How'd you get your start?

I'm pretty bored, and thought it'd be interesting to learn how everyone got their start as a detailer. So post em up!

 

Some people saw my vehicles in person, and asked if I could do theirs. I then started posting pics up on a forum Ive been a paying member on for a long time, and it kinda went from there. I havent done a lot of business this year, but hey, the economy sucks right now.

most of my work has been people I know. I detail my parents vehicles for free though, and sometimes they buy me detailing stuff. My wife doesnt understand my obsession with the whole foam lance thing, but she understands my passion for detailing.

 

I got the detailing bug from Reflect. I posted a couple pictures of my car on an enthusiast forum, and he gave me crap about it being dirty. He sent me a sample kit to try some stuff out. He's just like a damn crack dealer or something.

"here man, try this, it's free". Next thing you know, I'm thousands into it

 

I always watched my dad clean our family cars and that mixed with my passion for cars fueled my drive to detail and become better and better at it. I just love how a nice clean car looks. I started detailing with my buddy in high school for extra cash since I was always training for football. Then in college I got into the whole orbital and rotary realm and that really stepped up my game. So now I have my own little respectable business on the side. So basically started with my dad then picked up from there since I always was detailing my own car.

Like Slanguage this year has been a little tougher and I have done mostly friends and some friend referrals as well as my family's cars but hopefully the fall will bring some good business.

 

yeah, hopefully the fall does. Thats actually when I did the most business last year.

 

I bought a black car. :doh:

 

My father had an Antique car collection. I used to get them ready for shows and parades and when I got to be 16, he'd let me take one in the parade if I'd do both...now there's incentive!! I liked winning at shows so I got to be pretty anal about the jobs I did. He had early 1900's brass cars too that got hand polishing of all the brass. Talk about black fingers. That got me hooked and my cars had to be perfect from then on. I didn't start doing it for other people until a few years ago. My last house did not even have a garage..that was frustrating, I'll tell you! I've been doing this for over 30 years. Lots of polishing used to be done by hand because of the body shapes, etc. Plus there was just wool pads then anyway. The products have come light years in that time.

 

i have always helped my dad wash the family cars.Plus I hate dirt.So naturally when I started driving I always washed my cars a couple of times a week.So as I got more into the product thing and always looking to make it look better. I found the online forums and different vendors .Learned more and more about proper techniques and application. I didnt help that I love tools. All my friends started wanting me to do there cars and it went on from there. So I pay for a lot of my goods by re investing the cash I make on the week ends doing others cars . But as mentioned already this season has been slow . The state of the Economy and the really crappy summer has had an effect. But it will blow over

 

I've been casually into it for many years. I can remember my college roommates thinking I was nuts for religiously washing my 1988 CRX Si, out in front of the duplex we shared in the ghetto in Chapel Hill. :lol:

Fast forward to about 3 years ago, when I'd first bought the S2000. It's the first nice street car I've had in years - everything else having been a motorsports car, or a tow vehicle, to that point. Shortly after buying it, I paid someone to detail it for me, a mobile guy. And he did a good job. He did a very good job, or so I thought for a while. I'd asked him, very specifically, to do what he could to remove the swirl marks on the car. They reappeared after about a month, possibly due to me, but I doubt it was all me.

So I started poking around the "Wash and Wax" section of s2ki.com, a big S2000 forum. It was, and still is, populated by a lot of knowledgeable people, and has a lot of good information hidden within. I decided to buy a Porter Cable, so I called Phil, the site sponsor, and ordered my first step into detailing.

I guess it ballooned from there. I got pretty good at it, and found that I really enjoyed it a lot. Friends and family started asking me to work on their cars, as did the occasional neighbor. I finally decided to give detailing for money a chance.

I'm not as busy as I'd like to be, but I doubt any of us are. It's a struggle. But I really do enjoy it - the look on someone's face when they fall back in love with their car is something really cool. It'll be worth the lean times eventually, of that I am sure.

 

its nice to hear these stories. Times are tough for a lot of us, but I will stick it out, and not give up. To me sometimes, it can be somewhat of a Zen thing. After a long hard day (or two) of working on a car, to see a beautiful, clean piece of machinery there before me. Sometimes it can be mesmerizing.

I find the wash to be relaxing, especially if done completely by hand.

 

I was Raised by a Family that raced Top Fuel Funny Cars/ Dragsters from Coast-to-Coast.
My main job was to Mantain the Appearence of Drag Cars/ Tow Vehicles...a.k.a. 2 Duallys w/6 whl Chapperall Trailers x 2 :thud:

When I was 15 I got a job at a Full-Service Petro Station. 1 Day whilst I was washing my 72 Chevelle SS a Guy came in with his New 1980 Ferrari 308 GTSi.....He was checking out my car, saying how clean it was, I was like yea right your driving a New Ferrari and I'm changing out Clutches every weekend...lol

Anywho, turns out this guy was very wealthy and knew Everyone(All the upper muckity mucks) in Memphis.... He sent me loads of business. In 1980 if you told someone in Mphs that you Detailed cars, there immediate response was > Oh you Pinstripe cars...lol

In 1984 I opened my first shop. This eventually led to running a Beast. I at 1 point had 6 Full Time and another 8-10 part time Employees. We were pumping out as many as 25 cars a day(THESE WERE NOT DETAILS BY ANY MEANS) This went on from 1984 untill 2001. At this point I had lost all the love I had once had for Detailing. I was working 14-16 hrs a day. Most all this was used car dealers, and those guys are like nothing else if you ever have to do bizz with them.

