How much would you pay for exterior detailing?

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pokerbob781

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Hi guys,

Let me explain my situation. I just purchased my Black 06 Infiniti FX35 back in Janurary. This car had only 19k miles and the car itself is almost near perfect. Looks like the prior owner must've garaged it and probably didnt have any children in the car. The only problem is that its black. You guys all know that with every black car, there are swirls everywhere. The paint itself has no nicks or dents at all. I called a guy from my local area (MA) and he says it's roughly gonna cost me about $300 to do just the exterior. He explained exactly what steps he'll take to detail the car. He definitely knows what he's talking about.

Is this a little too expensive? Should I just buy the detailing kit and learn to detail myself?

Thanks for all your help,
 
My base 1-step exterior correction starts at $250 and would likely be $300 on a vehicle of that size. If it needed more than one step it could easily be over $600.


If you're willing to put in the time and effort, picking up a DA polisher and all the supplies will cost you about the same amount of money but then you will be able to polish it again in the future and keep it looking nice.


I say buy the kit and we will be here to answer any questions you have once you start working on it. ;)



Rasky
 
I'm leaning towards letting this guy do the job and still purchase the entire kit. This is something I definitely want to learn how to do so I can keep my car in tip top shape. Quick question. Everytime we polish or detail, does that mean that it's removing layers of paint?
 
pokerbob781 said:
I'm leaning towards letting this guy do the job and still purchase the entire kit. This is something I definitely want to learn how to do so I can keep my car in tip top shape. Quick question. Everytime we polish or detail, does that mean that it's removing layers of paint?
Click to expand...

Yes, but if it's just a mild polish being used on a DA style polisher the amount is very little and likely would not even register on a Paint Thickness Gauge (PTG).
 
$300 is what I start out at when I charge for an exterior polish and wax.
 
This gives me a good idea of how much I should be paying. thanks for the input!
 
Perhaps a mini detail fest in MA is in order. I am in Clinton MA. I helped a friend with his Acura RSX. I haven't detailed that much, but it was fun to share what I know with him. His car looked a lot better.

I am sure others from MA might be interested. Especially since we are all part of the Geeks. LOL.

Don
 
pokerbob781 said:
I'm leaning towards letting this guy do the job and still purchase the entire kit. This is something I definitely want to learn how to do so I can keep my car in tip top shape.
Click to expand...

I would say buy the kit and learn on your own. You would learn more this way if you're working with a bunch of imperfections imo. Rather then it being scratchless, then you trying to learn on it, may instill swirls etc. I guess in a way you have less room to learn from.
 
I have full time job and part-time(black FX35)..
LoL... Get the kit and learn it yourself..
 
Bob If you called Unique he does top notch work. I say high on the high but no shortcuts are taken .Just rember with that comitment comes the add work for you.Now you have to pratice good washing techniques or you just throwing your money a way.

LOL Steven c
 
Well it depends... $300.00 for full correction of swirls on a Black Car is probably wear I would Start. See if you can get references of other Black Car Owners that he has recently completed. With Black though remember that you can destroy everything he has done in one wash ! So learn a great technique and use it. I currently have a Black Mercedes and have owned a few Black cars over the years. I promised myself the other day that it is my last :) .
 
After my car gets detailed, do you think a touchless wash would be ok when I need to clean it?
 
You could get away with that, but I believe they use harsher chemicals to get the dirt off so it might present a problem with durability of your LSP. There might be others who have a more definitive answer to that.

It is tough to keep our cars clean here in MA with pollen just coating my car overnight after I washed it the other day. Same with pine needles.

How many of us are in MA? Mini detail fest meet up?

Don
 
No - Don't ever use a touchless wash. They recycle water with what they consider a reasonable amout of "particualte" passing through. In effect it is a sand blasting room with your paint as the recipient !

NEVER, EVER, NO WAY not even if you plan to sell the car to your mother inlaw !
 
Nothing beats washing your car by hand. It takes a little time, but the results beat anything you can get in an automated car wash. I also notice that my wax jobs don't last near as long when the car gets run through a car wash. For me it is worth the effort, but I am lucky enough to have a garage and a driveway.

$300 for a polish and wax is resonable to me. It's only $50 bucks more that what we would have charged in the shop I worked at. That was 10 years ago.
 
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