Episode #7: The Art of Detailing - What Makes a Great Detailer?

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

You can always tell when a car’s been touched by someone who cares.

It’s in the way the light dances across the panel - no holograms, no swirl marks, just pure, uninterrupted reflection.

It’s in the way the trim looks factory-fresh, not caked in dressing.

It’s in the feel of the paint when you run your hand across it: smooth, crisp, balanced. Right.

But here’s the thing: that level of finish doesn’t come from just following steps. It doesn’t live in a checklist. It comes from the kind of person who notices what others miss - and can’t look away until it’s fixed.

The great detailers are the ones who stay late for that final 2% no one else would notice.

Great detailers don’t start by asking “What product should I use?” They start by asking “What does this surface need?” They look at a car the way a tailor looks at fabric -understanding how it drapes, where it pulls, how it was made. They read paint like a language: this panel’s been resprayed, that one’s softer than it should be, the clear coat here has seen too many drive-through washes and one very aggressive compound job.

It’s a quiet art. There’s no applause at the end. Sometimes no one even knows what you fixed. But the best in the game? They’re not in it for the claps. They’re in it for the standard. Their own.

We’ve met detailers who obsess over work like surgeons. Who test pad and polish combos the way chefs test seasoning - adjusting, refining, dialing in that perfect result that can’t be explained, only shown. Some of them have spent more time under inspection lights than sunlight. Some have chased gloss in every climate, on every paint system, from soft clear coat to stubborn orange peel.

And every one of them will tell you: they’re still learning.

That’s the unspoken rule in this craft - you’re never done. The game moves. Coatings evolve. Expectations rise. You can be proud of where you are, but you’d better not get comfortable.

Because the difference between good and great?

Good finishes a job.

Great walks around the car one more time - just to be sure.

So what makes a great detailer?

It’s not the machine. It’s not the marketing. It’s not even necessarily the result.

It’s the mindset.

The kind that sees the work not as a service, but as a signature.

The kind that treats every vehicle like it’s the one they’ll be remembered for.

The kind that lives and breathes in the space between perfection and obsession.

The kind that never settles - because they’re always chasing something more.

And if you’ve ever re-polished a panel because the sun hit it different the second time around… Welcome! You're one of us!