Random thoughts thread

I look at those Interior Jobs as a challenge - me against the dirty machine.. :)

Worst one ever - this one made me sick for 2 weeks - New Audi AllRoad - putrefying smell inside soon as you sat down in it - nothing visibly wrong - some hay from bales - (they have horses) - in the back but not all that bad..

After going through the front seats, etc., Steam, Einszett Deep Plastic Cleaner, Meguiars APC+ - all the heavy hitters I use, and the smell still there - I got to the back seat......

Whoa - smell still very strong back there and coming in for the prime location now -----

Pulled the bottom seat out - There it was!!!!!

The Biggest ! The Blackest ! Nasty ! Mold Plant ever devised to kill Humanity ! Growing on the Floorboard and into the Foam underneath the seat bottom !!!

Talk about scary looking - almost 12" in diameter, growing straight up, a big Black Flower...

Had to go full BioHazard OSHA Respirator, Gloves, etc., to grab hold of that nasty thing and remove it from the floor - it did not want to come out easily...

Steamed, Cleaned, Steamed, Cleaned, sprayed a very strong chemical designed to kill mold I purchased from a Shop that sells giant Extractors for trucks, vans...

Finally killed the Beast, kept vehicle an extra 24 hrs to make sure it was not going to grow back...

Cause of Monster Mold Growth -- the kid that sat on that side had been stuffing food down the seat belt holes for some time...
The food - hamburgers, french fries, bread, all kinds of stuff, combined with STRAW - the accelerant - that came from the back and fell down between the back carpeting space and the back of the 2nd row seats into the 2nd row seats bottom, and there you have it - a license to grow and kill everyone in the car.... :)

Lucky I got there in time, they were all sick all the time and this was I am sure the reason why...

Audi turned out beautiful and no more smell of death inside...

I removed the 50+ little car wash smell-trees from the dashboard and put them in a big Uline clear plastic 4mil 4 gallon bag and left them on the passenger seat..

So see, sometimes, we HAVE to go in there and do the mucky work, to save lives... :)
Good luck !
Dan F
 
I look at those Interior Jobs as a challenge - me against the dirty machine.. :)

+1. I just love awesome before and after shots and I see a trashed interior as a great opportunity. Take some after pics and add them to your resume!
 
+1. I just love awesome before and after shots and I see a trashed interior as a great opportunity. Take some after pics and add them to your resume!
I think I got some of those this sunday.. I guess two nasty interiors in a row it will be

ideally id rather polish paint but ill take what $ I can get (been on a bit of a spending spree lately)
 
Finally ordered a few Solo Horton brushes today to try out... The size 8 (5/8) is out of stock though. :(

Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
 
I look at those Interior Jobs as a challenge - me against the dirty machine.. :)

Worst one ever - this one made me sick for 2 weeks - New Audi AllRoad - putrefying smell inside soon as you sat down in it - nothing visibly wrong - some hay from bales - (they have horses) - in the back but not all that bad..

After going through the front seats, etc., Steam, Einszett Deep Plastic Cleaner, Meguiars APC+ - all the heavy hitters I use, and the smell still there - I got to the back seat......

Whoa - smell still very strong back there and coming in for the prime location now -----

Pulled the bottom seat out - There it was!!!!!

The Biggest ! The Blackest ! Nasty ! Mold Plant ever devised to kill Humanity ! Growing on the Floorboard and into the Foam underneath the seat bottom !!!

Talk about scary looking - almost 12" in diameter, growing straight up, a big Black Flower...

Had to go full BioHazard OSHA Respirator, Gloves, etc., to grab hold of that nasty thing and remove it from the floor - it did not want to come out easily...

Steamed, Cleaned, Steamed, Cleaned, sprayed a very strong chemical designed to kill mold I purchased from a Shop that sells giant Extractors for trucks, vans...

Finally killed the Beast, kept vehicle an extra 24 hrs to make sure it was not going to grow back...

