Exploring the nuances of auto detailing, this episode dives into effective maintenance strategies and the importance of quality products. The hosts discuss customer retention, the impact of marketing tactics like leaving gifts, and the significance of understanding client preferences. They also tackle common detailing challenges, such as dealing with hard water spots and the right approach to cleaning wheels. With anecdotes and practical advice, the episode emphasizes the need for detailers to adapt and provide tailored services to meet diverse customer needs.
In this conversation, Marshall and Nick explore various topics related to customer retention in the detailing industry, the impact of celebrity boxing on sports viewership, and the importance of effective communication with clients.
They discuss trends in detailing, such as the use of floor mats and customer engagement strategies, including gifts and follow-ups.
The conversation also delves into the technical aspects of detailing, including maintenance schedules, stain removal techniques, and the significance of using quality products for wheel cleaning.
Chapters
00:00 Would You Rather: The Million Dollar Dilemma
02:54 The Boxing World: Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua
05:48 Trends in Detailing: Floor Mats and Customer Retention
09:10 Customer Engagement: Gifts and Appreciation Strategies
12:13 Scheduling for Success: The Importance of Follow-Ups
15:08 Maintenance Matters: Keeping Customers Coming Back
18:05 The Art of Detailing: Tools, Techniques, and Customer Expectations
21:10 Red Dye Removal: Tackling Tough Stains
24:04 Wheel Cleaning: Non-Acid Solutions and Customer Care
"...or sake of argument. Man, what if you do a lot of semi trucks? What if you do a lot of farm equipment? W..."
The Tesla Semi is a big electric truck that doesn't use gasoline, which is better for the environment. It's built to carry heavy loads and can go a long distance without needing to recharge. People talk about it because it could change how we move goods around the country.
The Tesla Semi is an all-electric truck designed for freight transport, aiming to revolutionize the trucking industry with its zero-emission technology and lower operating costs. It boasts impressive performance metrics, including rapid acceleration and a long range on a single charge, making it a significant player in sustainable logistics. Its discussion often revolves around the future of transportation and the shift towards electric vehicles.
"...he was cleaning a brand new Cadillac Escalade EV."
The Cadillac Escalade EV is a luxury electric SUV that offers a lot of space and high-end features. It's part of Cadillac's move to make more electric cars.
The Cadillac Escalade EV is an electric version of the popular luxury SUV, known for its spacious interior, advanced technology, and premium features. It represents Cadillac's shift towards electrification in their vehicle lineup.
"He loved it. And he was ready to start trying Fuego and some other stuff because he was so excited th..."
The Renault Fuego is a stylish two-door car that was made a long time ago, in the late 1970s and 1980s. It was known for being fun to drive and looked different from many other cars at the time. People remember it because it had a cool design and was popular in Europe.
The Renault Fuego is a sporty coupe produced in the late 1970s and 1980s, known for its distinctive design and affordability. It was popular in Europe and offered a blend of style and performance, making it a memorable model in Renault's history. Discussions about the Fuego often highlight its unique character and the nostalgia it evokes among car enthusiasts.
"...if you got into like seven series, some five series, I believe you could buy..."
The BMW 7 Series is a high-end car made by BMW, designed for luxury and comfort. It's often equipped with the latest technology and features.
The BMW 7 Series is a luxury sedan known for its advanced technology and comfort features. It has been a flagship model for BMW since its introduction in 1977.
The center console is the part of the car between the front seats where you find controls and sometimes storage for things like drinks or phones.
The center console is the area in a vehicle between the driver and passenger seats, often housing controls for the audio system, climate control, and storage compartments.
".... But I'm guessing the BMW phone service was like sprinter MCI or some company, but it was just called the B..."
The Toyota Sprinter is a small car that was made for many years and is known for being very reliable. It comes in different styles, like four-door and two-door versions, and is popular because it’s easy to drive and doesn’t break down often. People talk about it because it’s a good choice for everyday use.
The Toyota Sprinter is a compact car that was produced in various forms from the 1960s to the early 2000s, often recognized for its reliability and practicality. It was available in different body styles, including sedans and coupes, and was particularly popular in markets like Japan and Australia. The Sprinter is often discussed for its role in Toyota's lineup as a dependable and economical vehicle.
"...that guy doesn't have the skill to be using what looks to be a rotary. And my guess is he went rotary and then rotary again."
A rotary tool is a small, powerful tool that spins very fast and can be used for many different jobs, like cleaning or fixing things on a car.
A rotary tool is a versatile handheld power tool used for various tasks, including sanding, grinding, and polishing. In automotive contexts, it can be used for detailing and paint correction.
"...how do we fix swirl marks that have been moved all up and down this car? And how is it fixed?"
Swirl marks are tiny scratches on a car's paint that make it look dull or cloudy. They usually happen when the car is washed or polished incorrectly.
Swirl marks are fine scratches on a car's paint surface that can be caused by improper washing, drying, or polishing techniques. They appear as circular patterns and can detract from the vehicle's appearance.
Term
DA
"We definitely got to go to a DA at this point. I wouldn't trust the average person to pick up a rotary and then fix rotary swirls."
A DA is a special tool used to polish cars. It moves in two ways to help make the car's paint look shiny and smooth without causing damage.
DA stands for Dual Action polisher, a tool used in automotive detailing that combines rotary and orbital motion to polish surfaces without damaging the paint. It's ideal for removing imperfections like swirl marks.
"So let's say you use a really, really, really aggressive wool pad. You're not going right to finish."
A wool pad is a special attachment for polishing machines that helps to scrub and smooth out the paint on cars. It's good for fixing big scratches but might leave some marks that need to be cleaned up later.
A wool pad is a type of polishing pad made from natural or synthetic wool fibers, used with a rotary polisher for aggressive cutting. It helps to remove heavy defects but can leave a rough finish that requires further polishing.
"You've got to step it out, which is the proper terminology. You've got to step it down and get it to a place where it can be finished."
'Stepping it down' means changing how you polish a car in stages. After using a rough tool to fix big problems, you switch to gentler tools to make the surface nice and smooth.
'Stepping it down' refers to the process of gradually changing the polishing technique or tools to achieve a finer finish after using a more aggressive method. This ensures that the surface is smooth and free of imperfections.
"... going to last you a really long time. We use our TRX on maintenance clients at four to one all the tim..."
The Ram TRX is a tough pickup truck that can handle rough roads and tough jobs. It has a really powerful engine, which means it can go fast and do a lot of heavy lifting. People like it because it's both fancy inside and strong outside.
The Ram TRX is a high-performance off-road pickup truck that features a supercharged V8 engine, making it one of the most powerful trucks on the market. It is designed for both rugged terrain and everyday usability, appealing to enthusiasts who need a versatile vehicle. Its significance lies in its combination of luxury and extreme capability, making it a popular choice among truck lovers.
"Well, so glad you mentioned that, Nick. One of these other photos that was, you can all imagine, this is the AMG black wheel. Oh yeah."
AMG black wheels are special wheels made for high-performance Mercedes cars. They look cool and help the car perform better.
AMG black wheels refer to high-performance wheels designed by Mercedes-AMG, the performance division of Mercedes-Benz. These wheels often feature a distinctive design and finish that enhances both aesthetics and performance.
