Burning Wheels May Not Always Happen For Reason You Think. Also, Talking With Customers in Your Business. Episode #957
Pints and Polishing Auto Detailing Podcast
Burning Wheels May Not Always Happen For Reason You Think. Also, Talking With Customers in Your Business. Episode #957Pints and Polishing Auto Detailing Podcast · Jun 9, 2026
“Clutch culture” is basically the community of people who really care about driving feel—especially cars with a real clutch and manual shifting. The host uses it to explain why people ask questions about cars and gearboxes.
“Button shift” is when you put the car in gear using buttons instead of a normal shifter. The host thinks it feels worse and less satisfying to use.
Topic
bridge moment
They mean a “bridge moment” where the show connects what listeners are curious about to the deeper explanation. It’s about answering questions in a helpful way.
“Tent shop” is shorthand for a shop that installs window tint film. Window tint is a distinct detailing/appearance service because it involves film selection, surface prep, and careful installation to avoid bubbles, peeling, or misalignment.
Term
slip solution
A slip solution is a kind of lubricant used during detailing so things glide instead of grabbing. It helps the installer do the job smoothly and accurately.
Range Rover is a luxury SUV from Land Rover. The host mentions it just as an example of a car customers might own so the shop can talk to them about what they’re into.
Car
Ford
Ford is a car brand that makes lots of different vehicles. The host is using it as a simple example of “whatever car someone has,” to show how to talk with customers.
The host is saying that how a car looks can push people to trade it in sooner than they should. If the car looks bad, they may feel fed up and accept a worse deal just to get rid of it.
A scan is when a mechanic plugs a tool into your car to read computer error codes. It helps them figure out what’s causing the warning light and what repairs are needed.
The Nissan Rogue is a popular family SUV. Here, they’re using a Rogue as an example of how keeping up with maintenance (like oil changes) can prevent expensive problems later.
A three-cylinder engine is an engine with three combustion chambers. It’s a common design in many newer cars to help with efficiency, and it can change how the car feels when you drive it.
This segment describes a common ownership risk: when a warning light appears, some shoppers end up authorizing repairs or purchases they might not need. The host frames it as a decision trap where the dealership leverages urgency around the check engine light to push costly outcomes.
The check engine light is a warning that something in the engine or emissions system needs attention. If you ignore it, the problem can get worse and cost more to fix later.
“Zero down” means you don’t pay anything upfront when you finance or lease the car. Your monthly payment may be higher later, so it’s important to compare the full deal cost.
A service drive is the place at a car dealership where you pull in to drop your car off for maintenance or repairs. The host is explaining that once you’re there, it’s easy to get pressured with big bills.
An oil change is routine maintenance where the old engine oil is replaced with fresh oil. The host is contrasting a simple oil change with the bigger repair bill a dealership might present.
The host is saying that when a car is professionally cleaned and checked, it helps the owner feel confident about the car’s condition. That confidence can prevent you from feeling pressured into unnecessary or expensive choices.
The Jeep Wrangler is an off-road SUV made for rough terrain. Many owners keep them for a long time because they’re built to be tough and easy to customize. If someone says they’ll have theirs for years, they’re usually talking about that long-term, keep-it-going mindset.
Term
Oklahoma rake
“Oklahoma rake” is a slang term people use in car communities for a certain look or pattern you might see on a vehicle. Here, the speaker is basically saying “let’s not talk about that.”
Apple CarPlay lets you connect your iPhone to your car so you can use maps, music, and other phone features on the car’s screen. In this story, they’re excited because it’s finally working again.
Tint issues are problems with the tinted window film, like it bubbling up or peeling. Fixing it helps the car look clean and properly finished.
Term
engine and the drivetrain and the brakes
They’re saying the car should be cared for everywhere, not just washed—also areas related to how it moves and stops. The idea is that a complete clean makes the car feel better overall.
Coating your paint means adding a protective layer on top of the car’s paint so it doesn’t get damaged as fast. It helps prevent fading and deterioration from sun and weather.
“Sun fade” is the gradual loss of color and gloss caused by ultraviolet (UV) radiation breaking down the paint’s protective layers. It’s a key reason paint coatings are promoted: they help slow down UV damage so the car doesn’t look dull and aged.
Oxidation is when the paint starts to break down from exposure to the air and the elements. It can make the paint look dull or rough and may eventually require repainting.
CRM is a type of computer system businesses use to keep track of customers and what they need. In the episode, it’s being used to help manage information about cars and upcoming work.
They’re talking about whether detailing can fix scratches. Sometimes polishing can remove light scratches, but deeper damage may not fully go away because it can be too deep or have damaged the paint layer.
They’re talking about a 2026 Honda Prelude and how its paint is very soft. Soft paint can show damage like swirl marks more easily if the wrong technique or tools are used.
Swirls are those thin, curved scratch marks you can see in the paint when light hits it. They’re often caused by washing or wiping the car the wrong way, and sometimes polishing can make them much less visible.
A high speed buffer is a machine detailers use to polish paint. If it’s used the wrong way, it can actually leave more marks instead of fixing them—especially on softer paint.
Concept
burning wheels may not always happen for reason you think
The host is basically saying that when detailing goes wrong, it’s usually not for the reason people think. It’s more about how the job is done—what products and steps are used—than just luck.
“Velo” sounds like a polishing product the host uses to clean up the paint. They’re using it with a soft pad so they can improve the shine without ruining the surface.
Term
DA
DA means a dual-action polisher, a tool used to polish car paint. It moves in two ways at once, which helps you polish without accidentally damaging the paint as easily.
A soft pad is a polishing foam (or similar) used to apply polish with less aggressiveness than firmer pads. Softer pads are often chosen to refine the finish and reduce the risk of leaving marks while still improving gloss.
The Honda S2000 is a sports car (a small roadster) built for performance. It’s known for a very high-revving engine, which can make it exciting to drive. The podcast comment sounds like the speaker is describing that working on it for repairs wasn’t easy.
A “repaint situation” means the damage from an attempted job is severe enough that the vehicle’s paint can’t be corrected by polishing or minor refinishing. In this context, the installer’s work was so poor that the van needed paint work to restore the finish.
Compounding is a more aggressive form of paint correction than polishing, using heavier abrasives to remove deeper defects. It’s typically used for oxidation, sanding marks, or more noticeable scratches before finishing with polishing.
If you can feel a scratch with your fingernail, it usually means it’s deeper than just something sitting on top of the paint. That matters because it may take more work to fix, and sometimes it won’t come out completely.
The fingernail test is when you gently run your nail over a scratch to see if it catches. If it catches, the scratch is probably deeper, so it may need more than a simple wipe-down to improve.
In detailing, “budget” is shorthand for how much time, labor, and product/correction level a customer is willing to pay for. The host’s point is that more severe defects generally require more aggressive correction and therefore higher cost to do correctly.
Here “interior” means the inside of the car—things like seats, dashboard plastics, and trim. Cleaning the inside is different from cleaning the outside paint.
“Remove stains” means getting spots or discoloration out of the car’s surfaces. Whether it’s possible depends on what the stain is and what material it’s on.
Radar detectors are devices that warn you about police radar. The speaker is saying people used to mount them in awkward places instead of integrating them, and that same kind of mounting can cause dash marks.
“Points of no return” means there’s a stage where the damage is too far gone. After that, cleaning won’t fix it and you may need a more serious repair.
Magic erasers are basically scrub pads. They can clean, but they also wear down the surface, which can permanently damage car dash or interior finishes.
Leather seats have a colored surface layer. If you scrub too aggressively, you can wear through that layer and end up with discoloration that’s hard to fix without refinishing.
“Re-die and re-clear” means the interior surface has to be refinished—recolored and then sealed with a clear protective layer. If you’ve scrubbed through the finish, you can’t just wipe it clean again.
“Carpet stains” are spots or discoloration on the car’s carpet. The host is saying that if you keep up with cleaning, the stains are less likely to soak in and become harder to remove.
“Full extraction” is a deep carpet cleaning step where a machine pulls dirt and cleaner out of the carpet fibers. The host is saying if you keep up with regular cleaning, you shouldn’t have to do that heavy-duty step later.
Vacuuming is just cleaning up loose dirt from the car’s carpet. The host is using it to show that regular upkeep can make stains easier to deal with.
