Anybody else get disappointed after you detail your regularly detailed car??

R

RPPM

Member
Let me start off by saying, I`m not a pro, this is my hobby. I detail the 4 cars my daughters, wife and I drive all the time. I do cars for neighbors, friends, and extended family, plus the occasional "customer car". But most of the time, it is the same 4 cars we drive.

The problem really is with the current products available, you can make your cars look like they are fully detailed each week. I last did a full detail on the 4 cars in April. Since then, been weekly or bi weekly washes, followed by some spray wax/qd/waterless wash once a month. It is time to get them prepared for winter. So I struggle now with the efforts to do a full detail (wash, decontaminate, clay, clean paint/light polish, apply dedicated LSP, clean interior, dress dash, windows, dress tires, wheel wells, engine). I struggle because after all that time (basically a 6-8 hour day per car), the results barely look any different than the cars do now.

Back in the day before all the maintenance products, you knew your car needed detailed by how the look and protection started to fade, how the car was more difficult to wash. The best part about the detail was when you were done, the fruits of your labor were easily recognized. Now, I finish up, I look at one of the cars and think, "wow, all that work and the car looks just about the same". My wife looks at me like I am crazy, because the cars don`t look like they need detailed, she absolutely can`t see any difference.

So I find myself wanting to do more friends/family/neighbors cars, because when I am done, it looks like I actually made a difference. Anybody else ever think along these lines?
 
Absolutely. Totally understand what you are saying.
Earlier this summer I got a chance to "restore" an early 80`s Mercedes 300D with single stage paint using Mirror Glaze #7. On a number scale, I estimate I took a car that was about a 40 on a scale of 1 to 100 and made it an 85-90. Very rewarding because the change was so immense.
OTOH, I take a look at my two new personal drivers and say "well, I can take this 98 and maybe make it a 99 by polishing the brake calipers".
I guess in my mind, the reward for keeping at it will come when each of them is 10 years old and still looks like it was just driven off the dealer`s lot.
 
I... can always show the difference... I just stop washing the car for 2 months before prep time :) lol

My car is actually almost 2 months in now, and its so god damn dirty with only 100 extra miles since then... Basically I don`t detail my car in August and September... lol

I also live in a neighborhood that most guys take a pan of water + dish soap and splash it on their car then rubb the crap out of it with a terry towel that started out as a white towel and ended up as a muddy gray. So I always compare my car to whats on the street and feel good about it, my wife concurs that it is worth the effort half the time.
 
I know the feeling, but at the same time that`s the beauty of it, your car looks detailed pretty much all the time and it brings peace of mind IMO. My business car is polished and coated, and it gets parked in the garage most of the time, so i just hit it with a quick 10-15 min. waterless wash session once a week or so since it is single stage and it likes to stain easily but i rarely give it a hose/soap wash. My girlfriend`s car stays outside and driven pretty much daily so that one gets a rinseless wash but i need to give it a light polish and coat it to make maintenance even easier.

I enjoy doing customers cars more since they truly need it,the difference is very noticeable and i`m making someone else happy. I like to spend as little as possible on my own vehicles since they get cleaned so frequently and i already know what to be on the lookout for.
 
I started this as a child, and loved all things automotive since then, and have never felt the least bit disappointed, etc., after working on any vehicle..
It helps if you love doing this and it is not just another chore, etc.. Not everyone will feel this way, and that is totally ok and expected...
That is what keeps Detailers in business anyway.. :)

I can totally relate to your scenario...
At one time I had 5 really nice family vehicles in the garage and driveway, and there was always a Client`s vehicle in the garage too..

For me, it was a huge blessing and time saver to keep up on all of the families vehicles a lot so when it came time to re-do them, it was not a lot hours of work..

But then I do this for a living so I know after decades, how to do it quickly, efficiently, which machines, products, etc., work the best, and the individual processes down pat..

