Detailing in Condominium Wash Bay

Not familiar with the usual wash bays in condos, but does underground parking usually have access to power?

Have a client that needs a 1 step done on his new black e350, and he did mention that there is a wash bay, but doesn't know if there's power. How do you guys do correction if there's no power!?

 

Haven't seen any in garages I've been in but maybe up north they have them for block heaters? Besides the cheeky response of really long extension cords I'd have to say generator or maybe a transformer for your car (though I'm not sure of the juice it would provide).

 

Just a FYI, I just did a black E550 this weekend, and you aint gonna get no correction with anything that can finish hologram free. That cerami-clear is hard as granite. Just a good heads up for you.

 

buff it by hand, hahahahah

 

Boy, one thing I can't stand is customers that want one steps. To me, all that means is, I want to pay the cheapest price and hope your OCDness gets the best of you, and I get more correction than I'm paying for. Why even polish at all if you're not trying to eradicate the horrific swirls and buffer trails? Just me I guess..

I think you could probably get a full correction detail out of him if you just show him how bad his paint is, and then show him some before and afters of work you've already done.

 

Hope your client's parking is near a pillar or a wall. A good chance they have an outlet on them.

 

Tell him to go down there and check? lol

 

We'll it seems like I'm going to be heading there to take a look what can be done tomorrow, hopefully the client is open to having a 2 step detail done as it seems like it may be needed.

 

Bring the longest extension cord you have.

You can probably get away with D300 on a Megs cutting disc for a one step. I just did a one step on a Audi with it and the customer was extremely happy.

 

I have customers at a couple different locations with parking garages and some do have outlets, some don't....none of them have designated wash bays as most of these are at office complexes so that I don't think thats a determining factor.

 

Seems simple enough. Yeah, go look.

I agree. You just need to predetermine what you are trying to accomplish with a one step. I used to try and get as much correction as I could for the client but found I was losing my ass on how many hours I was putting in. Now when I do a one step, I show up with a green pad and Power Finish. Its enough to get rid of poor wash technique inflicted swirls on most cars. I know I can get around a car in decent time with this combo and I can use it with a rotary or DA without leaving holograms. If the client wants "correction work" done, they are going to pay for it. There can be a couple hours difference between using Power Finish and trying to get even light correction. If the client needs even light correction work, I quote accordingly. And there is no such thing as a single stage polish on a black BMW, Audi or GMC.

 

The above is all so true ! There really is not such thing as a single stage polish on any black car for that matter.

Hope you set his expectations at the beginning - it is going to look better, but because of the hardness of the cerami-clear paint Mercedes used, a typical 1-step procedure will not give you enough time to correct it to a higher rate.

Im not even sure I would do a spot for him to look at either - he still might not want to spend more than $XXX, and will have this really nicely corrected place, and all the rest will not have that level of clarity..

I know its challenging, but sometimes you just have to stand firm to your business ethics and plan; I once turned down a lady with a black Suburban, totally scratched, etc., who just wanted a wax job,nothing else.. I told her I would love to help her but putting wax on there was not going to do much because the paint was really dirty, full of even more embedded dirt, and the wax would not last very long before it came off. I could tell there was no way she was going to want to pay more to clean up this monster behemoth, so that was that.

Good luck with this -
Dan F

 

I agree. It's BS. You end up doing it right because you just can't bear to leave it swirled. Internal conflict. Lol.