Professional Auto Detailing Forums

Cutting Operational Costs in a Tough Economy

kadcrash — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:54:35 GMT

Everyone in the detail business today is all about "cutting costs."

Click on the link below and see how they wash and detail cars in Kabul, you can pickup a great many cost-cutting ideas I am sure.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/kabuls-car-wash-economy/article1351063/?

Hope you enjoy it.

Regards

Forum:
Detail Plus Auto Detailing Forum

DETAILING PAVILLION at the Car Care World Expo

IDA — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:15:42 GMT

The INTERNATIONAL DETAILING ASSOCIATION is pleased to announce that they have come to an agreement with the Car Care World Expo to have a Detailing Pavillion on the Expo floor that features on detail product exhibitors.

For the first time in nearly 20 years there will be an exhibit area that is totally devoted to detail equipment, supplies and chemical manufacturers where detailers can talk directly with suppliers and see, feel and touch the products.

The IDA will also be in charge of the Detail Educational Seminars at the Car Care World Expo and the sessions will cover a variety of topics including chemicals, paint finishes; marketing, advertising & sales to name a few.

Anyone interested in attending the Car Care World Expo, May 11-14 can purchase a two day show pass for $99 which will get you into the Expo and the Detailing Educational seminars.

"The IDA is very excited about this cooperation because it gives both the association and the industry a place to call 'home,'" stated Bud Abraham, Executive Director of the IDA.

The IDA plans to use the Car Care World Expo as their trade show and have their convention and meetings in conjunction with this Expo every year.

In addition to the Detailing Pavillion exhibitors there are at least 400 more exhibitors displaying a number of products that will be of interest to detailers.

For more information on the Car Care World Expo or to register contact info@the-ida.com

Regards,

Marnie Joseph
Executive Secretary
IDA

Forum:
International Detailing Association

Fort Hood Shootings

AutoDetailingNetwork — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 23:30:09 GMT

Prayers for the victims and families of those killed and injured in a shooting spree at Ft Hood this afternoon, in Texas.

Foxnews Story

Forum:
Detailing Lounge

Steam Machines

bosox1220 — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 21:43:12 GMT

Ok. I know that this topic has been thrown out here 1000s of times. But being 2009 and one to always move forward and not be set in my ways, I have decided to start to look into Steam Machines again. I have some simple questions.

1. Can these machines be used effectively on the exterior of vehicles? Has anyone ever melted plastic trim or moldings before.

2. What machine is everyone using?

3. I have read that an extractor is still necessary. Is this still true, or have these machines made advances in the carpet cleaning area?

4. If using to clean exterior trim and plastic, is there still a need for an air compressor to blow off excessive water behind crevices?

5. Does it save any time in any normal detail application?

6. If using on the exterior to clean a vehicle, how much water is actually being used. I can get threw a prep wash using about 4.5 gallons with a PW.

I look forward to seeing all the experts responses. I appreciate it immensely.

Forum:
Professional Auto Detailing Forum

Barrett jackson comes to town

Relaited — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 16:04:15 GMT

Looking forward to next summer when this great event comes to my Home Town.

This will bring 200,000 people, fill our hotels and restaurants.

Perhaps I can figure out a way to get a little business ... we operate on the grounds of the event.

Good news anyway you look at it.

-jim

Event Press Release http://www.barrett-jackson.com/media/pressreleases/10092009_barrett-jackson-comes-to-orange-county-in-2010.asp

Forum:
Eco Detailing Forum

Five Mind-Blowing Web Stats You Should Know

AutoDetailingNetwork — Thur, 05 Nov 2009 01:21:44 GMT

Mind-Blowing Web Stat #1: 40,000-fold increase in the number of websites in 15 short years. If the number of approximately 5000 websites in 1994 is correct and that we are now part of some 200 million plus websites today, then we've experienced a stunning 40,000-fold increase in number of websites. How's that for a growth rate? It also helps explain why Kevin Ham, a Canadian Internet entrepreneur, is minting money from the domain names he owns. Mr. Ham owns some 100,000 domain names worth hundreds of millions and that generate estimated ad revenue of $70 million annually. Great foresight, on Ham's part, to see that good domain names are like scarce waterfront property. This is the chart copied from Netcraft:

