Making Meguairs DA MF System Profitable

malibuboats91

malibuboats91

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I recently purchased the meguiars da ms system and after doing two cars with it, people want me to do their cars now. It would be a good thing to do on the side but like when I did my dads Acura it took me 13 house and my moms Acura took 14 hours. I washed twice, clayed then did both steps in the system. How could I do this but yet be profitable?


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malibuboats91 said:
I recently purchased the meguiars da ms system and after doing two cars with it, people want me to do their cars now. It would be a good thing to do on the side but like when I did my dads Acura it took me 13 house and my moms Acura took 14 hours. I washed twice, clayed then did both steps in the system. How could I do this but yet be profitable?


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Easy

Charge an hourly rate. Even if its as low as $10pr hour untill you get better aquantied with polishing. There are many who charge as much as $75pr hour. Maybe one day you will reach that status

God Bless,

Flash
 
malibuboats91 said:
I recently purchased the meguiars da ms system and after doing two cars with it, people want me to do their cars now. It would be a good thing to do on the side but like when I did my dads Acura it took me 13 house and my moms Acura took 14 hours. I washed twice, clayed then did both steps in the system. How could I do this but yet be profitable?


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Based on what you are saying, the number one thing you can do is work on becoming more efficient. 13 hours is way too much time to be spending on vehicles that you need to profit from. The better you become, the less time it will take you = more profit per hour invested. Obviously you should always work within your comfort zone though, especially if you're new to paint correction and working on vehicles other than your own.
 
That's waaaaay to long for two steps.... What's the hold up?
Where does most of your time go?
 
fredcandetail said:
That's waaaaay to long for two steps.... What's the hold up?
Where does most of your time go?
Click to expand...
:iagree: I do my Highlander in 4 hours. That is wash/dry, clay, tape, one step, re-wash/dry and LSP. So that being said for a personal car that you would spend longer on. A two step with a already taped car should take you mabe 2-3 more hours for the extra step.
 
Have yet to try the microfiber system, but I did a friends cobalt this morning with a 1 step polish (scratch-x) and traditional white foam pad. This was not a correction, just a touch-up. The car had never been detailed and is 4 years old and generally garage kept. 35k on the odometer. Handwashed with only very light swirls. The following took exactly 3.0 hours of hard work. Most time went into claying areas with lots of tar spots.
1) Deep wash
2) Clay
3) Rinse
4) 1 step polish (3 pass) of horizontal surfaces and bumpers (almost no swirls or wear on the sides)
5) Light wash
6) LSP (wolfgang deep gloss sealant)
7) Complete trim and tire dressing (Ultima tire and trim)

4 hours would have allowed me to 1) get 99% of the embedded contaminants off, not 95%, 2) polish the sides, but I had to make this a quick one. A larger car would of course take longer too, cobalts are nice and small with few rubber seals between glass/lights/panels to slow you down. I could have done a moderate (not deep) 2-step correction in 5 hours. 6 hours is probably a reasonable goal.
 
I don't have a garage to work in so I have to drag everything down a flight of stairs, drop my extension cord out the window and get set up under the covered parking where I live. To do a 2 step it takes me around 13 hours too. That seemed like a long time to me too but I just don't see how you could cut the time very much, unless you have a few people working with you.
If I were to do a 2 step like you say you can in 4 hours, I would be just skimming over the surface. I personally just don't think it's possible for one person to do that much work.
 
The speed will come with the more cars you do.
Good luck
 
Thanks for the replies! So here's an example for you guys. My dads little Acura CL took me about 30-45 minutes to wash 2 times with dawn. Then 2.5 hours to clay and all the rest of the 12 hours was spent doing the da MF system. I am very meticulous but feel like I'm working at a good speed too. I do 2' x 2' squares around the vehicle until it's all done then take the compound off and do the same with finishing wax. Each 2' x 2' section I do 6 to 8 section passes. Any other ideas? Now with a clients car would I clay it even if they just want swirl correction? A customer of my dads saw the Acura after I did it and had to find out the details but now asked me to do his truck for any amount. It's a black chevy truck that is heavily swirled and he wants those corrected along with a interior detail. My meticulous ways have me feeling like i'm not going to be very profitable with this. I'm trying to get some extra cash but need to figure the whole speed but out.


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It takes me 2 days for a 2 step and I charge $1000 per hour.

No, seriously, there are some wonderful comments here.
 
Claying seems to be taking a very long time for you. I don't spend any where near that time on clay. You have over three hours in just clay and wash. That is an area that will go much quicker as you get more experience.
 