Term
complete scrubbed
The host is talking about using a carpet cleaner and scrubbing it into the fibers, then cleaning it back out. It’s an example of a spot-cleaning method meant to stop stains from becoming permanent.
An “extractor” is a machine used to deep-clean car carpets and seats. It sprays cleaner into the fabric and then sucks the dirty water back out so the grime comes out instead of just being spread around.
Here “beat up” means the car’s carpet or seats are really neglected and dirty. It’s the kind of mess where quick spot cleaning usually won’t cut it, and you may need a deeper cleaning method.
Hot water extraction is when you use a machine that uses warm or hot water with cleaner to loosen dirt in carpet or seats, then pulls it back out. It can clean better than cold methods, but the equipment and hoses can get very hot and need care.
Cold water extraction is deep-cleaning using a machine that sprays cleaner and then vacuums it back out, but without heating the water. Whether it works best depends on what’s on the carpet or seats.
An enzyme cleaner is a special chemical that “eats” certain kinds of stains, especially ones made from organic stuff like food or bodily fluids. The idea is to put it on first when you’re not sure what the stain is, so it can break it down before you try other products.
Heavy extraction is the “deep clean” part where you use a machine to pull out dirt and leftover cleaner from carpet fibers. The point is to make sure you don’t leave behind residue that can attract more dirt later.
APC means “all-purpose cleaner.” It’s a general cleaning chemical used to break down dirt and grime, but on carpets it can leave residue if you don’t rinse/extract thoroughly.
A degreaser is a stronger cleaner meant for oily, greasy messes. If the stain has grease in it, a regular cleaner may not work well unless you use something designed to break down oils.
“Etched” here means the soap/cleaner actually harmed the surface, like it got etched or dulled instead of just leaving a stain. Sun exposure can make that kind of damage more noticeable.
Term
rents
This looks like a transcription glitch. From the context, the host is talking about residue—stuff left behind after cleaning—that can cause stains or dirt to come back.
“pH neutral” means the cleaner isn’t very acidic or very harshly basic. The point here is that the problem usually isn’t the soap being too strong—it’s that residue can be left behind if you don’t rinse well.
“Incomplete rinsing” means you didn’t wash all the cleaner off the wheel. If any residue is left behind, it can cause streaks or other weird-looking results.
“High pH” cleaners are more basic/alkaline than normal. If you leave that kind of cleaner sitting on the wheel too long, heat from the sun can make it react and leave marks.
An acidic cleaner is more like an acid than a neutral soap. If it stays on the wheel too long—especially in sunlight—it can react and cause staining or lines.
“Bake in the sun” means the cleaner sits on the wheel while it heats up. That can make it react more and leave marks if you don’t rinse it off right away.
An iron remover is a cleaner made to break down brake dust stuck to wheels. If you don’t rinse it off fully, it can leave behind purple-looking residue or streaks.
A “purple line” is what you might see when iron-remover cleaner isn’t fully rinsed off. It shows up as streaks because residue is left behind on the wheel.
Diluting means mixing the chemical with water so it’s less aggressive. If you’re worried about damaging the wheel, using a weaker mix and rinsing first is a safer way to proceed.
“Clear coated” means the wheel has a protective shiny layer on top. That matters because some strong cleaners can harm that top layer if you’re not careful.
In detailing, “elbow grease” means putting in real scrubbing effort. The host is saying sometimes you need both the right product and actual work, not just a quick chemical soak.
“Chemistry” means what’s in the cleaner and how strong it is. The host is saying knowing that helps you pick the right product so you clean effectively without harming the wheel.
AWX is presented as a specific wheel-cleaning product used to achieve a desired result without causing further damage. The host emphasizes using AWX appropriately—when damage is present, they stop and switch to repair rather than continuing to clean aggressively.
TRX is a detailing product the host uses. They’re saying you shouldn’t rely on just one cleaner for every wheel issue—you use the right one for the situation.
Curb rash is when your wheel gets scraped by a curb. It can leave ugly marks and even expose bare metal, which changes what kind of cleaning or repair you should do next.
They’re talking about the time of year when lots of people bring cars to shows. The main point is how to clean and prep a car so it looks its best for the event.
A pressure washer blasts water at very high force. On older cars, that force can sometimes push water into places you don’t want it to go, like around seals.
A foam wash coats the car in thick soap foam first. The idea is to loosen dirt so you can rinse it off with less rubbing and less risk of scratches.
Term
waterless combination
A waterless product helps clean the car without needing to rinse with lots of water. People use it to help prevent water spots and to finish the car after washing.
A drying aid is a product you use after you wash the car to help water come off more easily. That way you spend less time wiping and you’re less likely to get streaks or water spots.
Spray sealants are products you spray on the paint to add protection. They help the car stay cleaner and resist water spotting, but they can take more work to apply neatly.
A water-based formula means the product is made mostly with water. That can change how it reacts on the paint and how easy it is to wipe off without leaving streaks.
“Revive” is another detailing product name the hosts mention as part of a routine. They’re saying people use these products to get strong show-car results.
“Juice” is the name of a detailing product they’re recommending. They say it helps the car dry with fewer streaks, even if you wipe pretty aggressively.
LIVE
Welcome to the pints and polishing podcast, the most influential and listen to podcast in auto detailing. Welcome to the
community. Last week, I got to wash the 2026 Honda Porsche Lude. Now, the Honda Porsche Lude, those you guys don't know, it came out
of the NADA after Porsche met up with Honda and infinity for some drinks. And we got the 2026 Honda Porsche Lude.
Now, this is just my joke. It really somebody because one of the neighbors saw something was like, Hey, man, is that a Porsche?
I'm like, No, it's a Honda, right? It is funny. But I went immediately after seeing the car and driving the car. I immediately was
like, Okay, well, what is Nick? And what is clutch culture? And what's going on over Rob? Like, I guarantee I was just my mind
going, I guarantee you, they've assaulted the 2026 Honda trailer.
Yes, look, it's underpowered overpriced. No manual option. I mean, it's everything that you would expect not to do. I
mean, it's exactly as we state. It's not that exciting. The world's not that excited about it. They underpowered it. They overpriced it from the
get go. No manual as a heritage to sort of the cool preludes of the past. I mean, a lot of bad decisions right there. There's no
question.
Not only no manual, but those stupid button shift.
I mean, it's worse now. I mean, I was trying to explain it to somebody who has who has one of the like, the little blocks that you
kind of just move now. You know, and they were like, Well, yeah, I mean, this mine is this was like, No, no, no. No, you at least get to hold
something and move it.
Yeah, we've over we've over thought the shifting of cars into gear. There's no question. Yeah, I mean, it was, it was brutal. It was
brutal. But you know, the other thing too, as I was listening to the episode, I messaged you, I messaged Rob was was chatting about
this. I called it the Porsche lead, right? Because because I just thought it was funny. You know, and I go, Wow, clutch culture
really gives us a unique perspective. You know, it's something you've done. And it's something you you've you've done amazing with
right? It's almost like every other week you messaged me about some other clips gone viral and some other things, you know, continue to
get new people, you know, hearing about what you're talking. And you go, Wow, it is really unique for us. It's so unique that you've
got questions, people started asking you questions. I think what's cool is it puts us in that bridge moment. And it's a bridge of
their questions as well as detail or questions all all explain. Alright, let me let me explain it this way. I think some people inside
listening to clutch culture, you've said they they've asked, right? They've asked you, Hey, who is the best car detailer near
me? Great, right? Seems like a very legitimate question. Many people probably searching for that. I got asked last week by a guy
named john. He's a local guy. Actually, my second website guy. And so this is a long time ago, just random message me. He asked
me, Hey, who is a good mobile detail place? Was like, What? Who's a good mobile detail? Like, Okay, John, I don't know that
that but so people are actively searching right there. They're looking for who's the best? Who's good? Who's in my area
that's detailing and then flip the coin. This is Dima. This is out of some group. One of the Facebook groups are
wonderful that we all have for detailing. He goes, How to get clients and grow my Insta followers. So it seems like
right both sides, detailers, the pro detailers and customers. And we're the bridge is somebody you've been on record
multiple times saying what associations and what people should do to grow our industry is get the people that are
searching connected with the detailers. This is what I love about clutch culture and what's happening is so
what's become apparent, you know, with all the things you just said is that we have a more crowded space than ever,
right? People don't know who to hire. They don't know why to hire. They're paying more for their cars than they've ever
paid. So now they're interested and I need to talk to somebody, you know, how do I care for my car because now I'm
what clutch culture, which is mainly just car people, right? They're not detailing people. They're just they like their
car, whatever it is, their five cars or two cars, whatever. I think this is an interesting time for all of us in this
space that we're in to start having a conversation of why are these people why do these people think they're having such
trouble finding people? Because like you said, I'm guessing your tech guy there locally who messaged you has been there
his whole life, maybe, or has at least been there a decade or two decades, it's a computer guy. Yeah, that was ironic.
