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I recently attended one of Mike's classes in Maryland and got hooked on Meguiar's. Several years ago, I bought GC liquid wax and liked it, but wasn't educated on how to perfect the finish of my car's paint. Needless to say, the clinic was great and I spent alot of money on products. Below it is a list
-7006 maroon pad x 2
-8006 yellow pad x 8
-9006 beige pad x 4
-gallon hyper dressing w/2 hyper spray bottles
-gallon all-season dressing w/spray bottle
-gallon last touch detailer w/2 LT spray bottles
-gallon safe degreaser w/spray bottle
-gallon wheel brightener w/spray bottle
-gallon apc+ w/spray bottle and foaming pump
M21 w/meg's bottle
-gallon gold class car wash
-2 grit guards
-supreme shine microfibers x 21
-gold class water magnet x 6
-meg's foam applicators x 4
-hitachi rotary
-pc 7336
-meg's backing plates for rotary and pc
-3.5" backing plate
-4" polishing pad x 2
-4" finishing pad x 2
-3.5" backing plate adaptor for pc attachment
-natty's blue paste wax
-poorboys ssr 2.5
-poorboys bug squash
-poorboys ex sealant
-poor boys trim restorer
-clearkote red moose machine glaze
-stoner's invisible glass
-stoner's tarminator
#7
-#9
-#83
-#84
-NXT insance tire shine
-dual xenon light for seeing swirls from pepboys
-lexol leather cleaner
-nikkea (i think) 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper and pad
-quick detail interior wipes x 2 (free from the meg's clinic)
-3m blue painter's tape
-rubbermaid plastic containers for storage
-gold class care care brush kit (9piece) at sam's for $11.99!!!...awesome x 2 (keeping a spare at a deal like that)
-24 non-meg's microfibers from autodetailingsolutions.com (which is where most of my stuff came from).
-magic foam eraser pads x 2 (work like a charm on door scuffs)
-already had mother's synwax, fx tireshine, spray wax, clay magic clay, eagle one spray detailer, gold class wax, mother's aluminum polish, mother's step 2 polish, meg's high endurance tire shine, lexol leather polish, meg's scratch-X, black magic interior detailing brushes, turtle wax platinum liquid wax.
Well, needless to say, I went overboard...but I hate not having the "tools" when I need them. I recently quit my 9-5 job after 3 years in a finance career and am now a nursing student pursuing a 2nd bachelor's degree. I am waiting tables at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for income, but due to the higher learning curve my nursing curriculum provides relative to my business background, I can't work as much as I'd like. I decided to take this up as a side job and hopefully make some good money for doing something I enjoy. I figure since I live next to a very expensive neighborhood and associate with "upscale" people at work, it would be silly of me to not take advantage of people with money who would pay for great services (it doesn't hurt that it would be fun doing escalades, mercedes, beamers, etc).
Anyway, I am tackling family vehicles first to get practice, namely:
-my 05 black acura rsx type-s
-dad's 98 white cadillac deville
-mom's 98 champagne buick century
-brother's '02 black honda civic ex
-girlfriend's black '04 dodge stratus sedan
I have done mine and the buick thus far. My mom's was not nearly as satisfying because of the color, but the finish did come out better as I basically learned from mine (which I will be doing over soon). The caddy and buick are older, so I will enjoy getting experience cleaning wheel wells, engines, carpets, door jams, etc on theirs. I will post pics when my laptop gets back from the hp service center (wirelss card died).
A few observations:
--it may be just me, but the hyper dressing i used on the interior of the car made it smell the "new car" (with a twist) again. has anyone else experienced this???
--#7 is pretty sweet, though it doesn't apply/wipe of like it should. I called meg's support and they are sending me a bottle of #5 since it's more adept to humid climates (Louisiana)
-M21 sealant will only be used on light colored cars. It exhibit's "splotchiness" on the black cars. It does bead very well!! This is why I got the Poorboy's EX sealant and plan on using it on darker cars. Additionally, it can be used in the sun (so it's advertised).
--#83 has been my main cleaner polish but i will be getting #80 as everyone hre loves it. #83 also cakes a bit too much and it hard to wipe off at times, which is why I got poorboy's ssr.25 as a comparable supplement. Does anyone else have this problem?
--I don't think I'll ever use anything other than gold class carwash. i love it
--I have not used a paste wax before. I applied the natty's blue on half of my driver's side fender that was completely cover in M21. I did notice a slight difference in color (the depth, very slight), but it was the feel of the paint w/the carnuba on my fingers that I absolutely love. Carnuba's are now officially my LSP.
--wheel brightener broke through the rust on my breaks. i don't like the extra step of wiping them off, so I will dilute my formula more.
--all seaon dressing looks great on my trim and wheel wells. it's been a week and durability has been good. if it can last 2.5-3 weeks, I'll be 100% satisfied.
--quik interior detailer wipes are wonderful and if your customers want a clean, matte, new car look, this is the way to go.
--i can't say that i've mastered, but am much, much more comfortable with my rotary. I know makita is the standard, but this hitachi has no reason to be replaced considering its performance, price, and warranty.
All told I've spent roughly 16 hours on the rsx and buick, and about $700 or so on tools/products. I see it as an investment and 5-6 big jobs will be my break-even point with PLENTY of products left over to profit from. In addition to the vehicles I will have access to, I've lived in the same town for over 25 years, and we've grown a lot recently, and even more so due to Katrina evacuees. Needless to say, I'm exited about getting started in the near future.
Be on the look out for pics in the next couple of weeks. Please post all questions/comments and my apologies for this long post, but I saved a bunch of little ones for this large one.
