Why Modern Car Paints Suck (and How to Keep Yours Looking Good Anyway!)

LeeAnn Shattuck (00:00)
Hey folks and welcome back to The Straight Shift. One of the fun parts, at least for me, of buying a new car is picking the color that you want. The one that best suits your personality and makes you smile every time you look at your new ride. I do have an old podcast as well as a YouTube video that talks about what the color of your car says about your personality. So I’ll put links to both of those in the description if you want to check them out. There’s a whole psychology behind it. But gone are the days of…

You can have a car painted in any color you want as long as it’s black, paraphrasing Henry Ford. Not only do they make cars in just about every color of the rainbow today, but they have these special metallic paints that literally sparkle in the sunlight. And recently they’ve come out with these new matte paint colors that are very popular, especially the matte grays. I have a lot of clients ask about those new matte colors and how well they hold up over time.

And unfortunately, I also frequently see car owners complaining about the paint on their brand new car. It’s got swirls in it straight from the dealership or orange peel after just a few months of driving. So they call me to ask, why is this happening to my brand new car? It didn’t happen on my old car. So in today’s episode, we’re going to talk about why modern car paints suck. What does that mean for you as a car owner?

And what can you do to keep your new car from looking like a Jackson Pollock painting? Let’s get into it.

I don’t claim to be an expert on car paint or on detailing. My Mini Cooper is fully wrapped for my business and brand, so I haven’t even seen the paint on my car in a good 10 years. So anytime I have questions or when my clients has questions about how to keep your car clean, how to protect it, I call my detail guy. Jonathan Stevens of Carolina’s Finest Detailing in Monroe, North Carolina, better known as Dr. Swirl Killer.

Dr Swirl Killer (01:53)
you

LeeAnn Shattuck (01:54)
Hey John, welcome to

Dr Swirl Killer (01:56)
Hey LeeAnn. it’s been a while. Hope you’re well.

LeeAnn Shattuck (01:59)
I am. Before we get into talking about why car paint colors absolutely suck today, tell us a little bit about just quickly how you got into the car detailing business.

Dr Swirl Killer (02:10)
Yeah, well, getting into cars was just something that happened from a young age. I got into detailing actually before I got into cars. My dad drove this really huge, you know, Peterbilt growing up. And the only way to really be able to spend time with him was helping him clean it.

And just through the years, I was always very interested in how to make this more efficient because it sucked. In the Louisiana sun in the summer, sweating. And so just from there, it progressed into learning how to wash cars and that. And through that, I became a car person. I really enjoyed making paint sparkle and making vehicles look really good. And so in some way, shape or form,

I’ve been doing detailing since I was a 10, 11, 12 year old.

LeeAnn Shattuck (03:00)
Slave labor basically, but hey, you’ve turned it into a great business.

Dr Swirl Killer (03:04)
Yeah, it’s and funny story. I, you know, detailing wasn’t my, professional choice in my old life. I was an IT guy through college. I, yeah, I hear it often. Yeah. I, you know, I put myself through college, you know, washing cars and that. And even when I was in IT as a side gig detailing, was car part money.

LeeAnn Shattuck (03:11)
You and me both, man. You and me both. We all escaped corporate America.

Car part money is key, absolutely.

Dr Swirl Killer (03:30)
Yeah, absolutely.

LeeAnn Shattuck (03:32)
Well, tell me what is it? Why does it seem like modern car paints just aren’t like they used to be? I mean, when I was doing the Rust Rescue TV show on the old classic cars, even things that we would rescue from a field or somebody’s barn to restore, you would still have to spend days and days sanding off that old paint. And now it seems like you can sneeze on it and it’s just gone. What changed?

Dr Swirl Killer (03:59)
So, over these last, let’s say, 10, 11 years, is auto manufacturers have made that transition into water-based systems. And then, the costs of everything has gone up. You remember cash for clunkers, right?

LeeAnn Shattuck (04:13)
Painfully, yes, painfully.

