"It's Just A Car"

Here's the kicker... I've had a guy bring me a 4 year old Vette, completely trashed, obviously never washed, vacuumed, nothing.

He has me do a complete $500 detail on it.

The next day he trades it in on a new one (so he can start trashing it again!)

The only day he drove it clean was the day he bought it!!!!!
 
Luster said:
Here's the kicker... I've had a guy bring me a 4 year old Vette, completely trashed, obviously never washed, vacuumed, nothing.

He has me do a complete $500 detail on it.

The next day he trades it in on a new one (so he can start trashing it again!)

The only day he drove it clean was the day he bought it!!!!!
Click to expand...
I wonder how much more he out for trade in thanks to your detail though.
 
I love having a black car, an older porsche 911, and get quite anal about keeping it clean and polished but I have said the famous phrase "it's only a car".

I drive mine everyday regardless of weather. It gets dirty, I clean it. Swirls come back, I polish it. I enjoy using it as it was designed.

It will eventually wear out, get some rust or other type of funk and I'll get another one.

What I don't understand is the car that never gets driven and lives in the garage.

I just met a guy that has a 1997 Porsche 911, beautiful car that he has owned for 4 years and has driven it a total of 3000 miles. It has had three owners and still has less than 30,000 miles. It's a thirteen year old car so that is less than 3,000 miles per year.

To me that is crazy.
 
Tell me about it, My two cousin have $50k plus cars. I figure to do them a favor, I said to them I'll detail your Audi A5 and BMW 535ix at product cost. they still declined, o well, now I have cars lined up and no more favors for them. to them the car is a lease, so they don't care. to me? why pay $$$ per month having a nice car looking worst than my 2000 Audi.
 
I agree with everything said above.
But let's face it - some cars DO look and drive like an Appliance - that probably has something to do with people treating them as such, you think?

If a person really enjoys driving a particular car - say a BMW - the Ultimate Driving Machine - well then the pride they have for their beautiful Bimmer translates into a little sacrifice - wash, polish, wax, hire a Detailer to do that for them, etc..
Heck the car even seems to run better when its freshly washed and detailed, doesnt it ? :)

In my limited experience with this kind of behavior, I can see in my step-son, traits of his clueless dad, who has never cleaned his own car except with a bottle of Dawn and a dirty towel that never gets washed. The kid doesnt get any support from his Dad to clean up his car or even to clean up the car the kids drive when they are at his house.
So the kid thinks that cars are,,,,, well,,,,appliances or something like that.

We bought a really nice '97 540i a few years back in anticipation of all 3 kids driving it when they stay at our house, and now 2 of them are.
And neither of them even have a brain cell burning that says something like - "hey the 540i is really dirty inside and out - let's go clean it up since Dan and Ginie are so nice to provide it for us, pay the insurance, gas and repairs on it".
They dont even have a clue because they were raised to the contrary regarding cars.

At the other end of the scale, my 2 daughters now in their early 30's inheirited the car detailing gene from me and they always have clean, black, SUV's. Their husbands, who are not car guys, must hate it when they tell them to go clean up my car, cause my Dad is coming to visit ! :):):)

It will always be this way - some of us care for all things that have motors and go fast, are a big investment, etc., and the majority doesnt...... So sad.....sniff :( :)

Dan F
 
Stokdgs said:
my 2 daughters now in their early 30's inheirited the car detailing gene from me and they always have clean, black, SUV's. Their husbands, who are not car guys, must hate it when they tell them to go clean up my car, cause my Dad is coming to visit ! :):):)
Click to expand...

I have 4 sons. NOT ONE of them inherited the gene!!!! :banghead:

My wife, on the other hand, did not inherit the gene, yet she did all my detailing when I was on chemo, and did a darn fine job!!! (Good woman there!):biggrin:
 
Luster said:
I have 4 sons. NOT ONE of them inherited the gene!!!! :banghead:

My wife, on the other hand, did not inherit the gene, yet she did all my detailing when I was on chemo, and did a darn fine job!!! (Good woman there!):biggrin:
Click to expand...

Bill,

She sounds like a KEEPER!!!:thumbup:
 
Good thread...

I think it must in the genes.

My dad was a car dealer and he'd rather walk thru a football field's worth of broken glass... barefoot, than drive a messed up car. I always had nice cars all my life, most of 'em were my fathers that he loaned me for "drivers." I took care of those cars the best I could... I knew he'd have to sell them at some point and I never wanted him to lose money on a car because of me. ... it did hurt pretty bad to have to give the keys to the '70 Shelby Mustang back though.:(

My 90 year old mom out in Utah has the gene too. I spoke to her yesterday and she said, "Thanks for sending the ONR... I just did my car in the garage this morning and it looks great!" 90 years old and still rockin'!:wizard:

So yeah, doing cars and making them shine is just a way of life in my family. Some people definitely don't get it though. There's more than a few exotics in this town that are pretty trashed... that's sad to see.
 
Roadrunner said:
Good thread...

I think it must in the genes.

