Cheap Detailers How To Deal With It? Should I Wax a Car? Episode #956
Pints and Polishing Auto Detailing Podcast
Cheap Detailers How To Deal With It? Should I Wax a Car? Episode #956
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63:46
Term
wax
Car wax is a product you rub onto the paint to protect it and make it look shiny. It works best when the car is clean first, so the wax can stick properly.
Term
paint protection film
Paint protection film is a clear protective sheet that sticks to your car’s paint. It helps prevent rock chips and small scratches, especially on the front bumper and hood.
Term
AI
In this context, AI refers to using an AI assistant/chat tool to generate advice about what product to put on a car. The host is pointing out that AI can produce confident-sounding but incorrect or mismatched recommendations, especially when the user doesn’t know the right terminology to verify the result.
Car
Range Rover
A Range Rover is a luxury SUV from Land Rover. People who own them often want detailing and paint protection done carefully, because they’re expensive and the paint matters.
Concept
protection world
“Protection world” is just the detailing side of the car world where people focus on products that protect the paint. The point here is that the industry has moved from wax to longer-lasting coatings.
Term
ceramic coatings
A ceramic coating is a protective layer you apply to your car’s paint. It helps the paint resist stains and makes washing easier, and it usually lasts longer than wax.
Concept
stack
“Stack” here means using more than one protection product or step together. The idea is to get better or longer-lasting protection than a single product alone.
Concept
bumper to Uno
This sounds like a “cover the whole front” or “cover most of the car” protection package. The host is talking about a more complete protection job rather than a small spot treatment.
Concept
set it and forget it
“Set it and forget it” means you want something to work with minimal effort after you buy it. In car care, it usually means you don’t want to keep redoing the work often.
Term
two step correction
“Two step correction” means polishing the paint in two stages. The first pass removes deeper marks, and the second pass smooths and improves the shine.
Term
coding
They likely mean a “coating,” which is a protective layer put on the paint. It helps protect the finish and can make washing the car easier.
Term
mobile detailer
A mobile detailer is someone who comes to your house or workplace to clean your car. Because they may not have easy access to water, they often use different washing methods than a shop would.
Term
waterless
A waterless wash cleans the car with products that loosen dirt without needing a lot of water. It’s popular for mobile detailing because it’s easier when you can’t use a hose.
Brand
eco one
“Eco One” is a car-cleaning product used for low-water washing. In this segment, they also use it as a slippery liquid when doing clay bar work so the clay doesn’t grab the paint.
Term
clayed
“Clayed” means you use a clay bar to pull off tiny dirt and grime stuck to the paint. It helps the paint feel smooth before you apply wax or polish.
Term
clay bars
Clay bars are tools that help pull stuck contaminants off your car’s paint. Different clay grades are used depending on how aggressive you need to be.
Term
clay lube
Clay lube is a slippery product you use while clay barring the car. It helps the clay glide so you don’t scratch the paint.
Term
polish
Polishing is what makes paint look smooth and shiny again by gently removing a very thin layer of the clear coat. Detailers use it when the paint has light scratches, dullness, or leftover haze from other steps.
Term
wipe step
A “wipe step” means wiping the paint down after a product step. It removes leftover residue so the next step—like protection—can work as intended.
Term
ceramic coating technology has changed
The host is saying ceramic coatings aren’t all the same anymore. Newer coating products and methods can make the job easier and less aggressive than older approaches.
Term
Sparta
“Sparta” sounds like a coating or protection product. The host’s point is that if you apply it without prepping/polishing the paint first, you may not get the performance you expect.
Car
Ford Ranger
The Ford Ranger is a pickup truck that’s sized between small and full-size trucks. It’s made for carrying things and handling everyday driving. People may talk about it in terms of how well it holds up after several years and miles.
Concept
chemical distribution
Chemical distribution is basically selling the car-cleaning products to other detailers or shops. Instead of only making money from doing the work, you also make money from supplying the stuff they use again and again.
Topic
mobile guys
“Mobile guys” are detailers who show up at your house or workplace to do the work. The point here is that customers still need instructions on how to care for the car afterward.
Topic
TikTok shop
TikTok Shop is a way to buy products directly through TikTok. The host is saying some detailers use it to sell car-care products and earn extra money.
Concept
detailing someone's car
Here, “detailing” means giving a car a thorough cleaning and restoration, not just washing it. It’s the kind of work that makes the car look better and helps protect it.
Term
PPF
PPF is a clear protective film that gets put on a car’s paint. It helps protect the paint from things like small rocks and scratches so the car stays looking better longer.
Car
Tesla seats
They’re talking about how to clean the inside seats of a Tesla. Since the seats are vinyl (not fabric) and the car has lots of electronics and touch points, the cleaner choice and technique matter.
Term
enzyme
An enzyme cleaner is a special cleaner that breaks down organic gunk—like saliva—so it comes off the surface more easily. The question here is whether dog slobber needs that kind of cleaner or if a regular interior cleaner will work.
Term
vinyl
Vinyl is a plastic-like material used on many car interiors. Because it’s not fabric, you can usually clean it with wipe-on/wipe-off products more safely than you could with cloth.
Term
screens
The car’s screens are delicate. Some cleaners can smear, haze, or damage the coating, so the host is saying this product won’t be a problem around the screens.
Term
burning a door panel
“Burning” here means ruining the interior trim with the wrong cleaner or chemical. It can leave stains, spots, or a damaged finish, so the host is saying their product is safer for door-panel materials.
Term
touch points
“Touch points” means the parts of the car interior your hands and body regularly touch. Those areas get dirty faster, so you want a cleaner that’s safe and effective there.
Term
abrasion
Abrasion just means rubbing that causes wear. Think of it like tiny scuffs from contact. If your car has a protective coating, rubbing from brushes can slowly wear that protection away.
Term
touch free
A “touch-free” car wash cleans without brushes touching your paint. It uses chemicals and water pressure instead, so it can be safer for scratches—but only if the chemicals aren’t too aggressive for your car’s finish.
Term
pH scale
The pH scale tells you whether a cleaner is acidic or alkaline. Very acidic or very basic chemicals can be harsh enough to damage materials on your car, including protective layers and even plastic parts.
Term
APC degree surusers
APC usually means an all-purpose cleaner used for degreasing. The host is implying that some APCs are very strong (high pH), and that can be risky for certain finishes if you don’t use the right product and dilution.
Term
wheel acids
“Wheel acids” are strong cleaners made to break down brake dust on wheels. Since they’re acidic, they can stain or harm other parts if they splash around or aren’t rinsed off well.
Term
clear coat
Clear coat is the shiny protective layer on top of your car’s paint. If harsh chemicals stain it, the car can look dull or permanently marked until it’s corrected.
Term
residue left behind
Residue left behind is leftover chemical film or contaminants that remain on the paint after washing. In detailing terms, this can cause dullness, streaking, and can make later steps (like waxing or polishing) less effective until the surface is properly decontaminated.
Term
titrate chemicals
Titrating chemicals is setting the right mix of soap and water. If it’s mixed wrong, the wash can leave residue or not clean properly.
Term
low pH
pH tells you whether a cleaner is more acidic or more basic. Low pH cleaners are more acidic, and while they can clean well, they can also be harsher on paint, trim, or coatings if used incorrectly.
