Detailing concept

At my visit in Romania we meet a Skoda dealer in Bucharest who asked for a total concept for detailing

He was interesting in time schedules, chemical consumptions and education for the staff

I told him that we have a total concept of products, education and equipment to full fill his demands

He was looking for a way to move the used cars more frequently and improve the cashflow in his business.

After we had show him how our concept was we took a walk through the used car line on the front yard.

He explained the difficulties they was facing and we explained the solutions we could educate his personal at.

It was exciting to see the opportunities that we have together in Romania

Truck detailing

There is a huge amount of used truck in storage in many truck dealers where they sit some times years before they could be sold.

Todays used market is hotter than in many years because lack of economic resources to buy new truck customers instead look into the used truck market.

Could you as a dealer get extra margin on selling a used truck with the help of an detailing makeover it wouldn’t hurt would it?

Here we have a Renault that had been in a Volvo truck dealers storage for over 2 years up in the northern parts of Finland

We educated 6 Volvo truck dealers in how to cut down storage time of used truck and speed up the cashflow if you could address the market with a good looking truck  instead of a dull dirty old one.

First some theory describing what to use to what problem then a full day of hands on working and the result was stunning.

The front plastic detail was really worn down of chemical abuse and hard weather.

 We polished it with No1 Fastcut 13 and got a quick result.

We polished it with No1 Fastcut 13 and got a quick result.

With a ladder and a polisher we buffed until it shined all over.

We did also some inside cleaning

The customer decided that they should start truck detailing on 2 of the 6 dealers doing what we showed them.

A crew of Lahega technicians could return south away from the snow after a well done job.

Pre-commercial paint

To buff a car that has commercials all over the paint use to be a nightmare for a lot of detailing professionals. Specially if the paint is dark. .

I was travelling in Sweden and stop by one of our customers and came right into such a problem.

The detailer was just taking out the wet sanding paper to take away the differens between the non commercial surface and the surface were the commercial had been.

 As you can see this is hard work to take away.

He asked me what I thought he should do and I said let’s try No1 Fastcut 13 with the No1 Mediumcut pad. If it’s not working we could always take the sander.

Well we did and even I was a bit surprised. He buffed the area with our three step process and it was gone.

 

This is a one stepper!

We did not buff after with No1 Finnishcut 18 and the No1 Softcut pad.

This is amazing!

He is a oustanding detailer with a long experience handling the buffing machine but…….

Education 573 km north of the Arctic circle

I was invited to perform a car care education up north in Norway. It’s more than 2100 km from our facility in Helsingborg. 6 Toyota wholesalers needed a basic education in detailing and of I went to the north.

It was a two day education with theory the first day about how two work with chemicals, how to handle the buffer and how to think about our environment.

That evening I was invited to a barbeque with elk entrecote and elk hamburgers, real treat I tell you.

The second day we did a hands on education in wash bay, exterior detailing, interior detailing and final preparations. A full day  with some new idées and inputs from both sides.

 

Buffing with No1 Fastcut 13 and No1 Mediumcut buffing pad.

 

Dog hair removal

The day ended with 6 tired detailers with some new idée how to make things easier and better to there working environment.

Chewing gum

To remove chewing gum from a seat is hard if you don’t have the right technique

Use a freeze spray to remove the upper part of the gum. When it’s stiff just break it of from the fabric.

Then apply No1 Interior 40 in a 10% solution on the residues. Let it work on the gum and then use a stiff brush and microfibrecloth and work it of from the fabric.

To remove the last of the gum use an hot extractor machine and it’s done.

A clean seat.

Glass sealants

Good glass sealants for car is normally hard to get. The purpose is also some times not all that clear.

I drive around 50000 km a year and I think the safety is the issue.  The safety when you drive in rain and get a meeting car head flashes in your face and you for an instant of second loses the control.

done

As you could see the rain is going away from the windshield without the wipes. Only when you are directly behind another car the rain mist makes it a bit hard but as soon you are with a free highway the sight is clear.

