Topic: Cadillac SRX Detail

[CanuckG35]

Ugh, I've really got my work cut out on this one.      

[sailor723]

Where'd you get the pictures of my car? 

[Erik]

Where'd you get the pictures of my car? 

I was gonna say "in the repair shop", but that would be too much like kicking a guy when he is down. 

[CanuckG35]

Claybar after doing only a 6" square piece of panel.   







50/50 shot of rear quarter panel.

[CanuckG35]

Where'd you get the pictures of my car? 

Is yours black as well?  I am not sure how yours is, but there is significant orange peel on this customer's SRX. 

[Jaeger]

Another customer who washes with a brilo pad?  Oy!

Jaeger

[sailor723]

Where'd you get the pictures of my car? 

Is yours black as well?  I am not sure how yours is, but there is significant orange peel on this customer's SRX. 

Mine is "Blue Chip" ...quite a dark blue

[Railton]

Canuck, Will you be fixing the paint scratches and nicks as well? What system do you use for those?
Railton

[CanuckG35]

Canuck, Will you be fixing the paint scratches and nicks as well? What system do you use for those?
Railton

For scratches, paint chips, and nicks that are past the clear and pigmented paint, I do not repair them.  I spent 12 hours on the SRX in this thread and it came out fantastic........however there was still about 5% of the paint imperfections that I could not correct as they were down past the clear and pigmented paint. 

[Railton]

Canuck, Will you be fixing the paint scratches and nicks as well? What system do you use for those?
Railton

For scratches, paint chips, and nicks that are past the clear and pigmented paint, I do not repair them.  I spent 12 hours on the SRX in this thread and it came out fantastic........however there was still about 5% of the paint imperfections that I could not correct as they were down past the clear and pigmented paint. 

OK, so that's it then? What about if the owner wanted that 5% taken care of? Dr. Paint Chip or other similar process to take care of the nicks and scratches?
Railton

[CanuckG35]

Canuck, Will you be fixing the paint scratches and nicks as well? What system do you use for those?
Railton

For scratches, paint chips, and nicks that are past the clear and pigmented paint, I do not repair them.  I spent 12 hours on the SRX in this thread and it came out fantastic........however there was still about 5% of the paint imperfections that I could not correct as they were down past the clear and pigmented paint. 

OK, so that's it then? What about if the owner wanted that 5% taken care of? Dr. Paint Chip or other similar process to take care of the nicks and scratches?
Railton

I'm not sure what you mean by "that's it then?", but yes I suppose that's it.  Unfortunately, I am not a paint shop so I can't/don't repaint panels where the paint is beyond paint correction. 

[airbalancer]

12 hours, did you make any money?

[CanuckG35]

12 hours, did you make any money?

Full detailing days are long days, no question about it.  One of the biggest hurdles when you own a detailing business is that the vast majority of people consider "detailing" to be nothing more than a "wash and a wax" and have no idea what paint correction is all about. 

So in the end, yes I make money.......it's just a very laborious process to do so.  Fortunately for me, I love doing it!   

[Railton]

Canuck, Will you be fixing the paint scratches and nicks as well? What system do you use for those?
Railton

For scratches, paint chips, and nicks that are past the clear and pigmented paint, I do not repair them.  I spent 12 hours on the SRX in this thread and it came out fantastic........however there was still about 5% of the paint imperfections that I could not correct as they were down past the clear and pigmented paint. 

OK, so that's it then? What about if the owner wanted that 5% taken care of? Dr. Paint Chip or other similar process to take care of the nicks and scratches?
Railton

I'm not sure what you mean by "that's it then?", but yes I suppose that's it.  Unfortunately, I am not a paint shop so I can't/don't repaint panels where the paint is beyond paint correction. 

Hi again, Yes, understand, you're not a paint shop. I just thought that it might be worth your effort to offer the paintless dent removal and/or color chip fix that can be found. That way you can capture that missing 5% and charge accordingly. The startup costs for paintless dent removal and/or color chip fix must be low.
Railton

[tortoise]

Judging from Sailor's experiences I think these are the proper steps for detailing an SRX.