Term
high pH
High pH means the cleaner is more “alkaline,” like a strong degreaser. It can clean effectively, but if it’s too harsh or not rinsed well, it may cause problems for the car’s finish.
Term
car washes
Car washes are automated systems that clean your car quickly using soap and water. The host is saying that because they’re optimized for speed and price, they can sometimes be harsher or not rinse as well as you’d want.
Concept
trade off
A “trade off” here means you get a benefit like speed or convenience, but it can come with downsides. The host’s point is that very fast, very cheap washes often don’t clean as safely or thoroughly.
Term
burning your wheels
“Burning your wheels” is a detailing slang for chemical or heat-related damage to wheel finishes—often from harsh cleaners, over-aggressive dwell time, or poor rinsing. It implies the wheel surface can be etched, discolored, or otherwise degraded.
Term
burning trim
“Burning trim” means the car’s exterior trim gets damaged, usually from harsh cleaners. It can turn dull, faded, or look worse than before.
Term
staining your car
“Staining your car” means the finish ends up discolored after washing. That can happen when soap chemicals or minerals aren’t rinsed off completely.
Term
amount of water
Rinsing needs enough water to wash off soap and loosened dirt. If the wash doesn’t use enough water, leftover residue can dry on the paint and cause spots or dullness.
Term
stripped off
“Stripped off” means the protective layer has to be removed completely. That’s different from a normal wash—detailing products or stronger cleaning steps are used so you can start over.
LIVE
Welcome to the Pints and Polishing podcast, the most influential and listened to podcast in auto detailing.
Welcome to the community.
Hey, Bob got a new Range Rover and needs to bring it over for a wax.
That was the text I got late last week, right?
Like, these are fun.
All of us have gotten a text from a customer, you know, put yourself in the situation,
envision, you know, that one customer that sends you the message right now.
This customer, they've been around for a long time.
But you'll remember, I've talked about this lady before.
She's the lady that goes back and forth from Florida.
Right.
So got off of our regular schedule.
Actually, then would start to get their cars washed at a car wash and would go down to a car wash,
then bring them back to her house because I was charging her extra because she got off of that regular maintenance.
Right.
So everybody can kind of remember that.
Remember this.
So still love the lady.
You know, they're still great because she was one of the first people a long time ago that had me there every weekend,
every Saturday cleaning cars.
Right.
So I love the lady.
Love everything.
Bob got a new Rover wants to get a wax on it.
Interesting.
Yeah.
What would we all say?
Let's think about that for a second.
If you have a customer that sends you their husband or their wife got a car and wants to put a wax on it.
First thoughts, Nick.
What do you think most people are going to come out of the box?
Yeah.
I'm going to go with wax cars.
Yeah.
That'd be that'd be my guess.
Check your mic.
Make sure it's on just so I don't have anything.
I didn't know if I was hearing something strange.
But yeah, no, there's no doubt about it.
The first thing that we would all say is we love to go into I don't use this anymore talk.
I don't use a wax anymore.
What I have found, I would assume most of people that have gone through this enough finds is you just kind of say,
okay, we'll go ahead and do it and you put something like wax or you put something like stack on the car.
You know, you do something along those lines.
So as you think, you know, let's put ourselves, you and I were, we're, you know, we get called this was a text for me, you get those texts.
Yep.
I know your customers are a lot different than mine and mine are different than other people.
What we're talking about somebody here of extreme wealth now extreme wealth in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
I get it is different than extreme wealth in Las Vegas.
But they do so well that they've got a house and you know, another state, they're, you know, they're wealthy people.
She's not going to think about terms issue.
Or will she know the terms?
Here's, here's where we get into that question about somebody that's wealthy.
They might just throw out something because they trust in you to take care of their car.
But, but if we get that message and we just hit back with, well, no, I don't wax and I want to bup, bup, bup.
Sure.
Well, you know, there's a, there's a big misunderstanding about terminology, right?
So we can just all say this, I'm seeing a lot of, I'm getting a lot of questions about it.
I'm seeing a lot of posts about it in different places where people are selling a certain brand of paint protection film.
And the customer is ready to buy and goes on AI and says, you know, what, what, what should I put on my car?
And then sends the brand to this comp, you know, to the installer and says, do you install this brand?
And they're like, well, this looks like a big AI response that you just posted.
You know, you just text me, like, what's going on?
Why put it into AI?
And AI told me this is what brand my car should have on it.
So I think this is actually going to happen more than we've been experiencing it, but also think about all the people that don't even know what to write into AI and they're getting these words back and they just copy and paste to you and now they think they're educated.
I think when you're talking about somebody that's this higher up on the economic food chain, so to speak, they may throw terminology at you.
You know, largely what a lot of them do is, hey, I just got a new Range Rover.
I need you to kind of, you know, get it taken care of for me.
That's more of the text you get from most people.
But if they bring up wax or they bring up coding or they bring up whatever.
What they're really saying is I just want the Range Rover handled.
Hey, I want the car protected the protectant that I know about his wax because that was my connection to the business back in the day.
When I cared more about this stuff, you know, now I'm at a certain level and I just kind of want you to handle it.
That's the way I read these texts, especially if I know the people, right?
Like you know this woman.
So you're saying to yourself when you get that she just wants her car protected.
And I think you can go really far in life in business in particular by just understanding that that person just wants their car protected with something like a wax.
Which we're past that in the protection world.
We're now to ceramic coatings and things like that.
So, you know, from what you've told me about this woman, perfect candidate for stack, maybe bumper to Uno.
You know, you don't have to overthink it.
You don't have to make a big conversation with her because that's not exactly what she wants either.
She doesn't want this big back and forth.
Okay, she wants you to tell her what day are you going to protect my new Range Rover.
And that is that again though.
Say that again because I think some people skip over that if I don't pause.
I really do say that again.
Yeah, she just wants her car protected.
You know, she just wants it handled.
That's all that she really wants.
She's just using the loose terminology that she knows.
She just wants to know the time you're going to show up and get her car protected.
That's all she really wants to know.
Just because she used terminology and I think a lot of people take offense to it for some reason.
They're like, why would somebody ask me for a wax?
We don't use waxes anymore.
You know, they get all like, it's like, look, that's the only term she knows.
Like she does something else with her life.
You know, whether that is going and seeing the grandkids or playing pickleball or going to the office, whatever the hell it is.
She's not in the in the world of protecting her car, which is why she reached out to you.
She just wants somebody you who have a trusted who she has a trusted relationship with to go ahead and say, I'll get it protected and we'll get it protected on this date.
And that's it, you know, largely probably not even going to ask you the cost.
You know, like that's not a concern of hers.
And this is where we get into why a lot of people struggle to keep and get wealthy clients.
I think it kind of this is kind of like a microcosm of all of that.
It is because we all think we want to but then we get to these moments we didn't understand how to get them.
I was actually trying to pull up her exact text so I could say what I send in response.
But it was pretty much just yeah, can he can?
When's the day?
Can we do it this day?
Can we do it that day and and set it up for Darren the guy that does our mobile because they want it done at their house.
You know, and some of the stuff you get into the pricing then like you mentioned and there's no quote on pricing here.
There's not.
It was handled at the time of service.
You also have to know that you have a long standing relationship with this person.
This isn't a this isn't a lead out of, you know, lead generation.
