Acura TL Type S Complete Detail (Way too many pics)

[2007TBSS]

So, I have always been a fan of detailing and I guess after a while here I realized maybe this could be a way to make a little side money since my wife and I have a little one due any day now and she will be cutting her hours to spend time with baby.



So I took what I knew, learned a lot from here and put it all together and told a few friends. ined up my first "professional" detail.



This car was thrashed, inside and out. The paint was scratched and marred every way possible. The interior had years of smoke residue and spills and dirty leather and..........



Feel free to critque. About half way through the 20hrs I wondered if I should finish or kill myself.:lol



So anyways, here's some pics.



Dawn wash

Mothers claybar and lube

Another Dawn wash

Megs 105 on Cyan LC HT pad

Megs 205 on Tang LC HT pad

Dawn wash

IPA Wipedown

Z-AIO

Z-5

Z-6

Z-8

Megs APC on Wheel wells and interior carpets

Megs Leather cleaner

Gigantic scratch on quarter panel.

Scratches on roof.

Road line sprayer overspray and huge scratch.

2 passes

Half and half

I didn't get a lot of before interior pics. By this point I didn't care to document my suffering.

Roof scratches gone.

Huge scratch on quarter panel gone

Thrashed bumper corrected.

All done.

I learned a lot from this. Like making sure the customer knows what to expect, and that you know what the customer expects, and if possible, that it's the same thing.



Also, that outside of Autopia, most customers just want their car to "look nice." They don't care if you spend 20 hours correcting their paint, if you forget to vacuum an ashtray.

 

[robmack]

Very nice job. The transformation, to my untrained eye, looks astounding.

I learned a lot from this. Like making sure the customer knows what to expect, and that you know what the customer expects, and if possible, that it's the same thing. Also, that outside of Autopia, most customers just want their car to "look nice." They don't care if you spend 20 hours correcting their paint, if you forget to vacuum an ashtray.

I don't know if you've had your own business before or currently but, speaking as a customer for services like yours, I believe your take-aways are good. Client communication during presales, and during and after delivery is absolutely important. Your business will grow depending on how customers percieve their value for money with your service. Continuous communications during the job keeps the customer informed and allows them to plan appropriately. If you have troubles (short on supplies, raining out, excess workload, etc.), letting the client know in advance or ASAP goes a long way to keeping that customer happy. You're right with level setting expectations during presales. The client may have ideas about what you are able to deliver for a given price, especially if they have talked to a hack who low balls your price and the customer can't understand why you can't price match. Keeping an eye on your costs is going to make sure you have money for your family; don't price low because no one appreciates the quality of work performed for a low price even though its the same effort as a correctly priced service product. It's probably not standard but having a short written Statement of Work that the both of you sign gives weight to any disputes that may arise later.



I recently have a painter respray my motorcycle fairing pieces. He did an amazing job but it took forever (1-1/2 months). We had a SoW prepared; he and I both knew our expectations. He contacted me constantly with short emails to tell me where he was in the process and his estimated time to completion. Since I felt part of the process instead of outside it without a means to manage it, I felt well served by this painter. If he hadn't given me the emails, I would have probably been very pissed off and, even though he could have put in an extreme amount of effort with amazing results, I would not have appreciated it.



Good luck on your budding business (and the new family!!).

 

[johnson]

Nice turnaround. I would suggest dressing the wheel wells but most people don't notice it.



A friend and I detailed a car this weekend and I brought the shade of white up a notch but the owner only noticed how smooth the paint was. :think:

 

[2007TBSS]

Nice turnaround. I would suggest dressing the wheel wells but most people don't notice it.



A friend and I detailed a car this weekend and I brought the shade of white up a notch but the owner only noticed how smooth the paint was. :think:

I usually get a "dressed" look on vinyl inserted wells from washing them with ONR treated water. This car had steel wells so the ONR did no good. I was kinda left with no other options since I didn't plan on having that problem.



I plan to address it before the next one. I'm thinking Opti tire gel diluted with water maybe?

 

[4cruizn]

Amazing turnaround - looks great!