Detailing - load of tosh

[zoros]

My brother owns (or owned) one of the biggest car valeting companies in GB until recently after 16 years building it up.
One sales 'arm' was the stock they used to supply Detailers / high end distributors / main showrooms.
These end users have built an empire on cleaning and polishing cars. One of their techniques involves using some of the latest chemicals (which has been sourced from eastern Europe) which comes with a 5 year guarantee with the need never to polish your car again???? [How does that work then?].
Anyway, my brothers company sell this wholesale for £36 a bottle after buying it for £15 from Europe.
The end user then charges....wait for it....£600 to valet a car with this product. The rest of the package charge is used to cover the labour (4-6hrs) and profit. All from a £15 bottle of gunk - sprouts forth an entire industry of detailing.
And do you know what - the punter falls for it hook line and sinker. You couldn't make it up.

 

[Lit91]

Coming from a famous detailing forum, this sounds reasonably normal - although the labour is usually longer than 4-6 hours to fully prepare the car and seal it with some sort of ceramic coating.

Not that I'd pay that sort of money for the service, however I do understand that a lot of work goes into the car preparation prior to the application of the coating.

Out of interest, what is the coating?

 

[Yugguy]

Does the car come out looking like showroom?

Then for some it is worth the cost, wether the detailer is using 200 quid an ounce wax or fairy liquid.

 

[merc85]

Sounds like Supa gaurd which is absolute tosh,

 

[Toobad]

The end user then charges....wait for it....£600 to valet a car with this product. The rest of the package charge is used to cover the labour (4-6hrs) and profit. All from a £15 bottle of gunk

A somewhat naïve and simplistic view of the situation as any business owner will attest. Before any profit is realised you also need to allow for running costs such as rent and business rates on your premises, cost of utilities, the Taxman's wedge and a plethora of other outgoings as well as the very obvious labour charges.

As Litcan91 observes, the end result is dictated by the amount of effort put into the preparation given the premise you can't polish a turd. If you are looking to establish repeat clients and increased turnover through recommendation you will be motivated to "go the extra mile" Ultimate success is derived from customer satisfaction and you will not succeed with a "rip the suckers off" mentality. It does not matter what the product has cost, the objective is to exceed customers' expectations at whatever price point you have set.

As merc85 points out, Mercedes themselves promote Supagard as their paint sealant of choice and charge £400 to treat a new vehicle. This is essentially an all-over wipedown with Carlack 68 Complete Car Care, a combined cleanser and acrylic wax protectant. They also present you with a bottle of Carlack Longlife for ongoing maintenance. You can buy the "Carlack Twins" for around £30 from any specialist online detailing site. Mercedes are simply selling a high margin product which perhaps time-poor customers are willing consider. Think of it as similar to the somewhat esoteric shoe polish that is pushed heavily in shoe shops.

 

[w124nut]

Another viewpoint to the claimed rip-off is that my window cleaner uses my water to clean my windows and then charges me £25.

Whatever the cost of the "miracle" cleaner/polish/protector, the result to the customer is all important wholly supported by costs incurred by the company that undertakes the work.

 

[Red C220]

My brother owns (or owned) one of the biggest car valeting companies in GB until recently after 16 years building it up.
One sales 'arm' was the stock they used to supply Detailers / high end distributors / main showrooms.
These end users have built an empire on cleaning and polishing cars. One of their techniques involves using some of the latest chemicals (which has been sourced from eastern Europe) which comes with a 5 year guarantee with the need never to polish your car again???? [How does that work then?].
Anyway, my brothers company sell this wholesale for £36 a bottle after buying it for £15 from Europe.
The end user then charges....wait for it....£600 to valet a car with this product. The rest of the package charge is used to cover the labour (4-6hrs) and profit. All from a £15 bottle of gunk - sprouts forth an entire industry of detailing.
And do you know what - the punter falls for it hook line and sinker. You couldn't make it up.

That sounds like a perfect description of capitalism to me.

 

[KeithJG]

At the end of the day all you are doing is keeping the motor in clean condition for the next owner.......and i might add at considerable expense and effort!

 

[Deleted member 37751]

At certain levels of life people like to have their balls tickled and like to feel as though they've spent their money, "detailing" at crazy prices being one; they're essentially valeters that have learnt how to mop a car.

Nothing wrong with that by the way, fair play to them, just don't try and tell me it's anything else...

 

[Spin_bowler]

At certain levels of life people like to have their balls tickled and like to feel as though they've spent their money, "detailing" at crazy prices being one; they're essentially valeters that have learnt how to mop a car.

Nothing wrong with that by the way, fair play to them, just don't try and tell me it's anything else...