But it's also very important to understand.
I don't.
And I think we're all we're at different points in our careers.
I'm not real big on having arguments or, you know, setting someone straight about what product we're going to use,
especially when I know that they they're entrusting me with their car.
If they want to have those discussions, I'm more than willing to have those discussions.
Right.
Hey, let's sit down and I'll spend an hour with you.
I mean, if you want me to walk you through what I'm going to do with your car, I've never had an issue with that.
I don't think any professional should have an issue of somebody's asking genuine questions to be educated.
This woman does not want to be educated.
She has no connection to ever wanting to be educated.
She has hired a professional service.
And that service is going to handle her car.
And they're going to say it's 499 bucks.
And she's going to give you the, you know, 500 and fifty or 600 dollars with tip.
And you guys are going to go about your merry way and she's going to go visit with the grandkids or go to work or whatever it is she does.
The best part about the end of the text, the original text was after got the range over once the wax.
The best part is she goes, should I do mine again too?
Yep.
Yep.
Yeah, we should just go ahead and put that on there.
It probably hasn't seen it.
But this is it's uneasy for a lot of people.
You know, if you're trying to jump from the middle class buyer, even the upper middle class buyer and you're trying to go into rich and truly wealthy.
You can rub a lot of people the wrong way, handling it the wrong way, because these are set it and forget it people.
You know, I see a lot of this is more prominent in the PPF world right now.
Where a lot of people love to think they're doing business with wealthy people.
And you go, I can tell by the way you talk, you're not doing business with wealthy people.
You're doing business with middle class, upper middle class.
There's nothing wrong with that.
But I can see by the things you post that you've convinced yourself you're doing it with the wealthy, wealthy people.
For the most part, I would say 99.9% of my clientele, they're never going to ask you about the film.
Matter of fact, it'd be pretty rare if they even talk to you about it.
Even talk to you about the car.
It's just not a decision in their life.
And I don't care if it's a, you know, we just got a really rare Porsche build that's several million dollars.
That guy's not going to ask me anything.
Because that's not even a decision in his life.
I mean, that $2 million is just like, I mean, it's, it's not a thought to him.
And that is really great to be in those places, but you got to also remember, they expect you to handle it now.
And they expect it to never be a headache.
So if it becomes a headache, you're going to really have to start having some conversations you don't like.
And so it's really important to understand what place you're doing business, right?
Are you doing business with the middle class?
They're going to have to be handled differently than the wealthy.
And if you're doing business in the upper middle class, they're going to have, they're going to,
upper middle class are probably going to be some of the most demanding clients overall.
Because they know they're stretching to afford something like a five year coding, full two step correction, those types of things.
And they're going to ask a lot more questions.
That doesn't make them bad customers.
We all do business with those types of people, but you just have to understand who you're doing business with.
It's very important.
So let's go through the actual process then, because like I mentioned, this was mobile.
You know, they, they've known us as mobile detailers.
That's, that's how they've always used our service.
Now, after I got out of the seat, Darren has taken care of them as, as needed.
And let's go over that process.
Because I think a lot of detailers really question, can you put on, you mentioned stack.
That's what we went with, you know, it's perfect for it.
Can you put on stack as a mobile detailer?
If so, then what's the process, right?
Like, how do you do it?
Are you a, you know, and this is, we'll just ask these questions.
It doesn't, it's part of the process.
You got to figure out, are you a, I'm a guy that's going to use water and I'm going to do the phone cannon.
I'm going to go the A traditional route.
Or are you going to use a rinseless waterless approach?
Darren's used our, our waterless for, for years and years and years, eco one.
We have other detailers that have messaged in because we sent out some stuff for them to test and play with.
And they said, Hey, I use eco one on every single car.
Right. So there's a question.
Can you use it?
Can you do how do you wash?
First of all, you got to decide which wash you're going to go with.
I've always leaned on the waterless, the rinseless side.
That's the way I grew my mobile business, different than yours, different than other people.
But that was the way I did it.
So it's, it's eco one is what Darren did.
And then he clayed afterwards.
He used a very fine, he used the, the gray, right, the real fine, fine clay bars.
What we did using eco one then as the clay lube after you wash the car is perfect.
Got a lot of glide on it.
And of course, though, Nick, if we saw marine, we would polish, but these are light colored cars.
They're not black cars.
So you, you really don't, she doesn't see.
And this is where I think some detailers right as we get into that.
Well, if you clay, do you have to polish?
Well, this, this becomes one of those flip of the coins, right?
I, I think if you, if you put enough lubrication, if you use the right clay, you got the right vehicle, you don't have to.
Yeah.
What are your thoughts?
I would say if you use eco one, I'd still go and do a wipe step, you know, let's, let's kind of polish.
Yeah.
So, so, uh, this is where you get into a really deep conversation about you where we are technologically with ceramic coating.
Okay.
Uh, we are far beyond the years where ceramic coating is just one single way, right?
The way you and I grew up with ceramic coating is it was like, I mean, you had to sand entire hoods and things like that.
If something went wrong, I think this is where you use technology to your advantage.
And you go, they're just some people, man, that they just want their car protected.
So this is a woman who's going to be visiting a car wash.
This is a woman who is never going to see tiny little dealer, you know, induced things, manufacturer induced things, little tiny sand marks in different spots, maybe a nib in the paint.
And so you go, what, what fits her the best?
And if you're a consumer out there, a pro-sumer trying to do stuff in your garage, and you go, I'm not comfortable polishing yet, or I don't want to polish this car because it's a two year lease.
But I like my cars to look good and be easy to wash and all those kinds of things.
Then you need to realize products like stack exist.
So I think the people that are having this crisis of I got to always do XYZ are also the same people that don't realize ceramic coating technology has changed.
And so if you're somebody fighting this, you need to ask yourself, nobody told you to put Sparta on without polishing the car.
Nobody told you really to put tray on without polishing the car or anything like that.
But when you start talking about, you know, six months to 18 months and a customer that just loves knowing that their cars protected, there are products that fit that.
And so I handle those people.
And by the way, I polished plenty of cars and put them on because it was important to the customer and they saw some things they didn't like.
We get far too in our head about, you know, what we want to do instead of what fits the customer, car, you know, what fits their habits.
I mean, if she's got two to three houses, you may be looking at a ranger over the gets, you know, 3000 miles over three years.
I mean, and it's not, she's not a car person, you know, she doesn't go out in her garage and go, wow, my paint is perfect.
And I love knowing that.
And so you got to do something that fits her.
And we have had great success.
Many of you listening to this in our community that have watched ceramic coating technology change for the better.
Give us more options.
Use a ton of options.
You look at guys with big and small businesses all over the country that are starting to realize that the technology's changed.
And that's a positive.
It's a truly a positive for all of us that we can provide this woman with something in the ceramic coating family that fits what she wants.
Yeah, so Saturday morning, Darren was there cleaning the cars, right?
Like that's, that's what's awesome, right?
Took care of what this customer needed without us having this particular package or having like talk her through something.
This is the way to handle those customers.
And she was very happy, always has been happy with the service that we provide.
So for those of you that do want to know, can you code a car if you're a mobile detailer?
The answer is absolutely yes.
Use stack, use, you know, use dose.
So those are wonderful ones to use mobile.
Do you have to be inside?
You don't have to.
