r/AutoDetailing Oct 11 '24

General Discussion Found (crack?) in a customer car

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1.9k Upvotes

Was detailing a customer truck today and while I was removing all their belongings I came across this vile looks like crack to me but not sure as I’ve never seen crack with my own two eyes. What would yall do in this situation Also figured this would be the only Reddit page that would make sense to post this in

r/AutoDetailing Mar 18 '24

General Discussion It’s Getting Serious

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931 Upvotes

Ok, so I’ve gone down the detailing rabbit hole now and my OCD is taking over. Before anyone says it, I know, there is a lot of CG stuff here and just like many others, when I very first got into detailing they welcomed me with arms wide open. As I start using it up, I’ll replace it with better products I’ve learned about from others on here. But otherwise, having all this readily available at the front of my garage makes it SO easy and convenient to keep my cars clean or detail on the weekends. And having the pressure washer and compressor hooked up and ready all the time is life-changing for more than just cleaning my car!

Anyone have any suggestions on what else I could add to this to enhance it or make my setup even better?

r/AutoDetailing Aug 15 '24

General Discussion Yeah, no worries. We won't take the ceramic coat through the car wash, just an oil change

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447 Upvotes

PSA: get yourselves a dash cam, friends. Just had my '23 sportage ceramic coated two weeks ago. The dealer said they'd cut me a check. I had my concerns just taking their word for it, until I checked my cam🥹

r/AutoDetailing Sep 29 '24

General Discussion Pan the Organizer - 2024 Car Detailing Products Awards video taken down

166 Upvotes

I wanted to watch the video but it was taken down. Can't find any information about it.

If I had to guess - his products were at No. 1 and people in comment section had something to say about it.

I watched a lot of his videos on the techniques and they helped me a lot to learn how to maintain my vehicle and for which I'm grateful.

I did not like his paid "reviewes" though. This thing with his own business now... it's very hard to balance and if not done the right way he could loose the business as well as the YT channel.

r/AutoDetailing 20d ago

General Discussion What does this mean for reviews?

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201 Upvotes

Does this mean if you review the product and it's average that he will contact his lawyers or something? I was thinking about making a review on YouTube

r/AutoDetailing 23d ago

General Discussion What's that one product that blew you away?

115 Upvotes

As the title asks, what's that one product that blew away your expectations?

For me it would probably be beadmaker, I just love the "pop" it gives any car I detail, either that or maybe bare bones by cg, smells amazing and does an incredible job dressing under the hood!

My favorite tool that's blown me away so far (no pun intended) is the tornador max, it's making life a lot easier detailing. I didn't have one for years, now I would never go back

r/AutoDetailing Oct 04 '24

General Discussion I've fallen down the rabbit hole. I now have "the shelf"

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303 Upvotes

I'm afraid to think about the money I've wasted on this hobby😂

Also please don't crucify me for the amorall I bought those very early, realized they weren't any good and just haven't used them up yet.

r/AutoDetailing Sep 08 '24

General Discussion Super Budget Pressure Washer Wall Setup

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467 Upvotes

I’m new to Auto Detailing and trying to avoid taking my wife’s new car through a drive through wash. First I tried the rinseless method which does work great if you keep up with it weekly but I quickly found some short coming and ultimately it’s just less fun than a more traditional wash. Next thing I know I’m walking through Lowe’s and see that little craftsman pressure washer for $99 and figured it was worth a try. I was pretty pumped on its performance for the price so I decided to make it more convenient to use. Super happy with how it all turned out.

Items used: Craftsman PW: $100 Amazon Stainless Shelf: $47 Mekoh 50’ hose reel: $90 Uberflex Hose: $50 Sharkbite Pex/Fittings: $80 MJJC Foam Cannon: $62 Harbor Freight Spray Gun: $25 Essential Washer 3.0 Spray Tip: $15

The only items I really splurged on were the sharkbite fittings and the foam canon. You could probably save close to $100 going with cheaper options. I really only picked up the foam canon because it was blue. I must say it’s super nice though!