If you are not feeling the "love" :) any longer, perhaps an idea would be to change up the process/es a bit, perhaps even consider adding a good, proven, coating to all of them, so that for sure, there will not be a lot of work to do on the outside, and if you can keep your hands off of it, it will look great and last a long time..

Then, perhaps it will not become more a "chore" and instead a "check in", see how everything is going, and then out to do the other zillion things a good Dad has to do with family and then the rest of the household projects...
Good luck !
DanF
 
Yes, maybe time to step back for a bit. Hard to balance the OCD part of detailing when the fulfillment isn`t always there.
 
Heh heh, other side of the fence here. And for me it *is* merely another chore...better things to prioritize but it still needs done just like shining shoes and cleaning up [everything else]. Doesn`t mean I don`t keep even the beaters concours-ready ;) But it`s not something I`d miss if I could wave the magic wand (or more like, a magic checkbook). As I`ve often posted, if I had some of our Autopian Pros in my area I`d simply have them do this stuff for me, though it`d probably get pricey given what I consider "mininally acceptable".
 
Accumulator said:
Heh heh, other side of the fence here. And for me it *is* merely another chore...better things to prioritize but it still needs done just like shining shoes and cleaning up [everything else]. Doesn`t mean I don`t keep even the beaters concours-ready ;) But it`s not something I`d miss if I could wave the magic wand (or more like, a magic checkbook). As I`ve often posted, if I had some of our Autopian Pros in my area I`d simply have them do this stuff for me, though it`d probably get pricey given what I consider "mininally acceptable".
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Hey no problem, are you near me?B)
 
Can well understand how you feel. So much great stuff out there.... Making short work to great results.
 
I enjoy the depth, or "jetting" that comes from a fully polished and sealed car. I like looking out of the windshield at the hood and it looks like there`s a layer of glowing mist riding on top of the paint. This effect seems to enhance the bodywork and makes the whole car look more sleek. THAT type of look only comes from hard work.

That`s not to say I don`t feel silly sometimes with all the attention and products and towels and whatnot, and even burned out on occasion, but if I have a free Saturday and a few cold ones, ain`t nothin better.
 
It becomes a bit of a chore for me during summer(sooo 90% of the year down in TX) and now that Fall is sloooowly creeping in, i`ll be enjoying cleaning my own cars a lot more and thorough the 50 degree "winter" .
 
Migue said:
It becomes a bit of a chore for me during summer(sooo 90% of the year down in TX) and now that Fall is sloooowly creeping in, i`ll be enjoying cleaning my own cars a lot more and thorough the 50 degree "winter" .
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Dude yeah. Today was only disgustingly hot and humid. My garage in summer is Satan`s ass cheeks.
 
RPPM:
You have "discovered" one of the dilemmas facing obsessive-compulsive detailers whose vehicles ALWAYS look clean. My suggestion?? Just live with it because your vehicles look better than 99% of the "other" vehicles on the road. Should you hold off on full details until they look like they really , really need it??? NO, but you can decide when to do it. Having four vehicles to detail is like a full-time "hobby" and a real workout. That`s one thing that many once-in-a-while "hobby detailers" do not realize how physically demanding "real" detailing can be.

Now should my vehicle be next to Accumulator`s, Stkdg`s, 512detail`s, or any other Autopian All-Stars, well, they are the other 1% whose vehicles snap heads around and solicit responses like "what do you use on your car?" Yes, I try, but really, I cannot compare, but then I remember it still looks good to me. The fact that you do other people`s vehicles outside of your immediate family means someone else thinks you do a good detailing job on vehicles that they will allow you to do theirs. That speaks volumes about your detailing prowess and abilities, even if it does take you a little (OK, I`m like you: it seems like alot) longer to complete the task.
 
Even though your cars are well kept up and by appearance you can`t see much of a difference, you yourself still know they are protected again when you give them a full detail. That should make it worth while for piece of mind, even if your eye`s don`t see a difference!
 
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