Yesterday's Jag (Pics)

S

stainbuster

Professional Rookie
Yeah, I know. Sundays are for football, not work. But with these hurricanes and all, duty calls.

Actually, this customer was a big spender yesterday; money is always a motivator.

On with the show...

02 X-type with only 13k miles. Customer is leasing this vehicle and has decided to keep it. The car is garaged sometimes, but other than normal washing, it never had any detail work done.

Needless to say, the seats were toast, rocker panels had tar, paint, mud, you name it. The paint had quite a few "flying roof shingle" scratches from Charley. I am seeing quite a bit of that lately. In fact, I've done more watersanding and buffing in the last 4 weeks than I have in the last 6 months!

First pic:

Rocker panel with crud. Mineral spirits tackled the tar and grime, no problem. But the striping paint was a booger. Nothing would touch it, not even clay.
 
So, a little wetsanding followed up by SC800 with med foam on rotary, then SC2000 with light foam on rotary and viola!:
 
And I'll be danged! The other 30 someodd pics on the 2nd disc are corrupted. Rats!

OK, this is the only exterior after shot I have.

Anyway, clayed (AM red), wetsanded 4 other panels, buffed the whole car with a rotary using SC800 and a yellow edge pad, then buffed againg using rotary and SC2000 on a green pad, then Stereo #2 glaze using the PC with a blue pad. Finally, NXT with a white finishing pad on the PC.

Total time: 6 hours. Result: One HAPPY client and three more booked appts for next week. (Expedition, Cadillac, and a Navigator).

Will take more photos of the Jag next week when I do the Navigator.

Regards,

Mike
 
Tom,

Actually, the Jag was a referral for a lady who I did a Lexus and an Explorer for last week, who was referred by another client.

The new bookings are other neighbors who were driving by and just couldn't resist the desire for "that great new car feeling!" :lmfao

So, yeah very good investment. Have not spent one dime on advertising this year. Last year I ran a small ad in the newspaper's "services offered" section off and on. The year b efore that I did the yellow page thing. All either one of them got me was lots of price-shoppers, competitors disguising themselves, and a big hole in my wallet.

This year, ZERO advertising dollars spent, sales are up, and the clientele is growing into the kind that has nice vehicles, spends money, and usually is in a biz or social circle where everything is done on the "good old boy's" referral network. :rockin

Tidbit: 22 of my last 25 clients were direct referrals from existing clients. The other 3 were oddballs who had crap cars, wanted basic wash/wax, probably never to be seen or heard from again, but oh well. Gotta love it!
 
yes wife,

APC with brush, then wiped with only a cean, damp terry, let dry, then dressed with water-based dressing.

Thanks!
 
Cool stuff. Did the Mineral Spirits really clean well? I have encountered cars like that who are scary to tackle with soap/water
 
Were the handles vinyl or leather? Also was the waterbased dressing a leather conditioner or all prupose? P.S. what are the lexol twins? (orange bottle to clean, and blue bottle to condition)
 
sorry, one more thing are there such thing as leather safe brushes? My mom got her car detailed at Simoniz and they used a scothbrite sponge and ruined the leather.
 
I use Dobie pads made by Scotch Brite and they do not scratch. It works great for getting into the grains in vinyl. I do not use them on leather unless the seats are extremely dirty and they do not scratch or harm the leather. BTW they come in a pack of two at WalMart for $1.89.
 
Straight Mineral spirits won't harm the paint?? Thought I would ask in case I ever have to use it.

Great work on the detail by the way!
 
Woob, General:

Yes, mineral spirits work very well and are very safe for paint.

AZFerrari man:

Used Lexol cleaner (orange) and conditioner (brown). When I do need to use a brush on leather, I use a soft-bristled nylon brush to dab around in the graining. The interior grab handles are vinyl with stitching to make them look like leather.
 
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