I have got my Vette and overall general car care detailing down to the science after years of using various products and per the advise provided on this board.

I detail my DD sedan twice a year. Last time, my neighbor was just leaving to bring his in for a paid wash/wax/detail. He joked about asking me to do it and we made a friendly wager as to who will have the clearner/better detailed car when he was done.

It took me 3 hours to wash/dry/polish/wax and detail (interior vaccuum, interior trim condition, leather condition, wheel dressings, door jams, vents, windows, engine hoses/trim, etc.) I used my random orbital which made it more fun with one coat of polish and two coats of wax. I had some cold garage brewskies and enjoyed some nice rock music pumping out of the garage stereo to make it even more enjoyable.

When he got back we compared cars. Although the interiors were both very clean, he had a lot of over spray from the cheaper dash treatment "stuff" that they used and his polish didn't pop us much as the Adams polish I used. The pro detailer completely missed the wheel wells and exhaust pipes.

I think I won him over to the dark side of car care after he spent $150 on the pro detail, two weeks later asked me where I got my orbital polisher.

The other advantage of doing it yourself is that you really get to know your car and can spot small problems and repair them before they turn into big problems.

 

Sounds pretty normal to me

 

Nothing wrong with that... Every winter I pull the wheels, clean the wheelwells and barrels then have the wheels rebalanced. Winter sucks so anything corvette related perks me up.