My free Acrylic Werks sample and results

Hey Mark,



I hope I can point out here where your challenge, with the Mitsu 3000GT, is not one most professionals would take you up on, let me explain please.



First it is rare to find a pro who would detail a car in the sun, it's not impossible, but highly unlikely.



Second the majority of pros would always wash the car down with soap and water.



You wrote:



This is the scenerio. You have exactly 45 seconds to gain his attention so he will give you whatever time you need behind that to get him to buy your favorite polish/waxing system.

WHAT DO YOU DO FIRST?



The error here is that a professional detailer is NOT selling a polish or wax system but rather he or she is selling their expertise in the application of a polishing system. You are comparing apples and oranges. You are seeking customers to buy your product but a pro detailer is seeking clients to buy their service.



So following this then the rest of the "challenge" also falls apart because the goal of the detailer is NOT to just restore one wiper arm, do a section of rubber trim, one fender and a wheel because the customer is "pinched for time" but the goal of the pro is to detail the whole car and for this to be done correctly he or she will need, in the case of this 3000GT, at least 4 to 5 hours. I am sure you understand the difficulty now in the pros here answering you, I hope I am not coming across as being petty but your goal, as said before, is to sell the bottle and ours is to sell our service.



Lastly I highly question the ability of AW to remove, not just shine, but "remove" brake dust that has pitted the clear coat on wheels. I have some AW left and will try this today on a detail I am doing for a lady at her house.



Take care Mark and be patient because here in South Texas we are coming into cooler months:xyxthumbs



Anthony
 
AWMark said:
You have exactly 45 seconds to gain his attention so he will give you whatever time you need behind that to get him to buy your favorite polish/waxing system.

WHAT DO YOU DO FIRST?
Click to expand...



Like Athony has stated, this is not a scenario a professional detailer would find themselves in, as this is purely the realm of carnival sideshow, circus-act infomercial salesmen. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it s not what WE need to do in OUR business.



We get customers' attention be demonstrating our knowledge, professionalism attention to THEIR needs and perhaps by showing them a portfolio of our work or by giving them references, not by doing magic tricks, selling them a bottle of Uber-Polish, then packing up our wagon and hightailing it for the next town before they can actually use it.



But if I ever was in the situation you described: I would dump road tar, bird droppings and ink on their car, then start cleaning it off with my Wonderwax and a dirty face cloth. I would finish by setting the area on fire then putting it out with my hairpiece.



I can see the sales rolling in now!



(All in good fun, not flaming anyone....):xyxthumbs
 
I've read this with interest. In some ways, it represents a difference in philosophy. Most of us believe that it's 90% process, it's the process that unlocks the magic in a product; therefore, product choice is a matter of personal preference. However, some believe that the product itself creates the result. And therefore, if it doesn't work for you then your process is flawed.



I fear that these two camps will never be reconciled (even those who bow to Zaino stress that the process must be adhered to scrupulously), and the best we can hope for is what we see here, civility and and agreement to disagree.



What I've come away with most out of this is tremendous respect for Mark from AW. I wish him all the best, and I'm sure that, if his demos work as he has described, in the end his hard work will pay off and the beautiful results will say far more than our transient words ever could.





Tom
 
Interesting note there seems to always be alot of talk about how well AW works on wiper arms. Maybe that is where AW shines above the competition. AW sure seems alot like Klase AIO which is great on trim as well as highly oxidized paint.
 
I am dying to try out my sample(ok, my huge bottle) of AW. This week is just completely out of the question, as i have little to no time. Hopefully this weekend i can give it the attention it deserves.
 
AWMark said:
You guys honestly think I can stand in a parking lot doing live demonstrations on any vehicle that pulls up and make a living on "SO-SO" results, and then stand there and have the gumption to ask someone for $30.00 based on "SO-SO" results.
Click to expand...



Mark,



I think you need to keep in mind that this is Autopia, and people tend to come here because they are overly obsessive about car care. I don't think that the average person in a parking lot has the same standards as most Autopians do (much as the average car in a parking lot doesn't look as nice as most Autopians' cars). So a result that might wow a random parking lot patron won't necessarily impress someone on Autopia.



Also, the restrictions you impose don't really matter much for a lot of us. I mean, I don't try to detail my car in 45 seconds, I don't do it in the sun, and I don't do it on a dirty car. So the fact that a product can do this is pretty immaterial to me.



Maybe the people you demo to have a different impression of the product than the demo'ers here at Autopia do because they have different criteria that are important to them.



Many of us are quite happy to spend several hours detailing our car, and several hundred dollars on products, as long as the end result is impressive. While it is great if your product has a lot of bang for the buck, many of us just want the most bang irrespective of the buck... :)



I have to say, I find Biswartz's posts to be a bit puzzling. You mention how you're just a regular joe, not a detailer, and you say "why try different products if one is good and works for you". If you are just a regular joe at detailing, then why would are you surprised that others here aren't as impressed with the productas you are? You like it, but you're just some regular joe. Others here are professionals, or at least very experienced in detailing. So it shouldn't be all that surprising or unbelievable that they have a different (one might even say a more informed) opinion of the same product.