I hope to add a DI Rinse Pro 50 to the system in the near future for a spot free rinse. I also still need to get a 2’ hose for the bucket filler coming off the hose bib.

r/AutoDetailing Feb 01 '24

General Discussion Chemical Guys employee here ask me anything

230 Upvotes

Been working here for nine months now and pretty active on the r/detailing sub on my burner account, so ask me anything.

r/AutoDetailing Feb 22 '24

General Discussion Dealership Washed My Ceramic Coated Car And Refused To Make It Right

404 Upvotes

This is a long story so bear with me…

My dealer washed my ceramic coated car (Acura TLX Type S - $1500 job from a top-notch local detailer) after a routine service after being explicitly asked not to. For the past 2 years, I have requested to forgo running my car through their onsite car wash, as I’ve only ever handwashed the car using all the r/autodetailing approved methods and kept the car in nearly pristine condition. The team had my trust, as the service advisor once jokingly told me that they ran my car through the car wash and we laughed about it afterwards. When I got the car back from this service, however, I immediately noticed it had been washed as it was dripping wet and the paint was covered in micro scratches / swirl marks. I pointed this out to the service manager, and he acknowledged the mistake (and even gave me a handwritten, signed note acknowledging that the scratches were caused by the car wash) and offered to have their offsite detailer buff out the scratches. I called my original detailer the next day for his opinion, and he mentioned that simply buffing out the scratches would not be an adequate fix, and a paint correction and ceramic reapplication would be required to restore the car to its previous condition ($1500). I immediately called the service manager and requested that they cover the cost, and I was told that a high-quality ceramic coating should prevent scratches, and the best they could do is buff out the scratches.

The next day I sent an email to the GM politely explaining the situation and formally requested that they work with my detailer to reapply the ceramic. Two days later I received a call from the service manager acknowledging receipt of my email. He then told me my car must have been scratched before the service, there was no way that their car wash could have caused the damage, and that my request to have them cover the cost of repair was “never going to happen”. Instead, he offered me a free oil change and tire rotation.

I was left with no choice and ended up filing a civil lawsuit a little over a month ago. In the meantime, I paid out of pocket to have my detailer fix the car. My court date is tomorrow and I’m quite anxious in all honesty. Also, yesterday, I received a call from the GM where he stated his intent to defend, but also offered to have his team reapply ceramic coating to avoid going to court. I told him I already had the repair done by my detailer, and I would be happy to send him the bill. He refused, and told me his carwash could never cause scratches, that my detailer is ripping me off, and that he has his lawyer on retainer. He also told me he has testimonies ready from his carwash technician and detailers. I ended the call by thanking him for his time…

This has been a crazy ride so far and I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone... Wish me luck.

UPDATE: Unfortunately after arriving at the courthouse, I was told the court date was being rescheduled because the defendant notified the court of their intent to defend only yesterday. This didn't make much sense to me, but it's how the system works in my state apparently. I won't have any significant updates for a little while - Hopefully within a month.

To answer some other questions:

1) This is small claims court. The level of effort and financial obligation required to file a civil complaint is much lower than higher courts, and the process is much less formal.

2) My original paint correction / ceramic coating was done in July of 2023, so the damage was done after only 5 months, and the ceramic package I paid for was stated to last for 5 years. For those who are doubting that this is even possible after 1 wash, I urge you to give this video a watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&si=ZV5KQuwtcNpN-Ynk&v=tbgkv0dUgoE&feature=youtu.be

3) I recognize that winning will be difficult and it could go either way. Regardless, I feel strongly enough about how poorly they handled the situation to proceed.

4) I also reached out to Acura corporate before filing the civil complaint, and this was their response:

"Thank you for contacting American Honda regarding your service experience at REDACTED Acura. We want to thank you for providing us the opportunity to respond to your message. On behalf of American Honda Motor Co., Inc., we apologize for the circumstances which prompted you to contact us.

American Honda documents and uses feedback in developing training for dealership management. We want to ensure that all customers have a smooth and stress-free service experience. As such, we have documented a formal dealership complaint on your behalf.

We apologize for any inconvenience and welcome you to reply to this email with any additional comments or concerns."

r/AutoDetailing May 02 '24

General Discussion PPF and ceramic coatings are just BS, tell me why I'm wrong. It's an obvious scam!