Right. And you go, Okay, so he spent the last 10 plus years making zero relationships to help deal with his car. But
now he goes out of the blue, I need to start thinking about, you know, getting a relationship with a mobile
detailer or shop. And this is the benefit of the internet to detailing and PPF intent is that now people are getting
an awareness. The issue is, they're getting an awareness to a point, but they don't know what to do next. Right, they
don't actually know what's what is the next thing? What is the next thing I should do? And I would tell people asking
your network as you were asked by this guy is probably the best thing to do. I mean, go to the most meticulous car
people that you know, use shops or use mobile people and say, Hey, who are you using? You know, get that, then go do your
research on those people, you know, go see exactly maybe their Instagram or their TikTok or, you know, their Google or
whatever, and see if that matches with what you're looking for. But this has gotten really no easier, you know, on the
consumer side of things, it looks easy to all of us that know what we're looking at. But if you look at it from the
other side of people that don't know anything about what we do, you can see why the confusion is building.
Yeah, absolutely. And you can definitely see it on the opposite side, right? Like, if we say the second part of my
innocence, point or question or topic is, he's also on the detail or the pro detailer side, how many are so new, and
just getting started, which is great. We love them. We love that you're here. Absolutely. But but they're going, how to get
clients? How do I get clients? And he's in a Facebook group, asking people, How do I get clients? The I think they are on a
part two is, and grow my Insta followers like, like there's a connection. I think that's, that's, that's really in, in June of
2026. There's people with the idea that if I grow my Instagram followers, I'll get customers in my local area. What's your opinion
now? Right is something we, we used to say, I would say, you know, you gotta listen, we've actually, we're probably going to come
out and, and flip the coin now for our own selves. Because we use, I guess, myself in particular used to say, Hey, post on
Instagram, tag locally, right? And you go through all that stuff. Well, it's 2026.
Yeah, it's, it's the world has changed. There's people that use social media really effectively in a local area. We have to
say that. But they're also not going to make content that's relevant to other detailers. They're going to make content
specifically educational. For the questions they know customers in their local area have. And so it takes a lot of game
planning, so to speak, to understand what that looks like. So if you go on most detailing PPF or tent shop, Instagram,
TikTok, whatever, what you see is a lot of industry talk. What I mean by that is, I'm using this slip solution, I'm using this
product, I'm using that. And that stuff has a place while you're educating on the service you're providing that vehicle that may
pertain to somebody locally, right? So I use enzyme from hyper clean on this carpet. Let me explain what we're doing on this
carpet, what problem we're solving on this carpet, maybe you have this on your carpet. This is the importance of somebody doing
this correctly. If you do it in the wrong order, you could have a set stain out your carpet will never be correct. That is much
different than trying to flex to people that are already in your industry. And it's very hard to get out of the mindset. And
when you go into a Facebook group, that's not a negative thing. But you also got to realize now you're just talking to more
industry people. So most of those people, if you go to their Instagram are trying to flex for people in the industry,
they're not actually there to hyper educate the local consumer on the exact service they're providing on that exact car.
Now, the people that do that effectively, they absolutely get a lot of business off social media. But I was probably one of the
first people that that I heard in our industry saying, don't lie to yourself about social media, it's a pay for play game.
It's always been pay for play. Like, you got to then know how to take that information that that that thing that you recorded,
make it into an ad and get it out into your local geographic area. And you know what I see all the time in Vegas, I'm sure you see it in
Tulsa, I'll get advertising for detailing PPF intent companies from New York, from Florida, from California, and I go, Hey, bud, you
made the ad, you just didn't actually pick a specific area to run the ad.
Yeah.
Oh, I was just saying, yeah, right? Like, it's, it's crazy. I laugh. And I feel sorry at the same time is both because I know how
much they're spending. Yeah. And they're like, Well, you spend less if you make it very open. Well, yeah, no, I actually need to
define my target and pay more per because it's so defined. Instead of this overarching big one where I'm in
and you know, let's let's kind of share some stuff. I mean, we talked to tons of shops, we talked to ton of people helping
shops. One of the things that's becoming apparent is that internet marketing that's paid for is not working the same as it used
to. And it's actually now getting in some places so expensive, it's becoming prohibitive to even locally try to land a PPF or ceramic
coding job, where people are paying ungodly amounts of money just to get somebody to click on their ad. And so you're seeing a
sort of a revisit to how this ecosystem has worked, right? This this ecosystem has largely worked the same for the last decade.
Make an ad, you go out into the ecosystem and you bid on how much you'll pay for somebody to click on your ad. And you'll get a return on
that if you do that intelligently. Now you're seeing that there are a lot of very large shops that are finding out all this
internet advertising thing is starting to really be a problem, not only in the cost that I'm paying everybody in the ecosystem to
do this. But what I'm actually seeing is that I'm not getting the results I once got either. So this goes back to the consumer and
the shop and the professional to really think about why aren't we all talking? Right? Why aren't we all? Why don't we feel
comfortable calling a shop calling a mobile guy and just getting educated? You know, and if if I'm a consumer, I understand from their
standpoint why they're a little bit intimidated to do that. Right? Because they just don't know what they're talking about. And when any of
us don't know what we're talking about, we don't want to get on the phone with somebody and sound like an idiot. I mean, it doesn't
matter what you're buying, you're like, Oh, I don't even know where to start with this. But I think now you're going to see a
probably settling down of advertising working on the level that it's worked the last 10 years. And now, you know, car shows,
you know, going out in your local community, knocking on doors, shaking some hands, going to events, this stuff's going to become more
important than ever. And there's already a lot of people that saw this coming that have have done that with their shop or their
mobile and they go, I just need to get out out and about more and shake some more hands.
So you mentioned something there that, you know, I want to just kind of say, this is why I consider clutch culture a tool.
I didn't like sounding like an idiot. And most of you probably laugh, be like, Well, you normally do.
We definitely do. Right? I get it. So I just hate it to do the extra, right? Like, to sit there in front of somebody that loves
cars and talks about cars and thinks that I also do, I would just kind of sit there almost like a deer with the headlights,
like, uh, uh, like, I didn't know what to say. And so this is why when I call it a bridge, like this is what I love about
clutch culture. I can now go in and if somebody gets a vehicle, right, I've got this 2026 Honda Prelude, I'm not
sure all about it. But I go, wow, this guy probably bought it for a reason. Let me go listen to what Nick and Rob had to say
about it. Let me get some information. And now I actually have something to chat about with the customer, right?
Whether it's a Range Rover, whether it's a Ford, whatever it is. And if you regularly listen, which most of us do, we just
go in and we have it said as a notification every day that it comes out every once a week, we just go listen. And we
just stay up to date with, listen, all the news, I think every news that you guys break of all the stuff's coming out,
your perspective is very unique that and it's a tool that I think all of our listeners, if you're not taking advantage of that
tool, it really is a great tool for you because maybe if you're like me and you don't know everything about cars, it can at least
give you something to go back and look at so you can listen to what I haven't really thought of that perspective, but it's
probably the right perspective for the listeners of Pints and Polishing is like, hey, man, first of all, we're just a couple guys hanging out.
So just if you're during a detail or whatever, and you're just looking for something that's just lighthearted and a bunch of jokes
and a bunch of opinions, it works. But if you don't have time to stay up on all this stuff, which most of us don't, it is a good tool.
I haven't looked at it that way. I mean, I think it's a unique perspective. But guys, there's a lot to learn. I mean, you also realize what
clutch cultures taught me, because all of you mostly listening to this are somebody that's very elevated on taking care of your car.
And I don't think a lot of times people in the car industry from mechanics to shops in our industry, guys that do off-road work, I don't
think we really understand how much other people don't care about the things we care about.