If you haven't tried many products, how can you really say a particular product is good? Good compared to what? It would seem all you can really say is that it improved your paint, or that it was good enough for you. But it would seem to me that to say it is generally good would require you to have at least some experience with other products. I mean just about any product will give some improvement, especially to paint that is in bad shape. But they aren't all "good" products because of that.



You also mention that we will never find the perfect product, and you are probably right. But that doesn't mean we should stop looking for it and just use whatever product we first try out that worked. It sometimes sounds like you are just annoyed that some of us have higher standards of paint care than you do.
 
Aurora, good points. 2 years ago before coming on here and a few other messageboards I thought I had the perfect detailing process, I used Meguiar's almost exclusively after trying alot of comparable products. Actually my detatailing at that time was at a much higher level than most people out there, mostly due to knowledge. When I discovered the product discussions on this board I started experimenting with new products and ordering products that someone liked or thought was better than my existing choices. When it comes to products discussed and recommended here it sometimes becomes subjective as the products are a high quality it's just that one has a slightly different look than another that some people prefer over the other and vice versa. Similar to italian food which to a chef is quite different depending on the regional, but to the average joe, italian is italian. Autopians are like chefs. The average joe thinks pizza hut is italian.
 
I have to agree with ShadowMan about the beading. I look for either very tight beads or a combination of beading and sheeting. The trunk lid of his Civic looks like it has wax on it nearing the end of it's useful protection.



This is my idea of beading (S100):



1099S100_beading.jpg
 
Hello To All,



The scenerio wasn't meant as a challenge to the professional detailer. A seasoned detailer will more than likely allow his previous efforts and customer referrals keep his business going. A new guy that is just opening his detail business could easily find himself in a demo first get the job second situation. The process of a sale usually means you have about 45 seconds to gain that customers undivided attention. I usually attack the wiper arms first because they're always faded to some extent and will always yield awesome results very fast. At this point I can rationalize the cost of replacements versus the cost of a btl AW. Now I can take my time and go through a complete demonstration with time to spare. I was only attempting to give you a true perspective as to how the AW must achieve results in order for it to be successful. So far, seven years later I'm still plugging away.

Yes, I do sit in the shade until a demo is available.

My car gets rain and dew almost daily, it seems. I'm so not concerned about the size of a water bead becuase no sooner do I get 5 miles down the road that water or dew is gone anyway, and there are no water spots left.

Remember, check out my gallery photos (acrylic-werks) and look at the reflection value in that surface, and someone honestly say that the shine would impress no one. The yellow sign you see on the roof was 35 yards away and the red sign you see on the roof in the upper right side, on the same photo was easily picked up from 45-60 yards away.

Mike, even though I was there I did not ask what pad they were using. Since I personally do not use a PC, I wouldn't know which one to start with. But, I've got an idea, start with a pad you would use to apply a final wax, if this does not give you the desired results move back to a pad that would be a little more agressive. This way we will be better off safe than sorry.

Even to the most anal up-keeper of his or her auto, they have all been quite satisfied with AW. To all have a very nice night and the photos will be posted tomorrow. They turned out really nice.



Mark G.
 
Hello To All,



Here are the promised photos:

1987 Pontiac Fiero GT, Owned by Retired Air Force Officer. Took it to six different detailers and was told by all six he would be better off sanding and repainting. He gave me a shot at it because he had nothing to lose. This surface was extremely porous.
 
It looks better but I'll bet Klasse AIO would do just as good a job. How come you only did that one small section and how long did that take?
 
To All,



I hope these photos will meet your criteria. I know when I finished the demo, this customer really couldn't believe it. It worked. Several people passed by and really just chuckled and said, your really going to fix that. Anyway I hope everyone enjoys the photos.



Mark G.
 
Ric,



6 Detailers told him it couldn't be done, period. I'm almost sure one of the six would have had a bottle of Klasse on hand. You have to feel the surface to understand how porous it was. Also, I'm not there to do a whole car as a demo. In that demo area I will teach the customer the process so they know what they're up against. Remember, this is done before the customer puts his or her money on the table. I look forward to reading more responses.



Mark G.
 
Mark,



out of curiosity... how many people let you do that to their car and then say "nah... I like the way it looks now that half is nice and the rest is crap."? :D



Looks good... it seems to me that that is what AW is for... restoring things like that, and adding shine and preservation to paints already in good shape in an easy to apply form (correct me if I'm wrong, please). I think Mark that even you would agree it doesn't match the reflections of something like Zaino. But then again, can zaino do that in the same conditions? probably not. It all really comes down to what you're after, and how much time and money you want to put into it.



Yeah, AIO probably could have done similar (I haven't used it yet, don't know)... but just because we already use AIO, does it make AW a bad product? No, it makes AW a complement to what we've already got, and a better or worse alternative, depending on what you want.



Man I wish they made Fiero's in 1997... I so would have bought one :) ;)



-Michael
 
Mark nice transformation. I am not here to criticize your product. That said, I think you are trying to impress the wrong croud. Your market is a different segment of the population. Autopians are a breed apart from the general population.



I wish you success in your endeavors....Andrew
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top