Car detailing and removing defects

[Blackford]

In the past couple years I have been detailing cars for some friends or family for little or no money. I feel as if I do a very good job and everyone is always pleased with the results. I have been tossing around the idea of getting some real business to make some money but I am not sure if I am qualified to be doing this stuff on the professional level and here is the reason why. I have many of meguiar's mirror glaze products including, m105, m83, m80, m21, m26, etc. I also have the g100 DA polisher. And I have a very good understanding of what needs to be done and how to do it. The only problem I have is with removing defects such as water etchings, scratches and deep swirl marks. It seems no matter how hard I try I cannot seem to remove these defects. The defects always look better and less notieable but I can never completely remove them, even some swirl marks are still slightly noticeable under some lights when I am done. I do not have rotary buffer, nor do I know how to use one. So I guess my question is when paying for car detailing service does that usually included removing all paint defects? And should I be charging people for car detailing even though I am not capable of removing these defects completely?

[Andy M.]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

If you want to charge someone for your work that is quite alright. Before you begin to do the detail though make sure you know what your customers expectations are. Some defects simply cannot be removed without a rotary while some can be removed by hand or the DA polisher quite easily. Sometimes you may have to attack a defect more than once to remove it. Just make sure you and your customer are on the same page and you will be fine.

Andy
101impala

[AeroCleanse]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

Rotary isn't as hard to use as people sometime make it out to be. My advice is buy a Makitia (personal choice) and some pads, etc for it and then find either a cheap or free hood or other body panel and practice. If your good with a DA then the learning curve isn't bad at all.

Also check out the 5 part series on wet sanding Meg's did.

How to use a rotary / wet sand

Hope the link works.

[Mike Phillips]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

Keep in mind there's more regular detailing work than show car type work and when you're doing regular/normal type detailing work the focus should be on making the paint clean and shiny, not actually removing all the defects. So that would be, wash, clay, cleaner/wax and then move on to the interieor, wheels and tires, dress trim and clean glass.

If your customer wants defects like water spot etchings removed or swirls and scratches, then you need to make sure you're charging a lot more money because you'll have to spend more time and do more steps.

[Blackford]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

Thank you guys very much for the advice. I do try and tell people that I am not a professional detail shop but, I also do not charge as much as the professional shops do. A typical detail job as I see it would be wash, clay, cleaner/polish, wax, and of course interior, T&W, trim etc. As you said Mike I try and concentrate on getting everything clean and shiny for a daily driver, not a Show Car. I figure on charging between $100 and $150 depending on vehicle size, condition and what the customer wants. Does that seem like a fair range? I know some people I have talked to in the area pay over $200 to have their cars detailed. So would you think my prices are fair, on the understanding that there maybe defects that I cannot remove?

[tbaz]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

im in the same boat here, ive been doing my own cars, and family/friends latley, im using the same products pretty much, PC, 83,80,9,NXT 2.0. i try to explain best i can that i cant remove all the defects but can rid most of the swirl. the last cars i did were a BMW black took 10hrs, expidition black 8hrs, i charged 150 for the ford ex. one pass with 83, 9 than NXTx2. (no 80 just cause it takes way to long already) I feel weird charging so much, it is a tonne of work and i wish i could rid all the defects with with all i have its the best i can do. are these 8-10 hr time lines normal for this proccess and is the price fair. i do take before and after pics and show to justify the high prices.

[Forever New]

Re: Car detailing and removing defects

Take your price and divide it by the amount of hours you spent on it. Then you'll have an idea of an hourly price you are charging. I personally am around $40/hr for normal detail work and $65-80 hour for corrective work. These take any where from 5 to 10+ hours. Remember, if you are a good detailer, dont sell yourself short by undercharging. I've had people question why I would charge for example $175 for a detail on a Jetta in good condition, when they have gotten much lower price quotes like $50-90. This is where it is up to you to sell yourself, your products, process, skills, and most of all....results.