Lastly, Mike, please let your boss read this post to exhibit the power of your hands-on classes and let him know to give out more free stuff because I guarantee the return on investment will be high.
-7006 maroon pad x 2
-8006 yellow pad x 8
-9006 beige pad x 4
-gallon hyper dressing w/2 hyper spray bottles
-gallon all-season dressing w/spray bottle
-gallon last touch detailer w/2 LT spray bottles
-gallon safe degreaser w/spray bottle
-gallon wheel brightener w/spray bottle
-gallon apc+ w/spray bottle and foaming pump
M21 w/meg's bottle
-gallon gold class car wash
-2 grit guards
-supreme shine microfibers x 21
-gold class water magnet x 6
-meg's foam applicators x 4
-hitachi rotary
-pc 7336
-meg's backing plates for rotary and pc
-3.5" backing plate
-4" polishing pad x 2
-4" finishing pad x 2
-3.5" backing plate adaptor for pc attachment
-natty's blue paste wax
-poorboys ssr 2.5
-poorboys bug squash
-poorboys ex sealant
-poor boys trim restorer
-clearkote red moose machine glaze
-stoner's invisible glass
-stoner's tarminator
#7
-#9
-#83
-#84
-NXT insance tire shine
-dual xenon light for seeing swirls from pepboys
-lexol leather cleaner
-nikkea (i think) 1500 and 2000 grit sandpaper and pad
-quick detail interior wipes x 2 (free from the meg's clinic)
-3m blue painter's tape
-rubbermaid plastic containers for storage
-gold class care care brush kit (9piece) at sam's for $11.99!!!...awesome x 2 (keeping a spare at a deal like that)
-24 non-meg's microfibers from autodetailingsolutions.com (which is where most of my stuff came from).
-magic foam eraser pads x 2 (work like a charm on door scuffs)
-already had mother's synwax, fx tireshine, spray wax, clay magic clay, eagle one spray detailer, gold class wax, mother's aluminum polish, mother's step 2 polish, meg's high endurance tire shine, lexol leather polish, meg's scratch-X, black magic interior detailing brushes, turtle wax platinum liquid wax.
Well, needless to say, I went overboard...but I hate not having the "tools" when I need them. I recently quit my 9-5 job after 3 years in a finance career and am now a nursing student pursuing a 2nd bachelor's degree. I am waiting tables at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for income, but due to the higher learning curve my nursing curriculum provides relative to my business background, I can't work as much as I'd like. I decided to take this up as a side job and hopefully make some good money for doing something I enjoy. I figure since I live next to a very expensive neighborhood and associate with "upscale" people at work, it would be silly of me to not take advantage of people with money who would pay for great services (it doesn't hurt that it would be fun doing escalades, mercedes, beamers, etc).
Anyway, I am tackling family vehicles first to get practice, namely:
-my 05 black acura rsx type-s
-dad's 98 white cadillac deville
-mom's 98 champagne buick century
-brother's '02 black honda civic ex
-girlfriend's black '04 dodge stratus sedan
I have done mine and the buick thus far. My mom's was not nearly as satisfying because of the color, but the finish did come out better as I basically learned from mine (which I will be doing over soon). The caddy and buick are older, so I will enjoy getting experience cleaning wheel wells, engines, carpets, door jams, etc on theirs. I will post pics when my laptop gets back from the hp service center (wirelss card died).
A few observations:
--it may be just me, but the hyper dressing i used on the interior of the car made it smell the "new car" (with a twist) again. has anyone else experienced this???
--#7 is pretty sweet, though it doesn't apply/wipe of like it should. I called meg's support and they are sending me a bottle of #5 since it's more adept to humid climates (Louisiana)
-M21 sealant will only be used on light colored cars. It exhibit's "splotchiness" on the black cars. It does bead very well!! This is why I got the Poorboy's EX sealant and plan on using it on darker cars. Additionally, it can be used in the sun (so it's advertised).
--#83 has been my main cleaner polish but i will be getting #80 as everyone hre loves it. #83 also cakes a bit too much and it hard to wipe off at times, which is why I got poorboy's ssr.25 as a comparable supplement. Does anyone else have this problem?
--I don't think I'll ever use anything other than gold class carwash. i love it
--I have not used a paste wax before. I applied the natty's blue on half of my driver's side fender that was completely cover in M21. I did notice a slight difference in color (the depth, very slight), but it was the feel of the paint w/the carnuba on my fingers that I absolutely love. Carnuba's are now officially my LSP.
--wheel brightener broke through the rust on my breaks. i don't like the extra step of wiping them off, so I will dilute my formula more.
--all seaon dressing looks great on my trim and wheel wells. it's been a week and durability has been good. if it can last 2.5-3 weeks, I'll be 100% satisfied.
--quik interior detailer wipes are wonderful and if your customers want a clean, matte, new car look, this is the way to go.
--i can't say that i've mastered, but am much, much more comfortable with my rotary. I know makita is the standard, but this hitachi has no reason to be replaced considering its performance, price, and warranty.
All told I've spent roughly 16 hours on the rsx and buick, and about $700 or so on tools/products. I see it as an investment and 5-6 big jobs will be my break-even point with PLENTY of products left over to profit from. In addition to the vehicles I will have access to, I've lived in the same town for over 25 years, and we've grown a lot recently, and even more so due to Katrina evacuees. Needless to say, I'm exited about getting started in the near future.
Be on the look out for pics in the next couple of weeks. Please post all questions/comments and my apologies for this long post, but I saved a bunch of little ones for this large one.
Lastly, Mike, please let your boss read this post to exhibit the power of your hands-on classes and let him know to give out more free stuff because I guarantee the return on investment will be high.
