# Do you see/notice many detailed cars on the road?



## aod (Apr 7, 2009)

Do you see or notice many 'detailed' cars on the roads? 

I was just thinking as I was queuing up to get out of works car park, looking at all the other cars around me with swirls, marring, holograms etc - i wonder if anyone notices that my car is particularly shiny etc and wonder why they have difficulty getting the same results?

I imagine even those with a 'clean' car probably think it's as clean as it's going to get, and feel pretty good about it - if only they knew... :buffer:


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

No mine seems to be the only one up here I see a lot washing with fairly liquid and a coat of some kind of wax:lol:


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## ianrobbo1 (Feb 13, 2007)

I park mine by the entrance of our works carpark, people are always commenting on it,:thumb: the down side is if I miss one or two days of muck, it's "pointed out" to me!!!:wall::wall: a few people have asked how come it seems to stay cleaner longer than their cars, I put it down to the products used,:doublesho


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## VIPER (May 30, 2007)

Only once in a blue moon, and I can't actually recall the last time I saw a car and thought 'the owner of that knows what he's doing'.


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## Ross (Apr 25, 2007)

Pit Viper said:


> Only once in a blue moon, and I can't actually recall the last time I saw a car and thought 'the owner of that knows what he's doing'.


Seen some pretty horrific buffer trails walking past I thought to myself  looked like they had used T cut on a 20 quid buffer:doublesho


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

only clean cars in my road are mine and my dads


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## EastUpperGooner (May 31, 2009)

A Astra/clio(can't remember what it was tbh) pulled up next to me in costco earlier, it had an autosmart air freshener and fresh wet looking tyres, the rest of the car looked immaculate aswell.

So I assumed he was into a bit of detailing.


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## fleagala (Apr 18, 2009)

Nope, but I always look out for shiny cars. There are a few DW members near me so I guess other shiny cars exist around here


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## Lowiepete (Mar 29, 2009)

Well, since I'm driving an 09 reg car, I'm looking at others, especially the high
end cars, and I'm surprised at how poorly some of them seem to be prepared.
However, some of the little run-abouts gleam beyond belief.

There's only one problem with driving a "flash" car - you do get noticed and 
remembered, so there's no mis-behavin... 

Regards,
Steve


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## Lump (Nov 6, 2008)

for the first time in years i spotted a Black Audi A3 in a carpark in Coventry on a 53 not a swirl in site. gorgeous reflections. ( not that i had a good look at it  ) :thumb:


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## yetizone (Jun 25, 2008)

I occasionally see the odd one, but its more a case of me seeing or noticing all of the cars that are in such a terrible state with swirls and dull finishes etc.


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## Avanti (Jan 17, 2006)

It's amazing how much can be achieved with so little, mine stands out in the works car park, I used some QD on a motorbike at lunchtime and tried some Car Pride liquid wax on a colleague's Black Focus bonnet,I bet he forgot the car was metallic black


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

not really, you always see cars with swirls and extremely slick looking tyres (usually with most of it flung on the alloys


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## jezza (Dec 28, 2006)

Only two recent examples stand out: A metallic grey '09 Focus that with a shine so deep you could swim in it, and the beading off the markings on my new patrol car :thumb:

Sadly, I can't include my own car as a daft bint at work's just put a dent in it and is playing silly buggers over getitng it sorted. If it hadn't left her car's colour paint in mines bodywork, I wouldn't be so annoyed, it's that it's so bleedin obviously her fault yet she's doing her best to get out of admitting it 

She's getting another day and then I'm getting my insurance company on to her :devil:


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

Usually if the car has dressed tires i'll take an immediate notice!


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## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

only Jerry318 every so often

bar that nothing!


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## outcastjack (Apr 20, 2009)

My car often gets noticed and comented on and im not a very good detailer at all shows how rare detailers are over here.


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## jerry318 (Feb 16, 2006)

badly_dubbed said:


> only Jerry318 every so often
> 
> bar that nothing!


Aye folk around here just dont give a ****:wall:


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## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

macswax for the fail.


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## outcastjack (Apr 20, 2009)

I occasionally go to the local VW clubs meets and one or two of them are amazing but i never see the good ones on the road from day to day


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## jerry318 (Feb 16, 2006)

Wouldnt Even use them on my wifes car:wall:


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## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

:lol:


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## ledzepp (May 20, 2009)

from when i joined dw,, and read and read and learnt!!!,,, everytime a car comes in for repair,, i seem to have a little word to the customer on how they wash there cars, and polish them,,,,, some intresting comments from them...also tend to clean the the customers alloy wheels when been removed for access to brakes, or suspension.... never did this before i joined DW:lol:

alan


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## jerry318 (Feb 16, 2006)

slowly convincing the neighbours, some take a lot more interest than others.


