Anybody else get disappointed after you detail your regularly detailed car??

[RPPM]

Let me start off by saying, I'm not a pro, this is my hobby. I detail the 4 cars my daughters, wife and I drive all the time. I do cars for neighbors, friends, and extended family, plus the occasional "customer car". But most of the time, it is the same 4 cars we drive.

The problem really is with the current products available, you can make your cars look like they are fully detailed each week. I last did a full detail on the 4 cars in April. Since then, been weekly or bi weekly washes, followed by some spray wax/qd/waterless wash once a month. It is time to get them prepared for winter. So I struggle now with the efforts to do a full detail (wash, decontaminate, clay, clean paint/light polish, apply dedicated LSP, clean interior, dress dash, windows, dress tires, wheel wells, engine). I struggle because after all that time (basically a 6-8 hour day per car), the results barely look any different than the cars do now.

Back in the day before all the maintenance products, you knew your car needed detailed by how the look and protection started to fade, how the car was more difficult to wash. The best part about the detail was when you were done, the fruits of your labor were easily recognized. Now, I finish up, I look at one of the cars and think, "wow, all that work and the car looks just about the same". My wife looks at me like I am crazy, because the cars don't look like they need detailed, she absolutely can't see any difference.

So I find myself wanting to do more friends/family/neighbors cars, because when I am done, it looks like I actually made a difference. Anybody else ever think along these lines?

[emmjay]

Yup. Ofcourse, that's a perk and drawback of being an Autogeek.

Always do a beat up car to offset everything lol - if that's really how you feel.

2 weeks ago I did 3 cars.

1 severely beat up Pilot that took 5 days....

My car took 1.5 days

My mom's audi which was in between took 2.5 days.

I felt amazing after the Pilot because the car looked brand new after all that work.

I did my car in between and felt meh.

Finished with the Audi so I can have a sense of achievement of just using all of my remaining leave to detail cars for 9 days. I was beat by the end.

Honestly, its an amazing feeling because all your hard work and being good to your car's paint, 5 months later and it still looks just detailed.

Yes a light polish might remove tiny marring, but you have to if you want to winterize your cars like you said. If it were hard paint, all I would do is clay and re-seal like I did with my last VW. That car looked freshly detailed for the entire 1 year after I polished it and then sold it.

[pheerix]

Lately I've been disappointed with the performance of my sealants. I use WG Liquid Seal or Sealant Spritz after literally every wash and I try to keep the car clean with either rinseless or waterless washes weekly. Had to get my car serviced last week and it got hit with a lot of very small bird bombs plus some rain. Car was too dirty and too many to spot clean so I decided to just wait a few days to do a full wash. Well now there's a ton of small etch marks everywhere from the bird bombs and water spots. Feel pretty defeated. Getting kinda tired of trying to maintain that perfect finish we all strive for. Meh.

[OCDetails]

You are lucky to be in that situation. In my case I am living the 'cobbler's son has no shoes' lifestyle where my cars look like they could use a good cleaning more often than not. However, even though I feel my car is a disaster and really needs love, I'll get experiences like yesterday when I had the battery tested at AutoZone and the guy was blown away that my car has 120k miles on it and was, in his words, "immaculate". I could see the dirt and the spots that need to be cleaned, but that's because I'm part of that 1% that most of us belong to who can actually see what needs to be done. Most people just aren't that tuned into what makes a car look great.

So realistically, when I clean my car this weekend it really isn't going to look that much better to most people. It will be going from used car dealership clean to new car dealership clean. In the eyes of most I think that is the same thing either way. But to me I'll know it is cleaner.

I guess the short answer to my long story is that if you are properly maintaining your cars then you really won't see a huge difference. It's like if you mowed your lawn every day instead of once a week. It just isn't going to look that much better after cutting off half a mm of grass compared to the 2 inches that most people have to cut off when they finally get around to it. Properly maintained still needs to be maintained, so regular 'detailing' is important even if it doesn't dramatically improve the appearance. If you want it to look really good after you detail it then just neglect it for three or four months and then see how it looks. ;) You should pat yourself on the back that you can't see the difference when you clean the car. That means you are doing a good job at maintaining it.

[FUNX650]

The problem really is with the current
products available, you can make your
cars look like they are fully detailed each week.

I last did a full detail on the 4 cars in April.
Since then, been weekly or bi weekly washes,
followed by some spray wax/qd/waterless
wash once a month.

It is time to get them prepared for winter.
So I struggle now with the efforts to do a
full detail (wash, decontaminate, clay, clean
paint/light polish, apply dedicated LSP, clean
interior, dress dash, windows, dress tires,
wheel wells, engine).

I struggle because after all that time
(basically a 6-8 hour day per car), the
results barely look any different than
the cars do now.

Back in the day before all the maintenance
products, you knew your car needed detailed
by how the look and protection started to fade...


So I find myself wanting to do more
friends/family/neighbors cars, because
when I am done, it looks like I actually
made a difference.
•Of course it's alright to want to do more
and different vehicles than your own...
(especially if the pay is commiserate with
your detailing skill level).
-But..to do that just in order to be able to see
a more noticeable "before/after difference"?
-Nah, that would never be a viable reason,
at least for me.


•However, with all that in mind...
IMO...Here's a pretty easy solution:

-Don't do as many "maintenance details"
on yours, as well as your family's vehicles,
between April and that time of the year
you get them prepared for Winter.
-I bet you'll see some differences right away!

