sandman

Ming being the auto detailing company. They have a paint finishing process that supposedly 'reflows' the manufacturers paint job to a smooth finish rather than the microscopic hills and valleys created by the manufacturers spray guns.

My uncle told me about it and he says the difference is night and day - even with a brand new vehicle...

They use special buffing pads and chemicals to heat the paint to a temp so high, it turns back into a liquid and re-seals itself in a smooth form rather than the 'hilly' form it takes when applied via a spray gun..

What do you think? is it ?

Pro_fan

What's that smell?? Do I smell Bullshit??

Honestly, if it made such a big difference, don't you think car manufacturers would do that already?

Also, wouldn't all the car care freaks be doing this??

I think it reeks of crap and I wouldn't let them touch my car. What it sounds like they're doing is just polishing the paint. Eventually, the polish will diminish and you'd have to do it again.

sandman

I agree - smells like cowpies to me.

But - i'm gonna take devil's advocate side here to promote discussion and think outside the box...

Look at this scenario -

It all comes down to economics and time.

Manufacturers only do the required MINIMUM. This is not just cars, but ANY manufacturer of ANY product. Why would they put more into a product than is necessary?

When you're at work, how often do you put in above and beyond what's required of you?

It only serves to increase their costs & production time and cut into their bottom line. Unless of course they want to raise the price of the vehicle. The problem is they can only raise the price of the car to a certain point before it basically gets bumped into a different class and target market.

It's no different than replacing the stock airbox with a performance intake.

Why wouldn't the manufacturer just put a CAI on in the first place, knowing that you get better gains out of it? Because for the average consumer (who is the majority), an average intake is just fine.

Why would they go through all that work to give you an amazing car finish when most consumers are not going to care for their vehicles properly and ruin the finish in no time anyway?

Thats my economics reason.. Now for the Time reason:

In addition to putting the extra effort into the vehicle, they'd also want to get it built in the shortest time possible. To do what Ming is talking about, no robot could do, so that means hiring human workers, who take more time than a machine spray painting the car and wind up slowing down the entire assembly process because even if cars are being built at 100 / hour at all other stages of assembly, it doesn't mean **** if the painters/polishers can only do 1 car an hour. The cars can be coming into the paint room at a lightning fast rate, but they'll be coming out only as fast as the detailers can do it, thus slowing down the entire production process. Manufacturers want to cut costs and increase production time any way they can. That means as much automation as possible with as little human intervention as possible. I'm sure Mazda is no different.

Phew..

As for why all the car care freaks not doing it. Who's heard of Ming? The only reason I know of them is I know a guy that owns a Ming shop. They've been around forever, but you never really hear about them. I think they depend more on word of mouth than flashy advertising.

I dunno.. still smells funny to me, but maybe I should give Ming the benefit of the doubt and find out more info about it before I truly pass judgement on it.

Pro_fan

You do research...I'll take a pass!

Many companies do something similar to what they do. Ziebart, Shine company, etc.

In regards to as why the car companies don't do it, it's because the car has to get shipped and it'll get f#%#ed up before it gets to you anyway. The manufactuer has done their part by baking the paint and clear coat on for you. By the time the car gets to you, the paint/clear is fully cured.

Ok, so apparently Ming can smooth down the paint for you. Fine....I can do that too with 2000 grit sand paper or something similar. But in doing so, you're actually decreasing the amount of clearcoat. I don't doubt that the car looks good after. By smoothing down the clearcoat, you'd be minimizing the optical imperfections that resut from a non-uniform paint surface. Also, I bet they apply some sort of glaze and wax for you, helping to create a nice shine and depth to the paint.

Eventually, rocks, bird ****, dust, etc., will make your paint all "hilly" again. So, what are you going to do? Take it into Ming again? Sure they'll smooth out your paint again..but there goes another fraction of your clear coat.

Car care freaks don't do it because they can do better by themselves, while at the same time NOT harming the clearcoat/paint.

I'm sorry, but I HAVE passed judgement on Ming. NO WAY for me.

sandman

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