Dayton Detailing has quickly risen to the top as one of the preferred options in the state of Ohio for high-end automotive detailing, especially Paint Correction, Ceramic Coating, and Paint Protection Film (PPF) services.  The owner Chris Chitwood, reputation of professionalism and his passion for detailing is a major reason why Dayton Detailing has become such a ever growing success.  Due to my own preoccupation running Mirror Reflections Auto Spa it did take a while for us to connect.  I am appreciative for what turned out to be an incredibly in-depth interview.

Chris:  Dayton Detailing is a company I started as a way to find a purpose in my life.  I got a new to me car with 6500 miles and decided I wanted to care for it properly.  After finding pain points along my journey, it developed into refining my car care skills into a business and a solution to those pain points throughout the journey.  Black soft paint car?  Welp this is fun to maintain.  Washing the car at 5am in the summers and the idea of winter being a problem?  Coatings.  Semi-truck shogun blased your car on the way home after a championship game win?  Hello PPF!   COVID you say?  Hello wife who lost her job, time for a career change 3 years ahead of schedule!  (Turns out she’s pretty good and has high standards, still unsure why she married me…).  The business is now 7+ years old, we are looking to finally get tint and vinyl going as we begin to explore how to scale this beyond just us and one tech.  Keeping a high standard while delegating duties is a challenge, but one we have been attempting for about 2 years now and admittedly, hard for me to do.  With the goal of providing solutions to Dayton, Ohio to help protect the things that matter to our clients (Vehicles and hopefully more in the future), we continue to push ourselves to provide a better experience on that journey.

Me: Could you tell me about the effort required to develop a high skill set in PPF application?

Chris: It is by far one of the biggest skill related undertakings I have had.  I started detailing in my business, into correction, into coating, then to PPF.  I have also done small amounts of tint and vinyl work.  PPF is just hands down the most challenging of those and redefined my idea of patience.  The only thing harder for me is running the business as that is a constant evolution that included this development as well.  The patience required, the experience to develop skills, the training to get a good foundation, and the money/slow build of it is QUITE challenging.  If someone were just a stand-alone tech that only did it, the time isn’t as bad.  However, as a business owner that does the film installation, I took 2 years to feel okay and another 2-2.5 years to feel “good” at it.  And I still am constantly learning and still making small mistakes here and there.  And the stress is frankly pretty crushing, especially early on.  Everything sucks, nothing makes sense, and consistency is hard to find.  And if you really care about your work,, the 2am middle of the night wake-ups, worried about a speck of dust under the film that a client likely will never see SUCKS.  And unlike many skill sets, the better you get, the less it looks like you did anything which can be somewhat robbing of that winning feeling.  I am just now arriving at a position where I feel I am getting good at this, I feel confident, and I believe I am pushing my market up more and more.  I couldn’t have done this without mentorship and coaching either.  I trained with OptiCoat when Mack Gregory was there (RIP), trained with the guys at Esoteric for a foundational course with them, and a huge thanks to Jose Rios for being a regular resource for me to reach out to.

Me:  What are the benefits of combining PPF with a real dedicated ceramic coating versus all in one or nothing?

Chris:  PPF is a great tool to provide that physical and ultimate protection, but their top-coats do not last and keeping it even easier to clean is just a huge time savings.  I’ve done film for years without anything, against sealants, and against coatings.  I have a ceramic sealant vs CCI Advance (true glass coating) on my Stek Forged CF Red Wine hood as a daily driver and over a year I haven’t seen it lessen.  Wash, dry, boom, done in a minute.  This seems to be a big discussion where some don’t think there is a benefit and others do.  Simply put, test it yourself and come to a conclusion practice that best fits your needs and business model.  Coatings make life easier, and my client’s lives easier, that’s a win and a value added across the board.  A simple photo like below makes selling coating a breeze.  A picture is worth a thousand words and people don’t have time for long conversations.  Seeing is believing.

Me: If you were a customer looking for a quality PPF installation experience, what would you look for?

Chris:  First and foremost, they need to get to know the people directly connected to their experience.  This is not stuff you want to just go to a production shop who will turn over people constantly or a shop that doesn’t have a proven staying power.  This is a long-term  RELATIONSHIP you’re purchasing.

If you are spending thousands you want to be sure they will be there to provide that warranty, or that there are options for the warranty.

You also will want to know they will stand behind their work.  I just replaced my longest client’s front bumper because there was a lift FOUR years after I did the install.  It was my first install, so I am more likely to believe my install was the issue and nothing to do with the film.  Now I usually only do a 60-day workmanship warranty as that covers any install errors pretty well.  However, if I look at it and can tell it’s on me, I am taking ownership of that and resolving it.  I am an advocate for my client first and foremost.  Make sure your shop has an advocate for you.  You want to feel comfortable with that decision, because like a honeymoon, it doesn’t usually get better from that point and if you’re starting to not feel comfortable, what will it be like if there is a problem?  Or a genuine curiosity about an expectation not being set?  I have heard of some crazy things where people were met with incredibly aggressive reactions just for simple questions.