{And...
If you think you are a little unhappy now...}



Bob

[RPPM]

I bet you are right about that Bob...Not sure I can do that with a smile on my face.

[Eldorado2k]

Yea I kinda know what you mean.. I seriously almost bought another car last month and to be honest a big part of why I wanted to buy it was to have another car I could tinker around with at my own pace and have fun with.

Not to mention my car is light metalic green and it's not exactly a very thrilling color to see a big difference on.. So when it comes to doing a full detail like you describe there really isn't much to it. Mostly everything stays maintained year round and even claying isn't necessary because the paint stays smooth [thx to staying away from toppers & spray waxes]

A full every 6 month detail usually consists of wash, dry, seal, wheel wells, tires, wheels, windows, vacuum interior, clean leather, condition leather, clean fabric top, and thats about it. Since mostly everything on the list is already looking good prior to starting the whole process only takes about 1.5 hrs. - 2 hrs. tops. I don't see a need to machine polish my vehicles very often. IMO once a year is too much, shouldn't need it.

[emmjay]

Mostly everything stays maintained year round and even claying isn't necessary because the paint stays smooth [thx to staying away from toppers & spray waxes]



Always learning something new. Could you please elaborate on what spray waxes and toppers do that is negative.

That might change my thinking of using D156 after every wash, when I start washing again.

Atm its either, live with marring or use D156 after every wash (once Uber runs out that is). Conditional to your answer ofcourse.

TIA

[OCDetails]

Waxes get sticky after a while. They also don't really last all that long. They start to burn off in patches, so the paint doesn't stay uniformly smooth. They also attract dust to get stuck in the layer of wax when it is hot, so that adds to less smoothness. Wax is really more for appearance than anything else. I will always get a layer of Souveran or something like that on a car heading off to a show or somewhere it is going to be seen, but I certainly don't use it because it is protecting the paint. The bulletproof layer of sealant underneath the wax is what is going to be doing that. The wax or spay wax is just for a boost in shine to help it stand out for a while. That's just my experience, though. Others may experience other things with waxes depending on their climate and environment.

I don't know that D156 is in the same category though. That seems like more of a synthetic than a carnauba spray wax. It seems that the consumer grade products use the word 'wax' for anything that isn't a compound meant for cutting or cleaning paint. It doesn't necessarily mean 'carnauba'. I think D156 is using their fabulous hydrophobic polymer stuff, so you probably won't see the same issue as if it were a spray wax.

[Eldorado2k]

Always learning something new. Could you please elaborate on what spray waxes and toppers do that is negative.

That might change my thinking of using D156 after every wash, when I start washing again.

Atm its either, live with marring or use D156 after every wash (once Uber runs out that is). Conditional to your answer ofcourse.

TIA

Oh well put me on the spot why don't you.. Lol.
Hey just my personal experience, I find them [including D156] to turn my lsp into them.. Meaning that sooner or later I'm left experiencing only the results left by them, and not of my original lsp. And while they may look the part as far as water beading, their protection from bonded contaminants isn't up to par..

But don't take my word for it, if things work for you then right on. Plus if using D156 prevents marring then that's pretty important and a very good reason to stick with it. IMO Marring is much worse than bonded contaminants, you can get away with just claying, but marring requires polishing and it's best to keep that to a minimum.

[CC268]

This is an interesting thread...I am kind of on the opposite side of the fence to some extent. I keep my interior detailed. In fact my interior looks better than it did on the day I picked the truck up from the dealer. I do weekly interior cleaning (which takes all of 15-30 minutes). It is amazing how easy it makes cleaning up the interior. However...my exterior has been neglected for a solid year since I did a full decon, polish, and wax. Since then I have done a basic exterior wash (most the times just a touchless car wash) every few months. I really wish I would have been better about doing maintenance washes on my exterior, as I definitely need to decon/clay my paint and repolish and wax or apply a paint coating. I have a four door F-150 so maintaining the exterior is a lot of work...and summers here in Arizona make it almost impossible to get out and wash the exterior (unless you wake up a 5AM).

Anyways...while I have maintained my interior to a flawless "finish", I haven't done the same for my exterior. I think if I did an exterior wash every 2-3 weeks it would have helped me a lot. Now I have to find some time to do a full exterior detail on my truck.

[TTQ B4U]

I'm never disappointed, except when my cars aren't perfect! :)

I get the itch and have it today, to do another car so I can see the wonderful fruits of my efforts. However, with my vehicles, they are kept pretty clean and I love being able to to just wash and go. Occasionally, I'll hit a patch that may have a scratch or mark on it but for the most part I don't have to. Once correct for the year/usually spring time, I'm done other than playing with other products.

[RPPM]

Oh, my cars are not perfect, they are daily drivers. I mostly look to just clean the paint more than polish, but I find living in Pittsburgh, it is almost impossible to go without claying your car at least once a year, no matter what the LSP.

[Eldorado2k]

Oh, my cars are not perfect, they are daily drivers. I mostly look to just clean the paint more than polish, but I find living in Pittsburgh, it is almost impossible to go without claying your car at least once a year, no matter what the LSP.

How often do you lay down a base layer of your lsp?

[RPPM]

Twice a year, usually once in April and once in October. Current LSP is Sonax PNS, and my monthly topper is Sonax BSD. They are the best I have found for keeping contaminants down.