High quality production detailing by Mike Phillips

[Mike Phillips]

WOW 2013 that's was in bad shape!! My 2012 black Charger has very fine scratches on the hood ,roof & trunk ,I never let the dealer touch the car took as is,so it's all my doing ! Glad I read this as I was leaning towards a AIO !

I think the owner and his wife run it through a brush style car wash. It was toast.


The important point of this article was to show that you can get the job done fast and maintain some level of quality.

[thomas.cmj]

Thanks Mike for the great article. It was very informational and helps detailer to understand what matters the most to the generic customer with a daily driver.

[heckhole]

Vast majority of the cars I do are in similar shape, if not worse.

I never offer swirl free or scratch free. I've taken photos of similar paint and have before/after photos. They are always excited that I can make the paint shine again and dramatically lessen the amount of defects.

I personally cringe when I have these cars to do. I realize most people they would brag to, don't have a detailers eye and won't see what I can see from 15 feet away...but I still fear having my name out there on a finished product that isn't up to my standard.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Mike for the great article. It was very informational and helps detailer to understand what matters the most to the generic customer with a daily driver.

You're welcome and I agree... too many people "new" to detailing for dollars go overboard for the wrong customer and the wrong car...

but I still fear having my name out there on a finished product that isn't up to my standard.

As long as both parties go into the deal knowing what the deal really is then there's no problems that I can see....

That's where the VIF comes in hand....

Mike Phillips VIF or Vehicle Inspection Form

[Garyhw48]

The Tahoe looks great. I have customers asking for a quick detail that I want to service who frankly can't afford the kind of three or four step work that I like to do. After I use the Nanoskin Auto Scrub pad on my Flex 3401 will Pinnacle XMT 360 give me reasonable results using a white ccs 5.5 inch pad. I am getting an order ready for some other items and just want the very best most sophisticated single stage product that Autogeek.net sells. The 360 looks good, just wanted opinions on the best single stage available. Once over and pull it out of the shop. Thanks, Gary

[BobbyG]

Mike, the Tahoe looks gorgeous!

This is a perfect example of what years of experience, skill, and having the right products and equipment can accomplish.

Many here are what I call hobbyist detailers meaning we detail our own cars and trucks and maybe a few others if the urge strikes. Our detailing arsenal primarily consists of 1 or 2 machines, a few pads, and popular products but nevertheless, we're all serious and our goal is a perfect defect free mirror finish.

While 4 hours sounds shocking minimal, it's quite a bit of time and spending it efficiently and almost entirely on the exterior will surprise most of us. If I were to take this Tahoe to task I'd personally be looking at 5 to 6 hours

Organization, plan of attack, the right tools, products and venue play a huge roll in efficiency, time management, and most importantly; the finished product. How many times do you find yourself running around looking for this or trying that? Having your tools and products at your fingertips can reduce the overall times by at least 30%.

Detailing isn't unlike most things in life. If you doing something long enough, if your passionate about your work, you'll be pleasantly surprised how good you'll become. If you look back over the years you've amassed a incredible amount of knowledge and experience, all which culminates in a gorgeous finish and satisfied customer.....as Mike's illustrates above.

Absolutely stunning Mike!!

[addysdaddy]

One of the best overall articles I've read by you Mike and I've read quite a few. Practical working knowledge that both pro and hobbyist can apply. Thanks for your time and insight.

[Mike Phillips]

The Tahoe looks great.

I have customers asking for a quick detail that I want to service who frankly can't afford the kind of three or four step work that I like to do.

After I use the Nanoskin Auto Scrub pad on my Flex 3401 will Pinnacle XMT 360 give me reasonable results using a white ccs 5.5 inch pad.

The simple answer is "yes".

The more complicated answer is the topic I spoke about in the thread, see the my comments in the first post about using the softest pad you can get away with when using ANY one-step cleaner/wax on black and dark colored basecoat/clearcoats paints.

Do a test first and go from there...

I am getting an order ready for some other items and just want the very best most sophisticated single stage product that Autogeek.net sells. The 360 looks good, just wanted opinions on the best single stage available. Once over and pull it out of the shop. Thanks, Gary

XMT 360 is a light cutting cleaner/wax. It's not Very Light and it's not Medium Cleaning, it's Light Cleaning and that's where you want to be for doing most production detailing.

See my article here,



How to choose a one-step cleaner/wax

[Mike Phillips]

Mike, the Tahoe looks gorgeous!

Thanks Bobby...

This is a perfect example of what years of experience, skill, and having the right products and equipment can accomplish.

That and getting busy ASAP and not messing around but staying busy one step after the other.

Many here are what I call hobbyist detailers meaning we detail our own cars and trucks and maybe a few others if the urge strikes. Our detailing arsenal primarily consists of 1 or 2 machines, a few pads, and popular products but nevertheless, we're all serious and our goal is a perfect defect free mirror finish.

I agree and one thing I've learned in life is the owner of a car will tend to do better work than anyone else because they care the most... it is their car. While skill and experience are very important passion is also very important.

While 4 hours sounds shocking minimal, it's quite a bit of time and spending it efficiently and almost entirely on the exterior will surprise most of us. If I were to take this Tahoe to task I'd personally be looking at 5 to 6 hours

It was a good work out on top of a day that started in the gym at 5:00am

Organization, plan of attack, the right tools, products and venue play a huge roll in efficiency, time management, and most importantly; the finished product. How many times do you find yourself running around looking for this or trying that? Having your tools and products at your fingertips can reduce the overall times by at least 30%.

100% agree...

In my how-to book there's a section dedicated to the topic of getting organized, in fact, that's the title.... Getting Organized

And it covers really important topics like having a clean place to place your clean microfiber towels so you don't accidentally put scratches back into paint you had just polished. This is vitally important.

Absolutely stunning Mike!!

Thanks again Bobby... while Tahoes are my choice for the kind of cars I like to polish out I'm still hoping and waiting that now that I've earned the owners trust on his Tahoe and his 1958 Impala Convertible, that one of these day he'll bring me his all original 1957 Chevy Bel Air Convertible and of course at my regular hourly rate.

[Mike Phillips]

Thanks Mike for the great article. It was very informational and helps detailer to understand what matters the most to the generic customer with a daily driver.

Thank you for the compliment... that was the intent of the article....

One of the best overall articles I've read by you Mike and I've read quite a few. Practical working knowledge that both pro and hobbyist can apply. Thanks for your time and insight.

And thank you sir for the kind words....