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## badly_dubbed (Dec 11, 2008)

my neighbours dont - they think i have mental problems

as do the people i work with, well one guy same age as me he got me to get him an ultra plush for his harley but thats about it :lol:


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## Leodhasach (Sep 15, 2008)

Where I am, cars are lucky to get a lick of SRP once a year, so I'm huuuuugely in the minority. Which I quite like 

Neighbours think I'm bonkers mind you.


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## Spy (Jun 2, 2009)

My mates take the mickey out of me for the amount of time I spend washing my car - they boast that it only takes them 30 mins and it takes me a few hours.

On the plus side, they do comment that you could eat your dinner off my wheels :thumb: and do admire the shine


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## craigeh123 (Dec 26, 2011)

There was a 106 pug gti in a car park near polhill garden centre in Kent i used to see and that was immaculate


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## JwilliamsM (Dec 20, 2011)

i very rarely see a nice looked after car about. i saw a gold vectra the other day, no word of a lie it looked like the owner had bought 1000 cats and told them to use it as a scratch thing, and then for good measure get a cheese grater on it!
i keep mine too clean on times, and with the polished wheels it stand out. i attracted some unwanted attention off a smack head in a dodgy area of swansea other day, was praying it would be there when i got back haha


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## willwander (Nov 30, 2012)

Very rare to see a proper job, even at car shows where a lot of them are terrible.

I got a thumbs up from an old gent the other day in an immaculate Toyota corolla, which cheered me up


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## Brooklands (Jun 12, 2010)

I rarely see a nicely finished car. Most hologram-central......especially high end black cars. In fact I have noticed the cars that have obviously been into Bury Audi look really awful.........


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

Most people i work with, or that live near me, think detailing their cars means washing it, drying it with a chamois, then putting Poundland wax on it. 
Even though mine is in a state bodywise(phase 1 of the restoration kicks off soon), i still spend the time to clean it properly (with what i have to use) and most people think i'm mad.


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## Coopertim (May 20, 2012)

I wonder if this is just one car that stands out for some reason, but I always seem to pick out people with skodas, particularly vrs octavias, and they always seem to have great paint and be looked after. Seems to be a detailers car of choice


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## fuzzy (Feb 21, 2008)

There's an R32 Golf near me that is always spotless. Tyres always dressed and dripping wet paintwork. But apart from that there are just the usual covered in bird poo cars.


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## ladylane (Mar 22, 2013)

I do a lot of motorway miles and always find myself keeping an eye out for looked after cars. The best thing I've seen so far was an autoglym van on the m6. It was immaculate!


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## gerz1873 (May 15, 2010)

I pass a black Astra on the way to work it looks it great nick, alloys stand out nearly as clean as mine


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## Dannbodge (Sep 26, 2010)

Can't say I've ever seen a car that's as clean as mine.
All my friends think theirs are clean and have no idea what I'm on about with swirl marks erc


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## rf860 (Jul 24, 2011)

gerz1873 said:


> I pass a black Astra on the way to work it looks it great nick, alloys stand out nearly as clean as mine


I used to have a black astra, live in Ayrshire and kept it immaculate. Perhaps it was mine ha ha


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## DJ X-Ray (Sep 2, 2012)

Apart from mine and a few other detailer mates of mine can't say i do.There's a Swissvax guy i know up the road his car's pretty crisp,but in general i'm surrounded by swirls and holograms.Most people are none the wiser though,as long as they look clean they don't really see paint defects.
There's nothing wrong in that though as long as they're happy who cares..


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## Freddie (Mar 17, 2013)

Must admit mines not brilliant yet (still buying more stuff from peoples recommendations so in the process of getting better) but as i seem to take more care of my car then most i always look out for cars that appear looked after when parking. If they care about their car than i won't get door dinged. Parked next to a black golf in Newmarket scotsdales today which was mirror clean, 

sent from fraggle rock


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## slimjimvw (Apr 11, 2007)

Nothing around me unfortunately. I go to alot of vw meets and shows aswell and alot of what i see if shocking. Swirls aplenty.

Its a shame really.


