So Hong Kong has no snow but has heavy rain seasons and really really damn hot days. Technically most cars are either in open carparks or covered and apartments because its expensive to own a house in HK. Now there are a lot of people who offer to wash peoples cars (since theres usually 50+ cars in a lot as HK is high density) which probably most of the time induce swirl nightmare (i dont even want to think what my father's 323i cabrio hardtop's paintwork is like) In shopping mall parkades and car service centers, there are usually some sort of car wash/wax/polish shop under a chain although i've never seen them out with a proper rotary or da lol. In their pictures you see like those polishers which have 1 speed and 2 handle bars. I personally have no idea what wax/sealant they use, in general the HK population lacks knowledge in car detailing products, general populace will go "oh good we got wax" and they sell in their "steps" process (3 step wax n crap like that) I've seen 1 shop which does car wash and stuff but it looked very ghetto and no I dont think i will dare to bring my car in, they prob start bringing out the cutter blade on the paint. Having only picked up detailing recently, i have had no time to question these practices or swirl marks while i was back in HK during Summer. If I go back in May, i swear i'm gonna go and ask them what products these people are using and get a LED flashlight on my father's 323 and see how many swirls there are. I'll probably go and hand polish it and find a sealant that can take the Hong Kong weather (anyone got something that works to like 40C and NOT melt after intensive sunshine?) I am prepared to give my father a bottle of ONR for christmas and tell him to tell the person who washes his car to use it and probably a mitt as well with a microfiber towel. I be crying at the potential damage already done to the cars. I probably should also tell him that the car needs to get new wax/sealant when water doesnt bead. I oughta tell him to stop scratching his jet ski's gel coat as well. His time being retired is better spent doing it right lol.
I've been talking with relatives and friends in HK, it seems like a lot of private condos contract detailers to come in to work on the cars in the car park. I'm not sure how effective it is, and the last time I went back was before I picked up detailing as a hobby. I'm gonna seriously take a look at this next I head back.
I was in Hong Kong a few weeks ago, and damn, the weather is still warm there. I watched a taxi driver wash his taxi, 1 bucket of water, towel and some detergent is all he needs to just clean the exterior. most people don't really care what a swirl is, as long as it is shiny, they will be happy. I think the cars in asia is a lot easier to wash compare to the cars here. no road salt, just plain dust with very humid air.
Guys you can't try and change the world... 99% of the people on earth don't give a kaka that there cars have swirl marks on them .. They don't even see them .. Us guys have developed a detailing sickness ! Mine is so bad that i work on my daily driver almost everyday.. my girlfriend thinks i'm whako.. Peace ...
You're ok dude, I'm just as bad if not worse! I work on my garage queen everyday and only fire her up twice a month if I'm lucky. My gf calls her "the competition".
You cannot forget that it's only the people on message boards like DB who really give a proper crap about what their paint looks like. Just like kdude is saying, to 99% of the population, a clean car is good enough. And you cannot blame them. They probably have more important things to worry about.
yeah its true that many don't care especially in hong kong when you practically work from morning till midnight. I should probably ask one of my father's friend who owns a garage about what products they use on the European cars they fix and stuff and I would work on my car everyday if i had a heated garage and a bigger one to boot LOL Its like acrobatics waxing/wiping etc in my garage =p
I was curious and asked my dad this summer, and he said that "if people in Hong Kong tend to get another car every 4-5 years, do you think they still really care?" Not many people in Hong Kong really care about the paint condition as long as it is clean and shinny, they just throw $5 USD to get a 'detailer' in car parks to clean their cars, with a bucket and a few clothes, not even MF. Life in hong kong is so rush and people don't even stand back and look at their cars more than 10 sec, they just pull out their remotes, get in the cars and drive away. another sad thing is that people can't rinise and clean their cars in hong kong becoz of the state regulation. I think ONR, 2 buckets, and a few MF are all you need. By the way there are professional detailing shops in Hong Kong, but they are still price competitive compared to those in the NA. I passed through a shop of NTI is Augest, and there was a finished GTR sitting there, I don't know what have been done to the car, but it just looked amazed!! Last time I was shopping around with my friend in Mong Kok and we were looking stuffs like P21s but with no luck, It seems like people in hk don't wash wheels==.==
3M and soft 99 products are the most commonly used that I would highly recommend. Soft 99 provides more depth, and is more durable but less gloss compared with 3M.
My family has learnt to buy new cars when the warranty is up for japanese cars, the repair costs that suddenly smack you is better off spent on a new car. Our nearly 10 year old Mitsubishi Pajero started to have problems on the 6th-7th year. Having gotten a repaint, new fenders, new gas tank (all these are rust problems), new solenoids, new sensors, and a new cd deck. Its money that could of been spent on a new car lol. Hong Kong's weather especially open carparks or being simply next to the sea creates a lot of problems for car bodys and electronics. But yeah cloth problem... at that ghetto detailing shop i saw, they used rags lol rinsing wise, we rinse it at our old apartment, dont think theres a law on it, hell we rinse jet ski n boat all the time at the marina. Maybe we've been breaking the law all this time lol. Having said that tho, having to rinse anything in INTENSIVE sunshine is like SUNBURN. as for professional detail store, i think i saw zymol listing one in HK, but they're probably all based on island side because its a higher $$$ area, dont think you'll find one in mong kok where its all street tuners (hell they even do installation on a metered parking) I think we all do see a potential market here for wheel cleaning goods LOL.
:waiting: You guys are rich.... lol.... (sorry, had to, lol!) And yes the climate really does wreak havoc on the cars, all the people I know that own cars in HK don't own them for more than a few years. Yeah, start complaining about Japanese cars, wait till you start having to repair out of warranty Euros.....
haha yeah my dad's 6 year old TT had to get all its coils changed and stuff and boy it was ouch and i mean changing cars every warranty period actually isnt that bad assuming you retain more than 1/2 the car value at resell (private deals usually) and then potentially the new car will also yield a better fuel mileage and no repairs. Despite how much I hate 4 bangers, thats the way to go in HK. But yeah this cycle has only been done twice ever since my dad stopped buying imported used cars (the pajero was an imported used and probably saw salt in Japan). I think approx, its 100k HKD tops for the new car factoring in resell of the old car. Then you get 10k or so off from environmental rebates. So 100k HKD in 4-5 years isnt that bad if we consider the average "experienced" working HK person earns 20-30k HKD a month in salaries, plus any other bonuses/investment etc. By this calculation, we're also talking about the 200k-300k HKD range cars which are high end japanese. The pajero did stack up about 70-80k HKD in repairs, but ofcourse we cant do the warranty over new car on it cuz locally its around 400k-500k new and we got it used for like less than 300k. But the repairs has already justified the cost of getting a new car and to go trouble free for a few years. hell even buying korean will save, the top trim kia sportage is like 240k HKD and on the being rich side, yep i'll be rich once i win my lotto and I can stop renting
