Detailing - where to draw the line?

[sunnydude959]

Hi Guys.

Its only been a year or so that I started to bother with "detailing" in its most basic form; get someone else to wash the car (good eastern european lot a few miles away), and then use AutoGlym's "Surface Detailing Kit" which came with a clay bar and then some super resin polish.

I then moved on into waxes, namely Autoglym's HD Wax, and then wanted my car super clean and super shiny all the time. I then developed an OCD, whereby if I see a fingerprint, it must be removed; if I see a minor mark somewhere, it must be polished out, ...... and then yesterday I had a go at cleaning my own car by hand, so I had a new war with water marks. Some water marks had set into my mirror, and so I had to buy some glass polish earlier today to remove them. Then, after all this, had some muck on my windscreen, so I used my windscreen washer.... and yep, new water marks. I give up.

However, I've noticed that this is all getting in the way of me enjoying the car; of course, it should be kept nice and clean, but its impossible to maintain a super-clean shine on something that's used on the roads. There will be odd chips, water splashes, marks, etc., so I was just wondering where other PH'ers draw the line?

(I put this in "General Gassing" because it isn't about detailing as such, more a discussion about it)

[P I Staker]

I haven't washed my car in over a year.

[Truckosaurus]

sunnydude959 said:

... this is all getting in the way of me enjoying the car....

As soon as you think about not using the car because it might get dirty, then that is the line.

[storminnorman]

I would draw the line at spending three months detailing a vauxhall astra.

[BorkFactor]

I used to be quite into it as I liked my car looking good and I found it all quite therapeutic. It started with that Turtle Wax ICE stuff which is great on silver cars and can be used on the black trim, dead easy to apply too. Used to give my old Astra a going over once a week!

Now I wax my car with HD Wax once every couple of months and try to wash it every week. I am less bothered by how it looks, but more concerned about protecting it and keeping all the salt out of the arches

I understand people liking their car looking clean all the time, but it can go too far:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

[StottyEvo]

I'd only really detail a car that is used occasionally. For a daily its almost pointless.

I give my car a good clean every week or two, but I'd only do a proper detail twice a year at the most.

You're fighting a losing battle otherwise.

[TorqueR]

I have been known to be a little OCD when it comes to cleaning my car but I enjoy it so do not see it as a burden.

I clean my car every fortnight (if I have the time) and less in the winter but when I do clean it, it gets a thorough clean inside and out.

If anything, I want to get more waxes and cleaning products in my collection.

[Mastodon2]

Truckosaurus said:

As soon as you think about not using the car because it might get dirty, then that is the line.

This. I can appreciate some stuff, like toys, not going out in the rain as the kind of stuff you keep as toys (sports cars, motorbikes etc) are no fun in the wet so it's a waste putting the miles on them and you're just getting them dirty for no reason if you're not enjoying them as they are intended to be used. If we're talking about regular cars though, then the line is crossed when you become afraid to use it for getting it dirty. It's a car, it's designed to go around, outdoors, in all weathers, dirt is expected. When I cared about how my cars looked, I kept them clean but I didn't detail them, or get OCD about water marks, little bits of dirt here and there etc.

I used to know a bloke who had a 911 Turbo, and he reckoned it only left the garage 7 or 8 times a year at most, on the driest and sunniest days and it needed an obsessive level of detailing after each trip out. Seems like a waste.

[Quhet]

I got my 197 in December and haven't washed it yet, I think I only washed my old Saab 2 or 3 times altogether too. I like a car that looks used

[r1ch]

It should be something you enjoy rather than something you feel you have to do.

I guess I draw the line when I stop enjoying it. I'll quite happily spend a few hours on my pride and joy every few weeks, but a daily car i'll just give it a basic wash every week and polish/wax a couple of times per year.

Although I can't live with dirty interiors, I guess i'm a bit obsessive about keeping the inside clean.

[9mm]

Mastodon2 said:

Truckosaurus said:

As soon as you think about not using the car because it might get dirty, then that is the line.

This. I can appreciate some stuff, like toys, not going out in the rain as the kind of stuff you keep as toys (sports cars, motorbikes etc) are no fun in the wet so it's a waste putting the miles on them and you're just getting them dirty for no reason if you're not enjoying them as they are intended to be used. If we're talking about regular cars though, then the line is crossed when you become afraid to use it for getting it dirty. It's a car, it's designed to go around, outdoors, in all weathers, dirt is expected. When I cared about how my cars looked, I kept them clean but I didn't detail them, or get OCD about water marks, little bits of dirt here and there etc.

I used to know a bloke who had a 911 Turbo, and he reckoned it only left the garage 7 or 8 times a year at most, on the driest and sunniest days and it needed an obsessive level of detailing after each trip out. Seems like a waste.

It sounds like mental illness to me.

[aspirated]

This picture from the 3 month Astra detail thread says it all for me...







Taking a picture of two guys taking a picture of a body panel to find any 'defects'...

[sunnydude959]

BorkFactor said:

I understand people liking their car looking clean all the time, but it can go too far:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

Woah. I'll have to settle somewhere along the lines of wash every couple of weeks, clay and wax every 6 months - and not care about stuff in between

[otolith]

Mastodon2 said:

This. I can appreciate some stuff, like toys, not going out in the rain as the kind of stuff you keep as toys (sports cars, motorbikes etc) are no fun in the wet so it's a waste putting the miles on them and you're just getting them dirty for no reason if you're not enjoying them as they are intended to be used.

Even then, sportscars are often more fun in the wet...

[Stedman]

It depends, A day (or two) of hard work can mean minimum input for at least 12 months. Meh, who cares. Variety is the spice of life and if you enjoy it crack on

[XPushX]

I clean mines every week weather permitting. All depends on the individual I'd say though as I actually enjoy keeping the car clean. Also cleaning it often means it doesn't take aslong as it would if I only done it once a month.

[RemyMartin]

Mastodon2 said:

This. I can appreciate some stuff, like toys, not going out in the rain as the kind of stuff you keep as toys (sports cars, motorbikes etc) are no fun in the wet

Nonsense! Bikes are lots of fun in the wet.

[jamieduff1981]

I like mine clean and tidy. They do get all weather use and I have children who although well behaved do tend to dirty interiors faster.

You'll drive yourself nuts trying to achieve perfection so I tend to settle for it looking really good from 10ft away.

I don't enjoy washing them but I do enjoy all the detailing stuff once the car is clean and dry. Most nice weekends I take it out rather than clean it though...

[Escy]

I'm considering hoovering out the inside of my Golf today. I've owned it a year and haven't bothered yet. There are hair clips, nail files and pens left in it from the previous owner. That's how little I care about detailing. That link with the Astra is the most pathetic thing i've ever seen.

[Funkycoldribena]

BorkFactor said:

I understand people liking their car looking clean all the time, but it can go too far:

http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.p...

I seriously lost the will to live reading that.