The GMC Yukon is a large SUV that can carry many passengers and has a lot of space for cargo. It's a popular choice for families and people who need to tow things.
The GMC Yukon is a full-size SUV known for its spacious interior and strong towing capabilities. It is often used for family transport and off-road adventures.
Denali is a special version of GMC vehicles that comes with nicer features and a more luxurious feel. It's like a higher-end model with extra comforts.
Denali is a trim level for GMC vehicles, including the Yukon, that offers luxury features and upgraded performance. It is known for its premium materials and advanced technology.
"Sitting, uh, sitting like the way you would like it with some chrome rims, huh?"
Chrome rims are shiny wheels on cars that look really nice. They are made to be reflective and add a stylish touch to the vehicle.
Chrome rims are wheels that have a shiny, reflective finish due to a layer of chromium plating. They are often chosen for aesthetic appeal and can enhance the overall look of a vehicle.
"...Chrome dip case aluminum wheels. How do you get rust stains off a wheel safely? Says long story."
Aluminum wheels are a type of wheel made from aluminum, which is lighter than steel. They help improve a car's performance but can get rusty if not taken care of.
Aluminum wheels are lightweight and often used in performance vehicles due to their strength and ability to dissipate heat. They can be more prone to corrosion compared to steel wheels, especially if not properly maintained.
"So rust in chrome. Recrome. Yeah. This is kind of like an oxymoron because usually chrome. Pretty easy to clean up."
Rust in chrome happens when the shiny chrome layer on metal gets damaged or wet, causing it to rust underneath. It makes the metal look bad and can weaken it.
Rust in chrome refers to the corrosion that can occur on chrome-plated surfaces, often due to moisture or damage to the chrome layer. This can lead to unsightly blemishes and deterioration of the underlying metal.
"Recrome. Yeah. This is kind of like an oxymoron because usually chrome. Pretty easy to clean up."
Recroming means putting a new layer of chrome on metal parts that have become rusty or dull. It helps make them shiny and protects them from further damage.
Recroming is the process of reapplying a chrome finish to metal parts that have lost their shine or have developed rust. This is often done to restore the appearance and protect the metal underneath.
Would You Rather: The Million Dollar Dilemma
The Boxing World: Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua
Trends in Detailing: Floor Mats and Customer Retention
Customer Engagement: Gifts and Appreciation Strategies
Scheduling for Success: The Importance of Follow-Ups
Maintenance Matters: Keeping Customers Coming Back
The Art of Detailing: Tools, Techniques, and Customer Expectations
Red Dye Removal: Tackling Tough Stains
Wheel Cleaning: Non-Acid Solutions and Customer Care
Select text to request an explanation
Welcome to the Pints & Polishing Podcast, the most influential and listened to podcast in auto detailing. Welcome to the community. All right, Negra, I'm going to start off with one of your favorite segments. This is, would you rather? Fun little, would you rather? Would you rather 58 million with a broke jaw or 48 million and breaking the opponent's jaw? I would take the 48 million. You take the 48 and break the jaw?
Yeah, it's, I've had a broken jaw. I'm good. You can keep the 10. Oh, yeah, it's worth 10 million. It's pretty miserable. It's pretty, and if he has multiple breaks, it's going to be real terrible. How'd you do it? What happened to you? I got into a dirt bike accident and it just, just happened. It just was miserable, absolutely miserable. And, you know, anybody, I've said this probably we've talked about the Jake Paul stuff. Look, he's getting into the ring.
And he got into the ring with certifiable heavyweight guy, no matter what you think of him. I don't think a lot of people would sign up to do it.
He danced around quite a bit, which we could all understand why, too, was at the end of your jaw gets broken. You're like, I wouldn't dance around you. I mean, just was trying his best not to get hit. That's what he was trying to do. That's what he had to do.
You know, there's people that when you and I were texting during the fight, people believe that, you know, if he won, I was one of them was like, you know, Netflix would be, you know, they, they, they made him win, right? Like they, and like, you had to believe in boxing to believe that that Anthony was going to win. You know, the lot of the theory now is, will Paul be back, right? I mean, he's already said he's not coming back in his weight class, but a broken jaw means he coming back at all. Yeah, it's, how rich do you need to be?
How rich do you need to be, you know, is, is getting to the point? I mean, they stay in the limelight. And, and one of the interesting things about this is, he looked chubby, you know, trying to get up to 215. It's, it's, you know, Anthony Joshua had to cut to get to the weight limit, which is not a good sign if you weigh 215.
You know, guys, I got to cut to 245. So, you know, he's not in that world. You know, he's always been fighting smaller guys. He was a little bit, let's call it quote unquote smarter to this point. A lot of washed up guys, a lot of guys that could be had and he's a bona fide guy though. I mean, he's getting in there with real people and, you know, he's got, you know, crank gym behind him and guys, you know, did a bit in the game a long time, but he looked flabby to me and he looked like he was, he was going to struggle to run around for eight rounds.
So, that's kind of what happened, you know, and he seemed to not, right? Like his knees always buckled. Yeah, well, once the big boy started to, to put pressure on him, it was, it was a rat.
Yeah, you know, did he save boxing? That's what, you know, people he claims that he's the one that is saving boxing. He's the biggest promoter of women's boxing.
Right? Like a lot of claims, right? And I get it. That's to be on YouTube to be on YouTube. You know, you make a lot of claims.
And then he's coming over to the real world, which tends to lead into everybody knows where I'm going. Right?
This always fun moment of seeing YouTubers come out into the real world, who can make it and who can't, you know, inside of our, our detailing industry.
We're still always thinking of it of, of what YouTubers will continue on and what type of material they will put out where they continue.
You know, it's just, it's always fun because as we go into 26, quote, unquote, wheel the game change, right? Like what's going to happen as we move into next year?
I think a lot of people are wondering to know, too, is if we go into next year, how do we keep our customers that we do have that we had in 2025?
You and I were in a text read over the game. I was also in a text read with some other people this weekend. And then we're talking about a TikTok trend.
I don't know if you've seen it. Some TikTok trend where people are starting to really put a lot of floor mats down. You know, those, those dealership.
People don't realize those are for the service provider to use.
And the dealership around the steering wheel apparently is a new popular thing. It was only big. I saw it pop during Corona.
Apparently some people are thinking now this will be their way of getting their customers to come back.
Have you ever seen this work, this little trend of putting down floor mats to help customers to me?
Yeah, let's, let's say what the floor mats are supposed to be for, you know, technically what they were designed for.
While you're providing wheel work, engine work, you know, your boots get it oily, you lay something down so you don't get stuff on the floor mats from the shop floor.
It's not for putting something in there after the fact because actually all manufacturing recommendations are that your floor mats are flat, that there's nothing in the way that there's nothing impeding.
There's actually checks that mechanics are supposed to do during routine maintenance that nothing's going on with the floor mat.
Don't add things to the floor mat. Have I seen it work?
I always come at this from the customers, I think most people want.
Most people want the high end customer, I would say in our business, that's what people aspire to or want the most up in their business.
I can't remember a single high end client that wanted anything in their vehicles.
I just have never seen it, that doesn't mean I'm the only one, but you know, you've worked in Tulsa and high end neighborhoods.
We got a bunch of you guys to do high end work inside the hyper clean world.