Dr Swirl Killer (04:15)
Well, ever since then, new car pricing has gone up, used car pricing has gone up, and so manufacturers have tried to find ways to cut corners to keep prices somewhat competitive. And one of those ways was thinning the finish. And water-based…

LeeAnn Shattuck (04:31)
Wait, let me put

on my shocked face here.

Dr Swirl Killer (04:33)
And these newer water-based systems, they look amazing, right? Like, you know, these deep new pearl paints and, you know, the BMW and Mercedes frozen finishes, they look amazing, but they are thinner than ever. They’re more fragile than ever before, unfortunately.

LeeAnn Shattuck (04:45)
They do.

Well, the water-based paints are just softer in texture, so they just don’t get that hard, hard finish that the old lacquer paints or, you know, good old lead-based paints used to do. So it makes sense. I mean, I know we used to measure the depth of the paint on a car when we would go to auction to buy used cars. We’d have a paint meter and we would measure the depth of the paint all around the car to see if any panels had been repainted. And

Dr Swirl Killer (05:03)
Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

LeeAnn Shattuck (05:19)
We used to see a normal reading on a car that had not been repainted was between four to six mils. And now it’s maybe two to three. So it’s a good half the thickness that it used to be.

Dr Swirl Killer (05:32)
And it’s getting even harder now. Now you need to have a really specialty paint meter to read these, you know, thin aluminum skins and that, and the paint is so thin everywhere. That’s the other thing we’re seeing this, a lot of people nowadays really notice that orange peel effect even more now because of how thin the paint is.

LeeAnn Shattuck (05:54)
What causes that orange peel? I used to think it was just because the environment they painted the car in was not perfectly clean. Like normally when you paint a car, especially at a factory, that room has to be like a surgical room. It has to be absolutely pristine because any little microscopic pieces of dust, even air moisture, God forbid any oils from your skin, you anybody painting cars has to scrub down like a surgeon and keep that room clean or you would get that

texture in the paint because of the impurities. But what I would think the rooms are so clean now. So why are we seeing so much more orange peel?

Dr Swirl Killer (06:31)
Well, so the rooms being clean actually doesn’t have any effect on the orange peel. The rooms being clean is what helps prevent, you know, the little dirt nibs and the fish eyes, the impurities you see in the finish. Contrary to popular belief, paint doesn’t lay 100 % flat when it’s sprayed and once it’s cured. So that orange peel effect is basically just how the finish after it’s sprayed, it’s still somewhat

LeeAnn Shattuck (06:35)
Really?

Dr Swirl Killer (07:00)
bumpy in essence, gives you that orange peel effect. effect can be removed, right, by wet sanding, rotary buffing and stuff like that. And that’s something that I do often on a lot of these nice resto-mod cars and show cars, but that’s definitely something I don’t recommend on a lot of your new vehicles, especially if it’s gonna be daily driven.

LeeAnn Shattuck (07:21)
Yeah, because it’s just, it’s not gonna put you, put a wetsander on it and boom, it’s like it’s gone. Now you’re down to the metal again.

Dr Swirl Killer (07:28)
Yeah, it’s like a lot of times I’ll get clients in for scratch repair and you know, generally don’t really like going anywhere more aggressive than 2000 grit sandpaper to remove any scratches unless we’re going to put paint protection film over that area just because once you sand that one time you’ve already really thinned that paint out.

LeeAnn Shattuck (07:49)
Yeah, and they’re just, they’re only doing like a single layer of paint it looks like in the factories. They used to put multiple layers on and the multiple layers of clear coat. So just so people understand kind of what the process looks like at the factory. And obviously every manufacturer has different ways of painting cars. But the way it’s done mostly today, especially since we are talking about using water-based paints, you know, more environmentally friendly, not just paints, but ways of applying the paints.

Dr Swirl Killer (07:56)
Hmm?

