2010 Nissan Skyline GTR... used and abused!

[Apollo_Auto]

Hi all! I wasn't going to post this any time soon (I've got a million other things going on now and some of you know what they are ) but this one threw me for a bit of a loop (upset me in other words) and I thought I'd share with the rest of you so you don't get into the same situation as I did. I waxed this car about 1 month ago and polished out a very noticeable scratch that was on it (only a few weeks old at the time) and then scheduled it for a light polish to remove the dealer-induced swirls, which was 1 week ago. A mere month had passed and since then the "homies" had taken their toys (Scuderia, M3, GTR) out to the lake, the track, etc. Unfortunately I don't have the capacity to wash their cars at will (as they'd like, because they need them washed very sporadically) so they take their cars to the local car wash next door. I warned them of the dangers but they don't care as long as I can polish it and make it better again (as much as possible... good for me ).



Anyway, when I scheduled the "light polishing" the state the car was in could have been cleared up with a finishing polish and a DA... maximum 3 hours. When I got the keys last week (awesome car to drive...) I was completely shocked at the state it was in after only a couple of weeks!!!! Take a look >>

Nice foam bath and then a wash...

revealed this >> :angry :nervous2:

So my dilemma was that the keys were left for me along with the agreed amount of money, but the car was in roughly 4x worse condition than when I saw it last. What's a boy to do??? My premeditated combo for this buttery paint didn't really put a dent in the damage that was on the car, therefore I opted to bite the bullet and make my customer *a VERY good customer* happy and do a one-stage rotary correction, which threw my schedule completely off. I started off with a medium polish that would technically finish most jobs hologram-free, but this was crappy Japanese paint so it corrected well but the time it took to finish perfectly was far too much than I'd originally alloted. So I had to step down to a lighter polish that didn't correct as much, but left a hologram-free finish with the one step that I had time for.



I always strive for perfection and if it's not achieved, yes I do lose sleep because it drives me nuts. The owner was happy with the amount of correction I was able to achieve with a one-step, but I wasn't. There were still swirls in the paint and deep scratches, but I guess I just have to let them go . Anyway, I guess the moral of this story is that you should always quote a price for polishing a car right when the keys are handed over. It was a cloudy day when these were taken so you really can't see the (very minor) swirls in the paint.

Thanks for reading and to all the Playboy subscribers, thanks for "reading"!



- Jesse O'Connor

 

[MarcHarris]

Jesse man I was getting worried you got lost and couldn't find your way back to autopia!

Glad to hear you're doing well and you're as busy as ever - very deserving. I look forward to the behind-the-scenes plans you have in motion. Aside from that, another top-notch job by one of earth's best and most entertaining detailers. Thanks for sharing another sample of some work and I look forward to the next!

 

[Barry Theal]

Jesse welcome back homeboy!!! You actually work on nissans? lmao car looks superb!

 

[Pats300zx]

Welcome back Jesse. I have missed seeing your work. Stunning work on the GTR...:woot2:

 

[2005GTPinMD]

Jesse fantastic work...so the owner drove from Germany to get work done by you?

 

[imported_Bence]

Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let's say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.

 

[JohnKleven]

Fantastic work as always Jesse...

 

[2005GTPinMD]

Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let's say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.

Thanks for that information - that is great to know .

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Jesse man I was getting worried you got lost and couldn't find your way back to autopia!

Glad to hear you're doing well and you're as busy as ever - very deserving. I look forward to the behind-the-scenes plans you have in motion. Aside from that, another top-notch job by one of earth's best and most entertaining detailers. Thanks for sharing another sample of some work and I look forward to the next!

Thanks buddy ! Should be revealing things very soon...

Jesse welcome back homeboy!!! You actually work on nissans? lmao car looks superb!

Yeah I had to lower my standards a bit !

Welcome back Jesse. I have missed seeing your work. Stunning work on the GTR...:woot2:

Cheers Pat! I've got lots more porn where that came from so hopefully I'll be able to get it up soon!

Jesse fantastic work...so the owner drove from Germany to get work done by you?

Thanks mate! I do have some customers in other countries, but in this case it's as Bence stated below !

Umm, I think no. Here in Hungary people often run foreign plates to avoid the stewpeed Hungarian "registration tax". For example when I wanted to buy, let's say a 10 year old Lexus LS400 for 10.000 Euros in Germany, I have to pay 10% customs, 25% VAT, and this insane RT, which in this case is around 15.000 Euros. So the final price would be over 25.000€ for a 10 year old barge. To avoid this, register a company in a neighborhood country and save the tax. Common practice here.



Hey Jesse, this is the self-healing paint which loses the ability to reflow if you overpolish it.