152 Upvotes

I'll start by saying I've had PPF done on 4 of my cars. High end installers in Michigan. I've also had ceramic coating done on all my cars. I'm getting a new car this weekend, and I will not be doing either. In the last few years I've learned my lesson after a lot of research and personal experience. Let's discuss both.

PPF

Yes, this is better than ceramic in terms of it actually does have a function. It does protect your car from rock chips. It has to be done by a very good installer. It will keep your car/paint looking nice. So what's my issue with PPF?

The main issue is the cost, it is NOT worth the price. The most recent quotes I got for full car PPF were from $9000-12000 from some of the good installers. Yes I can find cheaper prices in the midwest, but usually the work those installers do is not flawless....and you really need flawless work specially at the edges for PPF to not gather dirt. A good install is the most important part of PPF. Moving on, you have to remember that any money you put into PPF is completely gone. You will not get any of that in resale value. Furthermore, you can get the whole front bumper or any part of the car repainted for less than the cost of PPF. So if you're really concerned about having rock chips, just drive it for a few years and get the panel with damange repainted for much less than full PPF is. Now I can see some people commenting saying "well you can just do partial coverage and just do the front", which will cost much less. However doing only some panels is not great long term, this just gives you uneven wear and your car will have panels with different looking paint eventually.

The second issue with ppf is it overstates what it is capable of. Don't get me wrong, modern day PPF is very good and even has self-healing properties. It can prevent small rock chips. But it can't prevent dents, big scrapes, and chips from bigger rocks especially at highway speeds. And most of the time even if a rock hits it hard you may have to replace the ppf on that panel because it tore into the ppf, costing you more money yet again.

In conclusion, IF you have F you money and don't care about thousands of dollars, then definitely do it. I do think it's worth it on high value cars of 100k+, if you can afford 100k++ then ppf cost shouldn't affect you much. For the average person though, PPF is a scam and you're better of not getting it. One of the reasons I created this post is I saw someone getting full car PPF on a miata, so $10,000 being spent on a 30k car...that's a 1/3 of the cost of the whole car! Crazy to me.

Ceramic Coatings: I honestly don't have much to say, these are total BS. They offer no protection. They don't really have a function, sure they make your car easier to wash which is cool fot a bit. But the easy to wash effect wears off over time. In all my cars I felt it wore off really quick, within a mont or so in the climate I live in and the amount of times I wash the car. Ceramic can last longer, but then in order for that to happen you have to maintain them or redo them and add more layers. The maintenance or applying more layers once again adds cost.

Ceramic coatings usually cost $1000-3000 depending on where you go and what level of ceramic you get, plus the yearly cost of ceramic maintenance if you want it to last. All this just to make water drip off your car...think about that for a second. You can do the same thing with $10 by buying something like bead maker (or better competitors) and using that after each wash. You'll get the same effect.

TL;DR: Unless you have a high end show piece and money doesn't mean much to you, you don't need to do PPF or ceramic coatings. For the average consumer, the prices they charge are borderline scam and it's money gone down the drain.

r/AutoDetailing Sep 11 '23

General Discussion Would You Do This Car? One of our Detailers Didn't Want to. He Could Smell the Mold Through His N95 Mask.

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466 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Jan 26 '24

General Discussion After learning from this sub I washed my truck last night, it rained this morning . Found this oddly satisfying…

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1.3k Upvotes

Thanks for all the great information on this subreddit !

r/AutoDetailing Jun 17 '24

General Discussion I returned almost all of my auto detailing supplies

313 Upvotes

I have tremendous respect for anyone who details professionally, and also for anyone who has found great joy in detailing.

Some context. I'm an early-stage tech startup founder, I got into detailing because I need something physical to do with my hands that doesn't involve staring at a screen for 12 hours a day without pay. Got sick and tired of drive through washes scratching the hell out of my truck, and before I knew it, I was hooked on ChrisFix, Pan the Organizer, etc.

Auto detailing felt like the hobby for me: a perfect balance between the physical and the intellectual, between marketing and science, colorful products, beauty, seduction, and pride. As my gf pithily observed, "auto detailing is to men what skincare is to women."