That´s why I put the No1 Glassguard 51 on my cars front window.

It protect you from the blur and gives you a free sight!

It’s a two (2) component product that will give you a clear view for another 8 months.

Two bonus effects is that you don’t need the wipes when you are driving in rain over 70 km/h and up here in the permafrost it’s much easier to take away the ice on the windows when you have applied No1 Glassgurad 51.

Even some times there are no  ice on your car window when you neighbour is struggling with his car 06,45 in the morning.

Detailing in the economic crises

I was in Gothenburg, Sweden and attended in a car detailing class on Master level in Volvo Car Corporations own facility.

Volvo is launching a car detailing education for all Volvo whole sellers around the Nordic countries with Lahegas detailing line No1.

The classes is divided in two different levels, Basic and Master. It’s a two days class on each level. Theory and practice is equal important for a good en result

 

 

Here is the class student taking care of a deep scratch with spot water grinding and foam polishing as a final step.

 

 

 

 

Business in selling new cars is less in this economic crises and Volvo was determine to get new business to cover the lack of new car selling. They saw this business case as one of the most interesting.

 Normally their whole sellers out sourced this kind of business to local detailing centres. But now they decided to take that business by them self.

 

 

No wool pads in Sweden just foam in different colours with different hardness.

 

 

 

 

 

We are currently working with the Swedish Volvo whole sellers. Next are Norway, Denmark and Finland.

Foam or wool pads?

Thats the question that many detailer is keep asking them.

Buffing with wool pad is a faster and cooler way to take away scratches and imperfection in the paint. But on the other hand if the paint is a bit soft or sensitive the wool could make your day a bit sour.

Foam is the most common in Scandinavia if we talking detailing on the aftermarket. But to remove scratches you need compounds and the heat from the friction between the pad and the paint. If you are not educated in this you could create a lot of holograms and swirls from you buffer.

On top of that the different and constantly change of paints makes it not easier.

The development of a foam that cuts fast and efficient without leaving swirls, if right handed, is a top priority for us manufactures.

There is some blended pads with both foam and wool but the are not that common, not were I have been.

The technique is a key issue. If you angel the pad towards the paint you always should go over it flat before you leave. Clean the pad frequently. Use clay before you start to prevent hologram is also a common way.

Lahega has launched a new 165 mm wide foam pad with a new  foam technique that cuts well and leaves a minimum of holograms. This pad comes in two different styles. Orange for medium cutting and black as a swirl remover.

Good luck!

Education

Education is the key to success in many ways

But the change of detailing workers in different garages is a big problem.

As  managers all over world putting money in different educations and then two weeks later the detailer looses interest and move on to another job.

Today’s paints and all problem around detailing  is a big problem because the customer expect a good result worth the money he is paying.

One help with this is a new two headed orbital polishing machine. It’s look like the old Cyclo but is more variable in different tasks it could perform.

 

done

This machine together with special designed foam pads will manage detailing without making swirls and holograms on dark and sensitive paints.

Two different products No1 Fastcut 13 with an orange foam pad and No1 Finishcut 18 with a black foam pad could save your company a lot of work.

Last week I was educated 13 Norwegians in detailing and some of them hadn’t hold a polisher in there hands before.

We worked on a black BMW with this tool and did some good results.

If they had used a single rotating machine the had for sure done some good swirls and holograms in the paint that would given me a some hard work to take away .

Fantastic

new product from our laboratory.

Do you want to to wash your car, Not!!!!

Then this i something for you!

Well I have to show of a bit and let you see a fairly new product that could put some of us out of business….

This new product is named No1 Surftec 68 and is bottled in a aerosol can. Just spray and let it dry!

Then it will protect and give a self cleaning water repellent surface.

I drove 2500 km before I took this photo in Norway with Scandinavian winter climate!

Half of my rare side is done and the other is not. You have to figure out which half…;))