But I sure loved her garage right back in the day.
You know, as you met some of the other people, it's a lot of those garages in the wealthy.
They have an air conditioner.
You bet I love to do a car inside the AC.
Yeah, but if not, we can do it out on the driveway or is your move not doing in the driveway actually doing it out on the street.
But finding shade or something.
You don't, you don't really, it's not, it's not a fun experience with any coding to do it in the blazing sun.
But we've had videos out in the Arizona sun, people laying coding on and having happy clients.
I mean, I would just say try to find yourself some shade.
But if you're talking about the wealthy, I mean, you know, you and I have discussed this before.
I mean, I have some wealthy clients that you can pick the nicest shop in America and it doesn't rival their garage.
I mean, you could pick the nicest shop in America and it would be 100 levels below some wealthy garages that you get it into.
And so you take advantage, but it all comes down to what fits the customer.
It's probably been the number one thing I've said on this podcast since the first day I ever came on it is I'm big on what fits that car?
What fits that customer?
How do we, how do we find a win-win solution?
And I think you just can't go wrong with that mentality.
All right, so I'm not going to mute this.
Nick doesn't like me opening cans, but that's not true.
I've never said it.
Here's to community.
Leslie, Nick, did you know dinosaurs love surfing?
No, I did not.
Yeah, well, apparently Mildren does.
Mildren, I got the surf side today because he dropped off some chemical to dinosaur detailing, post a photo inside of the hyperclean specialist group.
So I go, hey, listen, let me, let me try that surf side.
Let me see what that's all about.
I noticed that first one went down pretty quick.
Went down pretty quick.
I had to get it ready for the second, second part of the episode.
So how to get ready for it.
But I do love this Mildren.
Thanks so much for posting that inside the group.
It is a heartbeat of like you see behind me, pints and polishing, right?
Like there's something about drinking beer or vodka and tea, right?
Whatever.
There's something about drinking and cleaning cars.
Now, some of us will be like, hey, listen, I took that too far and we didn't get any work done, right?
Like, like, but I just, even if you use somebody that like me, Sunday morning, I went to church in my garage cleaning the car because we had gone to Oklahoma City and I needed to get that was on Saturday and I need to get those bugs off.
Did you go to game seven?
What?
Did you go to game seven, watch the thunder get thump?
Game seven of like Little League soccer.
Does that count?
Yeah, you could have went to a way better game.
Yes, I definitely could have.
It was not for.
Oh, but you know, so I'm in my garage and sweating and that, you know, I go, listen, I'm just going to crack a beer.
I can just, there's something about it.
So it's something we've always paired together.
And I love seeing that Mildren other distributors continue it on.
It also is something about another like minded person sharing a drink, talking about what's going on in the business or what cars are there.
Like, it's something about it.
And so I love seeing it.
So Mildren, thanks so much for posting that.
Okay, so we're talking about distribution because of surf side and dinosaurs.
And Mildren is our distributor taking some products over there.
We got multiple messages this weekend.
Many people starting to ask, is distribution available here?
Is distribution, can I do it?
You know, what are, what are the requirements?
I mean, we got, you got emails.
We had people on the website.
I had text messages.
It's really cool that people are trying to think about it.
How do I take my business, take my elevation of what I know?
How do I take being the specialist of what I want to be and bring it in local to a distribution of hyperclaim?
Yeah, so I've said this before, but we get a lot of new listeners.
If I had to rank one of my biggest mistakes in business was, was not having distribution be a part of my business from the get go.
Knowing what I know now, I would, because I got a zillion questions anyway, just like you did.
What should I use on my cars?
What should I use on my cars?
And I always just, you know, said, what would I use?
I mean, you know, you would stumble around as you would do as I would do.
And it's, it's the honest no brainer thing to bring extra revenue and serve a customer at the same time.
So that would be my biggest mistake in business is that from the very beginning, not getting into chemical distribution.
Now it all worked out and I got to be a part of hyperclean and all that kind of stuff.
But truthfully, we're seeing a couple things change.
We deal with a lot of shops.
And so for you mobile guys, it's the same thing where they're ceramic coating or they're putting PPF on and the customer standing right there going, what am I supposed to do?
You know, I just got this on my car.
What am I supposed to do?
And I find probably 99 and a half, nine and nine point nine out of 10 businesses don't have an answer.
And so even if it's just to serve your customers after a coating, that makes it a no brainer and you haven't sold anybody else anything.
You know, you haven't.
You probably know a bunch of detailers in your area and you probably know a bunch of friends that are in the car community or you're at cars and coffee all the time or you're doing things.
Like that.
We are seeing a huge uptick because of the state of the economy and more car people wanting to learn how to take care of their car.
And this has really been going on the past six years.
I mean, the past six years is probably unprecedented for the detailing industry, not because of detailers or shops.
That growth has been massive, but the growth that's been massive is the consumer.
The consumer is truly, for the first time in my career, so interested in trying to take care of their own stuff.
Now, whether they do it right or to our level or whatever our opinion is, the fact is there's so many of you men and women out there that listen to us that are just car people.
You're not even detailers that we know that this is upticking to a place where if you're a detailer, a shop doesn't matter and you're not providing those solutions.
They're just going online and getting it anyway.
And you're missing out on that revenue and we have people that are making, you know, 30, 40, $50,000 plus a year in revenue just doing distribution.
And now that's on the side of their shop or the side of their business or whatever.
We have people on TikTok doing TikTok shop and doing all these different types of things that are providing value to them because they know all about the products.
And so all they're doing is sharing what they do.
And they're seeing an uptick in the car owner is in a really tough place because cars are so expensive.
They know they're expensive and they're like, I never took care of my car before, but I don't have a choice now because this is so expensive for me and me and my family and everything else.
I want to take care of my car a little better.
And so I think it's just a no brainer type of thing.
We've got, we've got a stupider named Corey who got another pallet just recently and he messaged me, this stuff's flying off the shelves.
Quote unquote, right?
So as much as I love seeing Brian, you know, she'd send those photos of the drinks and what he was doing there.
I love also when people send those texts.
This is flying off the shelf.
I think the thing we don't share is like we have pallets heading all over the US going into Canada, going over the world.
We don't share a lot of that stuff because, you know, we're not here to share that.
We're here to talk detailing and how we can help and, you know, share our experience.
But guys, everybody's jumping on the train and seeing the benefits.
And I really believe, like you said, I mean, seeing some of the cool content Corey and his team do and just seeing like you're providing a solution.
If you have no problem detailing someone's car, I can promise you there's a lot of people that they also want the solution of what to do after the coding
or what to do after the PPF installation or something like that.
If you're not plugged into that, you probably don't think it's as heavy as it is.
It's very, very heavy today.
So we mentioned Corey, there's a highlight and another highlight you mentioned somebody on TikTok, right?
That's Derek.
Derek's doing a great job on TikTok.
I love to see it as long as he's been around in the brand.
He's one of the longest customers.
So now outselling too.
And it's awesome.
It's awesome to see.
It was cool when I saw something where he was tagged this weekend.
It was a big car show, big car shows all over this weekend.
Listen here on Route 66 through Oklahoma.
I mean, there was thousands.
It was all over.
It seemed like every place we went, all we saw was people going up and down and driving around.
It was beautiful weather.
I'm sure everybody else had it.