I don't see any of those guys doing this stuff, so I would just venture to say I don't think it's really a great idea to do this.
When I got the Nissan back from the body shop a couple weeks ago, they left that paper floor mat in.
I mean, it's terrible by that point. Their guys had been stepping on it.
It wasn't brand new, and I just wanted to throw away as fast as possible.
It makes no sense to leave a paper floor mat in there.
Now, I do understand what it protects the floor mat from dirt, like you mentioned, getting in and out.
But leaving one in there now, I never, I never, never thought of that.
We would sell them two dealerships, but never, you know, leaving for any, you know, customer that uses our service.
I know some people always talk about though, it's in some other post I saw.
And I know a guy that here locally used to love to leave like, I don't know, a small little bag of mixed candies to customers or little, little things you go.
I know that people go, oh man, this is really great. This is good for my, is it?
I don't know them out of time. I mean, is candy really something to leave for a customer?
Yeah, just again, you have asked yourself, what, what is that customer in their lifestyle?
Right? And I think that would be hard to narrow down exact, you know, one type of thing to leave behind that would fit 100 customers.
You're right. But if you went off of that and let's play off of it, would it be worthwhile to leave some teeth or maybe a sleeve of golf balls?
Yeah, but again, who's going to pay for a sleeve of golf balls though?
Yeah, sleeve of golf balls now, you know, 20 bucks, you know, 50 bucks, 55 bucks a dozen, right?
So look, I think they're, I don't want to diminish this because I think it's people giving an effort.
Right? And I think a lot of times people get like real offended if that's the effort they gave.
And they, well, if you don't like it, my customers love it. Then great, you have no reason to stop.
I mean, if you're getting all kinds of new customers and your customers are thrilled and you found something that they love,
man, continue to do it. I mean, there's a lot of things I do in my business because of the kind of clientele that I have.
I've said this before, revive was built off the backs of my customers.
The reason revives exists the way it exists as a product in hyper clean is because my customers, they don't want to smell product.
They want their expensive cars to look a certain way like it did from the factory.
So we took that inside hyper clean and we made this product.
Now, you may have clientele that loves a dressed interior and that's 99 out of 100 customers.
You're going to come across. Then dress the interior, right?
Like I just think people need to understand that what I've seen work in multiple states, multiple cities with people that drive high end vehicles,
leaving candy behind, even leaving business cards behind. They're not going to be receptive to them.
They're going to be like, wait a minute, you just clean my car. Now I got to throw something out.
This is the way the high end customer thinks about it. It's not about what Nick would want when he wants his car detailed.
It's what that customer wants. And if you never put your hat on to be that customer and think about how they live.
If you go all my customers big time business guys and gals, they're always on the move, then don't make them throw stuff away.
There'd be a simple way to live in their world. I can say for me, anything out of the realm of me getting in my car jumping and going to where I need to go, that's a negative for me personally at this point of my life.
So if somebody took care of my car and made me do work, throw something away, get rid of something, I wouldn't really enjoy that.
That doesn't mean I wouldn't hire them again, but it's not going to have the effect you think it's going to have.
I feel for the guys that do though, right? There are plenty of people that do believe that if I leave something or if I do something for my customer, I will get that customer to come back.
There's a theory in business, not just detailing. I'll put it into the detailing now for the difference of my customers, right? You're right. The high end people that were inside that gated community, they didn't get anything.
But my customers that worked at the oil company over here at Warren Place, where I showed up every two weeks to clean office ladies. Well, you know what? They loved punch cards.
Yes, punch cards. Absolutely. They were the middle level type employee, working at making decent money. Just wanted a good, nice, clean car. They weren't fancy cars.
They just valued their car getting cleaned for 45 to 50 bucks every two weeks, right?
We were just washing back in a lot of years ago. That price point was a lot of years ago for anybody listening. That was yesterday year.
Marty's not really doing a lot here in the last so many years of that kind of work. So don't anybody get any price conversation going.
That would be what 90 to 110 bucks today. I mean, easily.
Yeah, I have no concept of what somebody would charge for that now. You're right.
But you know, a washing back, good, many quick detail for 45 to 50 bucks. They loved it.
You know, and I throw a punch card in and punch it sometimes.
You know, whether they lost it or did, they just seem to be something that those ladies want.
So, so let's say that's just for sake of argument.
Man, what if you do a lot of semi trucks? What if you do a lot of farm equipment?
What if you do a lot of XYZ?
That's why if you're detailing cars for a living,
you could be at a shop, you could be doing PPF, you could be doing, you could be doing detailing.
It's going to be hard to have an across the board. Every customer would love this in their car.
The next thing is, how does it represent your business?
Is it in line with your personality as a business?
You know, some people can get away with goofy stuff in the car because that's how they handle their customers.
Right? Other people like my customers, boy, I did any of this stuff.
It would be, I would hear about it day one from an assistant more than likely usually.
Don't ever effing do this again because I mean moving seats.
Okay, move seats in a mom's minivan.
She's just going to be like, oh, they detailed my car. I got to move my seat.
Move a seat of a high powered executive.
You're going to get a little bit of a different conversation.
They're going to be like, why are you screwing my seat?
Now, it's not because they're a worse client.
It's because their mindset is go go go go go go go.
And they don't want anything to get them off of the time to be somewhere, the time to do something.
It's just a different human being.
Not that moms aren't busier any of that.
It's just received differently.
And a lot of times we just don't talk about that.
We just talk about some generalized piece of advice.
Do this to get a Google review.
If I asked any of my customers for a Google review.
They would absolutely laugh in my face.
They don't have any desire to put their name on the internet under a review.
That's a certain net worth of an individual that I'm talking about not going to happen.
And I wouldn't have gotten them through a Google review.
That's not how that level of human being economically works to find the people to do things for them.
Everyone's in a different position.
You got to identify that in your business.
So if Jake Paul is going to bring the masses back to watch boxing, you know,
what can we do to bring the masses back to continue to use our business?
I know there's a theory that people believe, well, keep it economical.
Right?
Like a quality budget.
Like just keep your prices low.
And that'll keep somebody coming back.
I mean, a little price does help.
Right?
Like if they don't have a certain individual.
Yeah.
Perfect.
Great to write the average, right?
The average person, the above average person.
Yeah.
Of course, if I can save a few dollars, you know, you bet, right?
That would be a way.
But you're mentioning these high net worth.
I really don't remember any of those people that I dealt with and my customer based it.
That I ever worked with on a discount or, hey, you get this.
No, for them, though, what kept them coming back was, was the schedule.
Was that I was going to come back?
Right?
Like, that's the interesting part, right?
We're looking for something to bring a comeback.
And there's actually the best customers you have.
What you can do to get them to come back is put them on a comeback.
Like get that schedule in.
And let's think about the coding guy.
Okay?
Because a lot of you guys are like, why don't you want to do maintenance?
PPF guy is in the same boat.
Okay.
Get them on something quarterly.
Or I stop by you.
We do this.
We do this service.
Whatever.
Even if you have them on something yearly.
It's better than nothing.
Right?
A lot of people.
And so I've had a lot of big PPF shops reach out to me in 2025.
And there is a.
And large coding shops go right along with that.
There's a big misunderstanding that.
Just because you can't do the weekly or biweekly or monthly maintenance.
That you shouldn't be doing something quarterly.