Read More about the amazing web stats

Forum:
Detailing Lounge

Toyota Safety Problem

Atomic — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 23:44:05 GMT

This is apparently a big problem and affects a large number of my customer base. Models affected:

2007 2010 Camry
2005 2010 Avalon
2004 2009 Prius
2005 2010 Tacoma
2007 2010 Tundra
2007 2010 ES350
2006 2010 IS250 and IS350

TORRANCE, Calif., November 2, 2009 - - Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., today announced that it has begun mailing letters to owners of certain Toyota and Lexus models regarding the potential for an unsecured or incompatible drivers floor mat to interfere with the accelerator pedal and cause it to get stuck in the wide-open position.

The letter, in compliance with the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act and reviewed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) also confirms that no defect exists in vehicles in which the drivers floor mat is compatible with the vehicle and properly secured.

The Toyota finding is consistent with a recent decision by NHTSA denying a request for an additional investigation of unwanted and unintended acceleration of model year 2007 Lexus ES350 vehicles and model years 2002-2003 Lexus ES300. After conducting an extensive technical review of the issue, including interviews with consumers who had complained of unwanted acceleration, NHTSA concluded that the only defect trend related to vehicle speed control in the subject vehicles involved the potential for accelerator pedals to become trapped near the floor by out-of-position or inappropriate floor mat installations.

This is the sixth time in the past six years that NHTSA has undertaken such an exhaustive review of allegations of unintended acceleration on Toyota and Lexus vehicles and the sixth time the agency has found no vehicle based cause for the unwanted acceleration allegations.

The question of unintended acceleration involving Toyota and Lexus vehicles has been repeatedly and thoroughly investigated by NHTSA, without any finding of defect other than the risk from an unsecured or incompatible drivers floor mat, said Bob Daly, TMS senior vice president.

Toyota takes public safety seriously. We believe our vehicles are among the safest on the road. Our engineers are working hard to develop an effective remedy that can help prevent floor mat interference with the pedal. As soon as it is ready, we will notify owners of the relevant models to bring their vehicle to a dealer for the necessary modification at no charge, Mr. Daly added.

In the recently completed investigation, NHTSA conducted extensive testing on a Lexus ES350. The agency reported that:

The vehicle was fully instrumented to monitor and acquire data relating to yaw rate, speed, acceleration, deceleration, brake pedal effort, brake line hydraulic pressure, brake pad temperature, engine vacuum, brake booster vacuum, throttle plate position, and accelerator pedal position. Multiple electrical signals were introduced into the electrical system to test the robustness of the electronics against single point failures due to electrical interference. The system proved to have multiple redundancies and showed no vulnerabilities to electrical signal activities. Magnetic fields were introduced in proximity to the throttle body and accelerator pedal potentiometers and did result in an increase in engine revolutions per minute (RPM) of up to approximately 1,000 RPM, similar to a cold-idle engine RPM level. Mechanical interferences at the throttle body caused the engine to shut down.

The Toyota letter is an interim notice to owners of a future voluntary safety recall campaign. The following models are affected:

2007 2010 Camry
2005 2010 Avalon
2004 2009 Prius
2005 2010 Tacoma
2007 2010 Tundra
2007 2010 ES350
2006 2010 IS250 and IS350

Until Toyota develops a remedy, it is asking owners of affected Toyota and Lexus models to take out any removable drivers floor mat and NOT replace it with any other floor mat.

The Toyota letter also informs owners of what to do if they experience accelerator pedal interference, general floor mat warnings and proper floor mat application information. Owners who have further questions are asked to visit http://www.toyota.com/floormats or http://www.lexus.com/floormats where the owner letter in its entirety can also be viewed. The most recent NHTSA report can be viewed on these websites as well.

Forum:
Professional Auto Detailing Forum

No Thank you ....

WorldFamousSuperiorShine — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 22:02:19 GMT

I was recently billed to renew IDA membership. I have decided to let my membership expire. I wish the IDA and its members the best of luck.

Quote:

Hello Jose Fernandez,

International Detailing Association would like to be paid through PayPal.

