Exterior Detail

There is a new trend in many of the auto enthusiast forums to spend 50 hours compounding and polishing to perfection exterior paint surfaces. Do you think as professionals it is necessary to polish to perfection the exterior paint surface on exterior details?

50 hours is rediculous and not necessary unless the client is requesting perfection. And 50 hours of polishing usually isn't the SOP for exterior correction unless wetsanding is involved (which could take more time). With today's modern micro-compounds and processes it has drastically reduced vehicle touch times.

This type of operation is a specialty of the enthusiast crowd and doesn't represent mainstream detailing. This niche market certainly has alot of financial gain, but isn't a realistic segment to go after for most of the industry. Usually difficult to train employees on the integrity involved with these projects as well. It's tedious work that once completed can be a rewarding ackomplishment. It really takes dedication from not only the detailers performing the work, but the client whom which should be responsible enough to maintain the inteegrity of the perfection. This involves lots of education and dedication on all ends of the spectrum.

Hopefully as more people (detailers and the general public) see these types of extreme detailing being performed it will bring greater awareness and credibility to professional detailers as it further separates and distances us/them from low priced hacks ruining the industry.

I try to keep polishing time as minimal as possible but some large cars can be ridiculous. I had a discussion with the owner of a modified black Continental GT that had stupidly soft paint on some of the after-market panels. It was a pre-show detail and I spent about 50 hours on it, including interior, engine, wheels & wheel wells, etc,etc.

As I had expected and told the owner at the time, paint that soft is going to suffer marring especially if he is taking it to goof-balls with dirty dipping-brushes at a budget car wash. He didn't care, he wanted it looking as good as could be for the event but I saw the car again 3 months later and sure enough the paint was damaged again. What can you do? He lives about 220 KM away (and I gave him the number of a very good local-ish detailer for after-care) but he wanted the high-end job done and wanted to pay well for it. All I could do was make best recommendations but he is a busy businessman, etc, etc.....

If people want to pay for the service, why would you refuse? With the rich guys, a big detail is as much a talking point as the car itself. How to impress cronies and out-do your peers in eccentric flamboyancy!! If you don't cater to them, somebody else will.

To answer your question, I don't think its necessary on 99.9% of cars. But on some classics, exotics and prestige cars the vehicle should not be less than perfect. They are so rare though that only the detailers who get the best marketing advice do this work solely.

Gina

I think this is a very good question to ask. I do agree with Pro-Skeptic that this is a small niche in the business. Although, on other forums correction detailers show their before and after work that gives the impression
that this is the norm, and not the exception. Newbies get the impression that they can get a polisher,polish, glaze, or some other product and they to can do this work.

Quote from Pro-Skeptic:

Hopefully as more people (detailers and the general public) see these types of extreme detailing being performed it will bring greater awareness and credibility to professional detailers as it further separates and distances us/them from low priced As hacks ruining the industry.


As stated by Profile this work is done for rich people who can afford it. Certainly it takes time and talent to make a car flawless, but this is a illusion for car shows . Normally, these cars are garaged , and are not driven as daily drivers . This
work is pure cosmetic, and no way meant to last in the real world.

You state thiso you think as professionals it is necessary to polish to perfection the exterior paint surface on exterior details? Honestly, That is a very fair question to ask, but the problem IMO is where perfection is determined. Pro-Skeptic
calls me a hack because I stated there are minor scratches left on the finish of my last video posted (Sonata) , To the
average person they would never notice them. Here is the post:

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You have got to have a split personality while you video tape this because at one part of the video you say:

QUOTE FROM BILL: “It isn’t perfect by no means. You can see little fine scratches.”

And then you say:

QUOTE FROM BILL: “No swirls in it, looks good.”

===========================================================================

Here’s more of my observations to show your inexperience and inability to properly detail a car:

**4.5 hours and the wheel wells and mud guards are still dirty!!

**You used Wheel Acid to remove sap!! Hack, Hack, Hack!!!

===========================================================================

QUOTE FROM BILL: “Show a car that I do with doing any correction methods”

All the cars you show aren’t corrected. You obviously don’t do correction because you don’t know how.

“QUOTE FROM BILL: Didn’t have to use a wheel to do this, just AT-5.”

Wax N Waxing at it’s best. Great excuse.

QUOTE FROM BILL: “This paint is so thin”

How would you know? Did you measure the paint with a paint gauge? Do you even own a paint gauge? QUOTE FROM BILL:“You might get away with that stuff on a real nice car, but this is what it is”

The kind of car you’re working on is a terrible excuse to deliver poor results. You’ve video’d expensive Lexus & Mercedes and you still do the same thing and they look just as bad. Come on, admit this. You get away with this on all the cars you work on. You don’t “wheel” anything right?

QUOTE FROM BILL: “Looks acceptable”

That’s the slogan you go by. As long as I can fool my customer, then I’m right.

QUOTE FROM BILL: “I’m not going to get scratches out of cars, I admit that. Someone isn’t going to want to pay”

Exactly! You’re in one of the wealthiest sections of America and you choose to focus on 4 hour $120 Wash N Waxes. You really know how to market yourself to your audience.


Quote from Pro-Skeptic:

50 hours is rediculous and not necessary unless the client is requesting perfection. And 50 hours of polishing usually isn't the SOP for exterior correction unless wetsanding is involved (which could take more time).


Hopefully, I have made my point here. Somewhere between 0 and 50 hours is where perfection is determined. The
problem here is the time spent on correction is what separates a hack from a professional. It is not really necessary
to spent the time for perfection, but if not then is it worth doing at all? If I spend one, two , three, or four hours what will
the results be? Probably not good, so IMO if you are going to do correction the right way it will take a certain amount of time, or do not bother. What that amount of time is, who can say exactly, but it is not a couple of hours that is for sure.


Over the years I have seen many cars detailed were correction was used that looked great when picked up, but after
a few washes the swirls appeared. Wax and glazes can cover up buffing marks for a short time and make the finish look
good for a while.

Pro-Skeptic even admits it:

BC-2 is a good choice for this application as it offers a touch of cut, cleanability and protection (beads water). It fills alot! How much? Don't know until you do a wipe down with alcohol and compare. Perfect for dealership details and cheap jobs. The amount of cut is dependent on the pad/process you use with it. This isn't bad, as long as you aren't making any promises, which you state you didn't

Correction detailers bring this upon themselves by posting how much they charge, and how many hours it took. The
next thing that happens is every Tom , Dick , and Harry thinks he can produce the same result faster and cheaper.
So I guess the answer to your question IMO is that all cars may not take 50 hours, but if you want repeat customers you better take the time necessary.