Names for the car care cycle steps

[CieraSL]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

It's not just in KC, Mary. We've seen people out here lay down $100k+ for a new Porsche or AMG Mercedes and then splurge on a $5000 sound system, $4000 for aftermarket tires/wheels and another $2500 for an exhaust, but they look at you like you're from Mars when you suggest spending a few hundred on a D/A and the requisite pads, liquids, towels, etc. And they also are not willing to spend $600-$1000 to have a pro detail the car properly. It most likely just comes down to what they know - they understand the appearance factor of the wheels, the killer thump of the sound system or the rasp of the exhaust. But even when point out the swirls they don't know what they're looking at.

Funny how that works, isn't it?

[Mary S]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

It's not just in KC, Mary. We've seen people out here lay down $100k+ for a new Porsche or AMG Mercedes and then splurge on a $5000 sound system, $4000 for aftermarket tires/wheels and another $2500 for an exhaust, but they look at you like you're from Mars when you suggest spending a few hundred on a D/A and the requisite pads, liquids, towels, etc. And they also are not willing to spend $600-$1000 to have a pro detail the car properly. It most likely just comes down to what they know - they understand the appearance factor of the wheels, the killer thump of the sound system or the rasp of the exhaust. But even when point out the swirls they don't know what they're looking at.

It is funny, the swirls can make a difference you can see in the paint and yet you just can't see the swirls sometimes. I remember recently watching Mike Phillips demonstrating that new porter cable XP and he is working on a hood and he says, "as you can see, there are a lot of swirls on this hood" and I wanted to say he was crazy because it looked perfect from where I was looking at it. Finally, after all the finessing he did with it to make a perfect optical reflection, the difference was obvious. But you really can't see swirls from a few yards back, and on a white car it is even harder. So I can see it could be a challenge sometimes getting a potential customer to realize that fixing them would make a difference until they reach a point where they notice them without trying.

[CieraSL]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

I must admit, I didn't know what swirls were until I joined MOL. I was reading a post about swirl marks and I'm sitting there thinking proudly, "I bet my car doesn't have swirl marks." Yeah, right. So I ran outside to see, and I was like, Drat, I do have swirls. I wonder where they came from? Then I just started reading further about proper tools and technique and it just made the ripple effect from there. Yes, there are a lot of people who don't care about their cars, but there are also a lot of people who don't know about things like swirls and the 2 bucket technique and so on and so forth. It would make more sense to inform and instruct people on problems like swirls, water spots, bonded contaminants, and the use of proper tools and techniques, and then worry about terms and explaining to them how to fix the problem.

[Mary S]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

Yes, there are a lot of people who don't care about their cars, but there are also a lot of people who don't know about things like swirls and the 2 bucket technique and so on and so forth. It would make more sense to inform and instruct people on problems like swirls, water spots, bonded contaminants, and the use of proper tools and techniques, and then worry about terms and explaining to them how to fix the problem.

I vote for Meguiar's sponsoring a do-it-yourself car care show on Saturday morning that shows how to properly care for your car, how to recognize swirls, and how to use the g110v2 or just UC and SwirlX to remove them. Let's make swirls a household word. Like nobody knew about ring-around-the-collar until somebody advertised about how to remove them

By the way, on the bottles of SwirlX and UC, it would be better to expand the word "DA" to dual-action polisher so people can Google it and not get the district attorney's office

[Michael Stoops]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

I vote for Meguiar's sponsoring a do-it-yourself car care show on Saturday morning that shows how to properly care for your car, how to recognize swirls, and how to use the g110v2 or just UC and SwirlX to remove them. Let's make swirls a household word. Like nobody knew about ring-around-the-collar until somebody advertised about how to remove them

And we'll call it our Saturday Detailing 101 Class.

Oh. Wait.





Yep, that is exactly what we do on Saturdays around here. From time to time we even do some remote clinics, like we did at the Rolls Royce Owner's Club Meet in Orlando back in January, and we'll be doing for a local MG Owner's Club session here in SoCal later this month.

Honestly, we would love to do more of these remote sessions but it's more complicated that you might think. We are working toward conducting similar classes with our field reps, but we're still in the testing phase (so to speak). We have had some good preliminary results in Colorado and Arizona recently so hopefully this program will expand in the not too distant future.

[Mary S]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

And we'll call it our Saturday Detailing 101 Class.

Oh. Wait.





Yep, that is exactly what we do on Saturdays around here. From time to time we even do some remote clinics, like we did at the Rolls Royce Owner's Club Meet in Orlando back in January, and we'll be doing for a local MG Owner's Club session here in SoCal later this month.

Honestly, we would love to do more of these remote sessions but it's more complicated that you might think. We are working toward conducting similar classes with our field reps, but we're still in the testing phase (so to speak). We have had some good preliminary results in Colorado and Arizona recently so hopefully this program will expand in the not too distant future.

No, I meant TV show! DIY channel or H&G channel! It is a shame you need to have a TV show to teach people how to wash and wax their own cars, but it has become a lost art. People don't even wash their own windows any more. If somebody can show you how to install a landscape, you can show them how to properly maintain the finish of their car. No need to take your training on the road, make it a series. Because the information available could fill a half-hour show for 52 weeks, there is that much information.

Then the guy with the $100,000 Porsche, his girlfriend will look at his car and tell him, "did you know you have swirls" and maybe he will care LOL!

[Mary S]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

The use of a compound, or the process of compounding, is not taught in the 5 Step Paint Care Cycle.

Michael, since the car care cycle is in fact a "cycle," not a one-time process to get your paint back in good condition maybe for the first time in years, it makes sense that the heavier cutting compounds would not be included in the cycle, even when you start out with a very neglected finish, because if you are performing the other steps on a regular basis, the paint should never need such an aggressive step again, only periodic "cleaning." The label on UC says it is used on "abused and neglected finishes."

The thing I like about the term "compounding" is that if you used it when talking to a potential client, if they appeared to know what you were talking about, they probably really did, and if they didn't know, you might be met with a blank stare, which is good, because then you could explain what the term means. It doesn't have any secondary meanings within the detailing world. If you used any of the other terms that are sometimes used for that step, such as buffing, cleaning, polishing, if you used those words the customer might think you were talking about something else, and you wouldn't know there had been a miscommunication.

"Paint correction" or "defect removal" are pretty well understood as well, although there could be a diplomatic problem when the condition of the paint is from the owner's neglect or lack of proper techniques. I wonder about the label on UC where it talks about "abused or neglected finishes," and if you are the new owner of a used car, no problem, but a long-time owner might not feel his paint is "abused or neglected," especially if he is someone who always washed and waxed his own car, just incorrectly.

[Mary S]

Re: Names for the car care cycle steps

Honestly, we would love to do more of these remote sessions but it's more complicated that you might think. We are working toward conducting similar classes with our field reps, but we're still in the testing phase (so to speak). We have had some good preliminary results in Colorado and Arizona recently so hopefully this program will expand in the not too distant future.

I might have come back to Denver for that one if it had been an all-day class.

Don't move too slow, though, because ah-Griot'sGarage-choo, excuse me, is coming to Kansas City for demonstrations and training

May 15, 2010
10:00am - 2:00pm

The Complete Garage
15209 West 87th Street
Lenexa, KS 66219
(913) 322-9175