Am I the only one who hates detailing?

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RamFan

RamFan

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Good morning folks,
As the title states, am I the only one who hates detailing vehicles? I've spent countless hours working really hard on maintaining the finish of my vehicles. It started with my mom's '97 Dakota (purchased new), I always tried to make sure that the truck was in good looking condition. Then when I bought my first vehicle, an '88 F250 that had faded paint and couple rust spots, I still tried to maintain what body and paint was still there. When I bought my '04 Ram 1500 which I decked out with aftermarket modifications I truly tried to excel at detailing. Now with my Charger I still wash and detail regularly but honestly I'm growing tired of it. I just don't enjoy it, I love cars and love to maintain them but there is something about detailing that I truly hate and find myself counting down the minutes while I'm in the middle of a detail job. I'm really contemplating just spending the $150-200 every 8-12 weeks to have it professionally detailed while I just do quick washes in between when needed. Anyone else feel that way?

Here are some pictures of said vehicles:






DSCN1322.jpg

DSCN1323.jpg

DSCN1326.jpg
 
Your cars look great! The effort definitely paid off. I've found if you keep up on it and detail regularly, it really isn't too big of an effort. If you have a garage, that helps tremendously.
 
I've always found that it is a lot easier, if you keep with it... a little time on a regular basis is better than a lot of time all at once.
 
Need to do just a little at a time on the inside.

Dusk is the best time to work IMO.

It is pretty tough to do multiple cars perfectly in a day/weekend.
 
Originally Posted By: hummdrumm
No pics of the Sebring and Monte??


The Monte is my girlfriends and the Sebring is my mom's. I just make sure they are in good mechanical condition, neither one of them really seem to car about the condition of their vehicles so I figure I'm not going to spend hours on them when they don't care about upkeep. So as long as they are in good mechanical condition and I don't have to worry about them being stranded or having some kind of mechanical failure, I'm calling it a day. I've got no pics of the Monte but a couple of Sebring.





All though it is a beautiful car, more so with the top down, it has got to be the biggest piece of doo-doo a person can buy. I know the Sebring, err err, 200 was updated and refreshed, but I wouldn't risk spending that kind of money on a vehicle after the trouble she's had with this vehicle. Truly is a shame that it doesn't perform like it looks.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
Need to do just a little at a time on the inside.

Dusk is the best time to work IMO.

It is pretty tough to do multiple cars perfectly in a day/weekend.


I love doing the interior oddly enough. I guess it's because I spend so much time in my cars that I enjoy the clean living space (I'm kind of a neat freak). I'll easily spend an hour or so cleaning the interior love doing every minute of it.
 
Originally Posted By: mrsilv04
I've always found that it is a lot easier, if you keep with it... a little time on a regular basis is better than a lot of time all at once.


For simply washing I agree. However; when you wash, wax, vacuum, clean the seats, clean the dash/center console/doors, every 2 weeks it just isn't much fun. I think it's also that when you pay such close attention to your vehicle's condition a person gets really upset with every new imperfection they find. Maybe that's why I just don't enjoy it anymore, I get more irritated with the blemishes than I get happy with the finished product. I'm pretty OCD like that.
 
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It's refreshing when one reaches a point in life where maintaining all of your material possessions to perfection is abandoned in exchange for "good enough" and "all things in moderation". This, coming from a guy at work with a reputation of maintaining his ag. and grounds equipment better than most.

I say good for you. Excessive washing only induces more chances for micro scratches.

Take to heart the more important things in life.

Having said this, I can appreciate the guys that take pleasure in maintaining their rides if that brings enjoyment. It's the ones that are uncomfortable with anxiety when everything isn't pristine that I pity.

I "detail" my vehicle once in the spring and again in the fall. In between I just keep it up "good enough".
 
I absolutely LOVE washing/cleaning/detailing my cars. It`s a real sense of pride and ownership.
 
No problem with no Monte pic as I can't get into their design. Odd looking in my opinion, but I do find the Sebrings attractive.
 
I hate it too. I detailed my Vic once about a month or two after I bought it. I think it was dirty again faster than the time it took to actually do the job. So, now I just drive through a touchless wash every week or so. It looks good enough. It has enough battle scars at this point its not even worth the bother. It needs body work and a paint job to look good again.
 
Originally Posted By: doitmyself
It's refreshing when one reaches a point in life where maintaining all of your material possessions to perfection is abandoned in exchange for "good enough" and "all things in moderation". This, coming from a guy at work with a reputation of maintaining his ag. and grounds equipment better than most.

I say good for you. Excessive washing only induces more chances for micro scratches.

Take to heart the more important things in life.

Having said this, I can appreciate the guys that take pleasure in maintaining their rides if that brings enjoyment. It's the ones that are uncomfortable with anxiety when everything isn't pristine that I pity.

I "detail" my vehicle once in the spring and again in the fall. In between I just keep it up "good enough".


Same here. There is a happy medium, you know. In the old days we merely washed and waxed our cars and called it a day. Like anything else, you can spend inordinate time and money getting that last 10% of benefit.

That said, its getting easier and easier to get to that 90% mark with all the good new products on the market. There are durable, easy to apply sealants on the market at reasonable prices, that last for months. Detail sprays and a collection of microfiber towels allows us to keep the just waxed shine for quite a while with a little luck. Quality spray waxes allow us to extend the life of the sealants which are already durable.

You may not enjoy it, but objectively its more cost effective to keep up the appearance of your car than it is to obsess over oil change intervals and oil brands.
 
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