+

[No H2O]

...the vast majority of people consider "detailing" to be nothing more than a "wash and a wax" and have no idea what paint correction is all about.

A co-worker once asked me if the polish & wax that I used were the best. His definition of "best" was if you could get the job done in an hour or less...sort of like wipe on, wipe off.

And there is another set of words that weren't around 30 years ago, maybe not even 20 years ago..."paint correction". The market that businesses dream up. I could understand being anal about a collector car (early 60s Ferrari 250 GTO, etc), but a daily driver? I look after them, but I don't go nuts.

[CanuckG35]

...the vast majority of people consider "detailing" to be nothing more than a "wash and a wax" and have no idea what paint correction is all about.

A co-worker once asked me if the polish & wax that I used were the best. His definition of "best" was if you could get the job done in an hour or less...sort of like wipe on, wipe off.

And there is another set of words that weren't around 30 years ago, maybe not even 20 years ago..."paint correction". The market that businesses dream up. I could understand being anal about a collector car (early 60s Ferrari 250 GTO, etc), but a daily driver? I look after them, but I don't go nuts.

That's fine, not everyone cares to have their vehicles in tip top shape.  For the vast majority of people, they are merely a transportation appliance and nothing more.  But there are some people (such as myself) that not only like having showroom condition paint on their vehicles, they actually enjoy the process of doing it.  I don't need to own a collector car or an exotic to want to keep it in pristine condition.   

[ktm525]

...the vast majority of people consider "detailing" to be nothing more than a "wash and a wax" and have no idea what paint correction is all about.

A co-worker once asked me if the polish & wax that I used were the best. His definition of "best" was if you could get the job done in an hour or less...sort of like wipe on, wipe off.

And there is another set of words that weren't around 30 years ago, maybe not even 20 years ago..."paint correction". The market that businesses dream up. I could understand being anal about a collector car (early 60s Ferrari 250 GTO, etc), but a daily driver? I look after them, but I don't go nuts.

That's fine, not everyone cares to have their vehicles in tip top shape.  For the vast majority of people, they are merely a transportation appliance and nothing more.  But there are some people (such as myself) that not only like having showroom condition paint on their vehicles, they actually enjoy the process of doing it.  I don't need to own a collector car or an exotic to want to keep it in pristine condition.   

To each his own. I am not an eager waxer/polisher. I will fix something when it is an obvious mess (like my neglected Land Rover) but I prefer wrenching over polishing.

[CanuckG35]

...the vast majority of people consider "detailing" to be nothing more than a "wash and a wax" and have no idea what paint correction is all about.

A co-worker once asked me if the polish & wax that I used were the best. His definition of "best" was if you could get the job done in an hour or less...sort of like wipe on, wipe off.

And there is another set of words that weren't around 30 years ago, maybe not even 20 years ago..."paint correction". The market that businesses dream up. I could understand being anal about a collector car (early 60s Ferrari 250 GTO, etc), but a daily driver? I look after them, but I don't go nuts.

That's fine, not everyone cares to have their vehicles in tip top shape.  For the vast majority of people, they are merely a transportation appliance and nothing more.  But there are some people (such as myself) that not only like having showroom condition paint on their vehicles, they actually enjoy the process of doing it.  I don't need to own a collector car or an exotic to want to keep it in pristine condition.   

To each his own. I am not an eager waxer/polisher. I will fix something when it is an obvious mess (like my neglected Land Rover) but I prefer wrenching over polishing.

To each their own is exactly correct.  If everyone enjoyed spending time detailing like I do I wouldn't have a business.   

[No H2O]

There are some people (such as myself) that not only like having showroom condition paint on their vehicles, they actually enjoy the process of doing it.

So do I in both cases (great mental therapy), but on a daily driver with all the crud floating in the air and rain, I would need to do this a many times a year.

It being my car, a detail takes me a couple of days at least, but then you could pass it off as new in a showroom. That much time I do not have for a daily driver. As for the P car and motorcycles, that is another story.

As someone else stated, I also care more about its mechanical condition. Chrome won't get you home...ask a HD rider.