The dreaded black paint vs. the easy white paint..

[imported_Picus]

^^ I respectfully disagree. I tend not to give much credit to the average passer by when it comes to niche level car detailing, but I'm fairly confident most people would see a difference, even if they couldn't explain what the difference was.



...Of course I agree entirely that working within the constraints of a customers budget/expectations is key... but that's kind of a different conversation.

 

[Accumulator]

As for what Accumulator said:



"Take two white cars (or silver ones...like two silver S8's since that's how I've demonstrated this). Correct one to "perfectly fine to the naked eye" level. It'll look fine, no question about it. But then take the second one beyond that with a little burnishing/"jeweling". In decent lighting, the difference will be obvious, even to "normal people". BTDT and while nobody else thought it was worth doing, people *did* see the difference."



I just don't buy it. Maybe if you put the cars side by side, somebody would notice the difference...

The two identical silver S8s *were* side-by-side. And you'd have to have been blind to miss the diff It wasn't subtle...my wife was asking "how would you fix that?!?" Re the other guy's (professionally detailed) car.



FWIW, my wife and I have our two identical silver D2-series Audis parked side-by-side all the time, and I bet *you* would see the diffs between them if you checked them out in person. IRL, some car nuts do notice the diffs and can articulate them too, but you're right, normal people think they look the same.

...but if you have one group of people look at car A and another group of people look at car B and judge how they look without seeing the other car, I bet their wouldn't be any statistical difference in the results! Only true car detailing nuts can tell the difference on a white car, at least from a few feet + away!

While some of those nuts (myself included) really can do that sort of comparison, when it comes to remotely normal people in real world situations, hey.... I agree with you completely. I consider my white Crown Vic to be a real POS, yet people are always complimenting it and I'm not the least bit interested in making it look any better; it's plenty good enough. Some Autopian would find all sorts of things that "need improving" but I couldn't care less :grinno: But I tell ya.... I'd sure hate to park it next to an identical one that'd been *really* Autopianized

 

[gigondaz]

There are much more awesomely impressive black cars around vs whites and silvers.





For me, it's much more difficult to impress the owner of a white or light coloured car.

For such colours, I try to aim for big budget jobs with lots of time given to me so that I can do some very mild sanding (if necessary), extensive compounding and loads of fine burnishing, coupled to a few rounds of synthetic sealants or even coatings.



As a detailer, I intentionally bought a silver car and got it extensively prepped and detailed to show my customers what is possible with a silver car.



Note:

When I demo any silver or light coloured cars, I love doing it in a dim indoor environment as it helps to highlight how reflective white, silver and light colours can be.

 

[amcdonal86]

This is true, white and silver are much more reflective in lower light conditions.

 

[C. Charles Hahn]

Note:

When I demo any silver or light coloured cars, I love doing it in a dim indoor environment as it helps to highlight how reflective white, silver and light colours can be.

Indeed! Case in point:

 

[Accumulator]

Yeah, the dim environment makes almost as much difference as the inspection light you *are* using (in that environment).



Oh, FWIW, I just did my wife's silver A8, finished it yesterday. First overall correction in maybe four years. And no, I did *NOT* do a final burnishing. Just finished with 1Z HG via Griot's RO with a 6" Griot's polishing pad. Would a final going over with something else have made a difference? Maybe..make that *probably*...but only I woulda noticed and I don't care that much; it turned out fine and is already so glossy/shiny that I can't inspect it in the sun. Accumulatorette said some guy was walking around it in a parking lot, just staring at it, smiling and shaking his head. Think that guy woulda been more impressed had I done more? :grinno: