Time for a major change!

Less (very appropriate name by the way)



I have been in the automotive industry for 30+ years. First in the collision then mechanical now detailing. I have numerous certifications and have taken many classes seminars, etc in each field. As a business owner I have detailed almost everything that would take a shine or needed to be cleaned. My 2.5 manned operation grossed very close to $200K last year working 224 days.



I know a fool when I see one.



I have partnered with Yvan recently. Why, because he is the real deal and my association with him will greatly benefit me and my business.



He has taken the time and money and researched to an great (if not obsessive) extent. I am hard headed (much like yourself) but not stupid. I have challenged Yvan on many things were we disagree.



He has never had anything to sale me. It is not to his benefit to get me to think his way other than for the good of the industry which mean the good of the environment.



I have slowly accepted his findings after I tested certain things for myself. We still disagree on a few things but he has challenged me to think outside of the box and take my 19+ business to higher standards while doing less work and making more money.



The worst part about my partnership with Yvan is realizing I have been doing somethings the hard way all this time.



Superior Shine now has environmentally sound practices in place and the new processes have increased what I put in my pocket from the time we save in labor a good $12+ an hour.



How would you like to increase what you put in your pocket by $12 almost over night?



I repeatably tell him that posting on this forum (for free!) he is casting pearls before swines in some cases.





I thought in important to defend somebody I know to be genuine but I actually give a rats arse if I change you mind. :cooleek:
 
José



Thank you for the kind words.



José is one of the rare long time detailers that, while chalenging progress to a point, has accepted it, and in some cases even embraced change. As he stated he has shined just about anything that will take a shine, and that include numerous exotics, planes(Air Force One), boats, RV's, buses motorcycles, and probably even a train. HE is one of the most talented detailers I have ever met, and one heck of a funny guy.



Where he shines as a business person(other than his stand up comic personality) is his ability to keep his business on the cutting(polishing) edge. IF more detailers and hobbists were like José, threads like tis would be filled with positive actions and helping commentaries. Together we all win divided we all lose.



I have recieved many PM's and E-Mail regarding this thread, and I thank all that have manifested an interest, but because of some peoples negative comments these people are not comfortable posting for the public to see. Hopefully in time to come those that post positive actions to help keep our trade/hobby alive and thriving will not be attacked by those who consider change a negitive action.
 
Yvan and Joe,



Thank you both for your continued posting. I am enjoying the fact that this thread is enjoying a huge following.



Using some of the techniques that Yvan shared with me last year, I was able to complete a 2 hr. detail today and the customer thought $100 was too low- I worked it alone. If I shared with Yvan what I did, he would agree with my customer, but I am fine with that figure. Furthermore, and most important to me, I was not tired, dirty, wet, etc. My area of work was spotless compared to what it looked like years ago.



Now, if I could pick up Joe's delivery skills I could really make some money by doing stand up!



In all seriousness, with water being a finite resource, whether we agree or disagree to water usage in this business, procedures are changing. Unlike the dinosaurs, I am changing with the times and adapting to my environment and business climate.



Yvan, thank you for taking the time to post and I hope that you continue. I have been here and on other forums since '95, have published articles in PC and D, and have attended a few professional detail schools and trade shows- I also believe strongly in anything Joe says- I have seen his work! You are a leader and a success in this business. Listening to you has only put more money in my pocket and made my work easier at the same time. Keep it up!



Rob Regan

Auto Detailing Teacher

Santa Barbara, CA
 
Rob



Thanks for the kind words, I share by passion, and truly believe that together the detailing community can make a difference, and should!



As for your detail, for a person of you experiance, knowledge, and skill, $50 per hour is giving your customer a late christmas present. I know your customer has realized this and will reccomend you to all his entourage, so in a way iot's innexpensive marketing.
 
Superior Fine said:
Less (very appropriate name by the way)



I have been in the automotive industry for 30+ years. First in the collision then mechanical now detailing. I have numerous certifications and have taken many classes seminars, etc in each field. As a business owner I have detailed almost everything that would take a shine or needed to be cleaned. My 2.5 manned operation grossed very close to $200K last year working 224 days.



I know a fool when I see one.



I have partnered with Yvan recently. Why, because he is the real deal and my association with him will greatly benefit me and my business.



He has taken the time and money and researched to an great (if not obsessive) extent. I am hard headed (much like yourself) but not stupid. I have challenged Yvan on many things were we disagree.



He has never had anything to sale me. It is not to his benefit to get me to think his way other than for the good of the industry which mean the good of the environment.



I have slowly accepted his findings after I tested certain things for myself. We still disagree on a few things but he has challenged me to think outside of the box and take my 19+ business to higher standards while doing less work and making more money.



The worst part about my partnership with Yvan is realizing I have been doing somethings the hard way all this time.



Superior Shine now has environmentally sound practices in place and the new processes have increased what I put in my pocket from the time we save in labor a good $12+ an hour.



How would you like to increase what you put in your pocket by $12 almost over night?



I repeatably tell him that posting on this forum (for free!) he is casting pearls before swines in some cases.





I thought in important to defend somebody I know to be genuine but I actually give a rats arse if I change you mind. :cooleek:
Click to expand...





$12 per hour increased profit? Ok, let's say I believe you and do the math.



2.5 men x 8 hour days x 224 days = 4,480 hours worked by your business. If you increase profits by $12 per hour, then your total gain is 4,480 x $12 = $53,760



Therefore, you would have to match this years performance every year for the next five years just to break even on the $250K research and development investment.



Except, according to Yvan, he's putting in at least $100K more in each one of those years. So you will NEVER get ahead.



Even further, in your own words, the $12 goes in YOUR pocket. Not Yvan's. So how exactly does Yvan get a return on his investment?



I'm not trying to be difficult here. I just want Yvan to tell me how he spent $250K.



He's either very rich and very stupid, a complete liar, or a very creative accountant.
 
I give up!



You've proven yourself unworthy of any farther explanation.



Also be careful who you calla liar. I will be at MTE next week if you feel you need to call me a lair please do so to my face.



Have a nice day - :bigups
 




So cal B6



There is no manual or procedures for a watersmart model. Watersmart implys using best practices, reducing your wet, waste, and carbon foot print. This is not "my" model, but a way of working that saves time, product, and reduces waste.



Less



Thank you again for your concern on my mental, spiritual and financial health, all are in perfect shape.
 
Less said:
$12 per hour increased profit? Ok, let's say I believe you and do the math.



2.5 men x 8 hour days x 224 days = 4,480 hours worked by your business. If you increase profits by $12 per hour, then your total gain is 4,480 x $12 = $53,760



Therefore, you would have to match this years performance every year for the next five years just to break even on the $250K research and development investment.



Except, according to Yvan, he's putting in at least $100K more in each one of those years. So you will NEVER get ahead.



Even further, in your own words, the $12 goes in YOUR pocket. Not Yvan's. So how exactly does Yvan get a return on his investment?



I'm not trying to be difficult here. I just want Yvan to tell me how he spent $250K.



He's either very rich and very stupid, a complete liar, or a very creative accountant.
Click to expand...



You're fighting a battle with your only weapon in hand being ignorance. These men run businesses, not just one but each with their own companies or partnered with companies and, under franchising agreements, get to reap benefits from the structured parent (in this case Yvan's group). His partners or associates and affiliated businesses benefit from his research as much as him; which make it worth their while to pay into his franchise and gain access to the products his research develops or discovers that is already available, the marketing and procedure improvements and customer AND governmental satisfaction GAINS.



You are attacking these individuals, trying to find flaw in their business(es) and work but it is working for them and the profit gained from his research is not always calculated directly but more so comes from the indirect benefits cumulatively working together.
 
reparebrise said:


Repeated form : Best Drying Towel/chamois



One way or definatly reducing marring and swirling is adopting a new wash technique. In 95% of instances you are better of with either a waterless product or ONR. Unless the car has been offroading the technologie in these products protects your paint like no soap could ever do.



In our shops we wash 60% of car waterless, and 35% with ONR, the other 5% we send through a high qualithy tunnel wash with proper water reclaim equipment(yes a tunnel wash opperated by someone who knows what they are doing to adjust and maintain the machinery, and does not skimp on water and soap will never dammage a car).



My personal vehicle(2007 Mustang) has overr 70k on the odometer, gets driven on dirt roads, through raging snow storms, and in every condition Canadian roads can throw at it. The car has never been washed with anything other than water less, has never been polished, and to find swirls you need one heck of a light.



Detailing over the next few years will live a revolution of sorts, with increasing water conservation, run off control, and consumer pressure , existing water smart methods will gain in popularity, and new products and techniques will change the way we detail for the better.



For those of you who are nay sayers(and I know you are out there) you can do a simple test to see what is happening to your paint. o to the hardware store and buy a piece of black plexiglass. Remove the covering on one face. put the piece outside on a dirt surface, and wet it down, allow ambient dust to get it dirty for a week or so(note any scratching when you remove the plastic wrap on it first). Next sepperate the pannel in 3 sections. On one section wash it with a water less product of your choice. On the second section wash 1/2 of yur car with ONR, then using the wash media that has done 1/2 of a car, wash the next section, and dry(we have found the towelpros waffle weave MF to be the best and safest drying media to date). On the last section wash 1/2 your car with the methods you normaly use, and again using the media that has washed 1/2 of your car wash your plexi panel. In repeated testing, and lab work, the bucket and soap(actualy foam pre-soak, mitt, rinse, and dry) method has consistantly induced the most scratching. Both ONR and waterless are about equal, and far superior over the traditional methods. Since you wont believe your eyes, take the panel remove the protective wrap from the other side and repeat the test.



Since Henry Ford started making cars the methods we have used to clean cars have not evolved, in Mr. Fords times water, soap and a bucket were used to wash a car(in some cases kerosene was used as a water less wash as well) and 100+ years later some still do the same thing.



For my Detialing shops I spend more per year in R&D than most people here make, and I have proven many times over that watersmart washing(ONR and waterless) are by far and away safer, faster, and of course much better for our environment. For 2009 it would be nice to see a few Autopians take the high road and at least try to break the wastefull traditional wash techniques. Get rid of those wastefull ,and environmentaly dangerous foam guns, sell thos pressure washers, plant a tree in your buckets, and give your sheep skin mitt a well deserved retirment For those who resist change, saying the old way is the best, do you still watch B&W TV, do you heat your leftovers in the oven instead of the Microwave, does your telephone have buttons or a dial. We know that when you want you can follow progress(you have a computer) so please make 209 the year you discover a new way to take care of your car. Imagine no more wet hands, dry feet, no soap running down into the sewer drain, your children being able to swim at the beach in 10 years, and your car being in the best condition it has ever been.



Enjoy
Click to expand...



Do you sell ShamWows too?



A revolution of detailing = An old car-washing method?



A tunnel wash?



Freedom Waterless Car Wash - Cleans, Polishes and Protects without water <----------Nah
 
It's is very interesting to me from reading these posts how far many people will go to show their ignorance. Name calling has never worked in a social structure and is always counter productive. It just goes to show that some of our higher education facilities are really just diploma mills and are interested in taking students money in return for a piece of paper that allows them to think they are intelectuals when they are really someone who is morally reprehensible.



I attended the MTE with the sole intention of learning as much as I could about Eco Detailing.



What I found was the majority of the attendees still have not figured out that the future is biting at their heels much like many posting here. I liken it to IBM and the DOS crowd in the early 80's and their view of early personal computer operating systems. They knew the future was OS2 and no little company called Microsoft and Windows was going to pass them by. As they say, the rest is history.



There were only about 15 people attending Eco Detailing discussion presented by Anthony, Stuart, Prentice, Jim and Yvan. What a shame because it was very well done and forward driven.



Eco detailing is in it's infancy and there are still more questions than answers, I believe there is only one way forward and that is not washing vehicles with kerosene as my father used to or dumping filthy water down the storm drains as many of us do today.



Many will not agree with me and that is fine. We all have choices to make in life and each has to decide the path they are willing to take.



