How long does it take you to detail?

[Ryan_Bihun89]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

It usually takes me from 5 to 9 hours to detail a car.

[BlackSunshine'06]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

What a sweet tool! I'll have to pick one of those up! What speed do you set the DA to for that?

I set mine at 2. 1 seemed to doggy and 3 seemed like overkill.
It does have a little resistance due to the nature of the bristles on carpet. The only drawback is it is the same diameter as the backing plate so its a little hard to pull off because its hard to get a good grip. They also make a long bristle version for seats, but I havent used that yet.

[BigLouie]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

If I'm doing the whole 5 step process, then it's at least 6 hours.

[EPHIOS]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

I have not done a full detail, exterior and interior.

However, it takes me about 2-3 hours when I am washing my car.

[TOGWT]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

Exterior (8 hours)
• Wash and dry exterior paint – 1.5
• Detailer’s clay – 1.0
• Tyres and Wheel surfaces – 0.5
• Clean exterior glass – 0.5
• Clean and lightly polish paint – 1.5
• Wax or seal paint -1.0
• Clean and protect rubber seals – 0.5
• Exhaust, tyres and trim etc 1.5 hours

Interior (4.5 hours)
• Brush and Vacuum carpets – 0.5
• Shampoo mats – 0.5
• Shampoo / extract carpet – 1.0
• Clean upholstery – 1.0
• Apply protection to vinyl and leather – 0.5
• Clean interior glass -0.5
• Deodorize interior - 10 min
• Protect carpet and upholstery – 0.5

This is what my son David aims for, as for the old guy (me) multiply most times by 3 or 4

[DetailArtist]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

If you're detailing professionally, it should jive w/ what you charge and how much you need to make per hour. A $250 detail should take 3 1/2 to 4 hours (working efficiently) at $60/hr taking into account some travel time, setting-up, and schmoozing w/ customer. Then you can do 2 a day.
If everything goes smooth and you really hustle, 2 1/2 to 3 cars a day is possible w/ a little overtime. If you have a really good helper, 4 cars can happen. 5 is tough.

S.U.V.'s infested w/ kids and/or dogs take a couple extra hours.
Anybody that takes 8 hours on 1 car I hope is charging accordingly.

Local Porsche, Mercedes and BMW dealers charge $120/hour for repairs but they only get $300 for a detail so go figure.

[DailyDriver]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

...

Local Porsche, Mercedes and BMW dealers charge $120/hour for repairs but they only get $300 for a detail so go figure.

I figure I'd never have to shake hands with any dirty fingernail type creatures.

[DailyDriver]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

I figure I'd never have to shake hands with any dirty fingernail type creatures.

Not at those prices, anyway...

[Kevin Brown]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

20-30 hours, on average.

Can't believe I used to do 2 complete details in a 12 hour day.

That was before I knew how to buff.

Spent 120 hours on a BMW M6 once, plus my friend worked with me for 40 hours. That equals... well, YOU figure it out.

Spent 78 hours straight working on an BMW M1 another time. No sleep.

28 of those hours I was rotary polishing. 220 man-hours total on that car.

Every car since has been E A S Y !

For that matter... every JOB I've done since then has been easy.

Hoping to find a worthy owner of a worthy car for a worthy event, to do it again.

Gonna need a crew o' fools, ER, guys, some cameras, and a live feed.

And some caffeine. Lots of it.

Like as much as Brock Yates drank doing a "Gumball Rally" style run with Dan Gurney.
They almost made it, too, until the cops popped 'em in Long Beach.
They said, "No drugs, but he had enough caffeine in him to light up the City of Long Beach."
Woulda been a new record. Look it up.

[steve's detailing]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

1 to 3 hours

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

If it includes Moderate Interior work and Paint correction 6-10 is very reasonable. I can tell you from the start of this year to now I have cut down my work time signifigantly as I have gotten a "flow" or process and everything that I do has a purpouse and the expectation is not to re do work if at all possible.

When working and learning the trade, there are always ways to shave down time.

For example, prior to doing this, it had been mentioned that after my first inital wash, that I should not be drying to perfection and then claying the car. Rinse, Wash, Rinse, and clay using the water on the car and some lubrication (pick your preference), and once done re wash, rinse, and then dry to perfection. I shaved probably 30 mins min by just doing that. Also learning that NOT all cars need to be clayed and you can check before working on it using the plastic bag test.