This. I know plenty of people who either have or earn lots and lots of money. I can think of at least three who I'm certain get two or three quotes for any service or job they have done and then plump for the most expensive just so they can say they've spent a whole wad of cash!

"Yeah mate, lovely kitchen."
"It should be, it cost thirty-two grand"

 

[developer]

There was a guy on here a while ago offering his services - and for MB Club members he did a "special deal" at c£1200 .

I've had my last two cars treated to a Gtechniq treatment, and apart from not being scratch resistant (nothing is) I'm pleased with the swirl free deep shine finish and the way it returns to that finish after a simple hand wash - very desirable on a black car.

I think I paid £600 the first time and £500 the second time, to include interior, glass, wheels/calipers - not cheap, but the DA polisher my wife bought me a few years ago still sits unopened, partly because I'm not interested enough to want to spend my time polishing my car, and partly because I believe it's a skill I don't have - it could go very wrong very quickly .

 

[zoros]

Just spoke to him - its a ceramic polymer called Omega?

He's been doing this for 25 years and confirms that detailing is a complete smoke and mirrors con. Get car detailed, a week later its dirty - wash it and it never looks like it did after the detailing, so guess what, they come back for more!! Keeps detailers in a job I guess but god there are some mugs out there who just can't wait to part with their money eh?

 

[moonloops]

Detailing industry is all bullspit

Paint Correction? Oh really - you're correcting paint? Are you sure you aren't just T-Cutting a few scratches in the clear coat.

Snow foam my ****! They are fricking bubbles.

"Let it dwell" - cobblers mate, just say "wait a few mins"



"I've been given a commission to detail a mini" = some bloke wants me to wash his car.

"trim rectification" oh satan's turds you mean cleaning plastic with Mr Sheen

 

[Deleted member 6183]

I've never felt so in tune with the forum.

 

[zoros]

Since the white Hexlogic Quantum is a closed cell foam intended for light polishing .

Quote:
there was absolutely zero splatter. An occasional spritz with de-ionised water extended the product life even further and guaranteed no clumping from excessive accumulation
.

Quote:
doing a jewelling pass for that final crisping.

Can you believe detailing even has its own language!

The Emperor has no clothes methinks.......

 

[C36fan]

I've never felt so in tune with the forum.

Me too day light robbing bast@rds!

 

[Deleted member 113659]

I remember getting our car back in March. I washed & waxed it the very same day. I friend called in to see it (He details as a sideline) and said,

"It's clean, but it's not 'my' clean!" ban:

 

[Bobby Dazzler]

Detailing is cleaning and polishing a car really well. A proper job. Spending more time to achieve a higher standard than the average.

Top-end detailing is cleaning and polishing a car really really well. A right proper job. Spending much more time to achieve a much higher standard than even regular detailing.

Do people believe it's anything other than that? OK so the terminology they use is amusing to an outsider, but that's true in other walks of life. Any field of specialism develops it's own vocabulary, so why would cleaning cars to a really high standard be any different?

Detailing is a luxury reserved only for the rich, or for those who prioritise it over other expenses in life. For those rich in cash, they can pay a professional to achieve a finish that they don't have the time or skill to achieve. For those rich in time, they can dedicate the time to develop the skills to be able to achieve a finish that they're happy with.

For those not rich in either respect, need not worry about having a car which is anything other than reasonably clean. After pall it's a car, which gets dirty. Quickly.

 

[moonloops]

I remember getting our car back in March. I washed & waxed it the very same day. I friend called in to see it (He details as a sideline) and said,

"It's clean, but it's not 'my' clean!" ban:

His clean = £££+ in his bank account

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Detailing is cleaning and polishing a car really well. A proper job. Spending more time to achieve a higher standard than the average.

Top-end detailing is cleaning and polishing a car really really well. A right proper job. Spending much more time to achieve a much higher standard than even regular detailing.

Do people believe it's anything other than that? OK so the terminology they use is amusing to an outsider, but that's true in other walks of life. Any field of specialism develops it's own vocabulary, so why would cleaning cars to a really high standard be any different?

Detailing is a luxury reserved only for the rich, or for those who prioritise it over other expenses in life. For those rich in cash, they can pay a professional to achieve a finish that they don't have the time or skill to achieve. For those rich in time, they can dedicate the time to develop the skills to be able to achieve a finish that they're happy with.

For those not rich in either respect, need not worry about having a car which is anything other than reasonably clean. After pall it's a car, which gets dirty. Quickly.

I understand the above Rob, but clean is clean. Brand new car, washed & waxed, how can it get any cleaner?

It's like me saying, I clean the Windows on my house once a week. But to get them even cleaner I get them done professionally thrice a year!