Us vs the general public

[Spiney]

I took my 96 SVT Cobra to a show yesterday. It's black. As soon as I pull it in the car wrangler ask me how I've kept it scratch free for this long. Many people commented on how nice it is for a 16 year old car. I on the other hand see every swirl mark, scratch, and watermark on it. It unfortunately has plenty. That will be fixed once I get all my AG tools working on it. I told the wrangler that the scratches are there when you look closer. My wife tells me to just say thank you, and hold my tongue.

Have you experienced similar reactions from people when you know the real story.

One other thing a friend and longtime Mustang owner told me next time I'm headed to a show and don't have time to really correct it use Turtle Wax Black detailing spray. He's an experienced detailer having run his own shop for several years. He told me he tried it on his Wife's Black Taurus SHO and was amazed how many sins it hid in between washes.

Any experience with it? And yes I know that on this forum Turtle Wax gets about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield. Thanks, Spiney

[AutowerxDetailing]

My wife basically falls into the "general public" category. I start talking about buffer holograms and swirl marks and her eyes start to glaze over. She was perfectly happy driving her car through the car wash a couple times a year before she met me. Man... spouses of detailers don't realize how good they have it.

[hyu]

I think my girlfriend might be the worst. I talk about using rain-x on her windows because she was amazed by how the water beads up on my windows and rain-x is allot easier to use than sealants/wax/w.e and she drifted off into space

[mwoolfso]

My wife is a pip..... she says, "It is just a car" so often my eyes glaze-over. She will never let go of her DD, but many times she will take my VW as she does her errands because, "my car gets better gas mileage". LOL

[BobbyG]

Dave,

Most mortals do not have the eye, appreciation, or appetite for our obsession.

We fall into a very selective bucket. Our buckets are clean to the nth degree with not a single speck of dirt and debris to be found. These buckets are dried after use and are stored with covers firmly in place so that airborne dirt and dust cannot settle in them between use......

When you consider the average person is very satisfied taking their car through an automatic car wash then having a couple of guys dry it with bath towels it sort of puts things into perspective doesn't it?

Don't worry Dave, we understand......

[rider9195]

I have had one person compliment me on my cars paint. The person seemed amazed. Now the paint wasn't perfect but it still looked good. I told him I do detailing on the side gave him my number haven't got a call. But the fact that some people don't care for such nice vehicles is disappointing.

[Klasse Act]

I don't have a toy to take to cruize nights anymore but I still go the weekly car cruizes and here's what I notice now that I'm a member of this cult......urrrr, forum:

ALL THE MUSCLE CARS WITH SWIRLS ON THEM!!!

These are cars that sit in the garage most of the time and a chunk of them are owned by guys whom are retired too, what's the exuse! I can't believe that 8 out of 10 cars are swirled to some degree, some are REAL, REAL bad too! My g/f's Mazda 6 has waaaaaay fewer swirls than 80% of the "show cars" at these cruizes and it needs some attention from yours truely, just gotta find the time on the weekend and less humid weather too.

BTW, I would just say thank you when someone compliments you on your car too.

[TimmyG]

I feel like the sad reality is that most of the general public simply doesn't care.

[brentech]

Yeah, I was at a event Saturday that had a little car show going on along with it. Mostly classics and muscle cars and some custom roadsters, but very few of them had anything close to swirl free paint.

Some looked awful, especially around the front fenders. I would have liked to stay and see who won.

[arkus]

The general public doesn't know you can remove small scratches in paint .