So Derek got tagged.
And this was, this is where you have to have.
Let me show you this photo.
If you didn't see it, I hope he goes and posts it inside the specialist group.
Look at those seeds.
Yeah.
So we, you know, I want to say to Derek and I believe the guy's name is Dynamic Detail.
They want a big concor up in Greenwich, Bugatti with hyper clean products.
You know, some type of Ferrari, maybe a Dino, you know, or, or, or something along those lines.
One best.
There too.
Yeah.
I mean, it, this is really cool stuff, man.
Derek now gets to be a part of this guy's helping this guy, giving him good products or winning best in show with Bugatti's and different things like that.
I can't tell you guys how cool that stuff is to me that our products are being used on, on everyone's car, but to see at a car show for best in show to go to something to use in hyper clean.
And like you said, man, it's car show season.
It's detailing season.
You're going to have more and more people asking you questions.
Better to be prepared, you know, and just get it done.
And, and, and understand that you have a very rapidly changing consumer.
The consumers are more interested today than they even were two years ago in learning how to take care of their car or just something that they don't not hire you.
They just get like you said, they get to fool around with their car a little bit.
They get to mess around with their car a little bit.
And he's still going to call you to have most of the stuff done.
There's all different types of consumers out there, but to just not be prepared to to help the consumers probably going by the wayside.
I mean, it is now there's a lot of stuff we do behind the scenes where full multi shop owners are going heavy into chemicals because they're like, I am just tired of hearing these people using stuff on the cars that we did that that I know they shouldn't be using.
So I think it is becoming a bigger awareness thing.
All right, so let's let's go into that picture has this really cool seat.
And you go, man, absolutely, this is why we have revived.
Yeah, when you see that seat, you know, those are the kind of cars that was revived was tested on and those types of things.
I mean, revive is such a no brainer.
It's so cool to see it on that kind of seat.
And, you know, I, you know, it's cool to see something come to life where you go.
Yeah, this is kind of the reason.
And this was the bottom part of revived being built.
This was the ground level of it.
Yeah.
And to see it, you're right, like to see it do.
Now, here's a question I saw inside of another group.
This is a beginner type detailing group that is on Facebook.
And I wanted to pair it with not only its revive awesome for the seats at a car show, but this question was how to remove dog slobber residue from Tesla seats.
How you would go, hey, how are you going revive and not going enzyme there?
Okay, you might you might do enzyme.
This is why I brought up the question, right?
So how do you remove dog slobber residue from Tesla seats?
Excuse me.
I would first have to ask the question.
I think the reason why I would say revive is because Nick, you would be better at this than me.
Are Tesla seats any of them fabric?
No, it's all vinyl.
Yeah.
So you would just use revive and I can't imagine it would take you any longer than a couple seconds and you would move on with your life.
We see a lot more of these types of questions being asked, which I actually think is a good thing.
You know, people just don't know and so they're trying to ask.
What you asked, you said, you know, people are all looking, they're trying to find it.
Yeah.
So I try to ask you look at a product like revive on inside of a Tesla.
You just have to grab one bottle.
I mean, and you don't have to be worried about burning a door panel, dealing with the screens, which, which are big.
You don't have to be worried about dealing with any touch points any differently.
You don't have to be worried about dog slobber on the seats.
It's just, you know, grab a grab a tool and go.
And, and I think that's, that is the basis, the very ground floor of revive is that a Tesla, you got pictures of Ferrari, a Bugatti, a Lambo, a Honda, doesn't matter.
That's that product is built for not only what happened at the car show where we shared those pictures, but it also happens in places like a Tesla.
Hey, you got it.
Somebody had their dog in the back.
Just grab revive.
It's pretty simple.
And what's our process?
What's our process?
We gave it.
If somebody's like, listen, my dog was there.
I got slobber all over the place.
I mean, gracious enough to let you know.
Yeah.
Grab grab grab.
Or I'm a person that goes, Hey, I got a Tesla and I love to take my dog up to the park.
Sure.
And then afterwards I got to do a cleanup.
Listen, I, I like to take my dog around.
I am that guy.
Not me.
What's not that guy?
We know.
We know that guy.
You're the guy that rides around with a coffee, open coffee cup, you know, trying to, you know,
drive a manual.
Hey, listen, I've gotten better since you called me out on that.
I do.
I do use these now.
We get, we get, we get those free from, from our, you know, one of our suppliers.
It's online, right?
I get some stuff from online.
It's, it's, you know, I think when you're dealing with vinyl seats, you know, I would
say it's about leather.
I've seen a lot of people going a little too aggressive, you know, something that gives
you scrubbing power or scrub monster or, or, you know, you know, stuff like that that's
specifically made for the inside of cars.
It's enough.
Okay.
You don't need to be talking about magic erasers and you don't need to be talking about all
this crazy stuff that I see.
You don't need a drill brush, you know, and, and, and, you know, again, not that that's
a bad thing.
Like you said, they're, they're Tesla over.
Yeah.
Well, not only that, you're kind of, you're bringing, bringing into, you're bringing in
chances, right?
Because that bristle has, I mean, now some people are going to go, listen, I got a soft
bristle.
Okay.
It's still a bristle.
Yep.
It's not as soft as, as you mentioned, the, the, the monsters we have, the scrubbuzzers
or any of those that have that is real short.
It's felt.
And by the way, you can feel it, it under your hand instead of a tool.
But again, if it was fabric and it was really torn up and you had to use enzyme and you
wanted to scrub it with a, with a brush, I mean, that's the right time, right?
But you're talking about a vinyl, you know, fake leather seat here.
Like if, if you're cleaner, can't pull dog slobber off that, you got a problem.
Right?
I mean, like you just have a problem and, and, and that's why a lot of time is wasted
in trying to find a workaround when there's no, there doesn't need to be a workaround.
You just need to write chemical, go to work and be done with it.
No.
All right.
So this is a video that had us put on the code and you mentioned that she was going
to run down through the car wash.
I should have brought up this, this post then, but I have it down in the notes.
So it is what it is.
But this I got out of another group, not our group.
This was just a, it's called, you know, just a detailing group, right?
It doesn't matter.
So says, does a ceramic coating get hurt by running it through a car wash occasionally?
And there was 300 and fifteen comments.
Uh, it's pretty simple.
The answer is abrasion is a coating's enemy, right?
And if it's a brushed car wash, yeah, it's going to, it's going to start to eat away
at it.
I've seen a lot of confusion about chemical car washes or what you would call touch free
washes where there's a lot of defense and there's a lot of argument and there's a lot
of anti and this and that.
Our coatings in particular is all I can really talk about.
If your coating is being degraded by a car wash that's, that's not, that is not using
brushes, meaning it's all chemical, then it's not a very strong coating, right?
Because you cover so much of the pH scale.
If they're putting out a one on the pH scale of acid, you've got a big, I mean, they're
basically putting battery acid out at that point.
Okay, you got bigger issues because you're going to see a lot of things fried pretty
quick.
Basically, let's unpack what you're saying, right?
Like, for instance, if something is low or high on the pH scale, we would see plastics
start to have some discoloration.
We would start to see some things.
You would see some real damage.
I mean, if it was going to affect your coating, you'd start to see some burnt plastic.
I mean, almost melting plastic.