Cause of Monster Mold Growth -- the kid that sat on that side had been stuffing food down the seat belt holes for some time...
The food - hamburgers, french fries, bread, all kinds of stuff, combined with STRAW - the accelerant - that came from the back and fell down between the back carpeting space and the back of the 2nd row seats into the 2nd row seats bottom, and there you have it - a license to grow and kill everyone in the car.... :)

Lucky I got there in time, they were all sick all the time and this was I am sure the reason why...

Audi turned out beautiful and no more smell of death inside...

I removed the 50+ little car wash smell-trees from the dashboard and put them in a big Uline clear plastic 4mil 4 gallon bag and left them on the passenger seat..

So see, sometimes, we HAVE to go in there and do the mucky work, to save lives... :)
Good luck !
Dan F

So did you end up having to get them to agree to an additional charge for the seat removal and unexpected surprise plant? Or did you just get it taken care of without adding $ to the final price?
 
So did you end up having to get them to agree to an additional charge for the seat removal and unexpected surprise plant? Or did you just get it taken care of without adding $ to the final price?

Mique -

I had settled on a price, (these were "Preferred Clients") I did the work, told them what happened and they were very happy and relieved that the nasty thing was out of the car..

The Seat Removal took all of a couple of minutes, so no time lost to do that, no special tools needed, etc... Most German cars, you just press down and pull up and out towards the front and they pop out one side at a time..

I already had the Mold Killer Chemical - In the Pacific Northwest, there is always Mold growing somewhere on neglected vehicles parked outside... Part of the deal to live there..

I didn't feel it was necessary to have to change the pricing, (there have been much worse interiors than this one) and as it was, they gave me a $100 tip so, it all came out just fine..

Each time you close a transaction you need to have a very good feel, (because you are studying this, remember? :) for how they are when they pick up the vehicle, and for how you want it to turn out, based on many things including any - History - you have with that Client...

It may always be a total "business" deal, - you put out this much work, and the value is this much in $$$, and they will be totally ok with it and happily pay you..

Certainly, when ever we go somewhere and buy something, we are expected to pay the price for it, unless the price is negotiable, which usually it never is, right? :)
Dan F
 
Yeah that thunder was nice last night down here. Hopefully it doesn't rain much more, I have a black GMC Denali scheduled for this weekend. I don't mind wet days but don't want the customer to reschedule, he's an ex coworker so I'll convince him to bring it either way.
 
Yeah that thunder was nice last night down here. Hopefully it doesn't rain much more, I have a black GMC Denali scheduled for this weekend. I don't mind wet days but don't want the customer to reschedule, he's an ex coworker so I'll convince him to bring it either way.
I know what you mean..i have that mini van interior in one hour, she said shes got a garage...lets hope its not a tight squeeze.
 
You should be good since it's an interior and a minivan, more space to move around and hopefully you can remove some seats with ease. Good luck with it and take some before/after pics!
 
These are the days, when it's sunny and low 70's out, where I miss having my bike. Nothing was more relaxing than heading south for the day and carving some beautiful, traffic free roads. Then on the way home stop by a little lake to rest and relax even more before heading back to reality..
 
These are the days, when it's sunny and low 70's out, where I miss having my bike. Nothing was more relaxing than heading south for the day and carving some beautiful, traffic free roads. Then on the way home stop by a little lake to rest and relax even more before heading back to reality..

i know the feeling, those days that would go from "it'll be a quick ride" to " holy crap it's almost the end of the day i better get back" . It truly is an escape from reality especially when riding through the twisties on a nice country road.
 
These are the days, when it's sunny and low 70's out, where I miss having my bike. Nothing was more relaxing than heading south for the day and carving some beautiful, traffic free roads. Then on the way home stop by a little lake to rest and relax even more before heading back to reality..

Bikes + snowbird season = scary !!
 
With the time change this weekend, now I can do more washing in the evenings. It was just getting light when driving to work so will be dark again for another month.
 
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