shiny and soft the paint is, how meticulous the tan carpet is (even with 2 kids), the cream colored leather is spotless and always conditioned and the engine is follows suit too. I keep after it all the time, that's just the way I like it and I've always been that way.



At the same time, it is also my billboard for my business (no decals or advertisements, just the truck itself). I am a career firefighter/paramedic and people see my truck and wonder what I do. They say wow, if I can keep my truck looking the way it does and I'm not a full time detailer, then I want you to take care of mine too. I get that alot. I do spend a good amount of time on it, but I never let it get to the point of looking bad. Winter just makes me sick, easy to figure out why.



If you want perfection, good luck keeping it that way. I've tried perfection on my truck and there's no way to do it, without driving myself absolutely nuts. Don't waste your time with perfect. You, yourself will always know where the dirtiest spots are, the new dings and dents, etc. The older it gets, the more you'll have. Settle for Wow and not Perfect!! You'll save yourself a ton of disappointment. Just my opinion though.
Click to expand...





I think we're in the same boat, except that I *do* advertise my business on my truck. My truck is black as well, and I just do what I can to keep it looking as close to perfect as possible. I polish twice a year, and in between it's an LSP (inc. glazes) extravaganza.



Supe and others are definitely correct when they talk about the importance of using a good washing/maintenance technique. I preach this to my customers, and practice it myself (or, at least, I try to).
 
cptzippy said:
.... I think most of the swirls came about when I 'experimented' with different products - california car duster, this waterless wash stuff I tried from a reputable dealer that I won't name because I didn't like it very much, etc. Also, probably have QD'd sometimes when I should have washed.
Click to expand...



IF you eliminate the above-mentioned things you oughta see a nice improvement. No way any CCD, waterless wash, or between-washing QDing is gonna happen to my vehicles and I think that's a big part of how I've been able to keep 'em nice.
 
Yea I've completely stopped doing in between wash QDs. Makes me wonder why I bought a gallon of 425.



I'd rather just wait a few days more until I can ONR it.



Since I stopped QDing I barely have any marring. There's still some that developed from me being careless when doing my wash but no where near as much like it was from QDing.
 
Dsoto87 said:
Yea I've completely stopped doing in between wash QDs. Makes me wonder why I bought a gallon of 425..
Click to expand...



I go through a *LOT* of FK425. I just don't use it as a between-wash QD. I especially like it for use after a wash- I get most of the water off and spritz the FK425 on before I dry. That oughta work well with your ONR regimen too.
 
I keep my daily drivers spotless in the summer and they're probably one of the dirtiest in the winter. Detailing in the summer is the chance for me to spend time with my car, spend time outside and get a workout. I've also gotten a lot of compliments on how clean my cars are, like my '95 Celica people swore looked brand new and wouldn't accept it when I told them how old it really was. Now the winter dirty thing is just plain stupid on my part, although in MN it can be hard to wash the car in the winter, and quite pointless at times when the second you drive it out of the wash it gets splattered again with dirt & salt. Interior-wise I tend to be a neatfreak and try to keep the interior in showroom condition, in case I ever have passengers or have to haul stuff (crap takes up room!).



At the same time, if I want to get any business from people detailing their cars, they're not going to be too eager to trust that I can do a wonderful job when my car looks like it just rolled in the mud. Although the few dealers I've shown my shiny car for work to have been unimpressed, although my car looked so much better than anything their pot-smoking detailers were putting out. But oh well, that's their issue, not mine.
 
Accumulator said:
Every wash has to be marring-free, that's the big thing; don't mar it and everyting's a lot easier. And I do the undercarriages, back sides of wheels, *everything* at every wash. The interiors aren't allowed to get nasty- the dog-haulers get a little cleanup *every* day but just a ~3 minute quickie (the interiors are covered/protected so that's plenty)..
Click to expand...



Hey Accum, to get the back of the wheels, do you take the wheels off each wash or just use a tool to get in and around the spokes? Right now I am using this to get inside my wheels:



Wheel brushes for spoke wheels, deep set spoke wheel brush, large wheel brush, wheel brushes



But it doesn't really get the inside of the spokes, about twice a year I take the wheels off and really scrub those.



Also, what do you use for dog hair? A special type of brush?
 
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