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## AKA Pabs (Apr 7, 2013)

My next door neighbour has an r32 (garage queen). Guy across the road hand details and dresses his passat cc and cooper s he even asked to borrow my DA, which I've promised him. The guy opposit has just had his black Merc detailed.
Weird my street eh?


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## MEH4N (Mar 15, 2012)

ive seen a few motors around but the regular ones are the people ive converted to the dark side :devil: lol


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## davo3587 (May 9, 2012)

I see the odd car that has been polished but not to the extent of what we all do, my neighbor has a 62 plate white bmw 645, and he is always watching how i do my cars, but he has never approached me, but yesterday he has bought a new karcher which has a brush adapter, and the bristles are quite hard, he has obviously watched me drying off with the drying towels, im not sure what he thought i was using, but i watched him dry his with a huge beach towel. Shocked wasnt the word.


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## rf860 (Jul 24, 2011)

davo3587 said:


> I see the odd car that has been polished but not to the extent of what we all do, my neighbor has a 62 plate white bmw 645, and he is always watching how i do my cars, but he has never approached me, but yesterday he has bought a new karcher which has a brush adapter, and the bristles are quite hard, he has obviously watched me drying off with the drying towels, im not sure what he thought i was using, but i watched him dry his with a huge beach towel. Shocked wasnt the word.


A clean beach towel will do no damage at all.


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## ottostein (Sep 11, 2012)

All the cars i see are sheds! 

Only shiny cars i see are brand new ones lol


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## NissanMan (Aug 24, 2010)

VIPER said:


> Only once in a blue moon, and I can't actually recall the last time I saw a car and thought 'the owner of that knows what he's doing'.


Im with you there! and all this 'how does yours stay clean for so long' i just say preparation and finish and the muck dont stick. As for the 'that must take ages' talk i say once all the work has been done, regularr wash takes no longer than any other wash.


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## danbmx_69 (Aug 11, 2008)

jayz_son said:


> i very rarely see a nice looked after car about. i saw a gold vectra the other day, no word of a lie it looked like the owner had bought 1000 cats and told them to use it as a scratch thing, and then for good measure get a cheese grater on it!
> i keep mine too clean on times, and with the polished wheels it stand out. i attracted some unwanted attention off a smack head in a dodgy area of swansea other day, was praying it would be there when i got back haha


i will have to keep an eye out for you, i am swansea to


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## r37 (Mar 6, 2012)

i once saw a 15 year old escort van up for sale 500yds from my house. It was absolutely perfect. Plastic were jet black and the crimson red paint was concourse standard, ive never seen anything as well detailed as it before or since, even my own car wouldn't have stood against it. Truly left me for six. Other than that ive never seen a ''detailed'' other than cars ive done. I've seen some clean ones in the works car park but never anything i'd call properly cleaned and protected.


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## LostHighway (Sep 23, 2011)

I very, very rarely see a car that looks detailed. There is some money in this area and nice cars, especially in the summer, but I rarely see anything that looks really looked after. Corvettes and Porsches are common here and I see a Ferrari every now and then (a black 512 Testarossa just today and a yellow 328 a couple days ago) plus the occasional Aston Martin, Audi R8 or Lambo.
The saddest thing I've seen was a white Mercedes-Benz Gullwing 300SL parked in the town parking lot that looked like it hadn't been polished since new.

There are a few "detailing" businesses around. Either they aren't any good or they aren't getting any customers or the customers are driving straight home and parking these detailed cars in the garage. I just don't see them on the road or parked.


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## Blueberry (Aug 10, 2007)

It is very rare to see a properly detailed car but when you do, they really stand out. I saw a red Astra about 2 weeks ago, which was about 7 years old, which looked pristine. The chrome on it had a brilliant shine and not a swirl to be seen on the red paintwork. Looked stunning. Also saw a blue Astra - 4 years old, which had the most brilliant shine on the alloys and the paintwork was in good condition too.

I also agree with someone's comment above about Skoda vRS owners who seem to really look after their cars. It's very rare you see one that doesn't seem looked after.

My Husband has a white Discovery 4, which I detail. He's been "spotted" on their forum and been called a "twonk" because his car and I quote "was really shiny and looked like it had just come from the valeters". Obviously you are not allowed to own a Land Rover unless it's covered in mud! I reckon the guy's just jealous😡


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## Serapth (Jul 4, 2011)

Dont think i can recall seeing many, theres an Audi A3 which is lowered with some nice wheels that ive seen a few times locally that has been detailed properly, lovely finish to the paintwork, no orange peel or swirls and is always clean when i see it but thats about it so far this year. Theres a vehicle museum down the road that hosts classic car shows throughout the summer some of the cars make me cringe to say the least!


