# Cringeworthy, teethgrating detailing



## bigbrother (Jun 30, 2011)

My neighbour who is to tight to use a bucket of water on his black Ford, even weekend cleans (scratches) his car with "waterless wash" using just one cloth, this weekend he decided to polish said vehicle with a sponge applicator that would not stay in his hand landing on the nice gritty floor and then rubbing said grit into the paint work.:wall::wall:

Is this a new method that has passed me by


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## petemattw (Nov 3, 2008)

Was he happy?


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## Kerr (Mar 27, 2012)

petemattw said:


> Was he happy?


Sounds more like Dopey.


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

Up to him I guess, it’s his car. Painful to watch, but I wouldn’t watch my neighbours clean their cars. 


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## 20vKarlos (Aug 8, 2009)

I do love these posts.

One thing I’ve learnt over the years of Detailing is there are 10,000,000 people for every one of us passionate about car cleaning. 

Rather than post on here about how unbearable it is to watch this guy clean his car, go over and break the ice with him. One thing I’ve done previously is take over 500ml of product from you 5l and say “hey mate, I noticed you were cleaning your car and I wanted to make it easier for you” ... “I’m quite passionate about car cleaning and I’ve learnt a lot over the years and have loads of different products, any questions you might have, you’re more than welcome to come over a knock the door” 

You’ll be his best mate and you may even have yourself a Detailing buddy.

Think outside the box and try and pass on goodwill and knowledge, you’ll be amazed at who might appreciate it.


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## Naddy37 (Oct 27, 2005)

My neighbour does something similar. I’ve considered talking to him about cleaning/detailing. But, he’s not the sort of chap you’d want to talk to really!


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## nbray67 (Mar 22, 2012)

There's a guy on our estate who's similar but he's one of those know it all's, brags about money, cars he has/had and to be honest, he's an absolute ****

So, rather than cringeworthy watching him destroy his PnJ, I just have a wry smile and awkwardly point out he's missed a bit just so that he goes over it again. :devil:


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## Wishbone (Nov 2, 2010)

20vKarlos said:


> I do love these posts.
> 
> One thing I've learnt over the years of Detailing is there are 10,000,000 people for every one of us passionate about car cleaning.
> 
> ...


:thumb:


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## MrPassat (Mar 30, 2018)

My neighbour cleans the wheels on both his BMW's with brick acid.
Sure it gets then clean but they're dull.
I guess he's lucky that they're still silver


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

These people who clean their cars like that are in a different World to us and would not understand or appreciate what we do. :detailer:


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## The happy goat (Jun 26, 2019)

All of my neighbours use the European wash bays and don’t understand why I spend a day cleaning the car when they get theirs done in 20 minutes!

‘It looks just as good as yours’ 

I just smile..........


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

The happy goat said:


> All of my neighbours use the European wash bays and don't understand why I spend a day cleaning the car when they get theirs done in 20 minutes!
> 
> 'It looks just as good as yours'
> 
> I just smile..........


The thing is from the general public perspective it probably does.

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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

The happy goat said:


> All of my neighbours use the European wash bays and don't understand why I spend a day cleaning the car when they get theirs done in 20 minutes!
> 
> 'It looks just as good as yours'
> 
> I just smile..........


Funnily enough, I borrowed a neighbour's works pool car the other day to test some product. I live in a cul-de-sac and they all know I'm "into" detailing and some know I run a YouTube channel.

Anyway, the guy who's car I borrowed did comment saying how mine always looks absolutely gleaming


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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

i dont see a single other person around here making any attempt at car cleaning /maintenence at all 

im the only one that washes a car in the street


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## Soul boy 68 (Sep 8, 2013)

steveo3002 said:


> i dont see a single other person around here making any attempt at car cleaning /maintenence at all
> 
> im the only one that washes a car in the street


Same here.


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## Mad Ad (Feb 7, 2011)

I let people get on with it, I just think at least they are making the effort to get out in the fresh air and even exercise a little while doing it instead of being lazy and going to the cheap car wash places. I also see the kids helping out and having fun it can be a little bonding experience in the family everyone helping out. They always seem to appreciate they have a nice clean car at the end.


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## 121DOM (Sep 16, 2013)

We have the mother in laws car for a few days whilst ours having a wheel refurb. So thought give it a quick wash as a thank you . Her grandson / our nephew claims to be an expert and knows all there is about detailing and charges her !! 
See below (fin de cloche )



























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## minimadmotorman (Mar 18, 2012)

For me I think if people are happy with what they do or how their car looks then leave them to it. I've got enough on my plate.

However if anyone asks then I'll share some pearls of wisdom.


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## GSI-MAN (Sep 12, 2017)

I see my neighbour out polishing his car that has been sat on the driveway for a few days.
No washing of it at all
Just swirling in the dust and dirt
On a nice 17 plate Kia Ceed


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## GSD (Feb 6, 2011)

Ahhhh wel at least it’s only a Kia


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## Tinyflier (Mar 28, 2011)

steveo3002 said:


> i dont see a single other person around here making any attempt at car cleaning /maintenence at all
> 
> im the only one that washes a car in the street


Same here! I haven't seen anyone else in my road wash any of their cars in the 14 months I've been living here!

I suspect my neighbours think I'm strange as if I'm not cleaning either of my cars, then my son will have his A5 on my drive so he can clean it (he is now as heavily into detailing as me) or else my daughter brings her TT Convertible to me ... but that means I clean it not her!

Happy days!