Twice a year or once a year.
Okay?
I don't know how we got there.
I think the PPF industry is largely to blame for this because it is literally slap it on.
And we'll see you later.
Thank you.
You know, and that's fine.
That's why most PPF looks pretty bad after year one.
And worse in year two and worse in year three.
Vinyl wrap business has this in spades as well.
But a schedule is a schedule.
And as long as you tell them up front, here's what I'm going to do.
And that could be quarterly.
That could be weekly.
That could be twice a year.
That could be once a year.
And you make sure you have a follow-up system that reminds them it's time to get your car in.
That's the best way to get them in.
That's the best way in my opinion that I've found whatever it is you're promising.
Make sure you don't miss the dates that you're supposed to do said thing.
That's the only way I've known it to work.
If that's weekly, great.
If that's once a month, great.
If it's quarterly, if it's twice a year, if it's once a year,
you can't be the person that misses reminding them, hey, it's time to get your car in.
It's like a dentist appointment.
Like, you know, think of the old where they used to send you those.
Those those those postcards, hey, it's time for your annual cleaning.
It's the same thing here.
Largely, I think what happens in you and I know this, you never actually follow back up.
Well, or they put the customer into the same email monthly newsletter, whatever, you know,
because they're going to say, hey, I got to touch all my customers.
So I got to put a video.
I got to send an email.
We're always going to be like sending their customers things.
Well, that that doesn't count.
It's not what we're talking about.
That's just you communicating and saying, hey, look at this cool thing.
And look at what we're doing at the shop.
And that's that's cool stuff.
Like if you if you have that program set up, you're doing it.
Keep doing it.
But that person needs to probably be followed up with two ways.
Here's an email about your specific car and it's, you know, yearly service or, you know, quarterly service.
And then here's a text message reminding you, hey, it's time to get your car in for service.
So I value when I leave, I leave physical therapy and it's always somebody a little bit different at the register.
The ones that really care, they'll go, hey, are you scheduled for your next appointment?
Yeah.
Yeah, they're real big on that.
Great job.
Right? That's what I did.
Great job.
And I say, hey, yeah, I'm already booked. We're set on a, you know, twice a week schedule, right?
So I think that's if people are a little anxious about what to say, that's a perfect thing to do.
Hey, are you guys scheduled for your next one?
Yeah.
That's non-invasive or I got you on the schedule.
And here's what date I'll be here.
If there's any issues, let me know.
Sometimes it's just good to say, here's the schedule.
Mm-hmm.
Right?
Like, I mean, that's kind of what I did.
Actually, what you did pretty, pretty early on is you just kind of like told them you'd be there.
Mm-hmm.
Like, hey, see you next week.
You know, and you just went on.
We're here ever two weeks.
Well, make sure to put you on notice.
Hey, it's a puttness coating on your car, you know, January one.
You're on a quarterly maintenance.
I'm going to see you, you know, March one.
And we're going to make sure your car looks great.
And we got you already scheduled in this time and move on with your life.
I mean, sometimes it's good just to tell them, now, of course,
you're not taking a deposit three months ahead of time or anything like that.
But there is a conversation of, if I just tell them they have an appointment,
and then I remind them, you know, a week before and three days before,
it's just kind of like expected.
Mm-hmm.
And they sure enough, even the people that aren't six months out, like,
you could just start telling them that in every two months.
Right?
Like, here's your next putt, right?
There's all, I love that idea.
There's all different ways that you can, in a sense,
lead somebody into the appointment, right?
Leads somebody into the scheduling, the way dentists, the way different offices do.
Like, hey, here's when you need to do your next appointment.
Instead of asking, you're more in a sense, like, let it not tell them like, hey,
can we talk about a weird thing we see across the internet?
And I know I've gotten a lot of questions about this.
I know you have two.
Let's say you're putting tray or sparta on a car.
You always go, oh, people neglect their cars where I'm located.
And they just neglect them.
And, you know, they don't, they don't.
So why don't you have everybody on a quarterly that gets a three or five year coding?
I'm taking the blame game as a sign that I need to solve the problem.
And you go, hey, it's just me in a shop or I got a couple guys
and we can't build a maintenance program.
Cool.
But you can build some type of quarterly package.
That you sign people up that is financially good to have in your shop.
I'm not saying do this for cheap.
That's not what we do here.
That you go, it provides them value, it provides value to my business.
It doesn't clog up the shop because I'm not going to do a bunch of them every day.
But I take this like thing that I complain about and I start to fix the problem for my customers.
And go, when you buy a three year coding, here's what we do.
We want you on quarterly.
Here's why we want you on quarterly.
Here's what we saw when we didn't do it.
Here's what we see when we do do it.
All of these types of things.
So if I was going to say one thing for 2026 and I know a lot of you listening have this problem,
whatever you've been complaining about of what your customers don't do after you put PPF on
or after you put coding on, just make it part of what you sell,
right when you sell the coding or the PPS.
And then just schedule their appointment.
Yeah, just schedule it right when they pick up their car.
You do the walk around, you go, hey man, here's what's happened.
Great, we did it on the first.
We'll see you in three months.
Here's your appointment.
If you guys want to have some card made or you want to send a text message that tells them
that when that appointment is so it's already on the record, whatever you want to do.
But the complaining about not taking care of something is a solvable thing through your business.
Whether or not you believe that is irrelevant, it is solvable.
All right, as we get to the end of the year, I saw this question and it will kind of finish up this customer discussion with this.
For those of you who run a detailing business full time or part time,
how do you show your appreciation for your clients at the end of the year, right?
Do you leave a gift?
I got nothing on this Nick because my customers would leave me gifts.
Yes.
I don't understand that leave my customer a gift thing.
But somebody in my house is preparing all kinds of gifts, right?
Or soap, there's candles, there's all kinds of stuff that she's going to leave for her customers.
I'm confused.
So I have a select few customers that we do stuff for.
It's usually very individualized.
It's somebody I have some kind of, I would say outside of business, personal relationship,
they're of a certain level.
But look, man, you start dealing with high-end customers, you start talking about gifts.
That's a little bit of a touchy thing when you're talking about somebody has a 10,000 square foot house and you give them.
What am I going to leave that person?
What do I got to leave them?
I mean, I just don't think, again, the things that I do and it's less than a handful are for people that I've hung out with outside of business.
They've really done a lot for my business.
I know them, so I know what would be a good gift.
You know what I mean?
The number one thing you would say is, you know, a certain bottle of liquor.
There you go. I was going to say about it.
Nice whiskey or something.
You start talking about, you know, Johnny Walker blue and some things of that nature.
Yeah, man, that can happen.
Is it worth it though?
I think as a practice, I will say this.
And nobody needs to read into this, but this is kind of what happened.
So I had somebody that you and I have both done business with.
And they sent some chachkis to me to my office.
And I saw, you know, talked to other people.
They thought it was, you know, chachkis and other people thought it was great.
For a lot of people on the high end of their customer base, they're like, why would you send me this?
Like it drew them into question more than it did any good.
So sometimes in life and in business, especially, I think out of sight in some instances,
like Christmas to me is one of those holidays.
I want to be out of your site.
You got family in town.
You got plans.
You got, I don't really want to do a whole lot.
I just kind of want to stay out of your way because Christmas is this time that
really, I mean, in my customer base is pretty family strong.