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## Ryanjdover (Apr 1, 2013)

No you don't really but having been into the detailing thing for a couple of months you can really notice where effort has been made. 

I saw one of the ford puma racing models recently in that sporty blue colour that the STs are in. Never seen paint pop like that.


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## majcas84 (Aug 24, 2012)

Coopertim said:


> I wonder if this is just one car that stands out for some reason, but I always seem to pick out people with skodas, particularly vrs octavias, and they always seem to have great paint and be looked after. Seems to be a detailers car of choice


All of the Vrs Octavias round here seem to be mini-cabs! More of a taxi driver's car of choice here - must get good tips for driving faster!

Most other stuff still seems to have thick winter grime on it or plenty of baked on birds**t on it. Only one other car in my street beads when it rains and I think that must be some sort of dealer prep because it's newish and the owner only gives it a weekly bucket and sponge.


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## Bartl (Apr 3, 2013)

I've never seen one near me.


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## VW Golf-Fan (Aug 3, 2010)

I've had a few people comment on my car & how it always looks shiney.


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## huvo (Dec 14, 2009)

ottostein said:


> All the cars i see are sheds!
> 
> Only shiny cars i see are brand new ones lol


Its like that over here too. Saw a really clean Astra in local shopping centre once, stood out a mile from everything else. Apart from that nothing.


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## TTS-Dave (Jun 19, 2012)

Well in the village where I live can say I've seen another detailed car.... But it's my brothers we detail then together - always good catch up time 

Otherwise can't say I have often other than the odd high end sports car that just had a pro detail type of thing


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## Yoghurtman (Dec 9, 2008)

I drove past the Truckfest meet at Peterborough yesterday. Ive never seen so many well prepped trucks before on the way in :buffer:

Other than that its the usual dull paint around here too......


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## Greboth (May 14, 2012)

I thought I did, does that count? Parked next to a black astra in local supermarket and it looked very clean and the paintwork looked good too. When I came out the shop the sun was out and I don't think there was anywhere on any panel that wasn't covered in holograms


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## gerz1873 (May 15, 2010)

rf860 said:


> I used to have a black astra, live in Ayrshire and kept it immaculate. Perhaps it was mine ha ha


Could be mate this one is normally parked in on Barhill Road in Cumnock


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## rojer386 (Mar 15, 2008)

I did pass a "12" plate Audi A5 today on the M77 southbound on the way home from work and thought it looked very clean. 

Generally I can't say that I've thought that before about any other cars I see.


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## StuGP86 (Apr 21, 2009)

gerz1873 said:


> Could be mate this one is normally parked in on Barhill Road in Cumnock


Ha! The old Bar-d!


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## gerz1873 (May 15, 2010)

StuGP86 said:


> Ha! The old Bar-d!


You from Cumnock mate?


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## tarbyonline (May 23, 2009)

I've seen a couple of Corsa's and the like that look like they been looked after (possibly resprayed tho tbh as modified) but thats it. The expensive motors are some of the worst! Haven't seen a black merc yet that isnt swirl city for example.

Have noticed the Skoda VRS thing as well but dont see many about. Maybe is it the combination of hard paint and someone who actually knew enough about cars in the first place to buy a Vrs over a VW for example! My Fiesta is a bloody mess at the moment (covered in swirls and stone chips) but its better than 99% of cars around here


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## StuGP86 (Apr 21, 2009)

gerz1873 said:


> You from Cumnock mate?


Brought up in new cumnock and now in auchinleck. Obviously went to cumnock academy. I drive about in a black Astra gtc now. Take it your cumnock?


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## gerz1873 (May 15, 2010)

StuGP86 said:


> Brought up in new cumnock and now in auchinleck. Obviously went to cumnock academy. I drive about in a black Astra gtc now. Take it your cumnock?


Aye mate drive a Black Focus S


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## ConorF (Oct 3, 2012)

Nope wonder where you guys all are cause i see none :lol:


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## StuGP86 (Apr 21, 2009)

gerz1873 said:


> Aye mate drive a Black Focus S


Need to keep an eye out now.


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## Ashley6 (Oct 7, 2012)

Nope. Never see a car as clean as mine, unless i have just cleaned it :lol:

I never get comments or compliments  I think it is because it is red and the paint doesn't really 'pop' as much as metallic


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