Wheels need to look good, I do agree. BUT depending on the metal and how much inside rim is shown, these do not need to be perfect. As perfect would be technically to take each one off and detail inside and outside. IF working with clear coated, painted, machined, rims I use strong stuff called Westley's Bleche-Wite which gets tires, inside fenders, and even rims as clean as they can ever get. IMO much better then Meg's Wheel Brightner. Once rinsed clean and as you do the rest of the car at the end. Blot dry the tires and hit with Meg's Hyper Dressing 1:1 and you will be MOST impressed and takes very little time. Spray and let dwell.

In the engine bay, get some Super Degreaser, makes a tremendous difference. Spray, aggitate, rinse off, spray hyper dressing, start engine, close hood and let dry. Will shorten time greatly too.

[BlackScreaminMachine]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

Since I am thinking of other tips that helped me.

When it comes to interiors. I grab a empty plastic shopping bag. Snatch up any visable trash and things that are apparent. Take all mats out and anything that will hinder your work. MOST times I will advise the client to take out important meterials and sensitive things.

IF those items are still in there. I grab another back and keep it together. I have once even move a guy's sports equipment in the trunk and just advised that its all there and he can put back what he wants inside once he takes the car.

Dry vaccume, Brush, hit the seat cracks and crevaces. The dash and HVAC/Radio control wipe down. Stain removal IF needed, APC/APC+ on hard plastics and get a fingernail brush to aggitate. Always Clean the Jambs, those always stick out and you can point out the quality. Heck even take a before and after pic. Dress the seats with cleaner/conditioner when done. Makes them look darker, more supple. I often slather it, close the door and let the leather soak it in. My 2002 44k Trans Am got it's first leather treatment a year ago and the seats **** up 2 treatments before I finished up.

Windows. I hate doing these but people rave about Meg's Concentrated Glass Cleaner. Which BTW for the exterior is the LAST thing you do as over spray from UQW always gets on the glass.

The lighter the coat, the quicker it drys and the quicker it comes off. I noticed with NXT 2.0 Paste vs Liquid, that the liquid went on easier, less product and the wipe down was VERY easy. Paste I tend to over do it.

Also when applying product, using a machine takes time to set it up in MOST cases which ***** up time. But if your quick you can get a car covered with in minutes. Tape the exposed areas or just be VERY careful.

[TOGWT]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

Paint Renovation / Restoration

Surface preparation for polish / compounding
• Wash 1 – 1.5 hours
• Paint surface decontamination 2 -2.5 hours
• Detailer’s clay 1.5 hours
• Rinse and dry surface 2 -2.5

Paint correction details- as a basic guide for each stage
• Test panel – 2-3 hours
• Wet-sanding 3 – 4 hours per panel
• Compound 8 – 10 hours
• Polishing 10 – 12 hours per stage
• Wipe down process 2 -3 hours
• Finishing 8 – 10 hours

Multiply hours by hourly rate, plus materials, plus overhead

[Tuck91]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

If it includes Moderate Interior work and Paint correction 6-10 is very reasonable. I can tell you from the start of this year to now I have cut down my work time signifigantly as I have gotten a "flow" or process and everything that I do has a purpouse and the expectation is not to re do work if at all possible.

When working and learning the trade, there are always ways to shave down time.

For example, prior to doing this, it had been mentioned that after my first inital wash, that I should not be drying to perfection and then claying the car. Rinse, Wash, Rinse, and clay using the water on the car and some lubrication (pick your preference), and once done re wash, rinse, and then dry to perfection. I shaved probably 30 mins min by just doing that. Also learning that NOT all cars need to be clayed and you can check before working on it using the plastic bag test.

Wheels need to look good, I do agree. BUT depending on the metal and how much inside rim is shown, these do not need to be perfect. As perfect would be technically to take each one off and detail inside and outside. IF working with clear coated, painted, machined, rims I use strong stuff called Westley's Bleche-Wite which gets tires, inside fenders, and even rims as clean as they can ever get. IMO much better then Meg's Wheel Brightner. Once rinsed clean and as you do the rest of the car at the end. Blot dry the tires and hit with Meg's Hyper Dressing 1:1 and you will be MOST impressed and takes very little time. Spray and let dwell.

In the engine bay, get some Super Degreaser, makes a tremendous difference. Spray, aggitate, rinse off, spray hyper dressing, start engine, close hood and let dry. Will shorten time greatly too.

You shouldnt be using Westleys on rims.

[Brook]

Re: How long does it take you to detail?

I'm not experienced (and that has to be factored in) but when I did the only "detail-for-someone-else" job it took me 9 hours just to wash, polish, and wax. It was a full-sized sedan and I felt like I was very slow at it. I also didn't create a defect-free finish, but it was a great improvement over what it looked like when I started.

I can use ONR car wash, do the windows, and vacuum the interior of my Mazda MX-5 in about 15-20 minutes. It's about the same if I apply UQW to the same vehicle.