This is a note to all of the people out there reading this forum, either with a new car or not, thinking about what to do in regards to detailing.


When I first found this forum, it was me looking for how to best care for my paint job. I spent a lot of money on this car, and I wanted to get it protected, and have it done right.

Many people here convinced me that it was in my best interests to do it myself.

They also convinced me that it would be something not that difficult to do.


All I can say is that it has been over a month that has passed, and I have spent COUNTLESS hours trying to learn and understand this stuff, as well as countless hours trying to detail the car myself.

I have spent over $400 on detailing equipment and supplies.

My result?

My paint job has scratches/spider webs all over it, and this has now become a fucking hobby.

AND I AM NOT INTERESTED IN DETAILING FOR A HOBBY!!!


Don't get me wrong, if you have a lot of free time, and are looking for something new? Maybe something new to spend your time and money on? Then go ahead and get into this.

If you DON'T want to spend a bunch of time and money?

Then have your car detailed by a referred professional, and move on with your life.


The ONE thing I'd suggest, is to learn how to do a simple hand wash yourself, because that doesn't take a lot of time, and you can care for your car each week, in between your pro details.

Have your car detailed by a professional every 6 months, and in the meantime, learn how to wash and maybe a little spray wax to keep it looking wet.



As for me, I'm pretty much stuck at this point, because I've spent all this money, and I've already invested a TON of my personal time, so I might as well keep trying to learn how to do this.

I wish though, that I had listened to others outside of this forum, who told me not to try to do this myself.

I think most of the people on this forum, are people who WANT to do this for a hobby. If you listen to them, you're listening to people who WANT to do this.

If you are like me though, and you are just out looking for the best way to care for your paint job, then do this -

HIRE A PROFESSIONAL!




Don't end up like me, stressed out, paint fucked up, and a BUNCH of personal time taken up trying to fix it myself.



I have no reasons to lie to anyone.

All I am doing, is sharing my feedback, after fuckin with this shit for too damn long, and STILL getting really awful results.

 

keep practicing, stop whining, and you'll get it.

To people: do not be afraid, its really not that bad

 

he's 38, i wouldn't want to waste my time or money any more than i need to on my car if i were that age. shoot, i'm 26 now and barely have the time or patience to work on my own car anymore as much as i used to 7 years ago. i feel ya man lol

my join date and post count can voucher that i even come on here that often

 

Perhaps you have a problem reading.

I've BEEN "practicing" (or whatever you want to call it).

And yeah, maybe one day I WILL eventually "get it".

The point is though smartass, that I didn't plan on this becoming a fulltime hobby.

And at this point, my paint looks like SHIT, and has way more scratches than it ever did before I started trying to do this myself.


So excuse me for sharing MY honest opinion.

Is everyone going to start attacking me because I'm not drinking the koolaid and convincing others to join the cult?


Personally speaking, I have no political interests here.

I'm simply a person who bought an expensive car, and wanted to do a little research how to take care of it.

Feel free to mock me, and denigrate my opinion if you must.

 

thank you


That comment pisses me off, because I am an honest person, and I've personally invested money with some of the people on this forum.

I've also spent a good amount of time participating on this form (as MY post count shows).


I really don't get the politics of telling everyone "it's not that hard".

I mean, are some of you really desperate to get the detailing community to grow or something?

What the fuck!


Do you actually think that I'm sabotaging my brand new Acura TSX, so that I can piss on somebody's parade on an internet forum?!!!!


I would LOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVE if my paint looked nice right now, and I could share everyone an awesome, satisfying success story.

Just ask Patrick.

I can even post our private email exchanges to prove it.

I went back and forth with him on emails, updating him on what I THOUGHT was a successful detail.

That was of course, until a couple days later, and I saw my paint in the sun, and saw that it was totally fucked up.


I'm simply saying that I wish I would have read a thread like this when I first came here.

I would have thought twice, went to a referred professional, and been on with my life.


I've wasted the past four fucking weekends fuckin around with this shit.

 

i usually don't get involved with people with this non sense stuff, but its just annoying to hear you try to discourage people because you cant figure it out.

 

Full disclosure here -

This guy is 21 years old, and details cars for a living.




So sorry if he finds it "annoying" to hear that an amateur has not had success.

I guess reality sucks sometimes.

Didn't mean to get in the way of the fantasy.

Allow me to fix -

Hey everyone, do it yourself!

You'll love it!

It's so easy!!

It's a great hobby!

And even if you don't want to do it for a hobby, all you need to do is run out and get a buffer, grab some polish, spend a mere few hours, and your car will look better than you could ever imagine!

