[BDay33]

Several years ago I was hanging out after the race at Talladega in the VIP parking lot. There was a Mustang club with all of their new and old Mustangs talking and what-not. I noticed one guy was detailing his Mustang in the parking lot, knowing once he drives it on the gravel road out of the track, it's going to get dirty again.

I thought the guy was nuts. We made fun of the guy while on the way home.

Fast forward to now, I'm an owner of a '23 2SS 1LE, and I have turned into that guy. At least once a week I'm out in our parking garage at our apartment giving my car a waterless wash, obsessing over every inch of the car. Using the flashlight on my iPhone to look for blemishes in the paint. I know there's several folks that have seen me and think I'm crazy.

Does anyone else here feel like they need a support group for how obsessed they are with their car?

[The Chief (tm)]

I am sure there will be lots of folks who will cop to having fallen into that trap. And why not, though? If the car has been kept clean to start with, then you want to keep that look going as long as possible. And they look great when they're like that.

Now mine is a DD and was purchased used, and although it was in very good condition it wasn't perfect (lower front end mostly). I've never *really* been a stickler for exterior cleanliness... with the exception of wheels, because if the wheels are clean, to me that seems about 90% of making the whole car look clean.

(Oddly, same thing with the motorcycle, even though the wheels are, what, like 5% of the overall visible package?)

Even with my relatively simple OEM wheels, it takes me like an hour to clean out the dust from all four. (No, I haven't gone the graphene route yet.) So I can't wait until I need new brake pads, and then I'm putting on those Powerstops.

[Jus Cruisin]

I've been a "car guy" all of my life. Growing up, my folks lived on a dirt road that was about a mile long. There were many times I would just idle down it to limit dust and carry damp and dry towels in the trunk to give the car a quick touch up once out on paved roads. This was long before detailing sprays, dry washes or even California Dusters..... Even today, during the summer, if I'm caught out in the rain I will give the truck a quick wash and rinse in the drive even if it's still raining and then pull in the garage and dry it off. Always been "one of those guys".

[Newcastle]

Ya I spend a lot of time on detail pages. We also have Chemical Guys stores openong up here. They teach you how to use sealants and polishers. They have car shows once a month. I cant wait to join IF my car ever gets delivered.

[knighti2]

Fast forward to now, I'm an owner of a '23 2SS 1LE, and I have turned into that guy. At least once a week I'm out in our parking garage at our apartment giving my car a waterless wash, obsessing over every inch of the car. Using the flashlight on my iPhone to look for blemishes in the paint. I know there's several folks that have seen me and think I'm crazy.


Guilty!


Does anyone else here feel like they need a support group for how obsessed they are with their car?

[302crossram]

I've been that guy since the 70's

[2SS Capt]

Originally Posted by The Chief (tm)

I am sure there will be lots of folks who will cop to having fallen into that trap. And why not, though? If the car has been kept clean to start with, then you want to keep that look going as long as possible. And they look great when they're like that.

Now mine is a DD and was purchased used, and although it was in very good condition it wasn't perfect (lower front end mostly). I've never *really* been a stickler for exterior cleanliness... with the exception of wheels, because if the wheels are clean, to me that seems about 90% of making the whole car look clean.

(Oddly, same thing with the motorcycle, even though the wheels are, what, like 5% of the overall visible package?)

Even with my relatively simple OEM wheels, it takes me like an hour to clean out the dust from all four. (No, I haven't gone the graphene route yet.) So I can't wait until I need new brake pads, and then I'm putting on those Powerstops.

That's funny, when I was in high school, my first car was a 1980 Cutlass, I did an experiment once (because I lived in Chicago and washing the car in the winter was a panel-by-panel challenge)... One time I washed the entire car including the wheels and I asked a few of my friends what they thought, the next time I washed only the car and not the wheels, and asked their opinion, the next time I washed only the wheels and nothing else...

Obviously, the car and wheels being washed was the best, but a VERY close runner-up was doing just the wheels... Washing the car without the wheels was a distant last...

I was washing the Camaro a few weeks ago and our neighbors walked by when I was doing the wheels and the guy was shocked that I had the wash mit fully inside the barrel of the wheel... He said "are you going to use a tooth brush next?"... I replied with "I don't need to, they've never been more than lightly dusty, you can eat off the inside of my wheels!" He laughed and agreed with me, said he's never seen a car so clean, even brand new, he about fell over when I told him it has 7,500 miles on it... Then I showed him the engine compartment...