So, but there is danger in a chemical wash for ceramic coating.
And a lot of that is about residue.
Yeah.
And a lot of that is about staining, which can happen at a lot of different places on
the pH scale, high on the pH scale, which would be like, you know, for those of you
that are APC degree surusers that'd be high on the pH scale, low on the pH scale would
be, you know, wheel acids and things like that.
Well, you go into the wrong chemical based wash, you know, touch free wash.
Yeah, you could have a lot of misaligned chemicals and you could create a lot of havoc.
And the havoc you would create is two fold staining, which would have stained the clear
coat, but now it's stained the coating, which is a good thing that it damaged the coating.
Yeah, the coating.
Or the probably the biggest one we see is the residue left behind.
The film.
And that happens from not enough water as you a lot of you go through even at the gas
station ones, right?
Like you go through and then at the end, there's just like this little like sprinkle water
and you're like, yeah, that's not going to get anything.
Okay, you know, like, yeah, you need a good, good rinse out of those.
And so if you went through a touchless, I know a lot of us will tell our customers,
we like to explain, like, if you go through a touchless, it's better than this and it
is true.
Okay, but in that touchless, they don't have enough rinse, enough dry, enough of all that.
And if you're in a place where water is expensive, trust me, they cut back on all that, right?
And they dilute chemicals wrong all the time.
They titrate chemicals wrong all the time.
They know their their systems malfunctioning, they don't want to have somebody deal with
it.
Because that's that's an expense.
They buy, I mean, I would say probably 100% of car washes are looking for the cheapest
chemicals.
They're not looking for the best.
They say they got something proprietary to them, they don't.
You know, they are using very low pH and very high pH to get a result.
All of that can be reached in a myriad of ways.
But the fact that there was 300 comments on this post, I can only imagine the miseducation
that was that was available there.
But here's the most important thing.
Car washes are always going to have a trade off, man.
Ultra convenient, rather cheap.
Put the XYZ in next, right?
Ultra fast, ultra cheap.
When is that ever a good thing?
Like when do you ever get a great result out of that?
And the answer is you don't.
And you run a risk.
That's why they have in a lot of maybe probably still in Oklahoma, all the things they're
not liable for hung up somewhere.
They're not doing that out of the goodness of their heart.
They're doing it because they don't want to be liable for anything.
Burning your wheels, burning trim, staining your car.
Like you said, we don't talk enough about the rents, the amount of water it actually
takes to rinse off a car.
I don't know too many car washes using enough rents.
I would say they cut back on that first.
That's what I was saying, like water's not cheap, you know?
So there's a lot of things that can happen.
And so I don't ever talk to anybody like car washes are safe.
I sort of talk how I just spoke on this podcast.
It's like, yeah, man, you can do that.
But if you start seeing staining, if your coating is not acting properly, I can guarantee it's
one of two things.
The chemical has burnt the coating and you have a massive amount of residue built up when
you start to see your coating not quote unquote acting as it should.
And all that stuff's going to have to be stripped off and taken off with good products and taken
off proper properly.
I have yet to see any long term car wash user of any kind touch free brushes.
Doesn't matter.
That does not have evidence that that's what they've been doing.
All right, I want everybody listening to hear this question.
I want you to answer it for yourself based on what we just talked about the car washes.
Let's take a flip of the coin because there's a post we're going to get into.
And I'm going to go, hey, listen, I want everybody to ask and hear this question.
I'm about to ask is our car washes, the mortal enemy of your detailing business or our other
detailers who's the mortal enemy of your business?
Now, I love the word mortal.
I'm so ready to watch Mortal Kombat 2.
Were you again?
Were you ever again with those?
Yeah, I used to love Mortal Kombat.
Go into the arcade and fight with people that you didn't even know.
And you didn't have to get a bloody lip.
You love to actually fight.
I love to fight on electronics.
You know, I like them both.
But, you know, who's the mortal enemy, right?
Like we were so many people and we got you and almost even throw in dealerships.
We thought, right, like so many people talk about, is it, you know, like I said,
dealerships, is it the car wash?
Or this was a post that was put out.
And this had a lot of comments, too.
And it said, cheap detailers.
What do you think is the cause of so many cheap detailers setting up and are
brands the cause of the problem with cheap training?
I go, wow.
OK, that's somebody brought in a new here we go.
I like it, right?
We've got another another adversary.
And I love the way that this guy asked it now.
I don't know what his intentions were.
I don't know about all that.
It's not about the guy.
It's about asking now we've got another party that somebody's
bringing to the table to put an accusation on why we have cheap detailers.
And they say it's because or it's not the same.
They're asking, is it because we have cheap training?
Oh, well, I think we've gone down a weird road and detailing.
And I think we have to start there.
The weird road that we've gone down is we're like,
it's really easy to get into our industry.
And we're going to blame everything on that.
Cool.
It's pretty cheap to to set yourself up and be an electrician,
being a plumber, being a carpenter, being a flooring guy,
being a carpet guy, how many trades out there?
And I give people are going to say, well, there's licenses.
Pause on that.
I got the rare opportunity and maybe you would say it was a good
opportunity or not was walking the dogs and my wife decided she wanted to join me.
So it was a good opportunity or not.
I don't know, but I got to educate her on different parts of the neighborhood.
And I there was this service van.
I'm just call it service van because it that's what it was.
It was an electrician service van.
And we have a lot of which I've said there's a lot of through our
in Tulsa, we have a lot of Southeast Asians being like sent over.
And they they come out of persecution.
There's so many that our school, our public school had to hire a translator.
Yeah, like I'm telling you, there's there's a ton of them.
And I said this to her, I go, that's perfect.
And this isn't my wife from Brazil.
This isn't a this isn't a stereotype.
So I just go, this is perfect for Asians.
You'll see so many of these people around us start to file into
this serving other people, finding an avenue to serve others.
And they're going to just gain so much out of it.
And we don't just have one vehicle and they just are popping up.
More people are starting to serve others and seeing the opportunity there.
Yeah. And I think for some reason, the car aftermarket, you know,
restyling business, right, which is what we're in as detailers,
PPF shops, tent shops.
They always make these these crazy accusations about how easy it is to get into.
I don't know, man.
If a guy has a set of tools, he can become a handyman tomorrow.
Yeah. So that's what we're showing, right?
I mean, I don't I just came here already in.
Yeah, I look at all of this and I go.
When you make a statement about because training is so cheap.
The vast majority of people doing stuff at people's homes,
even in businesses, never went to any training.
So I don't even know what the conversation and why we're still having
such a silly conversation about training.
I would love if everybody had to spend 10 grand and learn every skill
that they should have.
And we have cool men.
I just live in the real world.
And I can tell you that I've had people do hardscape landscape
and multiple houses that I've owned now.
I can tell you none of them had a license.
Not because I was like trying to hire somebody illegally.
It was like, these guys do good work.
I got a referral from somebody.
You talk to them.
They give you an estimate.
They show you what they're going to do.
They perform the job.
They get another five referrals, another seven referrals, another 10
referrals over the life of their business.
I don't know what training they went to.
I mean, is there like a landscape training they went to?
I mean, maybe I'd say it's 99 out of 100.
Did not do that.
They probably worked for somebody for a long time and said,
that's time for me to set up my own shop because that's what they did.
Or they watched a hundred YouTube videos.