LeeAnn Shattuck (08:18)
to reduce the CO2 emissions. so it’s definitely not the way it used to be. And it’s all robotic now for the most part. But when the car body, the unibody is put together and you just have your raw metal that’s now car shaped and they weld everything, then they take that through and they have to clean the heck out of it to get any impurities, any metal dust, anything off the car. And then they put it into a bath of

primer, it’s a rust resistant primer, and it’s often done as a bath, and it’s done to where the paint adheres to the metal using electricity. And I probably could do a whole podcast just explaining that process. It’s really interesting. They basically put it in a bathtub and then throw in a hairdryer. All the things we’re told not to do in a bathtub, that’s how they get the paint to stick to the metal. It’s kind of cool. And then go through and put the sealer on all the seams. This is sort of like

Dr Swirl Killer (08:56)
It is.

LeeAnn Shattuck (09:09)
talking if you’ve ever done any work around your house with baseboards and trim. And then they will put on a middle layer of paint. This is kind of the undercoating. So it’s either white or a light gray or a dark gray, depending on how vibrant or how deep they want that final paint color to be. Then they’ll do the final actual color of the car and a clear coat. But it’s just not that many layers. And as you said, the paints themselves are so, so thin that it’s no wonder

that these paints are not holding up over time.

Dr Swirl Killer (09:41)
Absolutely.

LeeAnn Shattuck (09:42)
Now, what about these new matte paints? They’re so popular right now. I personally like them because I kind of like, it just gives it a little bit of a badass look. I love the flat grays, but there is some concern about how will those hold up over time? How are they different and why might they not last as long?

Dr Swirl Killer (10:00)
Yeah, I especially love BMW has a frozen blue that is so beautiful and it looks really amazing on some of their cars. So the big difference about these matte finishes is if you get a scratch, you can’t touch it up and we can’t wet sand or buff the vehicle in any way, shape or form. So that’s the biggest drawback in essence.

LeeAnn Shattuck (10:04)
Ooh, yeah, that one’s really pretty.

Dr Swirl Killer (10:27)
and buying a car like that compared to an everyday car that has a regular gloss clear, you get a scratch on the parking lot, we can touch it up, wet sand it, do our best to make it look like it never happened. You can’t do anything like that on these frozen and these matte finishes. So I always.

LeeAnn Shattuck (10:45)
So they don’t have

that clear coat on the top. Do they not have a clear coat at all or is it more of a matte clear coat that’s just not as durable? Okay.

Dr Swirl Killer (10:53)
It’s a matte clear coat

rather than a gloss. And so if you polish it, it’s going to turn a weird color. I’ve actually.

LeeAnn Shattuck (11:00)
Yeah, it’s

gonna kinda look like an oily finish or something, because part of it got glossy and part of it’s not.

Dr Swirl Killer (11:04)
Yes.

Yes. So as far as like every daycare, that’s the biggest difference. You still, you can still, you know, wash it, you ceramic coat it, protect, put paint protection film on it. have matte paint protection film, you know, for these cars. I always tell my clients, if you’re going to buy a car with a matte finish and you’re going to daily drive it, at least PPF

as many of the high wearing areas as you can because like I said, they can’t once if it gets chips, we can’t touch it up. We can’t buff it.

LeeAnn Shattuck (11:39)
I recommend to people, you know, if you’re driving anything every day and you want to keep the paint looking nice, you need to absolutely put some sort of additional product on it. So, you know, now you’re spending even more money on a car that’s gotten too expensive in the first place. But with these paints not being of the same quality and not being applied the same way, it’s going to reduce the value, the resale value of the car because it’s just not going to look as nice.

We want to get as much out of the car as possible, especially if it’s leased and you’re trying to do the lease turn in and they’re trying to ding you for every little stupid thing. It’s important to keep the car protected because we’re just not getting that from the factory. Thank you very much. Now talk to me about ceramic coating versus the paint protection film. What does each one do and when do you need which one? Cause I think it creates a lot of confusion with people not understanding the difference.