Hmm, I didn't know they were actually going to be using that paint... I'll have to monitor it closely and see how effective it really is.

Fantastic work as always Jesse...

Thank you, John!

 

[Greg Nichols]

So what was the process you used to get to this point? For a bunch of homies that don't listen to you it turned out fine for them, in the end that is what matters.



Cheers,

GREG

 

[a_guerrajr]

not bad for a one step IMO



what combo did you use if you don't mind sharing your secrets

 

[imported_artikxscout]

I know exactly what you mean Jesse. I have clients like that too who just beat on their car and since we always strive for perfection, it's not always possible in the allotted time. Luckily for me, as long if I make it better, they're completely satisfied with it, beat it up, and then bring it back in about 2 months for a correction again. At this rate, if I start using a medium polish, the paint will be gone by 2 years!



Great job on the car, it came in dirty and you completely turned it around. You'll probably see them again soon!

 

[Apollo_Auto]

So what was the process you used to get to this point? For a bunch of homies that don't listen to you it turned out fine for them, in the end that is what matters.



Cheers,

GREG

Thanks Greg! This was a one-stepper and I started with my medium polish which took entirely too long to finish with on this soft paint, so then I stepped down to my #1 finishing polish which allowed me to finish up in a normal time. After that I sealed it up with my nano sealant because it's the strongest thing I've got in my arsenal. I went with that for the LSP because he takes his car to a car wash that uses a very alkalic snowfoam and it's already started to burn the paint. Hopefully my sealant will help prevent that in the future!

not bad for a one step IMO



what combo did you use if you don't mind sharing your secrets

Thanks buddy! I used my finishing polish and a finishing pad for the entire car. You'll see soon enough what "my" polishes are .

I know exactly what you mean Jesse. I have clients like that too who just beat on their car and since we always strive for perfection, it's not always possible in the allotted time. Luckily for me, as long if I make it better, they're completely satisfied with it, beat it up, and then bring it back in about 2 months for a correction again. At this rate, if I start using a medium polish, the paint will be gone by 2 years!



Great job on the car, it came in dirty and you completely turned it around. You'll probably see them again soon!

Thanks buddy! Glad someone else feels my pain . Yeah I have all those guys on a maintenance plan already! He's got an X6 coming in this week and we'll be wrapping it in matte black so keep your eyes peeled for it!

 

[autoconcierge]

Looks great for a quick detail Jesse, minimum of two days to do right on that paint. Always wonder why someone will get a highline vehicle like this and just trash it, then find a guy of your level and skimp on the portions and not allow you to bring it back up to snuff then keep it that way

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Thanks Bob! yeah it beats the hell outta me too...

 

[MirrorDetailing]

Great job. From what I understand though, those paints are not the self healing ones. The self healing ones were a limited option and if you look under the hood at the middle upper portion of the firewall you will see a paint badge and most will just say "Hard Clear." Now for some reason people have figured out that those cars correct the best with light cutting pads and light polishes worked in as you figured out on just your 1-step. Again great job though! I have two of those cars scheduled for corrections next month!

 

[Labster]

Great job for a one step for sure Jesse! Don't lose any sleep over it, after all "the customer is always right!"

 

[David Fermani]

Nice job Jesse - Must be nice not doing Italian cars once in a while. How did the accelration compare to the Italia?

 

[Apollo_Auto]

Great job. From what I understand though, those paints are not the self healing ones. The self healing ones were a limited option and if you look under the hood at the middle upper portion of the firewall you will see a paint badge and most will just say "Hard Clear." Now for some reason people have figured out that those cars correct the best with light cutting pads and light polishes worked in as you figured out on just your 1-step. Again great job though! I have two of those cars scheduled for corrections next month!

Thanks and thanks for the info mate, I'll have a look at it next week when I go back to wash it!

Great job for a one step for sure Jesse! Don't lose any sleep over it, after all "the customer is always right!"

Thanks buddy !

Nice job Jesse - Must be nice not doing Italian cars once in a while. How did the accelration compare to the Italia?

Thanks David! Yeah it was a nice break away, but I must say that 95-98% of the cars I do here are ceramic so this one threw me off a bit in the beginning. I've opened the Italia up enough to whip the tail in 3rd and leave service stripes in my skivvies but I didn't get the chance with this one . From what I felt the steering was much more responsive in the Nissan and that scares me a bit because combined with the 4-wheel drive it's a urine-inducing experience . Handles great, bloody fast, etc., but once you realized you've lost it it's too late... I talked to the owner today and we'll be going for a ride in it soon ! Will video!

 

[tssdetailing]

I always suggest a 2step for ANY black car that I haven't performed correction work on allready. But seriously w/out close ups-that car looks slick as hell, so I dunno what you're worried about...!