I don't know what the hell they did.
I just know that my buddy said they did a great job in his backyard
in his front yard and we hired them.
And the last guy we hired just just arrived in trucks with nothing on them.
No license number.
No. And this is a considerable amount of work.
But I saw my buddy's backyard and I go, damn, they did a great job.
He's like, awesome.
Can't recommend them enough.
So how do we get caught up of trying to play the blame game all the time?
And that's where this comes from.
I would say that I don't know anybody successful in this business
that's worried about the cheap detailer, that's worried about the car wash,
that's worried about any of that.
But I do know people that are struggling that continually interact
with these types of posts talking about what somebody else should do.
And if it worked and that all got the cheap people out, I'd be all for it,
except for right when you leave my office park here and I turn on the road
that I go home, there's three guys in the back of hands doing $20 details.
If you're going to say you have cheaper than that in your town, my guess is no.
And they're literally less than a block set up on a road, on a side street,
washing cars and detailing, you know, says car detail, 20 bucks.
I don't know what the fascination with any of this is.
I just know it's the way it goes.
And it goes this way for a million businesses.
It's not just our business.
That's the love that you said that.
I love that you said that, right?
Because he says, what do you think is a cause of so many cheap
and then you could just fill in that blank?
Yeah, cheap plumber, cheap electrician, cheap pool guy, cheap this guy,
cheap landscape guy, cheap.
I don't know, man. Painter.
I've shared the stories and discussions about having painters come in and give bids
and trying to understand why this guy's bid was so high.
And then he goes, oh, here, I'll take it down.
And he dropped it like half.
And I'm like, oh, you know.
And then there's other guy was way down way too low.
Well, I'm not thinking about this.
We had, we've had to have worked on an HQ.
We had a fully licensed person do it.
We had a complete dispute with them.
They're fully licensed all the training in the world.
We could have also hired another company with none of that got the same work for less
or for more, whatever it is, and had no dispute, right?
So I think we all need to just stop living in this world like detailing or PPF or
tend to some type of victim of society.
It's like, like you said, you could put cheap and then a million professions.
Right. Like we, we, if you're in business long enough, you have attorneys.
Okay. You have to have an attorney to handle stuff.
Let me tell you what you can have cheap next to attorneys, cheap accountant,
cheap bookkeeper, groceries, grow, whatever.
Maybe I don't know.
Cheap gas.
Yeah.
You don't get cheap gas anymore.
Yeah. I mean, but why we have this fascination of talking about this.
It seemingly never the top shops, guys talking about it.
I just don't know any.
This isn't, you and I talked to a lot of shops doing really well.
A lot of detailers doing really well.
The cheap dot, dot, dot does not come up in the hundreds of conversations we have a year with
those businesses.
So the comments and the people that said is, it's sort of what we all think, right?
There's a guy that said, you know, low entry point, a vacuum costs less than a saw.
Soap is cheaper than screws or a hammer.
Oh, you and I did the same thing.
Well, first of all, ones are consumable and you can use a hammer for the next 30 years.
And how much cheaper is it?
I mean, can't you find, I mean, I'm sure the really nice hammers and the really high
quality ones are expensive, but I mean, can't you buy a hammer for 12 bucks?
And I want to ask the guy, well, why do you think you had to go cheap?
There's also where you go.
The people that are concerned about other people, and I didn't explain which people are,
right?
Let's rewind that.
There's people that are concerned about other people.
Now, if you do what I did a second ago and you have a fill in the blank, let's do that.
There's cheap people that are always concerned about other cheap people.
Yeah, that's just the way it is, right?
Like, you always find people that are more concerned about other people that they are like.
That is just the way it is.
That's just human nature.
So, so when somebody goes in and goes low-inching point of Acton's Cotslet,
okay, then he was probably also that guy, right?
Like, he is also a cheap person that's getting mad about other people.
Yeah, good point.
I see posts like this too, and I go, and it's not so much about this guy,
because I don't know his business, but I just go, I see so many more people.
There was a guy complaining about, you know, so many people were sending him messages and
so he had to go and make a public post and say, hey, it's not my website, so did it?
It's your lack of SEO that caused it, right?
Like, you have this one, right?
And I see this guy, and he's having to make a post talking about cheap detailers.
You go, huh, why, why did either one of them?
Yeah, but here's, if you're going to dive into the why, but what goes on on Facebook is,
I mean, we just have to say it out loud.
It is wild.
I mean, we thought, what, six or so years ago that TikTok was the Wild West,
the stuff that gets written on Facebook is bonkers, right?
I mean, it's bonkers and that is the platform where people are using their full name.
I mean, lots of people go on Instagram and TikTok and they use, you know, an alias of
some sort.
I'm not saying everybody, but you know what I mean, like Facebook is connected to you
personally or your business personally, one or the other.
And people just talk crazy on that platform.
I can't imagine doing that.
It just doesn't even occur to me.
So don't you think that's more the conversation of like,
why are we having these, what I think are just outdated conversations?
Like we really haven't moved anywhere.
And I love that.
So when I say why, let's unpack maybe why there's something that we're starting to question.
What is content?
Yeah, yeah.
No, you're, you're right.
What is content?
What is a content creator?
What do they do?
What is their purpose?
What is content?
Ask ourselves that question.
What is content?
But you, we didn't have, quote unquote, content.
Five, 10, well, five would call it pre what, 2015?
Yeah, 15 years ago would be the number I would say.
I mean, in 2010.
You just weren't thinking, you weren't thinking about it.
Yeah.
What is content?
Did he just post this so that he would have, I don't know, X amount.
This is, I don't know how he can say he did something.
Well, okay, great.
Let's unpack it there.
So he could say he could did something so he could get people to comment so he could get likes
so he could get up the algorithm.
Does he really feel there's cheap?
I don't know.
Does he know that this is a trigger?
Right, like, what is content?
Why did somebody put this out?
Yeah, but I think, and I'll just share everybody's stuff that we talk about, you know, internally.
There's also a thing, man, where people are starting to revolt against this kind of stuff,
you know, look, man, if you're going to really advance this conversation, great.
I can say since I've been publicly watching this for the last six years,
I've never seen anybody solve cheap quote unquote.
Because I don't think it's solvable.
I don't even think it's remotely something that can be solved ever, right?
Because you and I got into the business and there were dealerships that were cheap and there
were dealerships that weren't.
I was the cheap detailer.
Yeah, I've said it.
Yeah, I was 25 bucks.
Yeah, but you need to tell people you started 20 plus years ago.
Yeah, 2002, but the lady I talked about earlier every day we would go over was 50 bucks.
She would get a mobile mini detail for 50 bucks.
Now we would have two or three cars and that same neighborhood behind them was the guy
that owned the Tulsa Drillers.
The other people crossing them was that Mike that you had met here at HQ, right?
I mean, we had a plan for being there, but we were $50.
Yeah, yeah, no, it's, I think we when you talk about when you tie this all together,
one of the questions is that you can't keep having the same conversations about things
that there's no fix for.
You can if you're creating content.
Yes, right.
But I think for many of you that if you're listening to this and you get caught up in
this kind of stuff, I can tell you where it leads for you to finally figure out that
that was a waste of time.
And I only know that because I've wasted plenty of time too.
We just all have to say it as business owners.