You know, if I look around my different customers, I just kind of want to stay out of the way.
And I think you can get in the way as much easier than you think.
And I don't think that pays off the way many people believe.
Well, just like Thanksgiving, you know, this is the week.
A lot of people are cramming to get their cars cleaned.
This past weekend, washing the vans at the car wash.
So what would do?
You know, they all hate me, whatever.
I'm not going to spend my time washing an old caravan.
Just is what it is.
So we run it down through the car wash and asking the guy that's taking the money.
You know, how's everything?
You know, well, we're okay.
I say, well, next week's going to be really nice.
He goes, yeah, I guess there's people that do what?
Get their car cleaned for, sits there nice for family.
Yeah.
Come here.
Like he was confused, but I was like, yeah, like there's a lot of people that want their cars cleaned
just so when their family comes in, they can see a clean car.
I mean, those are the people you wanted, your customers.
Yeah.
I mean, we have customers that have like, they get gifts, cars, gifts.
So this is like, you know, leading up to this.
It's like hiding cars, certain places and hey, can you go do all good?
And we make sure to take care of that.
Now think about trying to track them down and ringing their doorbell to give them some chachki.
I just don't think they're in that mode.
And by the way, a certain wealth in the house that you and I went there and Tulsa,
I can't imagine ringing that doorbell and going, hey, I got you this.
I never, yeah, just don't think that's going to go over well.
And again, sometimes in business, you can try at the wrong things.
This feels like a lot of effort to something that has a very low return, even if it works.
That's what I was going to say.
I kind of said earlier, like, what is it actually good for?
Like, what does it do?
Because to the certain clientele, you're right.
Like, you would actually turn them off.
Yeah.
You know, like, I wouldn't know.
I never knew what to give this guy that you're referring to.
And some other guy, I never knew what to give him.
And I'm so glad I never could figure it out.
Yeah.
Because maybe that was the gift.
So let me ask you a question.
But let's give, let me give a practical solution though.
Sending somebody a thank you holiday card in the mail, where you don't bother them.
And you just say, Hey, and you handwrite it.
You don't do some generic crap.
There you go.
You can't.
Yeah.
But you mail it to their home.
And you write something that is directed towards them.
Hey, I want to thank you for everything.
Bubba, Bubba, Bubba.
You handwrite it.
It's mailed to them.
So you're not in their face about anything.
They can open it in their kitchen on their timeline.
They go, ah, guys sent me something.
I think that's fine.
I really think, again, just like the paper mats in the steering wheel covers,
in the leaving the candy behind.
And sometimes we can just spend time on things that have little to no return.
And in some cases are going to have a negative connotation to them,
depending on the type of customer you're dealing with.
You know, why are you saying that that letter?
It came to my mind.
You know, I got a, you know, a lot of us do.
If you go into school or went to this every year,
they send you a, you know, a Merry Christmas.
So my high school sent me one, right?
And they inside of it, when you're open in it,
oh, some like fifth grader drew a Christmas tree.
And you can see why it looks.
And you exactly go, wait, what about that?
You just get your kid to draw some stupid thing.
And we're not talking to 50 customers here.
Yeah.
But you're highest in, you're really nice.
If you really want to do something,
have it be family cheesy maybe?
If it works.
If it works.
Yeah, it works.
You know, again, that's a big part of your relationship with that person.
But if you just want to send a professional thank you,
great, do that.
I just think a lot of guys, I appreciate the effort.
You know, it's like, hey, I'm trying to think of something.
Yeah, just put the effort into something else usually.
All right.
We got this email, wonderful email from a guy named Ken.
Ken, thank you so much.
Said he thought he'd let us know about our experience.
His experience with our foam cannon soap.
And I'll just kind of run through it real quick.
I'm not so good at reading this whole big old thing.
But he uses rainwater to collect.
And that's what he washes with.
But that pump was down.
And so we had to use regular water.
And I want to stop right there.
Ken, I just want to just.
I got to understand this.
Nick, do you rainwater?
Oh, yeah.
There's rainwater collection systems.
Yeah.
I mean, we're in Oklahoma.
I give the joke.
Like we don't have to worry about that.
We can flush it right into the river.
Nobody checks.
Like it's Oklahoma.
You fly over for a reason.
Yeah, yeah.
No, I guess some other places, right?
Yeah.
Water does become expensive as well as Southern California.
You know, a lot of these systems got installed
when they were going through the drought.
I mean, it's a lot of places you wouldn't think about.
A lot of guys that live off the grid have rainwater collection systems.
I mean, there's a lot of, a lot of reasons.
Okay.
Pretty because they're, I mean,
it's just kind of depends what, you know,
what's in your, your rainwater.
The rain.
Yeah.
Everybody's the same.
I mean, some places have, it gets pretty acidic.
That's why, you know, we'll see different, different types of water spots
depending on where you live and different things like that.
So look, it could be very pure, you know, depending on what system you run it through
and all those kinds of things.
So it's just kind of where you are dependent.
All right.
Well, his pump was broken.
So he couldn't use a traditional that he uses the rainwater.
So he had to use a city water and he was like, you know, it's terrible water.
He put foam wash in and he was cleaning a brand new Cadillac Escalade EV.
Yeah.
And he was, he was concerned about it being bad.
Right.
So if he left anything on there, he was in trouble because he couldn't polish it off.
Yeah.
Well, let's just get to the end because that's the money shot, right?
Like foam wash didn't leave anything.
He was super impressed.
Yeah.
Said no spots.
He got nothing.
He loved it.
And he was ready to start trying Fuego and some other stuff because he was so excited
that the generic just a very generic for him, right?
So because most people just think of like a Canon foam wash soap is super generic.
But I have a feeling Ken from some other discussions where he said he buys off of the box truck.
You know, these guys that just make their stuff with it with it.
Love it.
Everybody love not no hate in here.
We love anybody that makes anything as manufacturers.
We are too.
We're going to support it.
We're just going to go listen.
There's a bit of craft to what we're doing.
Sure.
It's created.
Same as like you talked about revive was created very specifically.
Very generic neutral foam wash soap.
I mean, well, sound strange to make it very unique.
But we did because we left out a lot of solvents.
Left out a lot of stuff that people use to, in a sense, make a cheaper soap.
And then you get these results where he's like 95% of the dirt gone.
He couldn't believe it compared to his other soap that he had been using.
He wasn't the lubrication.
Well, we love people are mostly talking about lubrication.
He was, he was thrilled by the cleaning power.
Sure.
Look, I think anybody that follows us, whether you've tried our stuff or not,
were big believers that very little in the chemical worlds created equal.
It's just not how it works.
Not every deodorant, not every soap you use in the shower.
Things aren't created equal.
And what it comes down to is like you were getting to, which is ingredients.
You know, ingredients drive whether or not a soap is higher quality than the next soap you use.
And with those ingredients, things cost more.
Technical know how, what do you remove?
What is causing issues?
What is cheapening the field?
What is messing up the lubrication?
What is unnecessary?
And may have been in formulas for 50 years for no real reason.
And that's the way it was 50 years ago.
And I got news for you.
There's some companies that have been around that long that are using 50-year-old technology.
Any of you may have bought some or currently are buying stuff from those companies that have been around.
