You can click on the photos for larger view so you can really appreciate this art work. It took me 10 solid hours to do "something" with this mess

 

Nice work.

Too many out there don't realize that you really do get what you pay for.

But we detailers have to strike the balance of really giving our customers the best bang for their buck, especially in this economy. The one thing that is nice about where the economy is is that more and more people will be looking at used vehicles or keeping the vehicles they have so they will most likely want to have them taken care of, or learn to do so. That's great for all of our businesses!

D!

 

The first clue should have been $30. What was the guy thinking???

 

What is a reasonable price to pay for detailing a car with less than 3,000 miles?

 

edit......realized that this was a 30$ job : D

 

I don't think mileage really has anything to do with it. I've detailed cars with over 100k on the clock and they were in beautiful shape to begin with and just took some touching up. I've detailed some with much, much less on the clock and they have had some paint that is in insanely bad shape.

D!

 

D! What does it cost to have a car clayed and the whole nine yards compared to no claying and just clean, wax and polish? The inside is clean except the mats.

 

Well, prices differ for everyone out there I would guess. For more of a quick detail, which is a wash, basic interior and a wax, it starts around the mid $100's. For more of a full detail that includes paint correction, carpet shampoo, leather conditioning, engine clean, it would start around $300. Price varies depending on the size of the car and several other factors such as whether or not it has excessive dirt, tar, pet hair, etc.

But that's just me, and that's just my pricing for now. Based on what I do, in my area, I think I'm very reasonably priced. In other areas I may be dirt cheap or really expensive. It just all depends.

D!

 

Some detailers in my area won't touch a car for less than $500.00

 

No "Professional" detailer would ever wax a car without claying it. Especially if you have a black car you need to be very picky about the detailer you choose.


John

 

+1....what's the point of taking the time to wax if the wax is going over contaminated paint. Not only will the paint not look right, but the wax won't last very long. No substitute for doing the job right the first time.

 

I generally examine the paint first. I have some customers who, because of how I have trained them to care for their cars coupled with how little they use them, don't generally need clay. I will, of course, examine each section, but I haven't found that clay is always necessary on the entire car. Sometimes only certain sections need it and sometimes it doesn't need it at all. I'm under the understanding that even with mild clay, you have a possibility to instill more issues that you then have to polish to remove. Especially on a car with soft black paint. Am I missing something here?

D!

 

what was your process for correcting? great work

 

wow the improvement is crazy. night & day. heh that is what a $30 pro detail gets you lol.

 

Completely agree... I recently detailed a Mercedes that was in amazing shape and about 5 years old... amazing being 106ff/white on hard Mercedes paint was all that's necessary... then I detailed a brand new Viper just the other day that needed a 2-step with M80/8006 and M80/9006 and it had a whole 25 miles on it...

I think it's best to do the entire car even if it's a very light claying on some areas because there's stuff you won't feel by inspecting in any way... I always tell myself, on my and clietns' cars, just because claying isn't necessary, doesn't mean it shouldn't be done...