I think you may be making too many passes. The MF system is pretty "aggressive" in the sense that it will get you to the same place as foam (level paint) but it will get you there faster.

Check out this thread:
http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/auto-detailing-101/34572-science-behind-meg-s-mf-system.html

The D300 compound is just a bit less aggressive than M105 which is a staple for alot of the pro's here. Combined with the MF cutting discs however, and you have a lot of cutting power at your disposal.

I suggest you reduce your passes by at least half; 6-8 passes is the recommendation for foam (and DAT polishes that need to break down). You can always do more passes if you are not happy with the results but I think 6-8 with the MF system may be way too much.

Not only that but if you don't know the history of the cars you are doing (remember the MF system is only recommended for factory paint, not repaints), then you could get into trouble doing that many passes.

just my 2 cents. I haven't had a chance to get the MF system yet, but have been reading up on it. Maybe some of the pro's can chime in on the number of passes it takes them to remove average swirls on a car with average paint hardness. I recall from many of the reviews it was around 2-3...

on a side note, fired up the GG for the first time today. Practiced with a black pad and PBBH and was soon using power finish and an orange pad. Gotta say, I love Menzerna! The stuff finishes down lsp ready imo. Ran out of daylight so just put some natty blue over the test areas I was working on. Can't wait to see how much better the paint will look after 106FA though...
 
6-8 is high. However it might be necessary depending on the paint.
For the finishing wax, it is really high in most cases from my experience.

Keep in mind I have only done 10 or so cars with this system. Others with more experience might say different.
 
If it takes 13-14 hours, then it takes 13-14 hours. Don't pay attention to what others are saying here on this. There is no rule book stating how long it should take. Get in a hurry and you'll make a mistake

In time I'm sure you'll speed up your process :buffing:

God bless,

Flash
 
I agree with Flash not to hurry. However, you probably can save some time. You are not trying to make these cars show cars, just clean up the paint condition. Some of your meticulousness may be excessive. Nothing wrong with meticulous, but, your original question was is the system profitable? That much time would certainly cut into any profits.

1. 1 wash is probably enough. Bugs and tar will be the x factor for time here.

2. Yes you should always clay the car before polishing. espacially if it has not been taken care of. Did you see how much you got off your car with clay? Claying should be quick. Spray on some lube, make about 3-4 quick section passes on a 2x2 area and dry off. You may have to focus a little more on tougher imbedded contaminates.

3. I make 4 section passes with the DA MF system. 2 with firm pressure, 1 with moderate and 1 (or 2) with light pressure. All 3 cars I have used it on have been modern factory Ford paint.

4. Wipe the polish as you go. There is no need to let it dry on the paint. most wipe off as soon as they are done with each buffing cycle.
 
Here's my tips, talk with the customer and see how they currently maintain the vehicle, if it's swirled up bad obviously they bought the car like that or don't know how to properly maintain it. Explain you can do a crazy paint correction but without proper washing techniques the car will end up in the same shape it is now so why spend money correcting the problem? Just wax it, but If at this point they want you to maintain the car with follow up washes, then explain your going to have to go through a multi step process to correct the problems which is going to take x amounts of hours and will cost x amount and with proper washing the wax/sealant will last you x time. Overall time is money and if your doing a good job, get paid for it, if they think the price is to high, with confidence let them know that they only have one clear coat, which is very thin, and could take it to some hack for half the price, just inform them of the potential problems that could be caused by such a detailer and you would have to remove even more clear coat to correct their mistakes. Gl :)
 
Okay you guys made some valid points. The claying I do a ton of passes per 2 x 2 section! Also I have bred doing the da MF system on Acura's and my VW which I heard their clear coats are hard. I'm going to do one of our other cars and try to speed things up.


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Don't rush to much. Still take your time. Speed comes with experience.
 
As others have mentioned, speed comes from repetition. When you start working on other peoples cars, just make sure you let them know how long you take.
 
I know how you feel, M.B. I did my own car yesterday, and it took me 8 hours to wash/dry, clay, two-step polish, (Chemical Guys swirl & scratch plus a finishing polish) pre-wax cleaner, glaze, sealant, and wax. (I just came into the house after letting the sealant set overnight and applying the wax.) My neighbors think I'm a nut for spending the entire day doing what most of them do in two hours, which for most of them is just a wash and wax. When I finally finish and clean up the mess with the towels, pads, bottles of polish, wax, etc.., man, I AM BEAT! I take my hat off to you guys who do this for a living, full or part time. I'm sore in places I didn't know I could be sore in. But.... and this is what keeps me doing this.... when I look at my car........ I SMILE. KEEP TRUCKING
 
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