They just don't care. That doesn't mean they're not interested. It just means that they don't live and breathe this industry or whatever
part of the world you're in and automotive. And so one of the things that has become very apparent is just how misguided so many car owners are.
And not only just from detailing perspective and keeping their car looking good and why you should really do that.
And I think we do a pretty poor job as people in detailing explaining the value of keeping your car looking great is really not about
just the pride in your car. It actually keeps people from making a bad decision and trading in their car just because it looks ugly.
It's destroyed. They haven't taken care of it. That's the number one reason people make a bad decision because they get just sick of looking at
their beat up car. And when it's not beat up, they wouldn't go into the dealership and get talked into a bad deal, right?
We don't talk about that a lot in detailing. And I don't think mechanics talk about it enough.
They just talk about, hey, you should maintain your car. Well, why don't you explain to them why they should? Well, most mechanics don't know why
because that is the time you have worked in the dealership world. And I remember when I started doing work for dealerships,
one of the things you notice is
those men and women that walk on that dealership lot, you can tell when they're fish out of water. You can also tell when they're desperate.
They roll in that car and you go, oh, they got to buy a car.
And guess who else knows that? The dealership.
They look at your car and they go, oh, they don't, they're, they got a check engine light on. They don't want to deal with it.
We just ran it. We saw the scan. We know it cost 3800 bucks to fix.
These guys are leaving with a car.
And so now you're the sucker at the poker table
because you need what they have. You don't even want to drive to the next dealership.
Like you're worried if I drive to the next dealership, this thing might shut down.
You know what I'm saying? Like we don't talk about, about this kind of stuff.
It's impulse buy. The same as you're going through the grocery store.
The reason why you're at that register and they got this line of whatever.
You're like, no, that doesn't interest me, but it interests somebody. Then suddenly you go, well, I love that gum.
Yeah. Oh, I'm going to get this candy box.
Look, you know, it's the same because, and I'll give you, like I'll tee up exactly what you're saying.
As you know, as most of our listeners know, my wife drives a rogue
and it's a 24 rogue, I believe 24. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's 24.
The year they came out with the three cylinder engine, Wesley really helped us
getting to the right one.
Came with tinted windows, came with everything. It was awesome. It was great. Thank you, Wesley.
The interesting part is now when she, and over the years as she goes in to change the oil and do the stuff,
at first I would go with her, but goddamn, thankfully
now she can go do it on her own, right? Like, whew.
I don't get as many messages of the, you know, oh, look at this because I think it's
I regularly clean the car. Yeah, her car doesn't get very dirty.
But you can imagine if it wasn't me every Sunday or every Saturday, something like that
in the garage using eco one or product that we're going to be releasing here sometime soon
every weekend.
Hmm. What would that look like? What would a because we're now what two and a half
pretty much almost going on, I think three years on a black
rogue. Yep. What do you think that paint would look like? What do you think
that she would feel when she gets in the car?
And so then when she goes to the dealership and she sees those ones in the, you know,
yeah, it's something we just don't talk about. Right. We just
and again, I'm not picking on detailing mechanics don't speak properly about this.
You know, the real reason to maintain your car mechanically is not only so it runs better,
but it keeps you out of going to a dealership and making a bad decision because you got this
check engine light on that was all, you know, it could have been avoided with proper maintenance.
Now it's going to cost you three grand to fix it or two grand or 1500 bucks and you don't exactly
have that. But I can go in here and place, put zero down and get a new car and I can get out of
this headache and it is a real tactic dealerships use that they had nothing to do with.
They didn't have anything to do with you not taking care of your car. They just benefit off
of it. And so as soon as you walk in there desperate and you may not think you're desperate,
but like you said, you're sitting in the service drive. They just gave you an $1,800 bill and
you're like, well, I don't have 1800 bucks or I don't want to spend 1800 bucks. What's going on
with that new one over there? I mean, happens every year. I mean, you've been in enough dealerships
to watch this happen. I'm giving the oil change, not even there to spend money walking through
the dealership and God's true too. Oh, look at that. Right. It looks a lot better than mine.
Yeah. Doesn't look like mine. I want that one. That's a good call. I think that happens. Oh,
yeah. I mean, you've witnessed it happen. I mean, if you've been in enough dealerships,
you've witnessed this happen. And you know, the power of detailing and mechanics and all this
other stuff to the consumer is they keep you from having to make a bad decision, right? Because like
you said, you know, you look at your car and your car's in great shape. You're not really thinking
about other cars. You go, Hey, I like my car. It's always clean. The engine runs well. We've
stayed up on the maintenance. You actually feel what pride feels like. You're like, Hey, it's
my car. It's doing well. And I don't have major issues. And this goes up economic class too.
You know, I've told the story before, I know I haven't still my client today is so rich,
it would blow your mind. He drove this Range Rover for so long that I literally said to him,
I said, Why are we still taking care of this Range Rover? He's like, Looks great.
And I'm like, Well, that he's like, I just love the I love this Range Rover. This Range Rover is
mine. I got a connection to it. It looks awesome. And I'm like, Now the crazy part about that Range
Rover is when he finally upgraded that Range Rover lived on in his network of people for like another
10 plus years. I think my my wrangler is going to be that way. Yeah, yeah, it's because it's
going to be one of those things you go, Hey, who kind of somebody want this? You know, it's time
for me to upgrade. Hey, I mean, keep around forever somewhere in my network. Yeah, somebody's
going to have it as well. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, no, I think so. I'm 100% with you. Like,
there is so much value in what detailers and shops can bring that we largely never talk about.
And one of the things that clutch culture has shown us all, if you're following it,
you follow it on socials, as you go in those comments, and you start to feel
really bad for how misinformed some people are. And I don't think they're misinformed
because they're trying to be misinformed. They just have other shit going on. You know what I mean?
Like, they just do something else. I'm that guy, right? There's the Oklahoma rake. Yeah, that
let's not bring that up that that depression, right? Like, I'm so one sided, right? If you think
of balance in the sense of what you're saying, I've always been so one sided on cleanliness.
Haven't really the same as mechanics. They're so one sided on their side. That's true. Haven't
thought about the clinic, right? I'm the opposite. Don't know all that other stuff. The cool part
about today, Nick, you'll be so proud of me is 2026. And I've got a 2011 Jeep. You've inspired me.
You've inspired me. You're going to go get a two door negative ghost rider. I'm getting apple
carplay finally. Oh, there you go. Yeah, I haven't been able to press buttons on that
deck from the water damage since it's been about a year. I'm going okay. Now ride because now the
sun's out right now. We're ready. We're almost through with the rain. It's we're getting into
June almost through with the rain. Hey, you've been getting all kinds of rain. Oh, dude, it's been
brutal. I haven't been able to get it out. But that's why it's like I gotta get these last things
finished so that I can I'm ready. I'm excited for carplay. I've got a new subwoofer coming into
so look at doing the two for one special. There you go. Hey, I like it. I mean, but it is kind of
one of these weird things that that we see is, you know, you've kept this Jeep the way you've
liked it. And you've kept it up. And you may have burnt a wheel or two testing some product.
Where those rock stars are still holding strong as have I.
That's what we do for all you out there is ruin our own personal vehicles at times. But
that Jeep is kind of proof of what we're talking about. You know, the trucks in my business or
the cars that I have proof of all this, like, if you keep your stuff looking great, running great,
you deal with the issues that come up as they come up. You're very reluctant to let things go.
And what that does is gives you power in the marketplace, right? Just like when you go, Hey,
I got offered this this BMW. I'm thinking about doing it. And then the guy goes, you know, you
talk to a mechanic, the mechanic goes, look, man, this thing is super clean. You get it,
you clean it up, you fix some tint issues, you clean it head to toe, you detail it out.
Now all of a sudden you look at this car, not only does it have a second life, so to speak,
but you enjoy it. And you go, Hey, I really love having this car. And that is all done through
maintenance, maintenance, maintenance from head to toe, from the engine and the drivetrain and the
brakes all the way to the paint to the interior. And I think all of us in this this this world that
we're in would do a lot of benefit to the industry of cars to explain to people
why it's so important to coat your paint, you know, because as soon as it starts to sun fade and
it starts to crack and it starts to, you know, get oxidation, those people are not going to
want to go get their car painted. You know, they're just not going to want to do that. They're
going to go to the dealership and get a new car. Another great question that's come out of clutch
culture. Listen, everybody wants to know where do you find clutch culture, Nick? Where do you find
it? Yeah, clutch culture on all social platforms. And, you know, we have a discord where people
go in there and there's all kinds of different things that you can talk about in there. It's
clutch.club. And then you just put your email in and put you right into it. But most importantly,
just the podcast Apple Spotify, wherever you find it, you know, YouTube would be great.
