1 step correction for new customer

[Lotuseffect]

This customer came to me through a friend. After talking to him on the phone he told me those fateful words "I take good care of it, I run it through a car wash every other time I fill up the tank. I have been doing that since I bought it." It was a 02 Jeep Grand Cherokee. flat black. I knew what to expect, as most of us do when we hear that sentence, but I wasnt ready for this. The price range he was looking for was in my 1 step category. When he brought it to me I almost wanted to pass on the job. I thoroughly explained to him a 1 step would not get rid of all the problems he had, not even close. To make matters worse his paint readings were nowhere near anything I could get too aggressive with. I explained to him over and over so many things I could NOT fix within his price range. (Bird bomb etching, love bugs etching baaaaad, paint chips everywhere) He was very content he only wanted to spend a certain amount. Once I felt he had a good understanding of exactly what I could do for the price and more importantly what I could not do we agreed and I went to work. Here is the uglyness:



Etchings

Hazy headlights

More bird bombs left to dry and cake in

I know what your thinking, not too bad for 160k miles. Cover your eyes: Here is after decontamination wash, and claying under the halogens

Even the flash on my camera captured swirls

Pillars swirled

Clay before

Clay after 1/3rd of the HOOD! I found out he parks under a Crape Myrtle everyday at work.......

Since he insisted I stay within budget after doing a couple test spots I liked the result I got best from mixing M105 and Uno. Heavy pressure for a pass or 2, then light and slowing the PC down for 2 more passes. All in all, I did the best I could with what he paid for. A few spots were hazy so I just couldnt help myself and cleaned them up with PO106fa. here are some 50/50s and the final pics.

I even ended up doing some pro-bono work and gave him a quick polish on the headlights with m205 because they just took so much away from the work I actually did do on the car looking at it.



I would really like some feedback from you guys about jobs like this where the customer has a price threshold he wont cross, but you know the work are willing to do for that price may end up not leaving the customer satisfied. I ended up leaving a few spots hazier than I would have liked (by my standards). He was thrilled with the final product and he is bringing me his wifes car soon for a full correction (09 Honda Accord leaded). So I guess I succeeded, but I hate having that feeling of if he just would have understood what I could have done to the car within the confines of his paint thickness if he would have been willing to pay for it, he would have been so much happier, or at least I would have.



Anyway, I discovered this site a few months back and have been lurking and I finally decided to post something. Any and all feedback is appreciated. I can't learn from nice comments.

 

[David Fermani]

Looks nice! Hope you're not breaking your butt too much in this heat right now! Never thought about mixing M105 & UNO together? Sounds interesting. What pad did you go with for correction/polishing steps?

 

[Lotuseffect]

I tried the Megs mf but it wasn't finishing down well enough for me for a 1 step. So I ended up going with the new hd waffle orange pad.

I find 105 has a bit more cut than the UNO. My usual goto 1 step is SIP with UNO. I just put 2 pea size drops of UNO and 1 sip once the pad is primed and I like it alot. Once I see the sip breaking down after about the 2nd section pass I lighten up the pressure and it normally finishes nice.

In all honesty though for light swirls on a 1 step I haven't found anything better than UNO.

The lsp was poxy....and I am running low. That's a hint for Tunch to let me buy nitro. Hehe

 

[Lotuseffect]

I just wanted to add a thank you to you Dave. When I did a search for leather care I found your old thread about taking out a leather belt stain out of a rolls Royce phantom seat. Since then I ordered a kit from Roger Koh and leather doctor and am looking forward to a customers escalade this weekend for a full interior detail and leather care package.

Roger is awesome and I am visiting this customer tomorrow to take some pics of the seats and work out a plan of attack. Going to send him some pics and get some advice. I have always felt my interior skills are my weakness. So I definitely pore through your threads.

And yes the heat is God awful right now. I actually got mild heat stroke about 2 weeks ago after spending about 9 hours straight in my garage on a Cadillac cts-v. Throwing up that night and everything. Gotta love Florida summers.

 

[autoaesthetica]

Thats a heck of a 1 step. I am genuinely impressed you were able to keep the "brakes" on and not do an additional full step. Very nice finish.

 

[sducotey]

Nice work. I've been reading a lot about how you guys detail cars and have learned a lot. Thanks. This past weekend I detailed my NBP 2006 Acura TL and it came out pretty good. I'm always concerned about taking too much off so I do have a question. When you mention that you did one or two passes in some areas can you describe what a pass is for you? When I did my TL I would work on a 2' square area and a pass for me was moving the DA horizontal over the complete area and then moving it vertical over the complete area. I repeated this three times using the same polish on the pad so in effect I ran the DA six times over the area. Would this be considered one pass?

 

[Envious Eric]

Why not do something like 105/orange and then poliseal on white? You will end up with less marring that way since the white pad will help refine the clear while the poliseal will VERY lightly polish and protect in one step. Just something to thing about for next time.



Or just hit it with something like 203 and a hydro tangerine pad for a pretty decent one step. I would personally rather leave a car with glossier paint with deeper swirls and RIDS in the paint rather than leave it more swirlfree but without the gloss...Considering he takes it to a car wash, those scratches you took out are going right back in, but the paint isnt as glossy now.



just my two cents...

 

[Brad B]

Beautiful. I think occassionally doing a little extra for your customer can reap benefits. It's important to let them know the extra work done and the value of that work. If they appreciate it, it feels good for both of you. It builds relationships.

 

[Lotuseffect]

I actually tried sip in an orange pad but it wasn't finishing down as nice as I would like and still leaving more than an unacceptable level of swirls. I have had good luck in the past with 105 on a mf finishing down well enough for just light polishing with either line prime, p106, or 205 on white.

The dilemma I face is always on older cars when I can really see what a little more work could do but I can't within the timeframe given by the price constraints of the customer. I think it's mostly due to some weird fetish I have with a perfectly polished 10 year old car. I get a real charge out of that. Cleaning up a 2009 or 2010 car is dine and all but really burning up someone's beater is somehow more satisfying. Weird I guess.



@sducotey. I use 5.5 inch pads normally. A section pass for me is either going front to back or left to right in one 18-24 inch area. Since we overlap when we polish paint by 50% I try to get 6-7 lines in every direction. On 1 step polish jobs I try to refine as much as possible since the customer is made aware by me thoroughly he should not expect swirl free paint. Deeper rids will remain, etc. So after 2 passes like I described I try to get in at least 2 more at lighter pressure depending on product workability, temperature, and all the other variables which come in to play before you are overworking the polish.



Thanks for the feedback all. Hoping to post a new write up next week on a escalade I'm doing this weekend. Ugh....just thinking about that damn roof. Plus the customer wants a full interior detail.