[BimmerNugget]

Alright I will admit, my cheap ass has never taken my car to a "professional detailer" or any auto detailing shop for that matter.

I use a pressure washer, and 2 bucket method to hand wash my car. After washing, I dry the car with a shamwow then I apply a spray wax.

If i'm feeling adventurous, I'll use (Carnauba) paste wax and apply it by hand.

If i'm feeling extra fancy, i'll polish out swirl marks and light scratches with Turtle wax scratch remover before doing the wax.

So...what am I missing here? How do these detailers charge $200-$300 for a full detail?

I assume all they do is hand wash, dry, "paint correction AKA scratch remover", then apply wax?

Do they do anything else? How much does "your guy" charge for an exterior detail?

[dsjr2006]

It depends on the shop. Why don't you call or lookup one of your local detail shops?

Some include underbody, some do paint correction, some only put wax on after they wash, sometimes clay bar is extra. All of this depends on your location too, from my experience a small-town detail is much cheaper than one in a major Metro.

Read the stickies: http://www.e90post.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=13

[King Rudi]

When I detailed cars, I usually charged $25/hour and could do a car inside and out in about 4 hours. This included, hand wash, wax, wheel wells, wheels, tires (also checked tires for correct pressure), windows, trim restore, vacuum/clean carpet and seats, if leather interior I would charge an extra $20 to clean and condition seats if they wished. I also offered 3 step polishing to remove scratches, etc. for another $100. No, it does not take a rocket scientist to clean a car but attention to detail and forethought are heavily relied on. Yes it can get expensive but also keep in mind to get a car done in 4 hours is straight busting ass and more often than not the cars we get paid to clean are not like our cars. They are usually freaking filthy! The reason that we get paid to clean cars is because the owner is either too busy, too lazy or the amount of work is not something they want to deal with after trashing their car inside and out. Another thing to consider is that all the material, cleaning products, towels, etc. aren't cheap. There is a cost to the detailer doing the work as well and of course these costs get passed down to the consumer. Detailers do what they do for their love of cars, their attention to detail and to make money. In my opinion the real crime is the window tint guys. I was quoted $350 last week for my E93????

The way I see it is that if a person wants to live in a clean house or have a perfectly clean car and they don't want to do the work, someone else will but you need to be prepared not to argue over price. After all, you can do the same thing and save the money but you choose to pay someone to do, it so complaining about price is pointless.

[tlow98]

Originally Posted by Just_Jody

When I detailed cars, I usually charged $25/hour and could do a car inside and out in about 4 hours. This included, hand wash, wax, wheel wells, wheels, tires (also checked tires for correct pressure), windows, trim restore, vacuum/clean carpet and seats, if leather interior I would charge an extra $20 to clean and condition seats if they wished. I also offered 3 step polishing to remove scratches, etc. for another $100. No, it does not take a rocket scientist to clean a car but attention to detail and forethought are heavily relied on. Yes it can get expensive but also keep in mind to get a car done in 4 hours is straight busting ass and more often than not the cars we get paid to clean are not like our cars. They are usually freaking filthy! The reason that we get paid to clean cars is because the owner is either too busy, too lazy or the amount of work is not something they want to deal with after trashing their car inside and out. Another thing to consider is that all the material, cleaning products, towels, etc. aren't cheap. There is a cost to the detailer doing the work as well and of course these costs get passed down to the consumer. Detailers do what they do for their love of cars, their attention to detail and to make money. In my opinion the real crime is the window tint guys. I was quoted $350 last week for my E93????

The way I see it is that if a person wants to live in a clean house or have a perfectly clean car and they don't want to do the work, someone else will but you need to be prepared not to argue over price. After all, you can do the same thing and save the money but you choose to pay someone to do, it so complaining about price is pointless.

You would polish an entire car for $100!? That’s like 8 hours worth of work...

[000ooo000]

Wash
Decontamination
Clay
Paint correction (cutting if necessary and polishing)
Sealant of some sort
Don't forget the tire dressing and wheels and stuff and polishing the exhaust

Do it yourself it's theraputic

[BimmerNugget]

LOl seems like I was more or less correct. Wash, Dry, Paint correction/polishing, then wax.

I'll get some clay bar and learn to do that as well.

I bet I can do all this in 3 hours and save $200-$300.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by tlow98

You would polish an entire car for $100!? That’s like 8 hours worth of work...

Not with a DA it isn't

[AWSB328iM]

Originally Posted by BimmerNugget

LOl seems like I was more or less correct. Wash, Dry, Paint correction/polishing, then wax.

I'll get some clay bar and learn to do that as well.

I bet I can do all this in 3 hours and save $200-$300.

You can't do all that thoroughly in 3 hours. A full exterior detail is easily a 8 your job.