 

haha i think you are less mature than the 21 year old,

first off i am 21 and in college, and detail cars on the side for extra cash, and started using the PC a couple months ago

 

mods, can you delete this thread. it is pointless thanks

 

Man, you need to simmer down on here. People actually come here for advice and/or share their knowledge. Or just log on here occasionally just to check things out. If you want to bitch and whine cause you had a bad experience go join a soap opera forum. Ya it says I only officially joined here last year but been browsing here for years.

Seriously, I'm in my 40's and still LOVE to detail my car. I've only discovered over the past few years how to do it right. To me you sound like a quitter, try one thing once in life and if you didn't/don't like it you quit. You need change, you need.......the Acurazine family

 

Is this why there aren't more posts sharing NON-successful stories???

 

Respect to you, for your success.


Perhaps you can respect MY perspective, that I'm not interested in spending "years" to learn to do this???

(and maybe there are others who aren't either)




Why not be honest with people?

 

do u think bringing it to a professional at this point would fix your problems? sorry if you already said that you were considering that...

maybe have it wet sanded...

 

MY situation is kinda screwed at this point, because I've already come this far..... kinda like venturing out in the desert, and discovering you really need to be prepared in order to make it - and I'm already IN the desert at this point, so turning back now makes no sense FOR ME.


I'm just sharing my experience, because if someone else went through what I went through, I'd want to have heard about it, so that I could make a decision for myself.


I'm not here to put down detailing in general.

If a person has the interest, great!


I'm simply sharing my perspective, that it hasn't been easy at all, and if I had it to do over again, I'd have hired a professional.

I'd suggest to anyone that isn't interested in taking this up as a hobby, not to proceed.

Just my opinion.

 

Again just for full disclosure, THIS is this guys professional web page for detaling -

http://www.mellonscarcare.com/




I really am scratching my head as why there is a need to be deceptive and dishonest about this, and why a person would even call to have the experience of another to be deleted and covered up.

I've only been on this forum for a short while, but if THAT is the way things are here I think that's pretty f'd up.

 

sharing your experience/perspective is fine, that's what these forums are all about.
but making a thread to tell people not to detail their own cars and to hire someone instead, is nothing like that
making these kind of statements that somehow say everyone else will end up like you if they try to detail their cars themselves is not cool at all.
All of the people on here have started at some point, maybe did a couple things wrong the first few times they did a full detail on a car too.
it's a learning experience like anything else, i never think i can do something exactly perfect the first time i try it, but maybe you think differently than me...

 

Like I said in my other posts in many of your other threads ... slow down .. and be patient ... if you attempt to detail like you post no wonder your in trouble.

Your paint is in this shape because YOU didn't follow what you read. You even posted a link in one of your other whiny threads showing the procedure you used for reference and at the same time said you didn't follow it .. you used too much product, tried to polish at the wrong speed, didn't clay the car, showed up at a seminar with dirty pads. Etc etc...

Now try and correct your mess by trying this.

All this will be done on one front fender.

1) wash the panel ( fender in case your confused )
2) Clay bar the panel and wipe off the residue with a good quality "clean" M/F towel.
3) With a clean or new orange pad and Optimum Compound or equal set the speed at 3 to distrubute the product over 1/2 the fender then step it up to 5.5 or so and make a few passes over the area.
4) Wipe off polish.
5) Spray the area with 50/50 mix of RA & water and inspect.
6) Repeat 3,4 & 5 if needed.
7) Once happy use a clean or new white pad and Optimum polish and do the same as in 3,4 & 5. Repeat if necessary
8) Step back and look at it from 10 feet. If happy apply sealant of choise.

Once you perfect 1 panel then remember it all for the rest.


Its not hard ... 1000's have suceeded. So don't fear monger , your just making yourself look bad. Life isn't easy and there is speed bumps .. just slow down and go over them one at a time.

You have 2 choises.
A) Perfect it
B) Sell you stuff .. admit defeat and find a detailer.

I have seen more than my fair share of new people think they know more than the rest suggest and in the end blame the product of the system where patience and proceedure would show success.

Your paint can't look this bad and I fixed this in less than a day.
Before


After

 

I'm sorry, but never did I say nor suggest that everyone else will end up like me if they try to detail their car.

Sharing MY experience and perspective is exactly what I did.

I just don't get why some of you are finding that so threatening, and I'm wondering if maybe that's why everything is so pro-"do it yourself", and the other side of the story isn't heard.


Let me ask you the question -

Do you think that any people that have had bad experiences should just shut up and not be heard from?

Is that what you would prefer?



I understand that some of you may enjoy this hobby, and want to promote it, but shouldn't you be honest with people?


I mean haven't we heard PLENTY of people who have taken lots of time, and then been happy with their results, and new found hobby?

What is so bad about telling new people that this can be a great and rewarding hobby, but that it takes a lot of time and hard work?

Do you realize that some people don't have mounds of free time on their hands?

Do you realize that some people don't want to spend a large investment of their time and energy on detailing their car?