I thought some things five years ago that I've had to change my opinion on and go out.
It's not a good use of my time.
That kind of stuff happens.
I think a lot of this and it's why we've gotten out of the quote unquote industry talk
because it's the same shit I heard 67 years ago.
Nothing's advanced, nothing's changed.
No plan has been enacted to change it.
Nobody is going to change it.
You're not going to change the three vans that I see every time I drive home or drive to work
that are offering on a on an A frame sign, $20 details.
In 2026, that seems impossible that that person's paying their bills.
We can all say that.
But I can tell you they're there seven days a week.
So keep coming back.
So they're doing something, right?
I don't know what they're doing.
I don't know if they have 40 people living in their house.
I don't know.
I know one thing.
My business has done just fine.
And I'm talking about one street.
I can go another block and there's three or four people posted up.
I can go near one of the offices about a quarter of a mile away.
There's another four or five guys always posted up.
So what's that?
Close to 10 people posted up in detailing vans with 20, 25 dollars.
I mean, my business has done fine that entire time.
These people have always been a part of the ecosystem in Las Vegas.
I get some of you have not experienced that level of cheap, quote unquote.
If I sat here and concerned myself for the last 15 years about cheap detailers,
I wouldn't have a business.
I mean, it just it wouldn't exist.
And so when I see this kind of stuff, I just go, don't get sucked down the rabbit hole.
Because this guy or that guy or this person or even me, there is no solving it.
Nobody is going to solve any of this and stop thinking detailing.
Is the susceptible because I know what people say.
Well, you know, electrician.
No, you don't know.
You don't know because I can tell you all around Las Vegas and Tulsa right now
is a guy that started with a couple hand tools.
Doing electrical work right wrong or indifferent.
You're just making up stories about another industry that you don't know about.
But if I talk to my buddy who sold to HVAC companies for over
what total of $80 million, he'll tell you the same story I'm telling right now.
There was always cheap HVAC guys and they weren't licensed and they didn't go through
the proper channels.
But to operate my business, I did.
And so that's what I did.
You know what I mean?
We got to stop this victim mentality inside detailing.
Well, a vacuum is cheap.
So are some hand snips.
I mean, that this guy is going to make $30,000 a month off of.
Like, what are you talking about, man?
Like you just-
Victim mentality.
So what a great two words.
What a great two words to summarize the comments that were listed, right?
Like low entry point, like I said, that vacuum guy.
There's the, well, lack of knowledge.
People are getting pocket cash.
Here's a guy that we know from a long time that goes,
and he's a guy that's been around forever.
Well, that's one of the reasons I shut down.
No, it wasn't.
There's a guy saying, well, professional detailers haven't dialed in their own process.
And then you got, well, you know, people that detail their own cars, dot, dot, dot.
Okay.
It's immortal.
The immortal, you, like, it's immortal.
We're always going to have cheap people.
Yep.
So that's what I love about what you just said.
Yeah.
And by the way, these are the same people trying to find deals on soap.
They're complaining about the cheap detailer when they're trying to,
you know, go to a big box store and find, you know, soap that's been knocked down
and detail sprays that have been knocked down.
I just don't want anybody that follows us to hear anything different.
Like, look, man, this is not an easy business to make it.
It's just not to make it so cheap.
Let's go to the right.
There's levels.
There are right.
Like if they're going to cheap is a level, it's a level.
I was a guy that was there.
By the way, Walmart's made a whole business on cheap.
Right.
So think of all the retailers that go, Walmart's cutting this corner,
Walmart's cutting that corner and we don't cut that corner.
And now our business.
Yeah.
Yep.
Oh, listen, you're going to pay more at Whole Foods, but I'm telling you,
he's better food.
Yes.
100%.
I finally inside of our house.
We finally, it took years, took years to get out of cheap.
But if finally, and now we do go back the way I used to shop.
Yep.
And it makes a huge difference.
I mean, look, you buy your meat direct from a farmer.
It might cost you a little more.
Yeah, that would be even better.
Yeah, it's going to be even better.
Like, and again, have I had to eat spaghetti for 30 days because I was broke?
Yeah, man.
But it wasn't anybody's fault.
Nobody did anything.
I just was at a point and I know some of you are listening to us and you're at a point
and you want to start saying I'm struggling or not going.
Don't do it.
Don't do it.
I hear you, but I'm telling you going down these rabbit holes of people in this industry
making you believe this industry is something that no one else deals with is a losing proposition.
Because let me tell you what they're finding out.
You've seen the stuff with truck drivers and how many people are driving trucks now that
didn't really get CDL training, but they're operating, you know, four or $500,000 rigs
and they found a shortcut.
We deal with a lot of freight people in our business because we ship a lot of freight.
Let me tell you, man, the complaints are endless.
Don't think this industry is different than every other industry because I can tell you,
I can show you guys that barely graduated law school doing real cheap, you know,
law type of stuff and there's a guy going and bitching about the cheap and then there's a
guy competing with the cheap and he's got, you know, 100 people working for him.
But that cheap guy always existed.
Stop thinking and we have to do this in detailing.
Stop thinking this is different because I can tell you it's not.
It just, it just isn't.
You're making that up in your mind because you want to act like you're in some position
nobody else deals with.
We all deal with stuff.
Every industry deals with stuff, period.
And they always deal with cheap.
This guy will do it cheaper than I'll do it.
Every industry deals with that.
All right, great episode.
Thanks for the talk.
We'll see everybody inside of the hyper clean specialist group there on Facebook.
So you can be around others.
You can go see Brian, you know, sharing the surf side.
They were great.
I don't know.
Eliminated vodka.
This is definitely more of your world.
Oh, it's not an IPA.
You got to choke down.
I get it.
No, it's just true.
I'll manage.
I noticed they went pretty quick.
A lot quicker than some of those IPAs.
So it looks like you enjoyed yourself.
All right, guys, we'll see you next time.
About this episode
A new Range Rover customer texts about “a wax,” but the hosts explain how modern protection has shifted toward ceramic coatings and layered systems. They break down why clients still use “wax” loosely, how wealthier customers often want scheduling and “set it and forget it,” and how mobile detailers can handle coating work. The conversation also tackles aftercare, including what happens when customers rely on cheap car washes—abrasion and chemical residue can undermine coatings. Finally, they debate why “cheap detailers” persist and why there’s “no solving it.”
Original notes
In this episode, Marshall and Nick dive into the nuances of dealing with wealthy clients in the detailing industry. They discuss the importance of understanding client expectations, especially when it comes to terminology like "wax" versus modern alternatives like ceramic coatings.
The conversation also touches on the challenges and opportunities in distribution, the rise of consumer interest in car care, and the persistent issue of "cheap detailers" in the market. With engaging anecdotes and practical insights, this episode is a must-listen for anyone in the detailing business.
Chapters
- Introduction and Customer Texts - 0:00
- Understanding Wealthy Clients - 2:01
- Terminology and Expectations - 4:17
- Mobile Detailing Process - 11:11
- Distribution Opportunities - 21:00
- Consumer Interest in Car Care - 23:17
- Challenges with Cheap Detailers - 40:05
- Content Creation and Industry Insights - 53:03
- Closing Remarks - 63:01
Pints and Polishing Auto Detailing Podcast
Nick Walters and Marshall Hill
0:00
63:46