so a lot of these buffer marks in the paint are either the factory or the dealerships funky way of a PDI clean.

[www.autopia.org]

50 hours and 5 grand? We repaint em here in Montana for less than that. I guess its just not something I will ever understand. Sure it looks nice, but now ya have worn down clear coat, how many times are people willing to spend 5000 bucks for a detail? I guess there is a sucker born every minute.

nothing wrong with what paul has done. it needed it
however if it was me, I wouldnt correct the car again or only one more time
we must preserve paint, not cut it back every single time

18 hours to restore the paint on a tiny car ? How long would this job take you guys ?

Doug Delmont Wrote:
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> 18 hours to restore the paint on a tiny car ?
> How long would this job take you guys ?

TBH, a good prep including taking the wheels off and detailing the wells, etc, I would probably spend about the same time on it.

That was just a very unexceptional detail but Paul Dalton is more a master marketer. That original viral video about the most expensive detailer in the world... I suspect he produced that himself but did it in such a way that it seemed like a TV program interview.

I have over 3k of lights in my workshop as well. Really, so what!

He left a load of polish residue in the door handles for some of those photos as well. And the final word from bitter Ol' me (lol!) I really think that slapping a piece of tape on paint and polishing right up into the edge is bad for paint. You need remove even more paint to remove the etch caused by the infamous 50/50 shot and that goes against the philosophy of what a good detailer should be.

Seems to me the real money is in satisfying the normal detail customer, who just wants their car cleaned inside and the paint looking good not flawless.

Not too many "detail businessmen" that have customers who pay HUGE sums to get a flawless finish.

You can do excellent work and get good money doing a paint finish in 1 to 1.5 hours, that is, correction; swirl removal and protection.

The key is diagnosing the paint finish; the problem and choosing the least aggressive compound and pad and knowing how to use a buffer.

A fail safe way of correcting is to use the BUFFPRO which does not create swirls and the lineal mars that are left are quite easy to remove using the BUFFPRO and a foam finishing pad and a swirl remover/polish. I know it works I have seen it done and have done it myself.

Technology makes it easy to be a good detailer.

Bud Abraham

Right on , Bud!
I recall when Steve Okum, you and myself were on a panel for a Trade Show/Round Table in Orlando a few years back.
There were aprox 40+ detailers in the audience.
The subject came up of "how many full time, turning a profit" detailers were in business in the US at that time.
Which lead to how many had started up and how many had failed within the first two years, etc.
Don't recall exact numbers,but between us three and the audience we arrived at somewhere close to 100,000 in the US who were in the business, plus the "fly by nights", and the "week-end do the neighbor's cars.
We then looked at the yearly sales of high dollar, exotics, etc in the country over the previous 5 years, etc.
I think when the numbers were out there, it opened some eye's and some minds.
Simply put, a 100,000 detailers, full time ones, seeking to do make a living taking care of detailing for less than 100.000 vehicles, or something along those lines.
It woke up many in the audience to the simple fact that the "daily driver-average" car owner is the target market for a detailer to "purchase a full detail'.
How their expectations are not what enthusist seek of a perfect, anal, paint finish, interior, etc.
The real number of customers are really just happen to have the McDonald's wrappers out, the carpets and seats vac'ed clean, the window's without big streaks, the paint looks shiney and willl stay the way for a couple of months.
That is the "real world" of expectations of the major portion of the "detailing market".
Grumpy