Not to say all of their stuff, but you and I are uncovering some things behind the scenes that would shock some people in different industries and in the automotive industry as well.
So we got to recognize the good thing of what Ken said here.
Foam wash is not a generic pH neutral soap.
That's just not how we do things that hyper clean.
It is specifically a good cleaning.
Most people don't know this.
Use like one ounce in the foam cannon and one ounce in the bucket.
You're going to be pretty good.
It's pretty high concentrate.
Now as people know, I'm not the best at that.
I do kind of the glug glug method and probably have Marty said more out here than I need.
But again, it's not generic.
And I think Ken's email proves that soap isn't just soap.
And I know that it's easy to get jaded and say this and say that and somebody on the internet, somebody in this Facebook group who supposedly knows what he's talking about but doesn't.
It's not generic.
I mean soap is different.
And by the way, this is coming from two guys that came from an era where you bought pink car soap.
It was just called pink car soap.
I mean, I'm sure you had the same.
It was just called pink car soap.
And you'd have soap scum everywhere.
Thing that people largely don't talk about now that we found in a lot of products people use.
This is a very clean formula and it's cool to see Ken get those results.
It isn't, you know, we can we can't appreciate as as we ventured, you know, 20 something years.
I think we can always at least I can.
I'll say I can appreciate the other people here locally in Tulsa who've been around for a long time too.
Whether or not I agree with their bathtub blinder techniques and how they've never really adapted to growing out of the 1990s, you're right.
They still actually use the same exact formula and will brag about it.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
Oh, yeah.
And it's the same color.
It's the same scent.
They bought the scent 15 years ago.
I've never run out of it.
I mean, this is like real stuff.
And like you said, I'm not saying this as some kind of like big negative conversation.
I'm just saying.
Because I give the guy high five and shake his hand too at the same day.
Yeah.
But by how you know, adapt anything.
Yeah.
In 2020 going into 26.
You want to still use a 25 30 year old formula?
Yeah.
There's just better ways to do things now.
That's all.
I mean, just like there's a better way to use the cell phone today than 20 years ago.
I mean, you know, somebody was walking around with a brick phone.
You'd be like, bud, just just get the iPhone.
I mean, just how it would go, right?
But we don't talk about when it comes to stint, you know, soaps and stuff like that.
It's a simple thing, but it makes a difference.
Well, speaking of brick phones, I lifted up as I was putting some stuff in the back of the new beamer.
Has its name?
Has its name officially?
I'm not going to do that here.
It's has its name.
If somebody wants to know, I can let them know.
You will not like the name even more than you like.
Don't like that I named it.
Yeah, I'm sure.
Because so we're basically taking soccer players and creating a soccer team with all of our vehicles.
I did not cosine any of those.
It's a German card.
So I was staying with that.
But so I lifted up the trunk this weekend and there was a BMW telephone service.
Oh, nice.
I don't know.
25 years ago, they had their own telephone service.
I don't know.
Yeah.
So if you got into like seven series, some five series, I believe you could buy.
Well, some of it came with the car, right?
So the phone would be in the center console.
Or it'd be hooked into the center console or under it, whatever, whatever car you were in.
But yeah, I mean, if I, if I look back, I think they had to run.
But I'm guessing the BMW phone service was like sprinter MCI or some company,
but it was just called the BMW.
Yeah, probably.
God, that's a old name.
All right.
So what do you guys use to do?
This was just a generic, sorry, I didn't mean to say generic.
This was just a Facebook group.
Okay.
So this is just a random Facebook group, not ours.
What do you like to use to reduce the chance of water spot etching?
Water etching on glass seems to be crazy hard to remove.
So I'm hoping to avoid hard water spotting as much as possible.
We can all go a filter.
Okay.
But is this part of the law process or like just driving the car around?
That's great.
We didn't go into that.
It was just, I think it was around the wash, right?
So could, could using like in, could using a high quality soap help you reduce water spotting
answers.
Definitely.
Yes.
Like, I think that's why I put into that part of this little segment was.
I mean, look, you can see that from eco one.
You know, eco one can help a little cat full of that.
It can help break down the minerals in the water a little bit.
I think you're getting into a tough spot here.
The only answer is di water.
I mean, if you're getting that much hard water during a wash,
that it's messing the glass up during a wash, like even,
because the way you and I would look at it is,
hey, man, if you're getting actually permanent hard water spots during a wash,
something doesn't check out.
And, which for you and I talk about, it usually doesn't.
So, is this guy's problem, which he's not seeing actually soap scum?
Yes.
Actually stuff that's been left over from improperly formulated soap trying to be very cheap.
And using which you can, you can use a lot of cheap solvents and use some different things,
caustics, you can do different ways to make a soap.
And it's not surfactant based.
It doesn't have the right ingredients.
And then we're left with a film.
Might associate this hard water, because then once that hard water gets into it,
it's going to amplify it.
You have a bad mixture.
Now you got a super bad mixture.
Yeah, it's a good point.
I would go with you.
I mean, obviously, there's answers to this.
You guys all know them.
But if you're getting that crazy of hard water spots during a wash,
or you're concerned about the glass, I'm kind of with you on this.
There's something at play in your chemicals.
All right.
This one's going to be tough, except for those of us can just understand what it is.
If you look at a black car and the sun's hitting it,
and you see all these trails down, right?
Yep.
We all know that.
We all know that moment.
And this guy's asking, hey, all recently cut and polished this car.
But it has come out like this.
Yeah, you didn't cut and polish it.
That would be the first answer here.
Do I just polish it again?
Or what are the steps to make sure this doesn't happen in the future?
What a tough question, right?
Because we can all imagine people are going to put out these just,
hey, man, this, hey, man, that.
You could go into so many different variables here from the product that was used,
the pad, to was everything, right?
Was it cool enough?
I think we've run into so many of these where they don't want to trade out their pads
and their stuff that gets into them.
Yeah.
That guy doesn't have the skill to be using what looks to be a rotary.
And my guess is he went rotary and then rotary again.
So he's doubled the problem.
That would be my guess.
Yeah, you're right.
There's a guess.
There is a, there's some force tools.
Sure.
There are some tools that if you not just rotary that you can create some,
some marring, some, please everybody don't, don't kid yourself.
I do understand the difference here.
And I do know that this was most likely, like you had said,
the rotary in which we do see, I think there's a trend of rotary starting to come back,
right?
Like it seems to be rotary starting to come back.
So whether or not we're somebody that did this and or we're somebody that is
getting a car from a customer who says, hey, what's this?
Or we're a customer, right?
Like we're somebody that we look in the suddenly we go, huh?
What's this?
I think one of the interesting things about rotary coming back is first of all,
it should have never left.
And you and I watched both of it happen.
We watched it be the only tool.
Then it left because all these DA companies told you this is a better way.
Now it's coming back.
We've actually seen all the cycles.
We are old enough to have seen all the cycles.
I see a lot of people picking up machines and I think that's cool.
Here's a human being that probably should have had some test panels in his garage.
In the comment section, you're nailed it.
In the comment section is what was said.
I think it's okay to try things out on a body shop panel that, by the way,
they'll let you pick up at every body shop for free.
They don't care.
So anybody that thinks that's like some crazy piece of advice, you just haven't walked
into a body shop and said, hey, I want to test some stuff on a panel that you don't
care about.