We have we have built something, you know, for those that don't follow it, we literally get
millions of views a month. So it's really something that the Rob really deserves most of the credit
for the growth because he makes all the stuff that goes viral. A lot of times at my expense,
which we have to have conversation about from time to time, but that's okay. I'm a team player.
And, you know, it's been a lot of fun. I mean, it's just it's just a nice outlet to shoot the
shit about cars. Yeah. And if people want to and this is why I'm glad you mentioned if somebody
wants to just go in and type in a question and get something answered, right? Like, like I said,
maybe maybe I'm somebody that has some CRM and there's a bunch of them out there. We we do like
some specific one specifically. Sean's a great guy where I record with him. Orbex, you know,
maybe you're on there buying hyper clean. It's another cool thing to ride like. So you're using
a CRM and you go, Hey, listen, I'm tracking my cars. I know what cars are coming up. I've got a
such and such car. I can then go into discord. Yeah. And find information about yeah, there's
literally a hyper there's clean section of discord that you could just go in and
type in a question. And but everybody that's in there is going to see it. So guys that may own
that car guys that that have worked on those cars mechanics, every, you know, just consumers that
that may know a lot. So it's a good group of people to just kind of tap into. And, you know,
if you're building a car, if you're doing anything like that's what we're trying to make it is just
this place where there's all different types of rooms in there, so to speak, but you see it when
you pull it up and you can just go in there and talk about trucks, you can talk about cars, you
can talk about certain things. There's a general room where if you just want to go ask a question,
you don't see where to put it, you put it in there and everybody gets alerted that you've said
something. Yeah, that's awesome. That is what I think it's wonderful to know. If you got somebody
because I know would know people that were like kind of car guys. Yeah, you can kind of tell
and the people that don't really care and they're just calling for a detail. Well, the ones you want
or the ones that really kind of care about their car, whether it's a 2026 or like I drive a 2011,
right? Like, whatever it is, I care about my Jeep. You know, I care about certain cars. I'm in
different groups on Facebook to learn about certain types of vehicles. So guys use it as a tool,
it's a great tool to use. Here's another question that I found very interesting from clutch culture.
It's a question that will tie into also then what a detailer is also looking at, right? Like,
you can kind of get where we're going with a couple of these, we're not going to stay in this
system. But I just want everybody to understand there's a pairing, there's a bridge, right? So
not a question, not a clutch culture is can car detailing remove scratches?
Right? Very general question. Love it. Can car detailing remove scratches? And then you have
detailers that would go, Hey, what's the best polish for a perfect shine? This was out of a
detailing community group that I saw, right? Like happens all the time, right? Like,
you have listeners at clutch culture that want to know, Hey, can the scratch be removed? Then you've
got detailers that will post pictures and say, Hey, what can I do here? I want everybody to know
that me and the Porsche Lude, we had a wonderful moment. It was a great dance. It was a wonderful
dance. I only had the vehicle to work on a wash that I was telling you about like, I just go
over see this guy is a buddy of mine. I've talked about it for a long time, right?
Everybody knows his name's Scott. And he goes, Listen, I got this, like, I'm in. Let me grab
this car. They were just fixing the bumper. I didn't know that. Apparently this customer waited
like five months to get the bumper in. Wow. Can you imagine rolling around for five months?
Yeah, it's tough. That's tough. That's real tough. It's tough. But I didn't know it at that moment.
So I washed the car and then I just see it. Wow. 2026 Honda Prelude paint super soft. Yeah.
Super soft. It was black. You just saw the marring all over. And I saw then this swirls up and down
there you go. High speed buffer. I go, I go, I'm in. Listen, I, I, I got to hook my guy up, right?
Yeah. I mean, evidently, I didn't know. Like I said, I didn't find out until the bumper part
until I delivered the car. But so I'm washing it. And then I just look at it and I go, Okay,
I got to hook my boy up. Because apparently his detailer did something. Yep. Apparently they
didn't. Right from it's been there. Right. So apparently this guy's been driving around. And
when I say you guys can notice it, trust me, y'all would notice it. I washed it and go. Yeah, that's
ugly. Well, like, huh? Yeah, I mean, somebody was working on it. Can you remove scratches? The
answer is absolutely yes. Can everybody remove scratches? The answer is absolutely no. Right.
I mean, that's that's the really unfortunate part. I mean, I think we've all seen the videos
from around the globe, including in the US where somebody's got a rotary in their hand and they're
moving awful quick. You go, Yeah, I know what a glaze looks like. And that that ain't gonna look
good. That's going to have a lot of buffer trails. And that's going to have a lot of inconsistencies.
You know, I think we're all in a place where the DA has made it so easy for people to pick up.
And one of the things that's the hardest for any of us to have the skill to actually,
you know, cut and polish a car is to explain to the customer how bad this could go.
Like, I think that's the hardest thing to get across to somebody.
Car Detailer, all of us. Yes, we have the ability to remove scratches and swirls.
All scratches, the answer is no. Right. So I don't know how many people are comfortable with this,
but I would say a probably a smaller amount than you would think is, you know, the technique of
filling in the scratch and drying the paint out and sanding that area and really getting rid of
a deep scratch. I don't know that a lot of people are doing that type of work. I know some of you
are for sure. I know a lot of guys that would be more in the reconditioning aspect of their business
do a lot of use car dealers do things like that. They do a ton of scratch filling,
rock chip filling, things like that. The average Detailer, I don't know how much they're doing
that, but one of the things we really don't know how to get across to people effectively all the
time is what you saw in that prelude. What happens if you hire the wrong person? Because I got news
for you. You probably saw something and go, yeah, this would be a lot of work to get back to where
it should be. Because once that once that rotary hits that, that wool pad and hits
that surface and it's been handled poorly, you could be in some sanding to get it right. I mean,
I've seen some buffer trails. I go, that's three or four steps. I mean, that's that's really three
or four steps because and I get a lot of questions about rotary. So I know we have some guys that
are afraid of it or intimidated by it and have never taken a dive into it. There's a real art form
to not leaving massive trails behind that become, you know, for a lot of people hard or if not
impossible at their skill level to remove, right? You would almost go, it's so hard. Who would risk
it? There's very few, very few, you know, and you would go, well, you would jewel it, you would turn
it down and you would just that would be the reason to which it was my so I went and hit with it
because I was so it's in the mail to you. We're playing with a high speed. It's the flex. It's
the new flex rotary. Check it out. Yeah, I was excited to that's why I was like, Listen, let me
just unpack this thing. Let me have some fun. Like I'm gonna hook my boy up. Let me play a little bit.
Yeah, you know, I go I thought I did really well. You know, I could I could go to Harry.
This guy is asking, what's the best polish for a perfect shine? Well, Harry, I thought I did pretty
damn good. You know, I grabbed Velo and I grabbed a polish pad. I think Velo going over that. I
got it. But I'm not going to risk it. Even me. I'm not going to risk that. And also you were kind
of doing a favor, right? It wasn't, you know, it's a little different. But yeah, you're exactly
on the finish. I wasn't going to even if it was a favor, I was going to risk the finish that I'd
left any swirls. So I still grabbed the liquid elements. I still grabbed the DA to your point
about the DA and I go, All right, let me let me just throw a little bit of Velo on here with
the soft pad and that right. I mean, everything was gone. Like I said, I didn't know about the
condition of the V. I didn't know they only did the bumper. When I returned the vehicle,
I kind of showed up with one of those. Right. Let me tell you what I did. They were like,
Oh, well, we're only supposed to do the bumper. Exactly. No, it's it's a weird Honda black paint's
always been to me. I've talked about I mean, one of the most worst experiences of my life was
working on an S 2000 a black one. I I think this question, and all of us need to kind of respect
the consumer and their confusion is like, a lot of us know how bad it can get. And I tend to if I
see, you know, I've said this on this podcast before, when I see a customer about to make a bad
decision, because they don't want to pay what it costs, which happens, they're just like, Yeah,
you're too expensive. I kind of have it in my pitch. I go, Hey, man,
you're not going to go with us. But I just want to put this out there because I want to
if somebody's going to do it for cheap, this is going to that's a bad idea. Because what service
you're asking for. And I had this happen on a PPF job, that the guy was using a van a brand
new van and talked about how he saved up for it. He was going to use it for his transportation
business. It was he was going to be driving around. This is the launch of his business.
