How much to charge for paint correction?

It amazes me someone will pay 50k for a car and be too cheap to pay 400 bucks for someone who knows what they are doing to bring the finish back to a glossy and scratch free state. I detail as a hobby only, but I think 4-5 hundred is more than fair for a clay, wash, polish, and protect. Maybe it it's just a DD Honda 300 dollars to do an AIO. if I couldn't correct paint myself and one of my cars was swirled, I'd have no problem paying 500, as long as the detailer knew what he was doing and gave me some education on how to keep the car looking swirl free. You guys who do this for a living amaze me, as it takes me several days to do a multi step correction and all the prep work. Plus, think of all the consumable you use up: car wash, detail spray, clay, IRON X, MF towels, pads, compound, polish, LSP(s), tape, wheel cleaner, dressing(s), APC, applicators, etc... That's a lot of stuff to clean, prep, correct, and protect a vehicle. Keep in mind a car isn't a flat piece of painted panel indoors. You are working on something that arrives dirty, contaminated, and often neglected. You have to work around small areas and curves in the body, and crouch in uncomfortable positions for hours sometimes. Then you have to keep everything very clean, as often you may be working in a dirty garage or outside. When your done, you will have to spend time and money to clean your towels, pads, applicators, brushes, buckets, mitts, etc... I'm just saying its a physically demanding job that requires patience, experience, skill, many tools and products.... Don't I undersell your service! Especially if you can take a swirled up car and fix it. To anyone who is into nice vehicles, just that in itself is pretty amazing!
 
Seems this question comes up weekly.

It is difficult to come on the internet and get the answer you are looking for.


I charge $50/hr for a paint correction.

Some people charge 150 for the whole job. Figure out how much you need to make an hour for it to be worth your time and then go from there.

That paint would probably finish really nice using Ultimate Compound and an Orange pad using a DA. Or nearflawless using the Meg MF System.
 
I agree with the sage advice given by the premier detailer LuxuryMobile...but with one caveat

If you are not accustomed to working on various dd's or work mainly on your own and family vehicles, then where are you with your actual times and processes OP ?

If you are just starting out and it takes you 7 hours to do the same job that a seasoned pro does in 3 1/2 hours, how can you charge and receive top dollar on a regular basis on dd's?

If on the other hand, you are landing garage queens and non dd's that are swirled out and horrendous, where's the incentive for potential client to submit to your services?

You will know, without a doubt, very quickly if your prices are too high or too low.

My two cents and I'm back out...10-10 on the side awaiting your reply.
 
This is a good point.

If you aren't familiar with your machines and products necessary to complete job and you are spending a lot of time dialing in a process I would avoid telling your client that you charge $50/hr. Pick a price and go with that until you feel with confidence that you are not wasting much time dialing in a process.
 
I estimate how long it's going to take me depending on the severity of the car, and what the customer wants done and multiply that by my hourly rate. Usually they will not ask you how much an hour, they are just concerned with the bottom dollar.
 
swanicyouth said:
It amazes me someone will pay 50k for a car and be too cheap to pay 400 bucks for someone who knows what they are doing to bring the finish back to a glossy and scratch free state. I detail as a hobby only, but I think 4-5 hundred is more than fair for a clay, wash, polish, and protect. Maybe it it's just a DD Honda 300 dollars to do an AIO. if I couldn't correct paint myself and one of my cars was swirled, I'd have no problem paying 500, as long as the detailer knew what he was doing and gave me some education on how to keep the car looking swirl free. You guys who do this for a living amaze me, as it takes me several days to do a multi step correction and all the prep work. Plus, think of all the consumable you use up: car wash, detail spray, clay, IRON X, MF towels, pads, compound, polish, LSP(s), tape, wheel cleaner, dressing(s), APC, applicators, etc... That's a lot of stuff to clean, prep, correct, and protect a vehicle. Keep in mind a car isn't a flat piece of painted panel indoors. You are working on something that arrives dirty, contaminated, and often neglected. You have to work around small areas and curves in the body, and crouch in uncomfortable positions for hours sometimes. Then you have to keep everything very clean, as often you may be working in a dirty garage or outside. When your done, you will have to spend time and money to clean your towels, pads, applicators, brushes, buckets, mitts, etc... I'm just saying its a physically demanding job that requires patience, experience, skill, many tools and products.... Don't I undersell your service! Especially if you can take a swirled up car and fix it. To anyone who is into nice vehicles, just that in itself is pretty amazing!
Click to expand...

I only do my own cars but this is exactly my opinion. I see here some prices that truly amaze me!
 
I agree with everyone on 25 to 30 an hour for correction. If it comes out crappy then cut a break.
 
I had a neighbor kid bring his Civic Si( orange) over and wanted to know what I would charge. Horribly swirled. I showed him a test spot, and he was amazed. The price I quoted for a full 2 step (105/205) plus sealant was 150, half of what I would normally charge for the same process. I figure on 4-5 hours per car. He thought that was too much. I kind of laughed and said good luck. Lol
 
Wow. For the time and effort it took me to correct the paint on my 12 year old car I would start at 500 and work my way up depending on severity..

I used m105 on most panels, m205 and po85rd, dark pearl blue.

I am kind of a perfectionist though..
 
Tell him you'll hit it with a quality AIO for $100 He will probably be happy with the results. After all it is 10 yr old car. I always tell people try an AIO first, lets see how it comes out and if you don't like the results later in the season we can two step it. Turns out people are blown away by the results of a one step AIO.
 
Im not overly fast, so i take that into consideration on my hourly pricing. I also dont do this for a living, and figure if im going to do a full paint correction for someone, its going to be worth my while.

A one step paint correction of just swirls on a medium sized car, which would also consist of a wash, iron-x, clay, 1 step, and lsp, would typically run $500ish for me.

Again, i dont do this for a living, and im not working on the cheap if i dont need the money.

Shawn
 
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