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?

[the other pc]

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

Oh yeah, we hear'ya, brother.

There's nothing like the rush of bringing a sad car back to happy.

Each time you do it you want the next hit to be stronger.

You start with your car. Then you go hunting for the next fix. Family, friends, casual acquaintances, anybody with a car who feed the addiction.

And it's not like you can expect any of your family to do an intervention. They're just happy their cars are pretty.

It's a viscous cycle.

[wifpd4]

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

Many folks might envy the position you're in, but it sounds like you're bored from a lack of challenge. Instead, take the cars to a dealership and get a full detail. More than likely the mess left might give you a challenge. Okay not a good idea, but it's the idea you need a change. That change might be using different products than usual to learn new techniques, use a new process, i.e. foam rather than microfiber pads, work by hand rather than buffer or teach someone else what you've learned over the years. I'm guessing this is what keeps the Meguiar's folks going sometimes. Sharing that experience of accomplishing an often complex task. Teaching can be learning.

Lucky for me my daily driver has been exposed to more rain this year then the last eight years. I've driven on more gravel roads and its been parked on a muddy one day and dusty next day construction site more often than usual. So the challenge is alway there.

Or, you could get a new hobby for awhile and come back to detailing with a fresh outlook.

[RPPM]

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

Yes, maybe time to pull back on this for a short while. Part of it might be taking care of 4 cars. My oldest is a junior in college, so another 1.5 years and the car is hers, and I can look at myself in the mirror then and think it is hers. The youngest is a junior in high school, so she's going to be around with the car for a while. Not like any of the cars are anything to get excited about, one is an almost 12 year old car, the other almost 6 years old. My wife's car is 3 years old, and my car although a 2016, it is really my company's car, but I take care of it like it is mine. I dream of the day when I am back to just 2 cars.

[1337392]

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

A man after my own heart it seems.

My neighbors see me outside wiping my car down almost daily and they can't seem to help but make comments. I always smile and keep wiping, but I'm thinking to myself, "Why would you own a car and let bird $#it just sit on it in plain view and not do anything about it?"

To answer your question though, I think this is just a matter of point of view. I think the point of the exercise is to keep the car in a perpetual state of secsi. I enjoy getting to use all the product I've bought to achieve the desired results. At least in my mind, these things are important. If the car doesn't look any different than when I started, it's time to pat myself on the back.

First of all, that's a hard effect to achieve. Second of all, I have acquired a skill that is more rare than it seems. Proper detailing is tough. Taking a detail brush and working your way around badges. Cleaning the various cracks and crevices for product you might have missed. I have a hard time taking care of my car and every two weeks, my wife's Jeep. If you have mastered "The Cleanest" with FOUR CARS, you should be proud my friend.

Each one teach one. Find yourself an apprentice and live vicariously.

[amblin83]

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

Time to challenge the unthinkable, the goal is to completely fix the defect, lets name three:

1, stone chips on paint and windshield
2, eliminating orange peel effect for a perfect mirror reflection. (I tried on my old car , went too far and destroyed the clear coat )
3, small dents on the side from the public car park.