And he wanted to get PPF on it. And I told him the price. And he's like, Well, I don't have that
kind of money. I literally said to this guy, Hey, man, then just don't get PPF. Like, don't go
somewhere cheap, because you could have bad. Here's what ends up happening. So a cheap shop,
they knife up the car, van. He comes back to me. They had knifed it so bad,
it was a repaint situation. And the look on his face. And it's not an I told you so moment.
He wasn't one of those guys. He wasn't a jerk. He just didn't have the money. And I feel bad
not saying that last part to customers like, Hey, if you don't want to pay the price to do this job,
I totally get that. But please don't go do this x, y, z. And that is to me,
compounding and polishing. I always tell people when they don't want to pay. I totally understand.
But if somebody's going to do it for half what I gave you, you're going to hate
what comes out the other side. So just don't do it at all. Okay, we can find something else,
we can get your car protected with something like stack, like there's ways to just live with what
you got. But as you probably saw on that prelude, you go, This is could have been a dealer could
have been whoever you have no idea, no idea. And you look at it, you go, This guy knows this car
looks horrible. No, see, I think it's opposite. You think I do. Yeah, you could be right. I think
I want to go to something you asked a second ago. And I want to bring this up is like,
Can car detail and remove a scratch? Well, it depends on the scratch. Yeah,
see, I don't think he could see that greatness. I don't think he saw any of that. He I don't
know. I think you probably right about that. I probably I probably jumped the gun. You're
probably right. I think they think the average car guys thinks a scratch is a scratch. Right.
Like they've been through the the grocery store and somebody the cart doesn't hit it or the
door ding. I think some people would probably even call that a scratch. Why do I say that? Because
if I owned a car wash, how many people came up to me and go, Was this scratch come out?
What's the number one answer, Nick? What should anybody say, whether it's in person,
whether you're you're there looking at a vehicle, and it's a first time customer and they're
walking around asking, What are the needs of this vehicle? And they go, What about this?
Will this scratch come out? There's always a thing that we're a little finger nail scratch,
the little finger nail test. I do actually say that a lot over the phone. I'm like, Hey,
can your fingernail get grabbed in the scratch? You know, it's one of these things. And I think
you and I are pretty level headed. And I think probably most of you that listen are pretty level
headed. Anything's possible with the right budget. You know what I mean? And and one of the things
that that we all struggle with is, and I think a lot of people struggle with, and I see this a lot
with guys that are going to do heavy compound and polishing. You know, when you start thinking
about the hours and what you really have to charge to make that work long term, it's a big number.
It's a big number, in my opinion, okay, in today's world with today's money. But it is funny, you
say, you know, one of the things that detailers and shops don't really understand is you're probably
right that a lot of people just don't see it unless it's that one elongated scratch that's
bright white on a black car or you know, whatever car, they don't really see everything that we see.
But it's amazing how bad things can go. And I think a lot of us would be helped by adding a
little caveat in there to some of these customers before they go and make a bad decision and go,
hey man, I just wouldn't do it at all. Like what I told you is to do it correctly.
If you don't do it that way, this can go really bad for you and somebody can really damage your car.
All right, so, you know, inside of clutch culture, they not only want to know about the exterior,
but they want to know about the interior. Let me just guess, when this was the interior of that
Honda, when I sat down, what do you think the first thing I did? I don't know. I looked at why
that screen was just sticking out of the dash so stupidly. And I coughed because the amount of
little trees hanging from the car. Yeah, all over the place, man. I just immediately went like crazy.
So the next thing people want to know is, right, can't car detailing remove stains?
We would say it is almost the exact same way as can't car detailing remove scratches,
depends on the stain. Yeah, it really does depend on the stain. Because I saw this in a group and
this guy, I feel for him his name Stuart, he said, I have these marks on the dash where someone
had used a suction cup mount for a phone. Any ideas on how to remove them? Yeah,
Stuart ain't coming out my guy. Yeah, maybe you know, right? I can get I generally go these guys
that is done, right? That they can get really ugly. I mean, it's
putting stuff on the dash is one of those things that's probably I mean, you go back to radar
detectors and things like that that we've had like that should have been, you know,
integrated somewhere in the car, but they didn't want to pay to have it integrated in the car.
So they put it, you know, and they didn't like how it looked on the windshield. So they use
a suction cup and they put it on the dash that's been happening my whole career. And now with phone
mounts and all those different types of things, those become points of no return. And I'll tell
you what not to do. Don't grab a magic eraser thinking that's coming off. And you want to talk
about something I see far too often used. Magic erasers are abrasive. Period. There is no if fans
or butts about it. I'm not telling people what to do. I'm telling you, I would take zero risk with
stuff like that. It kind of shows me inexperience because there's some European cars that the
tan interior that magic eraser will turn tan from those leather seats and you'll go, oh,
that's no big deal. Nah, bud, that's re die and re clear. That's exactly what that's telling you.
Because I remember many times in my career, looking at my towel and going,
this thing has to be completely re died. And now you're going to put a highly abrasive magic
eraser on these things. It's just not worth it. So with the dash and the picture you showed,
I'm kind of with you. This is, this is you just hope it gets better over time. And
it's not fixable. Most people think when they think of, you know, Ken, Ken Cardi telling
thick stains, they generally think of carpet stains, right? Or seats seats carpet, you know,
we know leather seats are a big deal. You know, that's why dealerships and I used to sell love it
warranties that you could put this product on and it would, you know, if there wasn't a tear
within this amount. And if you followed these expensive, you know, call within seven day,
you know, all this stuff, right? Like, like, there's a reason why that there's
interior things that most people think of stains on seats.
Hmm. Or do they think of carpets? Yeah, I think most people think of carpets, right? When we
when we think of interior and we think of stains, maybe something around maybe on the
seeds, because yeah, there's there's generally some stains on seeds. It's 100% always on carpets.
Yep. And I want to highlight something that I just experienced and is because it's around
maintenance and it's got to the same idea of we regularly maintain a car, you know, those stains
won't ever sink in. They shouldn't ever really set. We shouldn't have to do all the full extraction
and all the stuff that it takes, right? Like, so we've joked the the beamer that I have,
the the plastic mats definitely got sent back. Remember, yeah, Christmas time,
those are gone. And I regularly vacuum. It's really only me riding in that car. So
none of the other stuff gets hit. But I noticed something last week. I went, hmm,
I've got some carpet stains. Now, these aren't these aren't like soda pop. This isn't I spilled
some coffee, right? Could have been that could you never know.
Um, it was just me getting in and out of the car has been raining before. So you're always going
to track stuff in. You just get dirty like this been the joke, right? Like, I don't understand how
I get into some of those cars of my old customers, right? Like, think was never dirty like they
didn't attract dirt. I do. And then I'm looking at my my my carpet and I'm going,
wow, okay, that got a little out of control. I vacuum it up and I go, well, there's still some
stains. The beauty the beauty of complete. Oh, I loved it. I sprayed complete scrubbed my carpet.
I then vacuum my carpet. I rubbed it with the towel. Put my carpet back in. I did everything
else later when I was going home. I did it specifically. I reached down and I rubbed my
my carpet. What was it? It wasn't stiff and brittle. It was soft plush and I went
I'll say this, I would be interested in everybody's opinion on this. I've seen a resurgence of
usage of extractors. I don't know what it is. A lot of extractor talk a lot of extractor questions.
If you're working on tons of really, really beat up
cars and trucks, I think it's probably a no brainer, right? Because you and I have been that
in our career, where it was just like an extractor was an absolute no brainer.
Well, you say beat up, you got to push that out a little bit for the pro guys. I mean,
beat up means like, hey, we haven't cleaned this. Here's the thing beat up to me,
trash out of the floor. Yeah. And also it means like you can't do this at a reasonable speed
without it. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like you look at it and you go, hey, man, if I don't
and I would specifically say I was always hot water extraction. I didn't really do I never
really had access to cold water extraction everybody. And I mean, I'll never forget the whole
sailor I worked for, he had that big, you know, with the big heating element on the top and you
poured all the water and solution and they all came out. And by the way, always burnt the
shit out of you. Yeah, the thing would like, you know, the fittings would get super hot.