Dr Swirl Killer (12:33)
Yeah, so paint protection film, think of it as a thick, clear sticker, right? And that sticker goes on high wearing areas of your vehicle. So if you daily drive your vehicle, it sees a lot of highway, know, areas you’d want to put that film would be like your front bumper, your hood, your fenders, your headlights, you know, maybe A pillars, rocker panels, areas that would be really susceptible to damage from road debris

every day-wide daily driving. So PPF’s main job is to prevent damage from rock chips and road debris.

LeeAnn Shattuck (13:09)
So they would actually put the little dings in the film and not actually go all the way through and put those dings in your paint. I remember when I got, I had a 2005…

Dr Swirl Killer (13:16)
Correct.

LeeAnn Shattuck (13:20)
What was that? Oh yeah, it was the, um, infinity sports car. I don’t know why I had a blank on that, but of course black and literally on the way home from the dealership, some truck kicked up a rock and put a nice old chip right above my windshield. Like the car literally had 22 miles on it. And that happened. I was like, Oh, and that’s not a place you normally put film, but

It’s just so frustrating when that happens to your brand new car. But, you know, I got used to the front of my cars that I took on the track looking like they had been constantly sandblasted because they were sandblasted. But, you know, we didn’t bother putting PPF on our track cars, but it’s so easy to get that just from driving every day because our roads are just, especially with all the construction that we have going on, there’s so much crap that your car literally does end up looking like it went through

a wind tunnel with a sandstorm. It’s crazy.

Dr Swirl Killer (14:19)
And the amount of construction vehicles on the road, especially, you know, in our Charlotte area, every day, I posted an image on my Facebook, like a year ago, of just the back of a dump truck and said, if this is your nightmare, you need PPF.

LeeAnn Shattuck (14:39)
Absolutely. Well now what

about the ceramic coatings?

Dr Swirl Killer (14:44)
Yeah, so think of a ceramic coating as a wax on steroids, right? So the ceramic coating goes on the whole exterior of the vehicle. We can ceramic coat the paint, plastics, we can even ceramic coat glass. Ceramic coating lasts for years, whereas a wax would only last for months. Ceramic coating gives you an amazing gloss, and a coating is hydrophobic or hydrophilic.

Meaning it beads water really well or it sheets water really well. And what that means is your vehicle stays cleaner longer. And a ceramic coating is very chemical resistant. So it’s a sacrificial layer protecting your car from the sun, bird poop, bugs, tar, sap, which is common here, you know, all the pine trees and that. Yeah. And so those, those probably just make the vehicle really easy to clean.

LeeAnn Shattuck (15:32)
yeah.

Dr Swirl Killer (15:38)
So every three months you’re not out there having to wax your car. Wash it and go. It’s protected It has an amazing gloss And it just main helps maintain your value. We have specialty coatings designed for wheels and calipers. If you have Mercedes BMW any type of luxury vehicle with those big soft brakes… The ceramic if you stream it coat your wheels and your painted calipers, it makes cleaning them

LeeAnn Shattuck (16:00)
yeah.

Dr Swirl Killer (16:05)
so much easier.

LeeAnn Shattuck (16:07)
gosh, because one of the worst things to try and get off of cars, the wheels is brake dust that has now been caked onto that metal from the heat. That’s why I have gray wheels on my car, because it hides the brake dust so much better. Not that I use the brakes a lot on my car. I think brakes are for sissies, but you know.

Dr Swirl Killer (16:24)
you’re one those lazy people.

Yeah, it’s amazing technology. It’s an investment into keeping your car looking good. I mean, look, we are keeping our vehicles so much longer now. We have car loans for what, 72 and 84 months now. Vehicles are more expensive than ever, and your finish is more fragile than ever before.

It makes sense to at least make an investment into at least a ceramic coating to protect your car and just make it easy to clean. That’s the biggest thing. And vehicles are so much so big now. I’m 6’2″. I have all the proper platforms. I’ve got the pressure washer. I’ve got all the setup and the time it takes me to clean, you know, a large pickup truck or an SUV. And I’m very efficient at it. So I imagine people

in their driveway trying to maintain these vehicles. why a coating just makes your life so much easier.