Anywho, in August 2001 I had a Major Grocery Store chain make me an offer I couldn't refuse to purchase my property....Instead of relocating and continue to work 75-85 hrs a week. I decided to focus more on my Upper end Clientle and left the Used Car Dealers Hangin...:

 

Interesting story..you had alluded to your length of time in the detailing biz so I was interested in seeing your background..thanks for sharing.

 

Rog, I totally understand the zen thing. I've been known to start on a car and go all day, forgetting to eat lunch and everything. "Hey, look at that, it's dark outside, and my stomach is growling."

Thanks FG, your story gives me hope. I spent 10 years working 70-80 hour weeks doing something I despised. Spending that amount of time doing something I enjoy would be wonderful.

Do you still have a standalone shop in a different location?

 

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I really did lose all my love for Detailing, knowing in the back of my mind My Shop was basically putting out Junk.....It had become all about Quanity not Quality :shakehead:

:thinking: Aaahh I do have so many Funny Stories Though :giggle:

Today I do 85% of my work at my Home, actually only about 25 feet from were I sit :missy:

The other 15% I go Mobile....Which is something in the past I had despised, today I kinda like the Mobile Deal. As Long as the working condition suit my needs :hmph:

 

My car is stock. It stayed stock for many many months. The only real way I got attention was "hey you car is CLEAN."

Slowly but surely, I became the detailer in my group of friends.

 

i've always had a little bit of an OCD side to me, especially when it comes to my vehicles. i got into detailing just to maintain my own vehicles. people were always telling me how good my cars looked, even random strangers etc. finally after a while, people started saying, "hey, your car looks great. can you do that to my car? i'll pay you.". especially when i bought the audi i used to have. i always kept that thing mint. and now with having my first brand new car, i'm obssessed with keeping it as perfect or close to perfect as possible. now i detail full time monday-friday and have the luxury of a pretty nice shop, and working on primarily bmw's and lexus, and some toyotas in the mix. the occasional exotic customer car here and there. between full time and my side work, unfortunately caring for my own car has been put on the backburner as i dont have as much time as i used to, but im trying to get back into the routine of at least washing her every week or two. its been a fun and expensive journey thus far, and i can only see things getting better. i would love to one day be able to open up a high end detail shop that guys like phil from DD and ken from autowerkes have. thats my dream. the best part is that you always learn new things and you can always better your skills somehow. i dont think i'll ever know it all when it comes to detailing.

 

Well, I bought my Mustang back in 05. I had always been an OTC guy. I had just gotten into microfibers about this time. One night at work I was surfing the net looking for waxes. I kept finding all these posts about Souveran which led me to Autopia. I was also looking at the detailing section on MustangForums where I came across Justin @ obsessivedetail. Also found AG. I ordered some Optimum stuff from Justin and a sizzling shine kit from AG. Then I'd place an order with Justin about once a week. I was a sponge back then. Looking and reading all the info I could on detailing. All night at work, I'd read post after post on Autopia. This lead to more products and a PC. I still read alot on detailing. Its alot of info to keep up with. I've also learned a whole new language doing so. Still learning some too.

I've found that being into detailing like we are, is like being the owner of a Mustang for example. Its like we're part of a brotherhood. We come from all parts of life, but we have a common interest-Detailing. I've also found that this is world wide. Just think, a whole world of detailers could get together from around the world and talk shop and have a great time and not have to worry about what ethnicity you came from or how much $$ you make. It would be pretty awesome.

 

I was always interested in car from when I was a kid and always kept my parents car clean. Dad is a Chemical Engineer and works for a automotive repair product company, SEM Products, so I grew up around automotive stuff so he would bring some stuff home that he would get from sales people as gifts. I would try them out on the car, but never had a polisher. Went to college and got my new car then and before I got the car I was all over the detailing message boards getting info on the best sealant to use on my GTI. I started my Co-Op soon after which paid pretty well and had alot of disposable income so I was pretty much getting packages of detailing products every few days. I still only really detail my car and sometimes my parents. I do help friends out with problems such as deep scratches or small things if they need it but I am a one car detailer. Kind of sad I know but I guess that is how it is for now.

 

well my story is not as glamorous as some posted but here goes:

it was 1989-1990 and i was working in a stereo shop to fuel my need for customized cars. i was 21 and had been working on cars since i was 15 and got my first ride. any way, the co owner of the stereo shop is a pretty famous car builder in my circle of friends. having built a new show car he needed help color sanding and buffing his car. that was the first time i ever held a high speed buffer, and it was about a $25,000 paint job. he showed me all the ins and outs and i took it from there. ever since then i have prepped all my show cars and even helped paint a few. i love cars period, building, fixing and cleaning. i have built a complete race truck from the frame up and followed it through till it left the states to its new owner. all in all its been a 20 plus year affair, my ex wife says my passion to build and care for cars was part of our demise, but i think shes crazy.

 

send samples of high built primer and any and all body fillers lol. i'm going to start filling my dash soon