Merchant
International Detailing Association
P.O. Box 20755
Portland, OR 97294
United States
503-251-2668
info@the-ida.com

Note from merchant
This letter is to advise you that your membership in the INTERNATIONAL DETAILING ASSOCIATION expires in December and that it is time to renew. As an operator member, your renewal dues are $50.00. Considering the state of the economy the IDA has not raised dues this year in spite of increasing costs. The IDA Board of Directors has many plans for 20010 that will aid you and your company. Visit the website to learn what is being done. If you want to get further involved please send us an email. PLEASE ADVISE IF YOU ARE GOING TO RENEW OR NOT. THANKS.

Description	Unit price	Qty	Amount
IDA Membership Dues Item #	$50.00	1	$50.00

NO THANK YOU.

Forum:
International Detailing Association

List of Carwashes & Detail Shops in Lastest Sweep

IDA — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 19:16:59 GMT

Click on the link to see which car washes and detail operations in your area that we visited by the labor inspectors and which were fined.

Regards.

Car Wash Sweep

Forum:
International Detailing Association

California Labor Commission Conducts Sweep

IDA — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:32:23 GMT

HEADLINE: California Labor Commission Conducts Sweep

This information is provided by the INTERNATIONAL DETAILING ASSOCIATION as a service to the many detail businesses in California that are not registered under the mandatory registration law for carwashes and detail businesses.

The California legislature just passed AB 236 which extends the mandatory register law until 2014 so if you have not registered you better because it is clear the California Labor Commission is going to enforce the law. Every sweep conducted has resulted in fines of nearly $1 million dollars, and in some cases more.

The IDA will soon have on their website http://www.the-ida.com on the Members Only page a Environmental & Regulatory Section where a member can find any and all information about compliance with this law as well as all OSHA and EPA regulations.

CA Labor Commissioner levies nearly $1 million in citations during statewide enforcement of carwash industry

San FranciscoOct. 30Investigators from the California Labor Commissioners Office issued over $900,000 in fines to businesses in the car wash and detail industries in a two day statewide enforcement sweep. The penalties included a total of $600,900 issued to 76 unlicensed businesses that were cited for not having a registration.

Requiring carwash and detail businesses to register with the state allows us to focus on those businesses that undercut their competition, which makes it difficult for legitimate businesses to stay in operation, said California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. As part of the underground economy, these illegal businesses often do not pay state taxes, and take advantage of employees by not providing workers compensation coverage or paying proper wages.

The two day enforcement sweep, which began on Oct. 28, involved 42 investigators who conducted 230 inspections and issued 141 citations against 103 businesses with citations issued totaling $916,711.

Investigators found 49 businesses that failed to provide workers compensation coverage for their employees. Citations issued totaled $240,000 and businesses without workers compensation coverage were issued stop work orders, which prevents them from operating with employee labor.

Also found during the investigations were 12 cases where the employer did not provide employees a wage deduction statement, one case of improper payment of minimum wage and one case of improper payment of overtime. Two businesses were found to have hired minors without having the required work permits on file.

The statewide enforcement action included the counties of Alameda, Butte, Contra Costa, Fresno, Humboldt, Imperial, Kern, Los Angeles, Monterey, Napa, Orange, Riverside, Sacramento, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, and Yolo.

Recently, AB 236 was signed by the governor, extending the law to 2014, to protect those workers in the industry and to provide businesses the opportunity to come into compliance with labor laws, added Bradstreet. This registration allows us to better monitor situations where we have traditionally seen labor violations.

To request a list of the violations and businesses cited during the enforcement action, email the Department of Industrial Relations at: Communications@dir.ca.gov. A list of all businesses currently registered with the State is available on DIRs website at the following link: http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/HowToObtainCarWashRegistration.htm.

The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement adjudicates wage claims, investigates discrimination and public works complaints, and enforces state labor law and Industrial Welfare Commission wage orders. To learn more about the functions of the California Labor Commissioner, visit our web site at http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse. Employees with work-related questions or complaints, including heat illness, may call the California Workers Information Hotline at (866) 924-9757.