LeeAnn Shattuck (17:24)
Absolutely. mean, not everybody has the luxury of just, you know, cleaning a little Mini Cooper, which I actually have not been very good about lately. So. But I mean, yeah, we don’t have the time. And if you’re going to be investing, especially if you’re getting a luxury car, you decide you get one of those cool flat paints, you’re already spending, you know, 40, 50, 60 plus thousand dollars on the car, spending a couple more grand to get that paint protected, I think is totally worth it.

Dr Swirl Killer (17:30)
Uh-uh, tisk tisk.

LeeAnn Shattuck (17:50)
I do want to ask though, because a lot of the dealers have been, you they love to put all their dealer added accessories, their little addendums on the car to jack up the price. And one of the things that I’m commonly seeing now is they are putting what they call their little protection products. And for many dealers, it is a ceramic coating. Are the stuff that the dealer’s putting on the car, is that worth anything or is it just more smoke and mirrors crap and it’s a junk product and inexpertly applied? Is it even worth what they’re charging for it?

Dr Swirl Killer (18:19)
I’ll be honest with you, it’s definitely not worth what they’re charging for it, especially because they’re not prepping the car like a professional detail shop is going to to ensure proper adherence of that product. Let’s call it a money grab, right? We all know that nitrogen in your tires doesn’t cost two to $300. We all know, yeah.

LeeAnn Shattuck (18:33)
Of course.

No, at least it’s useful, but it does not cost that much money.

Dr Swirl Killer (18:42)
You know, all these things, it’s the dealers right now are having to find other ways to make money on the vehicle. So because ceramic is such a hot term and a hot word now, you know, they’re jumping into it. And I’ll be honest with you, it’s nothing like you would get from a professional detail shop. Matter fact, there are a lot of amazing over the counter coatings available. We have a lot of DIY people out there. There are a lot of far better products out there that you can buy yourself and apply

compared to what a dealership’s putting on your vehicle.

LeeAnn Shattuck (19:12)
Again, let me put on my shocked face.

One of the things that we always talk about, and you and I, when we’re joking around, and of course, my nephew owns a detail shop in Hendersonville, North Carolina, and he complains about it all the time, GM black paint. Like, what? It is universally known as the absolute worst paint in the entire automotive industry.

Why is that? Is it that the GM paint in general is just so bad and the black just makes it worse because it shows everything? Or is there something just extra special crappy about GM black paint? What’s up with that?

Dr Swirl Killer (19:57)
All right, now before I go on a rant, I just wanna make it clear that I love black vehicles. I don’t have any issue with them, but I hate black vehicles.

LeeAnn Shattuck (19:59)
I

Now is that all black vehicles

or is it like really specifically GM black vehicles?

Dr Swirl Killer (20:12)
Okay, the

GM black vehicles I love and I have no idea why GM black paint there is so nine out of 10 inquiries I get clients that have hoods and roofs failing that are black paint. It’s a Suburban, a Yukon, a GMC, a GM product. And I have seen on the internet there are

LeeAnn Shattuck (20:34)
Mm-hmm.

Dr Swirl Killer (20:38)
people like GM apparently knows about it. Dealerships know about it. There’s threads about it. Some people are able to successfully get it fixed. I don’t know. It’s crap. It is the soft. It’s crap. It’s the softest black paint on the market. Black in general is just a really hard color to maintain, right? It’s, it’s very soft when it’s clean and polished, there’s no color that looks better.

LeeAnn Shattuck (20:48)
It is crap. It’s absolute crap.

it is.

Dr Swirl Killer (21:04)
But maintaining that finish is really difficult. And black paint, a lot of your darker color paint, absorbs heat, whereas your brighter colors reflect light. I think that definitely has a part of the issue. Especially you have these newer, you these big SUVs, the hood and the roof are flat, right? So you have the sun beating on them all day. You have the heat coming from the engine bay.