Look up White Details on YouTube. The guy gets I believe $3000+ for a 7 day job which includes everything on the car. People ship him cars from all over Europe. So add another couple thousand pounds.

For a full exterior detail and paint correction the local high end shop here charges $400-500 USD and that's in Tennessee.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by AWSB328iM

You can't do all that thoroughly in 3 hours. A full exterior detail is easily a 8 your job.

Look up White Details on YouTube. The guy gets I believe $3000+ for a 7 day job which includes everything on the car. People ship him cars from all over Europe. So add another couple thousand pounds.

For a full exterior detail and paint correction the local high end shop here charges $400-500 USD and that's in Tennessee.

I'll agree and disagree. I can do an entire car in 4 hours, inside and out, add another hour if I polish it before wax. When I detailed, I could do 2 cars a day but this is also busting my ass and no breaks. I have never done paint correction on a clients car as 90% of the cars I detailed were all 2-3 year old cars and didn't need it. My current E93 is the only car I've owned that needed paint correction and I did it myself. Wet sanded, by hand, twice, using 1500, 2000, 2500 & 3000 grit each time......yes, that's a total of 8 times it was sanded by hand. Many, many hours of work, but the results are crazy. The guy I bought the car from saw it last week and asked me if I bought a new car. I've only had it for 7 months.

BTW, I'm in TN too about 6 hours from you.

Originally Posted by BimmerNugget
LOl seems like I was more or less correct. Wash, Dry, Paint correction/polishing, then wax.

I'll get some clay bar and learn to do that as well.

I bet I can do all this in 3 hours and save $200-$300.

How I got into detailing was working on my own cars and being frugal. I highly recommend anyone who is in to cars to learn to do their own. There is a learning curve, you will make mistakes and you will damage your car at some point. Damaging it will teach you what you did wrong and how to fix it so there's good with the bad. Claying isn't as time consuming as wet sanding but to clay a car, wash, dry, paint correction, polish and wax is going to take you WAY longer than you think until you get a rhythm developed. I'll say the first time will take around 6-7 hours. You'll learn tricks to make things easier and quicker each time you do it. Good luck and enjoy it.

[AWSB328iM]

Originally Posted by Just_Jody

I'll agree and disagree. I can do an entire car in 4 hours, inside and out, add another hour if I polish it before wax. When I detailed, I could do 2 cars a day but this is also busting my ass and no breaks. I have never done paint correction on a clients car as 90% of the cars I detailed were all 2-3 year old cars and didn't need it. My current E93 is the only car I've owned that needed paint correction and I did it myself. Wet sanded, by hand, twice, using 1500, 2000, 2500 & 3000 grit each time......yes, that's a total of 8 times it was sanded by hand. Many, many hours of work, but the results are crazy. The guy I bought the car from saw it last week and asked me if I bought a new car. I've only had it for 7 months.

BTW, I'm in TN too about 6 hours from you.

How I got into detailing was working on my own cars and being frugal. I highly recommend anyone who is in to cars to learn to do their own. There is a learning curve, you will make mistakes and you will damage your car at some point. Damaging it will teach you what you did wrong and how to fix it so there's good with the bad. Claying isn't as time consuming as wet sanding but to clay a car, wash, dry, paint correction, polish and wax is going to take you WAY longer than you think until you get a rhythm developed. I'll say the first time will take around 6-7 hours. You'll learn tricks to make things easier and quicker each time you do it. Good luck and enjoy it.

Agreed, my 8 hr quote meant starting from scratch with a car that's never seen a decontamination and polishing.

I've hand waxed cars in the past in a 3 step process, but have been watching various YouTube channels about detailing and once I have my own garage next month I plan to take my time over two days and knock out a full paint correction and sealant on my daily. I've got most of the supplies already and a friend who's loaning me a Griots 6" DA. Optimum Polymer Technology is local so I'll probably use a sealant or ceramic coating from them.

[King Rudi]

That DA will save you a ton of time. Just keep an eye on your speed, keep the DA moving and don't use much pressure on edges. Sounds like you've got a good game plan. Post pics when you have it finished. I always enjoy seeing other people's work.

[BimmerNugget]

Originally Posted by Just_Jody

That DA will save you a ton of time. Just keep an eye on your speed, keep the DA moving and don't use much pressure on edges. Sounds like you've got a good game plan. Post pics when you have it finished. I always enjoy seeing other people's work.

Too shy to ask but...what's a DA? In new york DA = Deadass

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by BimmerNugget

Too shy to ask but...what's a DA? In new york DA = Deadass

That's pretty funny. DA = Dual Action as in a dual action random orbital polisher. Use it for applying rubbing compound, polishing compound, machine polish, wax, etc.