And they go, we got 10,000 of them over there.
Just grab what you want and leave us alone junk yard.
By the way, if you live close to a junk yard, that's about five seconds as well.
A couple, you know, a couple little bolts in your, you're on your way.
I like your mindset to talk about this is, man, the dirty paddle kill you.
And it looks like he had not only the improper tool, the improper technique,
but he probably had a pretty caked up wool pad to start out with.
And there's just no recovering from that.
There's no recovery.
Even if you have all the right technique, there's really no recovering from a cake
up messy pad, which we've all experienced.
We didn't know why we were seeing it.
We realized, man, I didn't pull this pad off for a while.
I haven't cleaned it in a while.
I got in a groove.
And now I'm three panels deep.
And I'm like, I just lost my train of thought.
Everybody has this stuff happen.
But I see a lot of defense from a lot of detailers and people acting as if having enough
pads to do the job is a bad thing.
And I think that's a really odd take.
It comes into a very unique thing, like you said, is what you...
And I don't know many detailers even are customers that do it.
I don't.
I don't know many people that buy that many pads.
I think they try and really do one pad of car, two pad, three maybe, four of the most.
I don't hear of anybody really using more than four pads ever in a car.
And then you get these results.
And how do you fix it?
No matter if you're the guy that did it or you're the customer that got the car, we got to know
how do we fix swirl marks that have been moved all up and down this car?
And how is it fixed?
We definitely got to go to a DA at this point.
I wouldn't trust the average person to pick up a rotary and then fix rotary swirls.
Are there select few people?
Sure.
But the average, which is we're going to go the average, they need to use a DA.
We would definitely recommend the LE or some other high quality brands,
which we're going to maybe have some more out on our side later.
But is this an orange pad, a blue pad?
Is this yellow?
What Marty showed?
And here's where the mistake is largely going to be made with the DA.
There is so much damage on these panels,
that you're more than likely going to have to use some type of cut and microfiber pad
to even out all this uneven work with level.
And then you're going to have to come back with lux and whatever the blue or the orange foam
that fits that paint system the best.
The biggest mistake that happens,
and I think guys probably get frustrated with this,
is they see a massive amount of damage that they've caused or that has been brought into their shop
and they go, well, I can't go back and cut it with rotary.
And then immediately people do what you say.
They grab like VLO and an orange pad.
And they're like, this doesn't work, buddy, this is so much damage.
This is a two-step whether you like it or not.
You're not going to get it where you have so much control damage.
When somebody's improperly cut with a rotary,
you're going to have to two-step that out.
And by the way, if you do a heavy cut with a rotary,
like a really heavy session with a rotary,
you most likely have to two-step it out anyway.
It's not like you go from a really hammered car,
hit it with a rotary, hit it with a finishing polish, and you're done.
That's not really how this works.
When you do this much of a heavy cut
and this one was done improperly,
I can guarantee you're stepping it out from there at least twice.
Stepping it out, and are we?
So we're basically thinking back to full compound at the first,
because, and if we're going to use a DA to compete against rotary swirls,
that's in a sense what we're trying to say.
We're not trying to cut down to get a deeper scratch now.
No, we're just trying to alleviate the damage
that was caused by the swirls.
You're trying to even out the defect, right,
which is what you would be doing here.
So even when you are great with the rotary,
and you do a heavy cut, you're going to leave a lot of trails, right?
That's the nature of the tool.
So let's say you use a really, really, really aggressive wool pad.
You're not going right to finish.
You've got to step it out, which is the proper terminology.
You've got to step it down and get it to a place where it can be finished.
If the defect is so bad, you can't get down to the finish.
You've got to take an intermediate step,
which is what a lot of people skip with the rotary conversation.
The more you use the rotary, the more you're going to have to step it down.
So the more aggressive I get with the rotary,
the more I'm going to have to step it out.
You know, a play that I used to make was I would high speed
and keep it up there high.
And then still using the same tool, same everything.
Just slow it down a little bit on my final passes,
just to try and help myself on the Paula stage.
Yeah, and you can even alleviate pressure.
You know, you may be used more pressure during the cut.
I mean, that's the old, like, joling stuff that we used up to do
where, you know, the last couple passes are a little bit lighter
and you're trying to make that defect a little bit more inconspicuous,
not so out in your face, which then allows you to step it out easier.
All that stuff goes into it.
I feel for guys like this, but trust me guys,
you want to get comfortable with a tool.
The body shop method is the way.
Just go get you a panel.
Go have some fun in your garage or at your shop and just figure it out from there.
This, this, try and stuff on people's cars is just never going to work out the way you think.
Yeah, it is wild, isn't it?
Alright, so you had a call about a carpet stain.
We had red dye.
Red dye is, those of us that all know, there's that moment that we know.
Sure.
Walk us through it.
Yeah, it's pretty basic guys.
Once you see, red dye caught very quickly can be a different conversation.
But red dye that even sits 24, 48, 72 hours, you're in the red dye situation.
If we're a mom and many van company doing a lot of those, you know,
this is gatorade fruit punch, just all that.
So wine, different things like that, right?
So a red stain needs to be looked at only slightly different than every other stain.
Number one, lay ends, I'm down first.
Don't go into some type of stain like that and lay any kind of APC, degreaser,
any of that kind of stuff.
Because if you set that, what I'm about to tell you doesn't, doesn't work.
So just throw some enzyme down, okay?
And then work the enzyme if it's one or two times, depending on how bad the stain is,
it's all relative, right?
And most likely in this case, an extractor is your friend, right?
This would be one of those cases where you go, if all things created equal,
you'd want to have an extractor.
At the very least, some type of steamer that can steam up and get some stuff moving around in there.
Then go with complete and kind of neutralize everything, let it attack a little bit different parts of the stain.
But there are red dye removers that are specifically made to remove red dye out of carpets.
They're available to Amazon or Home Depot or Lowe's, they're out there.
That's an easy thing to do as your final stage and you'll be good to go.
Does it mean our carbon system failed?
No, I had to have this conversation.
All of the things that we're going to leave the smell behind that we're really part of the things you worry about, right?
In a stain removal, it's like, you know, I always think of every stain like milk, right?
What you don't want when a milk, when milk spills is for milk to stay in the carpet, it's going to get worse.
So everything was removed except this random die that was in the product that was spilled.
So this is a 0.001% of stains that you come across, just have some type of red dye remover or just go down to Home Depot and get the red dye remover.
All right, we're going to finish up the episode.
We were going to stop it earlier, but Mildredin gives us a hard time if we stop early.
So, you know, we're going to have to keep going, Nick.
We're going to have to push through.
Now, we're going to end on wheel cleaner, right?
And this is a couple of different wheels, a couple of different wheel cleaners and wheel cleaning.
You know, it happens four times every time you clean a car.
Yeah, if not five, it has a fancy wheel on the back.
It's pretty, it's pretty important.
Any good non acid wheel cleaner with good price quality balance, right?
This is a question inside of a group.
First comment was why non acid is great.
It's a great question.
We'll get to that here pretty soon.
Sure.
But any good non acid wheel cleaners were they good price quality balance?
I want to, I want to just go which we can probably all know where I'm headed.
You're wanting good quality with a good price quality balance.
I'm not sure that you could get balance in good quality and cheap price.