A lot of people that have these vehicles, they’re going through drive-through car washes that are abrading the surface. Drive-through brush washes is the worst thing you can do for your vehicle. Bar, that’s where the swirls come from. Bar none. Stop going through brush car washes. Listen, I understand. I have a wife and kids. I have a business. Sometimes you just need your vehicle washed. Stop going through brush washes. A touchless wash if you have to here and there.

LeeAnn Shattuck (21:41)
That’s where all those swirls come from.

It’s better than nothing. And at least it doesn’t touch your car. It doesn’t work in my Mini because my Mini is too short. So, the machine, I can either like get it to clean the front of my car or I can get it to clean the back of my car, but it can’t adjust for just how short my car is. So if I do go through one, I pull up and I watch it it’s coming around the side of my car. And then I put it reverse and I actually drive the car backwards a little bit so that it goes around and then it can get the back of my car. But yeah, it’s just not, not ideal.

Dr Swirl Killer (21:58)
OK, but it’s better than nothing, So you’ve got to.

Mm-hmm.

So you have so many things working against you. You know, with these with these vehicles, again, the color, the size of the vehicle going through brush washes. And if you’re not putting at least a wax or sealant on that vehicle multiple times a year to protect from the sun. And so all those problems equate to early clear coat failure. And I see it constantly. I get at least three to four

inquiries about GM Black Paint and failing at least three to four a month.

LeeAnn Shattuck (22:59)
Well, hey, you know, this is why you have a successful business. Car manufacturers are keeping you and all the other good detailers out there plenty busy.

Dr Swirl Killer (23:03)
What?

And once clear coat failure has started, we cannot stop it. There’s no magic wipe on clear, contrary to what you see on TikTok, that will fix this. The only, the best cosmetic fix that we can offer is gloss black paint protection film, or you can go with gloss black vinyl. The gloss black paint protection film is going to look more like the finish and gives you more protection compared to a vinyl.

Otherwise, the only other proper fix is going to a body shop and having those panels repainted.

LeeAnn Shattuck (23:39)
And that also lowers the value of your car because now the car has been repainted and so anybody you’re selling it to at least that knows how to look at cars thinks it has been in an accident and then it’s been repainted due to needing repairs. So yeah, it sounds like you can’t really win unless you just kind of start like if you buy a new one go directly from the dealership to your good detail shop and have all of the things put on it to protect that paint as best you can.

But hey, know, at least it has paint on it. So last episode, I spent a good amount of time commenting, shall we say colorfully on the cyber trucks. That’s just bare stainless steel. Like what can you even do to one of those? There’s no paint. There’s no clear coat. There’s no nothing. It’s bare metal. Brilliant idea.

Dr Swirl Killer (24:31)
You mean my refrigerator on wheels that holds my beer?

LeeAnn Shattuck (24:36)
no I don’t think it’s that cool, it’s more like your dumpster on wheels.

Dr Swirl Killer (24:39)
I’ve seen that in M2.

LeeAnn Shattuck (24:40)
Is there anything

that you can do? mean, assuming that you do get one of these, I know a lot of people do have them wrapped. And I’m sure that’s to protect it and also to give them some sort of individuality, but.

Dr Swirl Killer (24:45)
Yes. that’s, yeah,

that’s the most common thing most of your Cybertruck guys are going to do is either wrap it in vinyl or, you know, we have colored paint protection film, is newer technology, which looks really awesome as well. If you want to protect that finish, those are your two options, honestly. That bare metal is porous. So

A ceramic coating is not going to populate here and last on that surface. Any detailer that’s telling you otherwise, run far away.

LeeAnn Shattuck (25:20)
Well, that’s

actually a good question because how, you know, unfortunately not everybody who listens to this podcast lives in the greater Charlotte area and can bring their car to you. What do they need to look for to find a good detailer that can install these products for them on their car in their area?

Dr Swirl Killer (25:38)
I think the biggest thing is just to speak them. especially if you can speak in person. I really encourage people to come to the shop, check out the shop, talk with me. In my opinion, you’re doing business with that person, right? And for me, I want to build a long-term relationship with my clients. speak to them.

