Tipping Point vis-a-vis Detailing

[Route246]

What was your tipping point with respect to detailing? What aspect enabled you to cross over from casual car care enthusiast to casual detailer and beyond?

Definition: The tipping point is the critical point in an evolving situation that leads to a new and irreversible development. The term is said to have originated in the field of epidemiology when an infectious disease reaches a point beyond any local ability to control it from spreading more widely. A tipping point is often considered to be a turning point.

For me it was clay. Simple decontamination using clay caused every sealer/wax to be so much more effective. It separated a nice finish from a finish that jumped out at me.

Honorable mention goes to the DA polisher coupled with world-class products from McKee's, Wolfgang and Meguiars.

Both of these things are not normally known or widely available to the casual enthusiast.

What product, technique or aspect provided separation for you to where you never looked back?

[PaulMys]

Very interesting and well-worded question. (Probably could have done without the infectious disease reference, but I digress.....) Lol

My tipping point was the purchase of my new Ram in 2012.

First "brand new" vehicle I have ever purchased. I had bought trucks a few years old, but this one was a "clean canvas".

I was aware not to use dish soap and an old T shirt to wash, but never really knew any proper process.

Got tipped off to AutoGeek from a Ram forum, and never looked back........ ;)

[Route246]

Very interesting and well-worded question. (Probably could have done without the infectious disease reference, but I digress.....) Lol

My tipping point was the purchase of my new Ram in 2012.

First "brand new" vehicle I have ever purchased. I had bought trucks a few years old, but this one was a "clean canvas".

I was aware not to use dish soap and an old T shirt to wash, but never really knew any proper process.

Got tipped off to AutoGeek from a Ram forum, and never looked back........ ;)

I didn't think about getting a new vehicle. That is very appropriate and makes a lot of sense. I should have also mentioned this forum and other forums plus YouTube.

I copied the definition and did not provide an attribution. Mea culpa.

Attribution here: http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/tipping-point

[BudgetPlan1]

I bought a black Subaru.

[DBAILEY]

For me, I got serious about detailing when I bought a used black Volvo V70 sport wagon back in 2000. It was sound mechanically but neglected on the outward appearance. Trying to make it look better is what started me down this road. Then when I finally figured out how to polish and about high quality sealants/waxes people started asking me to work on their cars based on how my car finally ended up looking. Now its a hobby that turned me into a weekend warrior hopefully working on 2-3 cars a month. Pretty cool that a hobby can actually end up paying for itself and provide me some extra spending money. The people at my main job don't get why I do it, but its something that is 180 degrees opposite from the type of work at my main job. So it allows me to empty my mind and escape into my little world for 2-3 days at a time.

[Patman22]

I had a black 98 Corvette and I hired a mobile detailer to buff out the scratches and he did a great job but he worked outside on a cloudy day and whatever products he used must have used some fillers because after I did the first wash and saw it in bright sun I could see some minor buffer trails. So I decided to buy my own DA polisher (the original UDM which I still have) and I spent at least 40-50 hours perfecting that black paint. I haven't spent nearly that much time on my current Corvette (a LeMans blue 05) but when I first got it I was glad I had experience with the DA since it had a lot of swirls in it. I kind of fell out of the detailing bug for a couple of years, up until recently I had not put any sealant on my Corvette for over two years. It doesn't see much rain so I didn't even need to wash it much, I just used detailing spray to keep it clean. In September I placed my order for a new 2018 Corvette and while I'm waiting for it to be built (target week for the build is Dec 4) I have caught the detailing bug big time and have been testing out stuff on my current Corvette and buying things to use on the new one (like the Chemical Guys super fine clay mitt) This 2018 is my fourth Corvette but the first brand new one so it will be much easier to keep it looking perfect when I'm starting out with a clean slate. This new found zest for detailing has benefitted my wife's car and my daily driver, both of which had not seen any wax/sealant for a long time but both are now sporting fresh coats of Meguiars UFF (I love this stuff!)

[Paul A.]

I was always anal about maintaining both the mechanical reliability and the appearance of whatever I was driving over the years. I would wash my car at least every 2 weeks and it always had a layer of "wax" and some ArmorAll on the tires! I can't say I experienced a tipping point and was more like an egg waiting to hatch.