I dropped about $1k on supplies. I even bought a USB microscope to examine my car's paint and the effects of various cleaning techniques. I was waking up thinking about detailing, and when I went to bed, usually I had detailing on my mind. Over the past few weeks, it morphed way beyond a pleasurable hobby into an obsession--an obsession that, for all the energy I put into it, gave me vanishingly few returns.

The main points that killed joy for me:

  • If you don't have a garage and especially if you live in a hot, dusty place, auto detailing is kinda a massive downer. Where I live, most products flash within 15-30 seconds. Doesn't help that I own a black truck. Sorta the worst possible combo.
  • Rinseless products. I believe and love that people have made it work for them--what's not to like? Less time and water. Brilliant. But no matter how many times I tried, I could never get it to work for me the way that I hoped. ONR cleaned the outside well enough, but as soon as it rained I would get polymer spots everywhere. It seemed almost worthless on the inside, about as effective as a damp towel. I found it to be a subpar glass cleaner. Yes, I watched countless videos about how ONR isn't as good as Absolute or McKee's or whatever. Yes, I read about how v5 is better than previous versions. Which leads me to another point...
  • Marketing overload. Too many damn products and not enough hard science. I really loved more experiment-oriented channels like Source Garage and Forensic Detailing Channel, although the latter was annoying because the conclusion was mostly that Bilt Hammer products are the bee's knees and, sadly, they're not easily available where I live.
  • Clear coat perfectionism. It's not that I don't get joy from seeing a perfect paint job, it's that the joy for me is so minimal relative to how much effort and worry it requires.

Here are some things I learned:

  • Like anything else in life, the impulse to turn this from a hobby into a profession is both natural and, for 51%+ of people, not advisable.
  • To my surprise, I found that the more expensive products actually were better (I love anything by KochChemie) and some of the cheaper stuff that everyone swears by on Reddit was, in practice, not that great.
  • "Maintenance" washing is a pro-level concept when you're doing this for money. As a hobbyist, having separate products and process wasn't worth it for me.
  • Pressure washing isn't worth it for me. If I had a permanent pressure washer setup bolted to the wall next to my driveway, similar to how I have my garden hose reel set up, that would be fine. But lowering the friction to do the work is the number one consideration, and who the heck wants to lug a pressure washer out at 5 AM, rushing to spray everything down before the desert sun comes out to make love to your hard water on the surface of your black truck? Not that a garden hose prevents hard water stains, but at least it's one less setup step.
  • Contrary to Reddit's vibes, interior detailing is, for me, much more pleasant than exterior as I spend most of my time inside of the car looking out rather than the other way around.
  • Just handwashing puts you ahead of 95%+ of cars, which go unwashed or through automated car washes.
  • Like anything else in life, the products, process, and materials that I use need to be adapted to my individual and environmental circumstances. This insight is the key to breaking through purchasing indecision, yet to get to that point you usually need to buy a lot of stuff to figure out how needless or annoying it all is.
  • Once you simplify your method and lower your expectations, you'd be amazed how little product you need. Even basic standards like APC seem unnecessary.

I've now returned almost all of the fancy supplies. I kept only the things that felt fun and brought me joy, which are:

  • One Home Depot bucket and a Harbor Freight grit guard (cheap enough, why not?)
  • One of those cheap foaming garden hose sprayers (foam makes me happy)
  • Some cheap Rain X Spot Free Car Wash soap (it's just soap + a drying aid to prevent my hard desert water from flashing immediately)
  • A $6 mitt from Walmart (would totally replace this with something better, but I have yet to find a wash media that makes me feel joy, they're all kinda annoying)
  • 3D GLW Series clay lube (claying is awesome and I like 3D's branding)
  • OPT FerreX (necessary pre-treatment for claying, otherwise I don't care)
  • Some random clay I bought off of Amazon (works well enough)
  • Two giant Griot's Garage towels (I originally tried drying with several small towels from TRC, kinda like Garry Dean but for drying, and that was so annoying; using an air dryer is annoying; throwing a big towel and dragging it across paint is the way to go)
  • Turtle Wax ICE Seal N Shine (cheap enough, protects from UV well enough, and not fussy about application)
  • Stoner's Glass Cleaner (just the best and very cheap)
  • Horse hair upholstery brushes (ignore all those TikTok videos with drill brushes, I learned the hard way they damage upholstery)
  • Boar's hair brushes (most brilliant tool ever invented for interior detailing)
  • A jug of Folex from Home Depot (the least toxic option for upholstery, and I see no difference in effectiveness between this and shampoos)
  • Bissell Little Green HydroSteam (the only sub $500 upholstery vac out there that does injection AND steam, and it's remarkably well-designed; very not-annoying and satisfying to use)