That is where I'm at right now.

I never wanted to spend THIS much time and energy on all this.

And I wish I wouldn't have started down this path.


Guess you don't care about THAT though right?

What someone like me is going through, I guess doesn't even enter your thought process nor concern.

And that's pretty f'd up.

 

So how much time (hours?) did you plan on spending on this before you jumped into it?

 

Jess,

While I appreciate when you give feedback, I do NOT appreciate the lack of respect, and your pathetic attitude.

It's pretty easy to be condescending and insulting to others who are attempting to do something new, which you are an expert at.

If that's what gets you off, I understand, but speaking of what is making people look bad????



Your instructions alone show that the process is anything but simple.

Secondly, a leader of this very forum instructed me that I needn't clay the car.

Thirdly, YOUR instructions are different than other instructions I've been given, and FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF AN AMATEUR, a person doesn't know whom to believe and what to try/follow.

I ATTEMPTED to follow the instructions as best I could, but yes, I got confused, I made mistakes, AND THAT IS THE POINT!

If it were that easy, maybe I wouldn't have made those mistakes.

But no, feel free to talk to me like I'm an idiot, and denigrate me, all because I'm not being all "rah rah" about people detailing their own cars.

 

Not sure if you are going to be attacking me like the rest, but to be honest with you I'm pretty good with researching things.

I do accounting for a living, have an eye for detail, and usually thoroughly study things that I think are important.

The people in my office laugh at how I research so much, and they all come to me on how to do it (research new things).


I did a LOT of reading on this subject, and then joined this forum, in order to interact and learn even MORE.

With all the feedback, and talk about how "easy" this was going to be, after all my research, I figured I'd spend a full weekend doing the major detailing, and then would only have to wash once every 1 or 2 weeks, and hit the car up with spray wax.

THAT WAS WHAT I WAS TOLD!!!!!!!!!!!


So far, I've spent four full weekends f'n around with this, hitting all kinds of obstacles I never thought of.

Heck I can't even get the lighting straight! So I can't even figure out what swirls and scratches shouldn't be there, and which ones I should just ignore.

I've got all kinds of opinions, with some saying as long as it looks good from 10 feet away, just be happy, to others saying that I'm an idiot for not being able to get it scratch free.


I've been trying different products, different buffer pads, different techniques.......................

I'm so frustrated I'm ready to sell the damn car, and buy a reliable economy car, just so I don't have to worry about this anymore!

I never knew owning a luxury car would be so miserable.

 

check the other local SoCal thread for my reply. Since you live in SoCal and near Irvine, just sign up and attend one of the Saturday detail class at Meguiars which is absolutely for FREE and you can have enough knowledge to make your car beautiful again.

They can teach you to do this with ease if you use corerct products and correct technique with correct machine:



You can read some more information on how to remove swirls and stuffs here:
http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2965

 

LacViet,

Maybe I'll try that.


All I'm saying in this thread, is that I'd advise any amateur, thinking about doing their own car, that this is NOT easy, and in my personal opinion, unless you want to invest a ton of your personal time and make this into a hobby, hire a pro and move on.


Most of the people here ENJOY detailing.

They can't seem to understand that there are many others who don't.



I appreciate your feedback though.

I've got another failed and frustrated weekend (4th weekend) under my belt, but I'm going to check back with a few sources that have been helping me, and follow up with them.

After a few more weeks with them, if I still can't get the paint fixed, I'll then take this class you suggest, and spend more money on different materials.

 

TSXin....you crack me up
True detailing is not for everyone and in order to do it correctly you must have patience and alot of time. What products have you invested in so far? maybe you could sell your stuff and hire a professional detailer to buff your car?
lets start the bidding..... LOL!

 

I for one appreciate your heartfelt posts. Just bought a pristine certified (detailed by the dealer) 2006 TSX for my better half, and have been pricing a PC. I think I may back-off and just wash the TSX more often then I wash my old Integra. I have a neighbor with both a classic Jag and a Merc convert and his detailer does home visits. I may use him to start and WATCH closely how he does what he does.

It all depends on what one's time is worth. If the poster is a CPA his time is worth a lot---especially before tax time.

Cheers,

THD.

 

[QUOTE=TSXinSouthBayCalifornia;11030399]
All I'm saying in this thread, is that I'd advise any amateur, thinking about doing their own car, that this is NOT easy,

QUOTE]


Your not advising that at all ... here is .. and I quote, what you posted at the top. "DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF!!! - my advice to amateurs"

And I wasn't being condesending .. I was being factual. Do the research...

If you spent 1/3 the time trying to better your proceedure like I suggested above as you spent typing in here you would have solved it by now.

 

[quote=Jesstzn;11030429]+1


(-1 for spelling though)

 

So are you implying that you desired excellent results while hating the task? I'm not sure about you, but if I hate doing something the end result is going to reflect that attitude.