Check the reviews but understand they should be taken with a grain of salt.  Look for common mentions that speak to you.  My clients regularly compliment my communication throughout the process.  Look through the reviews for things that check YOUR boxes.

Are they insured?  Are they a legit business?  Seriously, ASK.  You’re entrusting us with tens to thousands of thousands of dollars of your possessions.  The least we can do is prove our legitimacy.  It is not too much to ask.  Is it a little hurdle for me to provide that?  Yes.  However, you’re trusting me with your new vehicle, a big moment in a LOT of people’s lives, don’t put that in the wrong hands.  It takes 2 minutes to generate the proof of our license with the stat and proof of insurance from my insurance.  2 minutes for your confidence and trust?  Deal.  I have been asked only one time for this, and while you can look at my big facility, history, and online presence and deduce that I am legitimate, there are plenty who may not be and you’re the one out of a new car if something happens.

Finally, ask to see their work.  Yeah, pretty low bar that the actual work matters.   The reality is that you can see real world examples and make a decision.  My car is a daily driver with Stek fashion film on it and clear films with a coating.  I believe in what I am selling, it is at the shop nearly daily.  I can demonstrate my mistakes (oh yeah, I don’t hide misses from clients, I show them the mistakes and my understanding of how they happened, and ensure they are not acceptable on client’s vehicles), show the quality of my work, the ease of cleaning, and the value of the service.  Real world example, real world discussion, expectation setting.  I have seen vehicles come into my shop that were charged 10-20% more than what I charged, for less coverage, and had 1/2-1″ gaps in their seams between film, after two attempts!  Show me the goods.  Just because this is last, doesn’t mean it is unimportant, but everything above matters before this because I can assure you, no installer is perfect and how they handle mistakes will be an entirely different experience.

Me: What are the misconceptions about Paint Protection Film?

Chris:  Perfection.  Throw that stuff OUT THE DOOR.  We do not install perfectly, the coverage isn’t going to be perfect, and it is not going to be perfect in a few months’ time.  A quality shop will strive for excellence and what may appear perfect to an untrained eye, however has their tolerances.  I sent out a door with glue line that I have NO idea how it got their.  The client was FULLY made aware, pointed it out, assured that if it got worse I would redo it, and since he is moving, if it got worse, I would pay a shop to redo it there.  It is a redo level failure, however the client knew perfection wasn’t in the cards and made the decision to ride with it and is incredibly happy with the work.  My ego checks at the door, it isn’t visible at 5 feet and I don’t care if someone sees it and decides not to use us because of such a thing.  I care that my client has a protected car and is HAPPY.  If he was even remotely not satisfied, I’d have kept it another day and redone it without a second thought.  We didn’t catch it until prepping for coating and the job was already over the deadline (which he was also incredibly patient with), we let him know.  There are things I see that are wrong with installs that clients never see, and knowing where the line is has become incredibly hard.  A speck of dust under the film in my shop?  I mean they can’t paint that car perfectly in a multi million-dollar paint booth, perfect, it is there to protect first.  Putting a screen protector on a cell phone is hard for the average person, we are doing that at a massive size difference and over a 3D surface.  That does not excuse lazy and low quality work, but figure out the tolerances (this applies to shop and consumer) and discuss this openly.

Protection.  This is the best protection you can do for your paint.  Michael Jordan is arguably the GOAT of basketball (enjoy the comment section on that), but he didn’t always succeed now did he?  The film is there to give you the best protection it can, however not everything is stoppable.  And my friend, I feel your pain when you come to me after something got through that film.  I put a part of myself into that protection to ride along with you, and it hurts when it loses.  You did the best you could, you selected what you believed was the best place and solution to protect it, and it didn’t hold up.  I happens, and it sucks.  I have nothing more to say.

Me: What are the common misconceptions about detailing businesses that may hurt customers?

Chris:  There is a general lack of education about what we can and cannot do and what our services provide or do not provide.  People mistakenly interpret Paint Correction (a polishing service) as painting vehicles.  With terminology that confuses most of the mainstream public and a general lack of understanding of the detailing industry, a client may not know what is available or grossly misunderstand what they are getting.  The industry image is not that great either.  How many shops do you see out there that look like a run-down garage, or worse!  I worked from my garage for nearly 4 years.  I made upgrades on the inside as the business grew and even going into the shop I am at now.  I am NOT happy with how it looks, but we are moving on to the next phase of the business and I’ve already invested enough in someone else’s property.  Setting a professional image reframes the interaction for everyone.  You do not need a fancy, perfect looking place, but you want it to look like you care enough about it that it can deliver quality service.  Fortunately, the industry seems to be upticking on this and this makes it easy to separate yourself from the pack.  That does not change the fact it leads to a higher level of consumer confusion as to why one shop charges $100/HR vs one that charges $50/HR.  And in reality, it is typically deeper than just how nice it looks.  While the most expensive auto detailing business is not always the best solution, you get what you pay for.  So know what you are buying.