And they'd be like, well, we fixed it. And then the next day of the fittings would be hot again,
because you go there is no fix. It's just hot. One of the best inventions mighty came out with
now that you were not talking about mighty but mighty is another popular brand is they came
out with those like, yeah, and they would wrap around the cord and you get these and like wrap
around. Hey, by the way, long, so they should come out that 10 years before. Yeah, by the way,
and something the guy I worked for no chance he was going to spend never would have bought. Yeah,
so just I so I would say I've seen a resurgence in it. But the thing that worries me is I know
how bad those things go to, you know, the amount of maintenance you have to stay on top of to make
it work properly, the care for it. I'm sure they're much better today. But if you can reasonably
look at the things you're working on and go, hey, man, I come across some carpets,
they're not in the best of shape. But I can just spray enzyme or complete or both, you know,
which I think is the real powerhouse on dirty interior carpets, go around, let enzyme eat while
you're doing other stuff. You know what I mean? Like just let it eat away. And then like you said,
the biggest thing to me is when I think heavy extraction, I think, did you get everything out?
What'd you leave behind? Did you really get all the cleaning solution out that you used? And did
you use a degreaser and an APC? And I know what those things are like, those are never ending
fountains of foam and, you know, being stuck in the carpet, they're very hard to rinse.
But I look at this and I'm kind of with you as like, if you stay on top of carpets and something
pops up, complete as your friend. It's just real simple and easy, whatever. If you got an
unidentified stain, please put enzyme down first. Right? Like just put it down and go,
like you said, you know, you're the one getting in out of the car and you're like, this isn't,
but if it's a customer's car, just to be safe, I just throw enzyme down first and then do what I
guess safe on time, time wasting, right? Because if you don't know what it is,
enzymes going to attack the proteins, then complete will take care of the rest.
But I didn't have, to your point, as we joke last episode, I've done well with my coffee cup
spilling on the carpet now, the leather seat over on the passenger side where I put it one day and
I didn't have the lid all the way shut. I've got to work on that seat, you know,
eventually. But that's sort of the joke too. If we go into the next question is,
you know, can't car detailing remove stains? Can't car detailing cost stains?
You bet. This is a guy inside of a group and his name was Marcos. Marcos said,
after three years in business, I finally made a big whoopsy. Okay, Marcos, three years in
business and you finally made a whoopsy. He said he got soap that etched in the sun,
dot, dot, dot, and people inside the comments you can imagine, right? He says that he had
this wheel cleaner and then he used this soap and yet it, it's still stained these, what is that,
a fork? I'm actually seeing something that I want to say here. I see a lot of something was left
behind after your rents. And I think it's a lot of guys and I see this out of shops too,
so it's not just the mobile people. For some reason, we're kind of getting stingy with the water.
When you put any type of cleaner on a wheel, pH neutral, non pH neutral, anything clean in a wheel,
I want to see that thing rents clear. I mean, I know it kind of sounds silly, but to this guy,
and many others that we've seen, a lot of it is incomplete rinsing of the product, right? I don't
think for one second, a pH neutral soap caused this issue. I think he's identifying it improperly.
It was probably the wheel cleaner that was still on there, but he definitely rinsed the wheel.
So if you rinse the wheel, there's only two things that could have happened.
You allowed a high pH or an acidic cleaner to sit on there and bake in the sun,
that caused the issue. Or secondly, the thing that we don't talk about is,
you didn't actually rinse everything off. So for anybody using an iron remover like Fuego,
guys, rinse it. By the way, it's pH neutral. I'm not worried about it destroying a wheel,
but if it's turned all this purple, and you don't rinse everything off,
then you're going to see a little purple line because you didn't rinse everything off,
right? Like it's just one of these things. Like I never really actually get a film.
TRX. Sure. You don't rinse TRX. Let's go. You go one to one on TRX. You're going to leave a film.
Yeah. And I never really, I guess I just never really gave this much of a thought as something
to bring up. But guys, rinse the stuff off completely. Take the pressure washer and go up
and down and side to side and look with your eyes that you're seeing water rinse clear,
that you're not seeing any reaction to something on the surface where it's,
you know, you're still seeing bubbles come off or you're still seeing stuff come on.
Hey, man, it just needs more rinse. And I get that a lot of mobile guys are trying to conserve
water because they're on a water tank. But if that's your concern, I just don't think that's the
place. I really don't, not with the things I've been seeing in some of these groups and questions
I get. You got to think of a different process. Yeah. Yeah. You got to do something because
a lot of the things I'm seeing only have two options. It baked in the sun, which we've gone
and said ad nauseam to not do. Or two, and it looks like in this situation, it's number two,
you didn't rinse the wheel off completely. And it doesn't matter what cleaner you're using,
get the stuff off of there. So as horrible as it is to see, but we see it every week, right?
Somebody's burned some black wheels somewhere. It's awesome to see Sean
great posting that inside the hyper clean specialist group on some wheels and he says,
awx made short work of these toasty 2001 wheels. Wow. 2001. Here we go.
Hey, German wheels too. Yeah. And with ease. Yeah, that's
look, it's kind of why we brought an asset out. Part of it was because I was tired of scrubbing
every wheel. But the other part of it is there's power and acid. There's always going to be a
trade off that the easiest way to clean very, very bad wheels will always be acid.
Nothing will replace it. Now you can replace it with good chemistry and some elbow grease,
you know, with flago and TRX and things like that. When you're talking about that type of
wheel that he just showed, nothing's ever going to rival acid. It's just not it's a cleaning
ability of an asset. Now there's also another thing is there is danger in some of the acids
I see growing in popularity. And we're seeing day to day evidence guys just toast and wheels
guys awx. It is not going to be a traditional acid in a way of like, this is just pure acid.
And it's all about there's a little thought to it. There's a little modernization to it.
You don't need to be scared of it. Again, with an asset, if you're scared, dilute it more.
Also, there's no harm in rinsing the wheel first. It's going to dilute your chemical a little bit,
but I'm talking to the guys that are nervous about acids. You can take a lot of precautions
to just get comfortable with it. But there is no replacement on a wheel like you showed in that
picture. If you're not watching on YouTube, there's no replacement for an asset.
All right, and think of that Honda prelude that I had, right? Has black wheels. The black wheels
of this Ford that the guy posted that he burned them all up. Right. If I'm concerned, hey, I need
to understand if it's clear coated. Yep. First is the thing I got to understand. Is this black
wheel clear coated? And then you're right, I can just dilute it more. But on that Honda prelude,
you know what that guy, he didn't use acid and didn't use dilution. Didn't think anything about
that. He did something else that well, it looked gray from all the scratches.
You just went in there and scrubbed the piss out. There's the flip, right? As you said elbow
grease, but he's not hard. There's so many people that are like, well, I'm going to grab this product
and I'm like, it's a cheap wheel cleaner that you can dilute large amounts and it's technically
a degreaser. Listen, there's always going to be a flip of the coin. There's always going to be
a cause and effect. Sure, you can. But dot dot dot, right? Like, sure, this guy could have been
and he has and six months into 2026 and maybe he's on the car. I think they they said he bought the
car late 2025. Then he had that bumper issue somewhere in January or whatever. Then it took
that long for him to get the bumper. So now he's what eight months into ownership and his wheels
are gray. Gray. Yep. Gray. Yep. And it's you got to think of all of that, you know, especially in
today's world, all different types of wheels that we're all seeing. And I just think it's
it's time for everybody to kind of understand the chemistry a little more,
you know, how to use it to your advantage, you know, where to use it to your advantage,
like Sean showed, he just used AWX to his advantage. You know, by the way, saved him time,
saved him effort, wasn't out there sweating, you know, and used everything properly and got the
result that he was looking for on those wheels. And that's that's the power of all of this stuff.
When people ask me what I use, I always say the same thing. I use what I assess needs to be used
on that car in front of me. But having the tools of Fuego and TRX and AWX, the importance of those
three is simple. When I start to see, you know, I had a Lexus GSF in here that that will be
publishing some videos on. Once I see damage on the wheel, AWX is put away. I'm out. I'm not going
to cause further damage. This needs to go get repaired. I'm not going to be liable for anything.