# # #

Forum:
International Detailing Association

California Water Bills ... Finnally

Relaited — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:18:16 GMT

IT'S DONE - Legislature Approves Historic Water Package

Package

Just before sunrise this morning and after a long night of struggle, the California Legislature put the final touches on what many believe to be the most significant reform in fifty years of how California stores, delivers and manages its water supply. On the way to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger for signature, is a five bill package that includes:

(SB 1,7X) a comprehensive new governance structure to oversee the activities of nearly two hundred agencies with a say over actions within the Sacramento-San Joaquin Bay-Delta Estuary. Included within this measure are critical land use protections for development projects undertaken within the Delta Secondary Zone as well as language inserted at the last minute in the Assembly preserving existing area-of-origin law and water rights;

(SB 2, 7X) an expanded $11.14 billion dollar state general obligation bond to be placed before California voters in November of 2010, to finance a wide range of improvements and enhancements to the states water system as well as funds to restore and protect the Bay-Delta Estuary;

(SB 6, 7X) new groundwater monitoring requirements to measure and manage potential overdraft activity along with fiscal penalties for local agencies that fail to carry out the new monitoring and reporting requirements;

(SB 7, 7X) new statewide water conservation and efficiency targets for urban users (20% by 2020) and industrial users (10% by 2020). Agricultural users would be required to implement water management plans and undertake efficient water management practices;

(SB 8, 7X) last-minute controversial amendments aimed at cracking down on illegal diversions of surface waters from the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta by requiring monthly reporting to the State Water Resources Control Board (SWRCB) and imposing civil penalties if diverters fail to report or accurately report these requirements. This was a major concession gained by business and water agencies over the objection of major environmental groups. The provisions were formerly contained in Assembly Bill 900 (De Leon). SB 8, 7X also includes $546 million from various funds authorized by Proposition 84 of 2006, to support a number of Delta-related projects and $3.7 million to support SWRCB enforcement activities.

Forum:
Eco Detailing Forum

California Labor Commissioners Office issued over $900,000 in fines to businesses in the carwash industry

AutoDetailingNetwork — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:22:46 GMT

Investigators from the California Labor Commissioners Office issued over $900,000 in fines to businesses in the carwash industry in a two day statewide enforcement sweep. The penalties included a total of $600,900 issued to 76 unlicensed carwash businesses that were cited for not having a registration.

Requiring carwash businesses to register with the state allows us to focus on those businesses that undercut their competition, which makes it difficult for legitimate carwash businesses to stay in operation, said California Labor Commissioner Angela Bradstreet. As part of the underground economy, these illegal businesses often do not pay state taxes, and take advantage of employees by not providing workers compensation coverage or paying proper wages.

Read the entire press release

Forum:
Detailing Business Management Forum

Meguiar's G110v2 Dual Action Polisher

AutoDetailingNetwork — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:39:37 GMT

"Rick Meyer, the Founder of Auto Detailing Solutions, is excited to be a supplier of the all new Dual Action Polisher G110v2!

Read the full release in Attention to Details News

Forum:
Detailing Headlines

car egged on halloween

luckymjp — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:23:12 GMT

This is a new one to me. A customer contacted me and said there car got egged on the driver side door. How is this removed? can it be removed?

Forum:
Professional Auto Detailing Forum

Auto Glass Replacement vs Windshield Repair

toktok — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:41:39 GMT

When such a thing takes place, the first thing that comes to our mind is whether to go for an auto glass replacement or for a windshield repair.
Modern technologies have been used now to repair the auto glass so that it can save a lot of money, time and effort on part of the vehicle owner. Although windshield repair can mend a majority of small cracks and bruises on the auto glass, auto glass replacement is needed when the damages to the auto glass are serious and mending it is not possible or it may be dangerous for the driver and the passengers to repair it.
Although small cracks can be repaired and no one will be able to notice that the auto glass has been repaired, a large crack may make the whole structure weak and it may lead to more serious damage if another accident occurs.
Some cracks and chips may successfully react to the windshield repair processes whereas it may not be successful with larger cracks. In such cases, repair can prove to be like a first aid action so that the crack is not left unfixed and it can be replaced at a more convenient time. An unattended crack may lead to some more serious problems and may prove to be extremely dangerous for the driver and the passengers in the car. This is because an unattended crack may come into the view of the drivers vision and this may lead to some really serious accidents. It has been recommended that windshield repair is appropriate for cracks that are as much as 12 inches long but for longer cracks, only auto glass replacement is usually suggested.

windshield replacement

Forum: Paintless Dent Repair Forum | Auto Paint Chip Repair