You Won't Believe This....

B

bcbassn

New member
Today I passed by a new custom white van with detailing logos on the side of it. I saw two guys washing a truck. I parked my car across the street and pretended to be waiting to pick someone up, as I watched these guys.



What I saw blew me away. I saw one of the guys washing the hood with a terry cloth rag. He swished the rag around in circles (The truck was a newer model grey GMC). He moved the rag off the hood and onto the front quarter panel, again in circles. Then he went down to the front wheel and rubbed on the wheel for a little bit. Then went back up to the front windshield and began rubbing it. My jaw dropped.



Here is what made me feel horrible.....



Some dude in a white small new Mercedes stopped next to this guy and I could tell he was inquiring about their services. I mouthed the words to him....don't do it. Don't do it.....but he took their business card and drove off.



I drove away pissed at what I saw, even though it was none of my business. At least I knew I was a true Autopian because I clued in on this injustice to our hobby / business.
 
Josh......in response to your "This surprises you?" comment (and I don't say this in an angry way or am trying to start something).....



I have learned to believe nothing of what I see and only half of what I hear. However it surprises me because judging on the money they put into the van and graphics, which means they obviously have great business, I would expect more professional, trained people.



On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me because time and supplies is money!
 
Many 'detail' shops aren't much more than glorified car washes and sadly, most of their customers don't know the difference. But then, look around at the condition of many cars on the road - amazing that people will pay so much for a vehicle and not really take care of it. Really expensive cars driven by pigs with lipstick...(oh...that sounded harsh...but funny tho!)

Oh well, go figure - ignorance is bliss.
 
I've watched from the window, the hacks that work the parking lot of my office. Once the guy was drying a car, dropped the towel and kept going without skipping a beat. And they have a nice trailer with a generator, logo on the side, etc. Everybody in the office thinks they do such a "great job."



But at the same time, I've been able to enlighten a few people in the office who can't get those "spider webs" out of the finish. I show them my car and they are like :wow:
 
unfortunately, this is a common occurence at many dealerships, detail shops, and with mobile detailers. i can't count the times i've seen nice rides getting swirled/hacked...
 
I see it all too often where I live and hear of it as well! A friend of mine insists that shabby jobs like that are "good enough because the car will just get dirty again." It's a shame; most people probably share his view.
 
As stated earlier in this thread:



The vast majority of the general public can't appreciate the level of OCD detailig that occurs on this site. They just look at it and say "that looks nice".



I think only car people can truly appreciate a good detailing.
 
thats nothing. THe guys in my firehouse wash their cars at the firehouse from time to time. We have long handled brushes for the fire trucks. THey use them to wash their cars. Heres the kicker... THey scrub their cars with them going from the paint then to scrubbing their wheel wells!!!! then back to the paint!!!! then the wheels and back to the paint again!!
 
I was at a Ford dealer today, almost every dark car on the lot had bad buffer trails. The lighter colored cars had it too, but it wasn't as visable.



They offered to wash/detail my truck too. That was funny to me.
 
You won't believe this, but a year ago I went to Linens-N-Things and got a couple of 100% cotton, made in the USA wash cloths. I've been using them very carefully as my wash media and I've never had a problem. The car is 6 years old with 70K on it and the paint has never been corrected. It's shocking how few swirls the car has. I'll try and post pics.
 
Well said. I am constantly trying to explain to people how an "ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure" as the old adage goes.



Look at it this way, it keeps them coming back to us.



JoshVette said:
You can only do one thing, continue to try to educate people in proper car care.
Click to expand...
 
MikeyB said:
Josh......in response to your "This surprises you?" comment (and I don't say this in an angry way or am trying to start something).....



I have learned to believe nothing of what I see and only half of what I hear. However it surprises me because judging on the money they put into the van and graphics, which means they obviously have great business, I would expect more professional, trained people.



On the other hand, it doesn't surprise me because time and supplies is money!
Click to expand...



Most people pay good money to have there cars cleaned this way unfortunately.



Just cause some hack car wash makes a lot of money doesn't mean they do quality work, just mean they do a lot of business for people that are not educated in proper car care techniques. Which is why it so important for us to educate poeple.
 
after those guys leave you pop in and show the owners all the swirls marks and hazing that they caused and tell them you'd be happy to make the paint look brand new again..might make a handsome profit :xyxthumbs
 
JoshVette said:
Most people pay good money to have there cars cleaned this way unfortunately.
Click to expand...



I think often people just want "a clean car". Anyone with $8 in quarters can "wash a car". When people see a van or trailer with signage they *assume* that it is a reputable company that is going to charge for quality work. As I have read in many other threads... owners don't sit and watch their vehicles get detailed and therefore there are a LOT of shortcuts that these guys can take to get the job done more quickly so they can do another car and make more money. The fact is you could take a car through a gas station car wash and then dress the tires and some people would be shocked and even say something like "wow, no way a car wash could get it looking like that!". Sad huh? I am not a professional nor do I want to be... DETAILING is an art and a science and those of you on here that are professionals I applaud not only your craft, but your business practices as well. There are some true "professionals" on this site and I am grateful to just be able to listen (read) and learn!
 
I agree, a lot of people just want their car washed and are to lazy to do it themselves. I have a friend of mine that has a newer bmw 330, its dark matallic blue (swirled to hell) and i get on him all the time about the condition he has it in...his response...its just a car who cares...
 
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