You got some raw metal bits, you got, you know, in this case, you got black wheels, raw metal bits
showing they had curb rash the wheel. But guess what? I have a I have Fuego and I have TRX,
and it makes quick work for that specific vehicle, right? But if I rolled up on what Sean had,
it's AWX. And so we got to get into habit as as people trying to learn about this or doing it
for a while to understand where to use these things to your advantage. Alright, last thing we
want to talk about, and that's a fun one for me, because as I said last week, let's root 66 here
through Oklahoma was just jam packed with people out and about showing cars and not only being
at car shows, but just being out and about. Well, there's no doubt is we are in June of
2026 car so car show season has definitely begun. Oh, yeah. I mean, you can't go a day on Facebook,
where there's not an ad for some car show and come be a part of this and whether that's be a part of
it now or be a part of it as a season progresses. But car show season is here. So we got to spend
a little time on there. I saw one post inside of a Facebook group, not our group, but another
Facebook group that he had a collector that was going to start showing some cars and he wanted to
know what to use on these collector cars. I want to go start this idea about car show season and
start with the wash and then end with the final right so you're you're prepping a car for a car
show. What's your go to soap Nick? Is that an actual traditional soap? Yeah, it just that's
dependent. You know, we've had some incidents where a lot of seals and gaskets aren't up to
spec on some collector cars and it's like I'm not introducing a pressure washer there. But if it's a
you know, a more modern car or an order car that's that's been taken care of well and they don't
have sealing issues. Yeah, man, I'm going to go into a foam wash, because I'm going to guess it's
not really seen a whole lot, you know, just use something pH neutral run it through. If I'm worried
about it, I'm just going to use Eco one, right? Eco one, rock it out, you know, do do a very
thorough, you know, rinse list slash waterless combination. And then, you know, I'm drying with
juice. You know, I'm going to finish that detail off with juice. That's what I'm
going to do. I almost interrupted you because the next question was best sharko best show car
gloss enhancer don't need protection. Just maximum gloss was the question. Yeah, we're you know,
the reason we brought out juice is sort of to get into light protection, but to give a look
to give a finish to the car, do it easily. You don't have to do a whole bunch of wiping and a
whole bunch of buffing. You're not trying to achieve a lot here. You're just trying to make the car
look great. That's why it's a great drying aid. That's why it's great to use weekly or biweekly
or monthly. You're going to get a month or two out of the protection. But there are a lot of cars
that people care about that when you go and use heavy spray sealants, it creates a lot of work
to get the finish you're looking for, right? Just what it is when you put more protection
on a water based formula, you're going to have some reaction, right? So yeah, I would finish every
show car and look, we talked about it last week, we've had guys winning car shows with using
juice and eco one and revive prestigious car shows and concor type events. Guys, the system
works. Just just keep it simple on these these car show cars. I promise just just simplicity kind
of wins the race here. So there's Drake. And then there's Mildren I want to talk about why they
love juice Mildren it's for the excess towel wiping that he doesn't seem to understand and
he can use juice as a crutch. Yeah, yeah, it's because of his crazy wiping. Yeah,
that was funny. I love the second video of trying to say why he wipes so crazy.
Juice is your crutch just admit it. Yeah, right. Like the same as Drake. Drake said this. This is
what I love. He goes, Listen, use juice for the first time today. A week or so ago, I ordered
juice from Derek. And I was always like prefacing that I am still relatively new to detailing.
He said honestly, though, I didn't I didn't know what to expect. Then he list one that he thought
he was going to compare it to. I think it's a great comparison. I really do. So he sprayed it on the
wife's car. And after you know, after he washed it, he said it didn't streak. And it has a really
nice finish. Interesting that he list. It didn't streak. Why did I throw Mildren out there as a
clutch? There's a thing about juice that he is a really awesome clutch. This less streaking,
like even some people say sometimes slick, we'll have a little dark little it does happen.
The cool part about way juice is made. It really is a crutch. It's a streak free solution.
You can wave your towel around like crazy, or be like Drake, and it doesn't matter.
It's a crutch. It's awesome. Yeah, no, it's really easy to work with and makes quick work of just
your time and, you know, enjoyable scent, enjoyable everything easy to use, and gives you a little
pop on the finish. Right? Like, guys, we have guys win and really prestigious concor events using
this. Just just keep it simple with stuff for going to a car show. If you got to do really
dramatic things, you're gonna you're gonna find that you're not going to get the results you're
looking for. Alright, I'm at a car show. And I'm a guy that's showing a car, or I'm a detailer that
has put a car into a show for somebody. And I'm there walking around. There's a little light dust.
Yep. Am I am I spraying juice on there? I'm still when it comes to light dust, I'm still
I'd have a bottle of eco one mixed up and I would have juice. Just because I kind of like
a little bit of safety, there's going to be nothing wrong with juice. I just tend
to use eco one and then do my little dry pass, you know, my drying of that pass with
a little juice sprayed on top. It's it's so easy to do. Just put it into 32, put both of them in
a 32, you got two bottles, you got a couple towels, just kind of go to work that way. That's
kind of what I would do. All right, sounds good. All right, everybody that is going to be in the
car shows, please go show the photos which others have already started inside the hyper clean
specialist group. And we're looking forward to seeing where everybody uses juice. They you know,
at the shows, at their house, inside of their business, it's awesome to see. Yeah, absolutely.
See you guys next week.
About this episode
“Clutch culture” gets framed as a practical bridge for detailers: talk about the cars customers actually buy, then use that conversation to set expectations and build trust. The hosts also break down why customer acquisition is harder than “more Instagram followers,” especially as paid ads get pricier and less effective. They connect detailing value to real-world outcomes—preventing bad dealership decisions, protecting paint, and avoiding irreversible interior damage—while sharing concrete workflows for scratches, stains, and wheel cleaning.
Join us as we unpack the complexities of modern car detailing—covering social media's impact, customer confusion, the realities of online advertising, and best practices for maintaining and showcasing vehicles. Whether you're a detailer or a car enthusiast, this episode offers valuable insights into navigating this crowded space.
Main Topics Covered:
The evolving landscape of car care and customer awareness
The role of social media and online ads in attracting clients
Realities of removing scratches, stains, and wheel damage
Strategies for effective interior and exterior maintenance
How car show season influences detailing practices
The importance of proper product use and rinsing techniques
The power of consistent maintenance for vehicle longevity and value
Leveraging tools like Discord and social channels for education and client engagement
Timestamp Highlights: 00:00 - The crowded car care space: challenges for consumers and detailers 00:29 - The importance of community and network referrals in finding quality services 01:58 - How social media educates and misleads consumers simultaneously 03:20 - Effective social media strategies for local visibility in 2026 04:38 - Educating local consumers with targeted, relevant content vs industry jargon 06:06 - The rising costs and decreasing returns of paid online advertising for shops 08:06 - Balancing online marketing with community engagement and events 09:08 - How clutch culture serves as an educational bridge for enthusiasts and professionals 10:18 - Utilizing podcasts and social media insights as learning tools for mechanics and detailers 12:27 - The critical value of maintaining your vehicle for pride, function, and market advantage 13:47 - Proper techniques for removing scratches and understanding repair limits 16:36 - Risks of improper pad and rotary use — buffer trails and surface damage 18:12 - How consistent vehicle care impacts resale value and owner pride 21:22 - The significance of inspecting and protecting wheels with appropriate chemicals 24:35 - The role of Discord and online communities for technical advice and networking 26:36 - The importance of chemistry knowledge in wheel and paint care 34:40 - Recognizing when scratches and stains are too deep for simple detailing 38:31 - Avoiding abrasive fixes like magic erasers that can cause permanent damage 42:33 - The benefits of regular interior maintenance to prevent staining and wear 45:46 - Effective interior extraction techniques and the importance of thorough rinsing 50:43 - How proper rinsing and product application prevent common cosmetic issues 55:02 - Using simple, proven products like Fuego, TRX, and AWX for specific tasks 58:36 - Preparing vehicles for car shows with appropriate cleaning and glossing methods 59:46 - The science behind punchy, simple protection layers versus heavy sealants 61:27 - Juice as a streak-free, easy-to-use quick detailer for shows and regular maintenance 62:34 - Combining eco-friendly products for efficient, safe car care at shows 65:02 - Closing thoughts: how consistent, educated care elevates the industry and owner pride
