My Meguiars detailing class experience

[Woodie]

(29-08-2010 04:30 PM)Carn Wrote:  Tell us more about the Meg's classes!

(29-08-2010 09:21 PM)calypso Wrote:  The classes aimed more at the enthusiast, or dedicated detailer? Did you learn much?

Meguiars hosts 3 different types of activities at their H/O - Saturday Detailing Class, Thursday Night Open Garage and Advanced Detailing Class.

The Saturday Class (the one I attended) is aimed at anyone from complete newbies to detailing enthusiasts. The amount you learn and take out of the class is dependent upon your skill level at the start of the class. I must admit that I didn't learn much new, but I knew this would be the case before making the trip. The course covers washing, claying, polishing, waxing and maintaining steps, with additional sections covering wheel and interior care. There were some valuable tidbits I picked up in general conversation during the course of the day, but my main aim was to experience the class and how it's run so that I could come home armed with the knowledge and experience to try and get the local version off the ground.

The Advanced Class would have been a great one to attend, but they take place less frequently and are conditional upon having attended one of the normal Saturday classes first. These classes are usually oversubscribed and attendance is determined by an electronic lottery - only 12-18 places are available for each class as opposed to 35 places for the standard class. Topics covered include damp sanding, wet sanding, rotary polishing and use of pneumatic tools (DA & Rotary).

The Thursday Night Open Garage (TNOG) sessions are really great. These are more informal sessions where guys who have attended a Saturday session and have specific issues are able to bring their cars in to have the Meguiars guys look at them and recommend what action would be best to rectify the issues. The class is literally an 'open garage' as everyone in attendance has access to the garage and the contents of the cupboards and can try out/use any of the Meguiars products - and believe me, the full range is available. Detailer Line, Professional Line, Consumer Line, clays, pads, microfibre cloths - I mean everything. And to top it off, pizza and cold drinks are part of the deal.

I'm going to have to have a word with Greg about the lack of comparable activities on the local scene.