Are they trying to be pushy? Are they trying to hear your concerns? Are they open and willing to give you references from other clients to be able to speak to and maybe, you know, check out their reviews and be really wary. Cause a lot of people nowadays, cause Google reviews are such a huge part of showing up right in search history. and a lot of guys are really, you know, they’re offering discounts and that, but just, you know, don’t be afraid to look at the reviews.

LeeAnn Shattuck (26:16)
course.

Dr Swirl Killer (26:24)
and speak with them and really gauge how confident they are in what they’re doing and what their process really is. be afraid to speak to more than one detailer, to be honest with you. Yeah, absolutely, yeah.

LeeAnn Shattuck (26:36)
Oh, absolutely. You should definitely shop

around and going to the shop, taking that time will also, you can very often see how they’re working and see examples of other cars that they have just recently done that maybe the customer hasn’t picked up yet. And you can actually take a look at their work to see what it looks like.

Dr Swirl Killer (26:55)
Absolutely. You’re doing business with a person, not a price. Obviously, you’ve got a lot of price shoppers out there and that’s totally fine. But if you’re looking to build a relationship, don’t be afraid to show up now. Call and make sure it’s okay to show up. You’ve got a lot of shops that are really busy. Yeah. I’m a one man show, so I require an appointment to come see me.

LeeAnn Shattuck (27:10)
Don’t just show up on their doorstep.

Dr Swirl Killer (27:18)
so that because I’m working on other clients’ cars. So don’t be afraid to call ahead, make sure it’s okay to stop by. then also nowadays, man, you we have this amazing thing called social media.

You know, there’s Facebook groups and there’s forums and that, you know, a lot of people that are car oriented, there’s groups specifically for those vehicles. Don’t be afraid to get in those groups and ask for recommendations as well.

LeeAnn Shattuck (27:41)
Especially from people who are into car shows and showing their cars, obviously they want their car looking absolutely as perfect as it possibly can so they can win their awards. So they’re gonna be good resources for recommending who’s a good detailer, who can make your car look that showroom quality and who can’t.

Dr Swirl Killer (27:58)
Yeah, 100%. And I’m a big believer. I’m shop based for a reason. If you’re looking for this type of high end work, ceramic coatings and PPF, you want a really nice shop. You want to have a nice shop to do that type of work, not some guy in your driveway.

LeeAnn Shattuck (28:15)
No, washing my car, my driveway, that’s perfectly fine, but you do not want any of these things applied in a non-pristine environment where they don’t have all their tools, all their equipment. So 100%. Well, thank you so much for joining me, swirl killer. I love that moniker there. And it’s so appropriate because I have seen your work and it’s freaking amazing. So how can people get ahold of you?

Dr Swirl Killer (28:28)
Definitely.

I appreciate it.

Man, reach out to me on, I’m on Facebook at Carolina’s Finest Detailing, Instagram, Carolina’s Finest Detailing, or check out my YouTube channel, Carolina’s Finest Detailing. I am working on putting out a lot of educational videos for people.

Because once you spend this money to have your vehicle protected, it’s really great to have a resource to go back and look at, okay, now that I’ve done this, how do I maintain that? And that’s what I’m aiming at with some of these newer videos I’m releasing. And I love educating people. So don’t feel like your question is stupid. The only stupid question is not asking. If you’re looking to, you know, if you have questions about film or coding or products, please reach out to me.

LeeAnn Shattuck (29:26)
I’m going to put a link to John’s website, Carolina’s finest detailing in the description as well. Definitely check out his educational videos, if you want to learn how to keep your car

looking great and protect it so that it holds its value and it’s something that you’re going to be proud to take your coworkers or your clients out in. I don’t think they’re going to want to get in mine right now. Maggie is a little dirty. I have to admit. Yeah, I got to get on that. Tisks, tisks. I know. Well, thanks everybody for joining me on The Straight Shift. Until next time, drive safely. We’re out of here.

Dr Swirl Killer (29:49)
Tsk tsk.

you

See ya!