Well, as many times as we have to say this out loud, we need to say it, which is
that comment is something that doesn't happen in any part of life.
I know you guys don't want to hear that.
I know people get jaded by what's gone on in the chemical part of our business.
I understand it.
If you are at all a customer that pays attention,
you know how to stay away from companies that are largely just selling you stuff.
In my opinion, we put our face out every week.
We put content out every week.
Our name is on the line.
We have people depending on us inside of our company and their families.
That's a pretty good start.
And then there's people playing things on the internet.
I'd probably stay away from those companies if it were me.
We have to get to a point as a society of car people.
Whether you work in a car business or you own a car and you love your car, whatever it is,
of thinking that somehow $40 a gallon that can be cut a multitude of ways inside of a bottle.
And it's going to last you a really long time.
We use our TRX on maintenance clients at four to one all the time on really tough vehicles
that you never see two to one one to one.
So even if you cut it in half, that means you're getting two gallons for $40.
If you just cut every one of your bottles in half, half water, half product,
I'm going to basically, simple math, get two gallons for the price of one.
Right?
That's $20 a gallon of usable high quality product.
So per 32 ounce spray bottle, we're five bucks.
Right?
Five bucks to clean wheels.
You're not going to have left over.
Yeah, I was going to say, you're going to use that whole 32 ounce.
You're talking about, you're talking about on an average car.
You're cutting one to two, so we're still really strong on one to one, actually.
Yeah, one to one.
We're one to one, so we're still really, really strong.
It's not like I got a spray a ton all over the place.
No.
And none of you are going to use it one to one.
No.
Most of you are going to use it three to one, four to one, something like that.
So when we think about this conversation, I always relate back to
to use slick on a vehicle is like 25 cents for the whole vehicle.
To use a good quality soap like foam wash, it's like 70 cents of vehicle.
And that's a high number.
It's more like 50 cents if you use it in perfect one ounce dilution.
Okay.
All in all, if it costs me less than three or four bucks to do everything right on a car,
how is there a conversation?
Well, so glad you mentioned that, Nick.
One of these other photos that was, you can all imagine, this is the AMG black wheel.
Oh yeah.
So, hmm, let's talk about AMG black wheels.
Let's talk about using certain chemicals.
And he's asking any advice on how to clean these wheels without the harsh chemicals.
Right?
Because he had said that he used a wheel cleaner on his previous car.
He said the same wheels and they started to fade.
Yep.
Plus the clear clue on the calipers were peeling thanks in advance.
Yep.
Yeah.
You saved money on your soap.
What that cost you?
Yeah, you saved money on wheel cleaner.
You went cheap.
In some cases, a lot of APCs that are being promoted, not a good mix.
You know, some of them are very harsh.
And I've talked about it old school degressers that we see that still have popularity to this day.
You go, ooh, that's dangerous on those black wheels.
If they have any heat, any sun hit them, anything like that.
That's where you look at a product like TRX and you go, again, guys, it's so affordable.
Honestly, it's, you know, a dollar and a half, two bucks at the most.
But if you went mixed every one of your bottles, one to one, it's, you know, two dollars and 50 cents to clean wheels that are probably going to cost you the better part of, you know, three to five thousand dollars to replace.
If something goes wrong, that's a small price, by the way.
I mean, you can get up into the 10, 12 thousand dollars to replace.
I just don't see it.
And I do try to see things from people's point of view.
You know, we talk that way on this podcast.
So I see it.
And I'll say what I see, I see them, right, not thinking about will my customer return.
Ah, there you go.
Yeah, it goes right back.
This guy is his car.
But I think most people that are detailing cars, they don't think about will that customer keep coming back.
I want to use this brush.
I want to use this cheap product and I want to scrub it off and just get it.
This is what I think sometimes this happens with these black wheels, right?
We've seen it when you came here to Tulsa, right?
People just go in and start scrubbing on their wheels.
Like, hey, this is supposed to get it off because I don't want to use harsh chemicals.
Well, what if you could trade harsh chemicals and brush for just the right products?
Well, that's what I mean, right?
You trade them both for TRX.
Yeah, it's easy.
I mean, I don't look at this conversation the same way I did five years ago.
Right?
I've learned a lot watching things that go on on the internet and from all of you that reach out to us.
And I think it all starts with people just don't think it through.
And it just goes a long way.
So like you said about returning customers, how many times in your career?
Have you, we talk about bug cleaner all the time, especially during bug season?
And guys are torched in front ends and windshields with bug cleaner happens.
I mean, it's got to happen in the thousands upon thousands of time with every summer.
They never think about number one.
It's their own car and they screw it up.
Now they got to face the music.
That's that's one part of it.
But the guys that go, my customers don't return.
Dude, everybody's windshield is scorched that you did business with.
Well, they didn't complain about it.
No, no, they did.
They didn't come back.
We have this idea that everybody that we wrong by doing something to their cars,
going to call us and yell at us.
That's not the average person in America.
The average person isn't pulling into the McDonald's and throwing cheeseburgers with,
you know, you put pickles on my sandwich.
I said no pick.
They don't throw the salmon.
They just go.
I don't really like that McDonald's location.
I'm going to go the one over here.
They're better.
Right?
Like people just don't think about this.
Like, and the bug cleaner one's always funny to me because you and I,
it's so simple just not to do that.
Just don't torch somebody's front end.
And guys will go, uh, this one's cheaper.
I don't know why customers aren't come because they saw their front end.
Just because they didn't call and yell at you doesn't mean they didn't see it.
Like that, that, that's the thing about all of this is like guys,
to do everything right on the exterior of your car and do it safely is less than five bucks a car.
It seems really silly to jeopardize anything over less than a five dollar bill in 2025, 2026.
Absolutely.
All right.
I think this is no GMC Yukon.
Is that a Denali?
Uh, maybe a Denali.
Yeah.
Yeah.
You're right.
Sitting, uh, sitting like the way you would like it with some chrome rims, huh?
Oh, boy.
Is that also special?
No, it's not.
It's in a Facebook group.
Chrome dip case aluminum wheels.
How do you get rust stains off a wheel safely?
Says long story.
They traded for some wheels.
Got bad.
There were some rust stains that they didn't see on one of the wheels.
Most of it washed off.
But you can still see a haze.
Anything we can do on there.
I don't know.
So rust in chrome.
Recrome.
Yeah.
This is kind of like an oxymoron because usually chrome.
Pretty easy to clean up.
Grab an ass.
Something's not adding up here.
My guess is what you say.
Yeah.
I would say that there's, there's, there's an issue with this guy's story and passing.
Was that a word you said?
That's the whole reason I brought up this.
Yeah.
I mean, if it's chrome, it should come off with acid, right?
Like it doesn't matter what we could go.
It's probably wasn't real chrome, right?
That's what I'm.
My guess is is that there was no chrome.
And it's aluminum and you're having all kinds of problems now.
And you're like, good.
Doesn't look right.
It's like, yes, somebody sold you a bill of goods, but I'm not sure.
This is what you think it is.
Well, but there was a teaser for that a word.
So what's talking about next episode?
Hey, as we go into the 2026 year, you know, projections and the clothes of 25,
we'll talk about an acid wheel cleaner.
Ooh, I'm excited.
All right, guys.
See you all next week.
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