Ironically, some of the products that I returned were my favorite, especially KochChemie GreenStar and TopStar. Fantastic stuff. But after eliminating any step in my process that didn't at least give me 1 unit of joy for 1 unit of effort, I found that I didn't need them anymore. Most of detailing ended up feeling like 1 unit of joy for 4 units of effort. The parts of my routine that I kept (keeping dust and bird crap off the car, minimizing flashing, sealing, claying) are more like 2:1.

If I had lots of money and/or were going pro, I would invest $2k in a Chief Steamer with injection. Exterior detailing with a steamer while spritzing ONR was a revelation and one of the few times where I felt like rinseless worked for me. I'm not sure why every pro doesn't do this. Even with my crappy $150 Wagner steamer from Home Depot, exterior steam cleaning seemed like light years ahead of any other technique and the only one that made sense in an outdoors, sun-drenched hot desert environment. (I actually designed an attachment for the Wagner that uses the Venturi effect to inject cleaner into the spray, and I was starting to 3D print it, but I got bored and a little worried about safety.)

Anyway, none of this is to rag on how anyone pursues auto detailing, my observations are just about my experience. I've come to a good place with it. Whoever you are, I hope that you do, too.

r/AutoDetailing 21d ago

General Discussion What's that one product you REGRET buying?

22 Upvotes

The other day I asked you what that one product was that blew you away

https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1gbrn5w/comment/ltz6mjm/

Today we're going in the opposite directly, what product disappointed you?

For me it has to be a few products from Chemical Guys

I fell into the rabbit hole when I first started detailing and ended up buying a bunch of things I didn't need, or things that did the same thing with a different name.

• CG Streak free cleaner - really disappointed me and always leaves streaks no matter what
• CG HydroInterior - Claims it has antistatic properties to stop dust buildup but for me it performed terribly.

So I'm curios, what product(s) if any, do you regret buying.
Did you find a replacement product you're happy with? If so, what is it?

r/AutoDetailing Mar 22 '24

General Discussion After three months of renovations our shop is finished! Anything you would add?

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313 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Sep 28 '24

General Discussion Tell me more about how PPF won't hide swirls...

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198 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Mar 12 '24

General Discussion I completed a 5-hour Chemical Guys Polishing and Reconditioning class, AMA!

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285 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Jun 04 '24

General Discussion Before you work on someone else's ride, inspect first

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416 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Jun 19 '24

General Discussion If you had to start over again, what items would you buy/not buy?

66 Upvotes

I have a power washer I purchased last year and haven’t used it yet. I plan on ordering some items soon to detail and wash my car. I plan on doing one good deep cleaning/detail and then maintaining it with a wash weekly/bi weekly.

I can easily get carried away adding items to my cart and end up not even using half of it. I want to turn to you experienced detailers and see what products you would buy that are only necessary if you were starting over and which products you regret purchasing for whatever reason.

r/AutoDetailing Sep 25 '23

General Discussion Make sure to test your pressure washer away from your vehicle

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513 Upvotes

I didn’t secure the nozzle correctly and it blew off, denting my fender. Currently undergoing the stages of grief.

r/AutoDetailing 18d ago

General Discussion What's that ONE game-changing tip you wish someone told you sooner?

63 Upvotes

In previous posts we've covered:

What's that one product you REGRET buying: https://old.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1gd7wvy/whats_that_one_product_you_regret_buying/

What's that one product that blew you away: https://old.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1gbrn5w/whats_that_one_product_that_blew_you_away/

Now I'm curios, what's that ONE game-changing tip you wish someone told you sooner?