My dad was a car dealer and he'd rather walk thru a football field's worth of broken glass... barefoot, than drive a messed up car. I always had nice cars all my life, most of 'em were my fathers that he loaned me for "drivers." I took care of those cars the best I could... I knew he'd have to sell them at some point and I never wanted him to lose money on a car because of me. ... it did hurt pretty bad to have to give the keys to the '70 Shelby Mustang back though.:(

My 90 year old mom out in Utah has the gene too. I spoke to her yesterday and she said, "Thanks for sending the ONR... I just did my car in the garage this morning and it looks great!" 90 years old and still rockin'!:wizard:

So yeah, doing cars and making them shine is just a way of life in my family. Some people definitely don't get it though. There's more than a few exotics in this town that are pretty trashed... that's sad to see.
Click to expand...

90 years old and still washing the car herself?:clap::partaaay::Dancing Dot::rockon::angel::w00t::thumbup:

God Bless her!!
 
i decided to detail my wifes minivan a couple years ago . it was trashed !!! never cleaned in years i got fed iup. took me 9 hours. and that was useing an aio product on the paint.. anyway . it came out nice. she didn t even care that i broke my back all day. needless to say it was trashed a week later. and asof right now . its behond filty.. i give up .. i cant even get in it with out moving all the trash outa the way ..and shes allways saying im a pain in the ass when it comes to cleaning my truck!!!.. well 45 grand it cost me new im not going to let it go to crap thats fore sure ...
 
trhland said:
i decided to detail my wifes minivan a couple years ago . it was trashed !!! never cleaned in years i got fed iup. took me 9 hours. and that was useing an aio product on the paint.. anyway . it came out nice. she didn t even care that i broke my back all day. needless to say it was trashed a week later. and asof right now . its behond filty.. i give up .. i cant even get in it with out moving all the trash outa the way ..and shes allways saying im a pain in the ass when it comes to cleaning my truck!!!.. well 45 grand it cost me new im not going to let it go to crap thats fore sure ...
Click to expand...

I feel your pain brother:confused:
 
I hate it when someone says it is only a car. Like previously mentioned it is a major investment that must me taken care of. As far as being in the genes, that is not my case. My father would buy a car and it would never get washed or even serviced and I mean never. He would literally drive the car in the ground. My car is a daily driver and I take pride in keeping it clean and serviced. :biggrin:
 
bmw5541 said:
Don't you hate it when someone tells you "It's just a car"? I don't get it. You make a huge investment and purchase a car that you love and want to take care of and keep it looking it's best, and someone makes that statement to you. Do people realize that a car is most likely the second largest investment that you will ever make? If you are going to make a purchase that large, why wouldn't you want to take care of it? Do you buy a house and let it fall appart? Ten why wouldn't you want to take care of your car?

Sorry for my rant, but it gets frustrating when people always think you are crazy for trying to keep your car pristine.:banghead:
Click to expand...

I had some women pull up next to me in a parking lot,open her door into mine and said the same thing (IT'S JUST A CAR).Good thing i don't hit women. :cursing:
 
CARFREAK said:
I had some women pull up next to me in a parking lot,open her door into mine and said the same thing (IT'S JUST A CAR).Good thing i don't hit women. :cursing:
Click to expand...

I had the same thing happen YESTERDAY! I'm in the car getting ready to get out. There are 500 empty spots closer to the door. She pulls the GIANT SUV, complete with salt stains within inches of my car.

I immediately start the engine so I can move.... TOO LATE. SLAM!!! BAM!!!

"HEY, YOU JUST HIT MY CAR!":banghead::mad:

"It's just a car." [smugly walks away]
 
CARFREAK said:
I had some women pull up next to me in a parking lot,open her door into mine and said the same thing (IT'S JUST A CAR).Good thing i don't hit women. :cursing:
Click to expand...

Luster said:
I had the same thing happen YESTERDAY! I'm in the car getting ready to get out. There are 500 empty spots closer to the door. She pulls the GIANT SUV, complete with salt stains within inches of my car.

I immediately start the engine so I can move.... TOO LATE. SLAM!!! BAM!!!

"HEY, YOU JUST HIT MY CAR!":banghead::mad:

"It's just a car." [smugly walks away]
Click to expand...

That has nothing to do with an apathetic attitude about cars. That is being inconsiderate towards other people and their property. Those kind of people should die a slow agonizing death and burn in Hell.
 
Luster said:
I had the same thing happen YESTERDAY! I'm in the car getting ready to get out. There are 500 empty spots closer to the door. She pulls the GIANT SUV, complete with salt stains within inches of my car.

I immediately start the engine so I can move.... TOO LATE. SLAM!!! BAM!!!

"HEY, YOU JUST HIT MY CAR!":banghead::mad:

"It's just a car." [smugly walks away]
Click to expand...

I hope you didn't get a door ding.That drives me crazy. I have had my car for 5 years and not one ding yet (knock on wood) i try to be careful in choosing my parking spots.But as you said it doesn't matter where you park they always find you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top