I believe it was the internet and the explosion of information that finally caused me to crack the shell and emerge into searching for and learning all the particulars of detailing. Up until that point I was doing everything by hand. After I started to read a bunch about machine polishing, pads, compounds and polishes I was in mental Heaven and wanted it all! My earliest memory of that was a couple of message boards online. My favorite was a BMW board that was all things BMW with a sub forum/board titled "Detailing and Car Care".

The closest thing I can relate to as a tipping point was when a neighbor asked me to do his black Mercedes "like you do your car". That was my very last "by hand" job (no joke intended).

Alll that was probably 20-22 years ago...

[RTexasF]

For me it was money pure & simple. Clean car, get $$$.

[TTQ B4U]

My tipping point was after the very first detail for money. It's no where near my day-job of course but the fact that I could do something I really really enjoy doing while providing someone a service they see enough value in to pay me for my work was all that was needed. After that I put a plan in place both inventory and process wise and then started gathering up my referrals and business. Thus far in 2017 I've average about 1-2 cars per weekend and have more than enough fun-money to keep me doing it again both through winter and into next year.

[BillE]

Without going into a looong story...when I re-discovered Meg's #7 in the late 70's.

Bill

[lokerola]

When I bought my 2011 Dodge Charger R/T I googled "wax". Search engine led me here......And now I have a shed filled with waxes, polishes, pads, towels, on and on.

[BadgerRivFan]

My tipping point was also purchasing a new car... my first "non-daily driver"... a 2001 Corvette.

My desire to keep the Corvette looking it's best led me to two things.

1. Zaino - the Zaino products were all the rage at the time in the Corvette discussion forums. I jumped on the bandwagon and put many, many coats of Z5 and Z2 on my car over the years [emoji846].

2. Griots Garage Catalog - I don't recall who gave me my first Griots catalog, but I was smitten the first time I flipped through the pages. In addition to Zaino, I've bought a ton of Griots products over the years. Including a GG6 which I used to "buff out" my Corvette every spring with Zaino's AIO (before I really even knew what polishing and sealing was all about).

So yes, my "tipping point" was a new Corvette, Zaino and the Griots Garage catalog!

[Jay's 128i]

For me, it was spending $270 on a detail. Don't get me wrong, the detail was beautiful...... When I picked up my truck, the detailer walked me around my vehicle explaining what he did. As this was going on, I took note on what products he had. Did a Google search and then found this forum. I figured I would just start detailing my own car instead of paying someone. Once going, I found that detailing was actually my therapy. Being in the military, I have constant chaos everyday and detailing my car is great "me time". Being that one can only do so much to their car, I started offering others free details. It was during one of these details, that a random guy driving by stopped and asked "how much?". Told him that detailing was just a hobby for me and that I wasn't a professional. He said that the way I was making the current car I was working on look, that he didn't care if I was a pro or not. That was my tipping point that made me want to be detailet. So now I have two professions, military and detailing

[Don M]

For me, it was working for a shop that did high end detailing, that and buying the newest car I had ever owned, a 1988 Beretta GT/black-metallic. Obviously this was in the late 80s - DEFINITELY pre-internet. I learned how to use the Meguiar's consumer/detailer line and an orbital polisher to achieve amazing results. I did this on my own for several years, then the internet kicked in. First it was the generic detailing sites on AOL, then finally to places like this, where I learned that my "wax-spreader" GEM orbital wasn't all that, so I stepped up to a PC and never looked back. During the tail end of the time I worked at the shop, I picked up a brand new 1989 Camaro - black of course and learned how to keep it swirl-free. Between the Beretta, the Camaro and working at the shop, I was permanently infected with the detailing bug.

And here I am, decades later, with ANOTHER black Camaro.

[suttonri]

I bought my Chevy Colorado last December. After a steady diet sensible economy cars this is the 1st vehicle I've really loved. Last Spring I took it to this mass detailing business that has a good reputation locally. They put the car on a conveyor belt, used the same buckets and mops they had been using for god knows how long, and left missed spots in some places, water spots in others. I quickly decided I would have to do it myself. A Chevy forum recommended the Porter Cable 7424xp with 3m Ultrafine. A quick search led me to AutoGeek and I was off.