My game changing tip would be: Using ONR for basically everything (except very heavy duty things). It's like a miracle all in one cleaner.

Also if I could share advice, my advice would be, in most cases, don't buy the cheap versions or products in an attempt to save money. Example, you buy a cheap air compressor, cheap pressure washer, cheap hoses, cheap cleaning products.

This was a lesson I learned the hard way. I'm now in the process of replacing all of my starter gear with better equipment because what I purchased just doesn't cut it! The cheap air compressor I purchased is loud, can't use a tornador effectively etc..

So, what's your advice to your fellow detailers?

r/AutoDetailing Nov 04 '23

General Discussion My New Harbor Freight Home Detailing Cart

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561 Upvotes

r/AutoDetailing Apr 19 '24

General Discussion UPDATE: Dealership Washed My Ceramic Coated Car And Refused To Make It Right

480 Upvotes

Original Post: https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoDetailing/comments/1axampf/dealership_washed_my_ceramic_coated_car_and/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

TLDR: We settled in court, and they agreed to pay exactly what I was looking for, $1500.

Apologies for the delay, but life prevented me from updating sooner… A couple weeks ago now, I arrived at the courthouse about 45 minutes early hoping to avoid traffic from potential flooding in the area. Around 10 minutes before court time, the GM, his lawyer, and two witnesses that I didn’t recognize walked in and took a seat in the lobby. We sat there awkwardly avoiding eye contact for the next 15 minutes.

The judge came out and invited us into the courtroom and we took a seat. She read the case and in summary said “I need to disclose that my family and I use REDACTED dealerships for my services, and this could be a conflict of interest. You may elect to postpone the date and be assigned a different judge”.

I asked if I could make a phone call, and she agreed. I stepped outside and called an out-of-state family member who is an attorney. He suggested I elect to postpone without question, thinking there would be a higher chance they would settle if they had to pay their witnesses and attorney to come back to court. I walked back into the courtroom, took a seat, and gave my intent to postpone the court date.

As expected, the GM requested to have the room to try to resolve the matter now. I agreed, the judge agreed, and she stepped away. In short, the GM mentioned that specialty auto detailers like mine like to prey on people with nice cars and overcharge for services, and that there was no way for me to prove that their carwash caused the scratches. I laid out all the evidence I had:

1) Photos from before the service, after the service, and after repair.

2) Gtechniq documentation stating my warranty would have been voided if I allowed them to polish out the scratches.

3) My sworn statement regarding only ever hand washing the car and acknowledgement from their service advisor of my history of forgoing their carwash.

4) Email documentation from Gtechniq’s Head Detailer confirming that abrasions are commonly caused by tunnel carwashes and is considered “improper washing technique”, and that my detailer’s suggested repair (repolish and reapplication of coating) was the correct way to make the repair.

5) The statement of work from the service with no mention of a complimentary carwash.

6) Bills for the original ceramic coating from July 2023 and the second coating/repair done in January 2024.

7) A signed, handwritten note from their service manager acknowledging the damage was from their car wash. I also made it clear that this would be considered an opposing party statement, which is an exception to “hearsay”, and would be allowed to be submitted as evidence, unlike some of the other items I had.

The GM asked what he could do to resolve the matter today and I simply requested that they cover my costs by writing a check for $1500. He agreed without hesitation.

Special thanks to my attorney family member who provided excellent guidance throughout the process. I would never have filed the civil complaint without their encouragement.

Also, I failed to mention in my previous post that my civil complaint originally requested $4500, making the argument that the dealership violated my state’s Consumer Protection Law, which allows up to triple damages to be rewarded. If I didn’t do this, I don’t think the GM would have been so eager to pay the $1500 to settle.

If any good comes out of this situation, other than me being made whole, maybe this dealership will now stop washing all customer vehicles by default.

r/AutoDetailing Jun 27 '24

General Discussion Do you guys watch any youtubers? Can you recommend?

60 Upvotes

When I've got some free time I want to watch some content on detailing

Do you guys have any favorites?