how long?

[billmacomber1987]

I was wondering how long it takes the pros here to do a detail. I detailed my fiance's 2007 Eclipse today, it had some bad water spots and light swirl marks. sorry no pictures yet it was getting dark buy time I finished.

Washed mothers gold
wheels, tires, wheel wells scrubbed with ZEP APC
motor lightly cleaned APC and 303
mothers white clay
all windows polished ( non AG brand ,tri cut, finish glaze,)

all I had at my disposal at the time was a 3inch Matco air rotary polisher
so I polished the roof, hood, and trunk lid thats where most if not all damage was present. I would have liked to do the whole car but with such a small polisher it would have been hard to say the least. I am saving for a PC. I was almost supresed when the resolts came out flawless I was expecting some light ghosting.

the car was washed again to remove any extra polish
Klasse AIO
Klasse sealent glaze on windows lights and front bumper this stuff is way to much of a pain to put it on the whole car. if any one wants to trade the Klasse SG for somehting let me know.
Pinnacle souveran on every where els
cleaned inside wind shield


It took me About seven hours. I don't understand how the pros can have any turn around. thats one car a day. how much can you charge to even make a profit. of maybe im just slow. can some one explain.

[D&D Auto Detailing]

Originally Posted by billmacomber1987

can some one explain.

Everyones idea of a "detail" is different.

[roadrunner1659]

i agree whith D&D...everyone's idea of detailing and what goes into it is different...

i know for myself...that when i detail my own personal car (exterior) with the PC i pretty much split the detail into two days (first day is to prep the car...ie wash, remove old wax, clay, tape...and the second day is for paint correction, glazing, wax)...and this might be a total of 8 hrs on its own

when i am at the dealership (and im personally doing an exterior detail with rotary doing a two step paint correction it takes about 3 hrs or so from start at washing and go through the same process as i do my own car)...

and when i begin my detailing business side job that opens after the first of the new year...i will most likely find myself in between those two time frames as i dont want to spend two days on a car but i certainly dont want to blow through it...quality over quantity...when it comes to my business...

for me the biggest difference is with the PC and the rotary...it seems to take me forever when i am using the PC although it yields fantastic results, but i can get the same results out of the rotary at work in a fraction of the time...can wait only a week or so and i will have my own rotary! the pc will be saved for applying glazes though!

[billmacomber1987]

[killrwheels@autogeek]

1 hour a week to wash/dry/qd .... then about 4 hours monthly to detail. Keeping the finish up weekly helps too.