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

what i always say is, "you can't live other peoples lives for them".
as long as you're doing the right thing, let them get on with it.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

People washing their cars? The horror!


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## pt1 (Feb 8, 2014)

Worst i have seen is someone using a sweeping brush to wash their car, they probably just used it to sweep the path with too 

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## TeddyRuxpin (Mar 7, 2016)

I'm in my late 30s and remember everyone washing their cars when I was younger. I barely ever see it now!

Maybe it's because of PCP?

The finance plan not the drug.


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

TeddyRuxpin said:


> I'm in my late 30s and remember everyone washing their cars when I was younger. I barely ever see it now!
> 
> Maybe it's because of PCP?
> 
> The finance plan not the drug.


I'd love to understand the root cause for the generational change.

I think it's that free / leisure time is now more valuable than money to most people, which also accounts somewhat for the substantial decrease in people doing their own car maintenance and repairs (and modern car complexity doesn't help either).

For example when you go to a supermarket and you can get your car "washed" for possibly less than a fiver 99.9% of people will go for it over the effort of doing it yourself.


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## garage_dweller (Apr 10, 2018)

TeddyRuxpin said:


> I'm in my late 30s and remember everyone washing their cars when I was younger. I barely ever see it now!
> 
> Maybe it's because of PCP?
> 
> The finance plan not the drug.


Most people are too busy on social media to have time to wash their cars. 

But the rise of the cheap hand car wash, people happy to do absolutely nothing in their free time, lack of pride in possessions as things are so easy to get, overweight, lazy population are all contributing factors

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## steveo3002 (Jan 30, 2006)

TeddyRuxpin said:


> I'm in my late 30s and remember everyone washing their cars when I was younger. I barely ever see it now!
> 
> Maybe it's because of PCP?
> 
> The finance plan not the drug.


see very little diy at all , years ago everyone was cutting their lawn keeping the place nice , if a job around the home like decorating needed doing it was diy'd

now people seem to just get a man in


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## muzzer (Feb 13, 2011)

Fatboy40 said:


> I'd love to understand the root cause for the generational change.
> 
> I think it's that free / leisure time is now more valuable than money to most people, which also accounts somewhat for the substantial decrease in people doing their own car maintenance and repairs (and modern car complexity doesn't help either).
> 
> For example when you go to a supermarket and you can get your car "washed" for possibly less than a fiver 99.9% of people will go for it over the effort of doing it yourself.


That's my view of it, i once had a conversation with one of mums neighbours who thought i was nuts for spending around four hours washing my 5k Skoda. I asked him how long he washed his 85k Mercedes for and he answered he doesnt, he takes it to the car wash as its quicker and easier. To him it is just a tool to do a job, nothing else, so why waste time washing it?


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## Darlofan (Nov 24, 2010)

Majority are happy with their car washed while they shop. They come out and it looks lovely to them. It doesn't affect them in any way whilst owning the car. Until a dealer starts knocking hundreds off when part exing or returning a Pcp car because of the state of the paint then nothing will change. And I suppose for that to happen it needs customers to refuse to buy a car because of swirls etc.


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## TeddyRuxpin (Mar 7, 2016)

I think with lots of cars, ~3 years (i.e. after PCP is up) isn't really long enough to cause major swirls/defects in a car, whereby it would affect the resale/buy back value from the dealer when it goes back?

If someone is OCD enough to want the car clear enough all the time that they take it to a car wash or hand car wash by some guys while they're in Sainsburys, they're likely to want to wash it themselves. 

If they don't give a crap as it's just a tool, then they probably only get it washed 3-6 times a year, so only, say, 15 car washes in the 3 year lifetime of the car before it's handed back to the dealer, if that possibly only 2 a year...

My sister's new Volvo has only ever been wash by me once, but it's fine, usually clean enough for sane people (i.e. not people that visit this website!, and swirl free (unless you go mental with a torch, probably). It's 2 years old I think.

Edit: by the way, when I mentioned PCP originally, I meant that perhaps some people don't really feel the 'ownership' of the car and so don't really give a **** about it's upkeep.


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## billy2shots (Jul 8, 2020)

Devil's advocate. 

Let's say you (people on here) wash your car weekly/fortnightly and then the bigger 3 month/6 month/annual treatment. 

Add up all those hours over a 3/5 year period. 

Now consider if those hours were spent working/earning and you only had a 5 minute wash at the local place once in a blue moon. 

Those hours spent earning could probably buy a new(er) car after 5 years. 


I'm new here so I hope this doesn't offend anyone but I would say extremes probably aren't perfect at either ends of the spectrum. Washing a car with a broom or 30 hour car details probably isn't the best thing in the world. 

(Says the person getting ready to spend two full days on his new car)


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## Fatboy40 (Apr 15, 2013)

billy2shots said:


> Devil's advocate.
> 
> Let's say you (people on here) wash your car weekly/fortnightly and then the bigger 3 month/6 month/annual treatment.
> 
> Add up all those hours over a 3/5 year period.


I know what you mean.

This is one of the reasons why I like coatings / silicon so much, I don't use wax or sealants anymore at all. I can keep a car looking very good with substantially less time being spent doing so.


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## RandomlySet (Jul 10, 2007)

Ah, but those who spend 4-5+ hours washing a car, it's like a hobby. Like someone spending the same amount of time playing golf.

Imagine not playing golf, watching PGA highlights instead, and spent those golfing hours working. They could buy a new set of clubs every couple of years :thumb:


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