For me, I want to thank Yvan, Anthony, Stuart, Prentice and Jim for sharing the knowledge they have already aquired and I look forward to working together with them in the future sharing ideas on how we can make this planet a better place for my grandchildren and yours.
 
a couple of quotes I saw recently that might be relevant here:



"The difficulty in change lies not so much in developing new ideas, but in escaping the old ones" John Maynard Keynes



and one I cant remember precisely but along the lines of:



If everyone agreed with my ideas, I know I wouldnt be changing enough..."
 
Rareearth



On behalf of the roster of presenters, I say thank you for your time and kind words. While the seminar was not the most attended, those who were there made the effort to be there and to listen and also question.



Going down the ECO route is not hard, nor expensive, but provides many benifits now and in the future.



Damon



Great quotes, and cogratulations on your new UK ECO forum on Detailing World, keep up the clean work(a veiwing of this post in particular is worth the time to read http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=100846
 
As prommised here are some pics taken with a xenon light and directly facing the car. In normal lighting that ant customer would experiance(sunlightm parking lots, in there garage the paint is perfect. With the Xenon we see what 45,000 miles of all weather driving, snow removal, no waxing, no polishing, no paint corection will do. In that time the car has been washed at least 150 times, always with waterless wash. The pics were taken using the same section of the car as before (the sun and temp have not consprired to allow outdoor pics, but that should happen this week.



Before wash



swirlaa.jpg




After wash



swirlpp.jpg




Close up with xenon



swirlpp.jpg
 
As prommised here are some pics taken with a xenon light and directly facing the car. In normal lighting that ant customer would experiance(sunlightm parking lots, in there garage the paint is perfect. With the Xenon we see what 45,000 miles of all weather driving, snow removal, no waxing, no polishing, no paint corection will do. In that time the car has been washed at least 150 times, always with waterless wash. The pics were taken using the same section of the car as before (the sun and temp have not consprired to allow outdoor pics, but that should happen this week.



Before wash



swirlaa.jpg




After wash



swirlpp.jpg




Close up with xenon



swirlp.jpg
 
Thanks for the pictures, Yvan. The straight line marring is consistant with the technique you described for waterless washing. Of course if you and your customers are happy with the results that's all that really matters.
 
Actualy those scratches could easily removed using a one step or light polish. I wouls also not put them down to washing, but more to snow removal. Where I live police frown upon a car with snow on it, meaning it must be brushed off(and any dirt that is under teh fresh snow gets dragged across the car, causing scratching). In our climate we see cars with very minor scratching on teh sides, even less as you move down teh car, but the hood, roof , and trunk lid look like they went through a war. That war is the snow brush. We painted a mark made on a hood by a mechanic last week. The car had 2000 kms on it and you would not believe the scratching on the upper portions of the car, we had to correct teh paint on the upper surfaces just to get the paint to match.
 
reparebrise said:
Actualy those scratches could easily removed using a one step or light polish. I wouls also not put them down to washing, but more to snow removal. Where I live police frown upon a car with snow on it, meaning it must be brushed off(and any dirt that is under teh fresh snow gets dragged across the car, causing scratching). In our climate we see cars with very minor scratching on teh sides, even less as you move down teh car, but the hood, roof , and trunk lid look like they went through a war. That war is the snow brush. We painted a mark made on a hood by a mechanic last week. The car had 2000 kms on it and you would not believe the scratching on the upper portions of the car, we had to correct teh paint on the upper surfaces just to get the paint to match.
Click to expand...



Fair enough.



I have a question: How do you tackle wheels and tires? I'm an ONR user and I usually use ONR in conjuction with a sponge. I think the sponge does most of the work by basically scraping the dirt off the tires but it works well enough. If the tires are really bad lately I've been using Griots rubber prep. Just wondering if you use traditional methods for wheels and tires when using a waterless wash.
 
Frito,



If they are that bad, then usually so is the car and it's a complete conditioning being done..thus, I have my steamer on and take it to the wheels.



In most cases, like you, I will use ONR with a few brushes and it works very well.



Rob Regan
 
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