It's clear that you don't have the skill, patience and attitude to do this type of stuff. Just find a reputable detailer in your area and pay to get it done. Then, you can go bitch to him/her when something is not right instead of making upteen sandy-vagina threads in Wash & Wax.

 

im in the garage right now with my porter cable buzzing away. i did 2 stages of paint cleaning and right now im using a polish and finally ima use pinnacle wax to finish it off. its def alot of work. I have spent probably 15 hours already because i havent given my car a detail in about a year. I still have to do the inside but the outside is where the time is spent. I say go on youtube.com and type in porter cable 7424 and you wsill get videos by autogeek that show you EXACTLY what to do.

As with anything you will get better with time. This is my second full detail and it is already miles ahead of the first one i did on the same car.

best of luck and don't be down. it looks easier than it is to get stuff perfect.

 

I understand your frustration for not having the success you where hoping, however your bantering and discouragement to newcomers is a bit extreme and a overkill. All the responses you received from your previews post was intended to "help" with your PC process, but I'm sure no body has ever stated that it was a walk in the park (though you make it sound like it was forced upon you). I plan on picking up a PC 7424 myself (I too am a noobie) in the near feature (knowing it will take time, patients, and a lot of trial and errors to make my Aucra RL looking perfect). I think you just got overwhelm by the whole process, maybe taking a step back (a couple weekends off) and trying again would a ideal for your situation.

 

Hmmm.... how about a full in depth description of your procedure for polishing starting from when you washed the car?

 

Absolutely...as I've said, black is challenging and detailing is challenging. If you think even the pros don't beat themselves up now and again, you're kidding yourself. And to tell amateurs to not even bother to start trying is short-sighted and extreme.

To quote Albert Einstein, "Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."

 

just leave already shit, you have no constructive input whatsoever, all i hear is complaints, just leave and don't come back.

 

i feel your pain, detailing a car is serious bizness...you really have to have the patience to get it right. to each his own, i just prefer doing it myself because no one cares for your car like yourself. I say this, sell all your detailing stuff you bought, get you at least 4 good towels (1 for windows, 2nd for car while it is soaking wet & the 3rd to go over after the wet towel & one for the wheels) and just do that. use a good soap (turtle wax, mequiers, etc) and good ol' h2o, trust me, h20 for windows & body instead of windex does wonders! Keep trying.

 

[quote=Jesstzn;11030429]
If this is the best you can find to try to discredit my opinion then so be it.

 

Yeah, but detailing enthusiasts like you aren't bitching and being sandy vagina-ish right? wink wink


Wow, so if you are being "rah rah" about self detailing, then you're ok, but if you share a story of non-success you're not.

That's basically what you're are saying, and it's quite dishonest.

What does that say about you?

 

Well to you and everyone I'm so sorry for voicing my honest opinion.

I didn't know that if you shared a certain opinion or perspective, that you had to defend yourself, and everyone had the right to insult and disrespect you, and dissect your opinion.

I say that amateurs who don't want to take this up as a hobby shouldn't attempt to do it their self, and so you have to classify and attack my opinion?



And by the way, if you agree that it is "no walk in the park", then where exactly do you disagree with what I'm saying?


And I got overwhelmed by "the whole process" huh?

You mean the process of all the posting and pms on this forum, the emails, the phone calls, the FOUR weekends of attempting to do this ish?

THAT "whole process"?

Guess what, guilty as charged!

I am definitely "overwhelmed" at this point!

DING DING DING!!!!!!!!!!!!


But hey, lets all kick a noob around, because he's not playing along right?

He's not touting the company lines, so he must be attacked!!


Geez you guys sound like a sales department angry at somebody for stating that the sales tactics don't always work.

 

Thank you.

 

TSX..if it helps at all, I will probably take alot of that detailing product you purchased off your hands..so you won't have to stare at it and just end up getting upset over and over..sorry to hear that your time with detailing hasn't been as rewarding as others...

 

Who said I was an "enthusiast"? There are maybe 2 dozen people at the most in Wash & Wax who are professionals and/or product dealers. Those are enthusiasts. The rest of us just like to have a clean-ass car. Owning a porter cable and spending money on car care products does not make one an enthusiast.

Your story of non-success is only annoying because I, and many others, watched you post thread after thread in your failing attempt to "detail". When it didn't go your way, you came here for help but you displayed a defeatist attitude from the get-go. It's pretty clear by your threads/posts that you expected perfection the first go around.

People offered help and valuable advice and now with this thread YOU created you are throwing it in everyone's faces to "DO NOT DO IT YOURSELF!!!". Pathetic.

I'm not sure what your angle is for calling me dishonest, but I don't really give a shit about that since I don't know you, nor would I care to based on your sniveling posts.