quoted $350??

**saucycrossover1** · 09-21-2010, 05:21 PM

okay there is a car show coming into town this saturday.. i need to get my camaro cleaned up for it.. i got a number from a guy that works on my car.. he said the guy says he is the king of detailing black cars, well he was going on and on about what he does to the car.. the final price came between 300-350.. and thats just the outside... he said other people yea it will look good but after you wash it once it looks the same.. he said he actually takkes a small amouth of the paint off.. anyway.. does this price sound reasonable?

**Mean Green Z28** · 09-21-2010, 05:34 PM

depending on how bad your car is and how much needs to be done and if there's gonna be any paint correction/etc. done, that's not too much. I know some guys who do some awesome work and they just start off at about $150 and go up from there and usually end up pretty high; but with a super grin on the owners face

**superman4evr** · 09-21-2010, 06:21 PM

Black is and always will be a pain in the ass to detail. But once it's done, it's the most gorgeous color on a car. I'd say thats steep on the price. But I'll bet the guy is prepping the car, taping stuff off and probably putting in about 7 to 9 hours of time on it. I've got a good idea what he would be using. I'm sure your shine would last a long long time too.

**98maro** · 09-21-2010, 07:10 PM

350 I think is to much..
I have a blk car too. I took it to 3 diferent places and the highest price I found was 250
Inside. And out side puls the engine bay.
Or 150 just for the out side

**Z06-Goose** · 09-21-2010, 07:43 PM

That's a little bit on the high side.
I'd expect that kind of prices in states like, NY, California, Florida, etc...
I'm suroprise that he can charge that in KY.

**67CamaroRSSS** · 09-21-2010, 08:01 PM

I paid $200 to have the 98 detailed but that was inside and out for $165. The extra $35 was for polishing up the headlight covers which were hazed so bad the lights barely lit up the road. They (and the car) look good now...

**marksls1ta** · 09-21-2010, 09:11 PM

all depends on what he does to it. some shops take a reading to see how thick the paint is with some type of tool, they then do a strip and remove all/most of the imperfections.

there is a video of someone on youtube doing some high end cars like Lambos and others for over $1800 ea.

so $350 is high for a detail yes, but $350 might not be to high for a resto to the showroom shine.

also I am in no way saying go for as I have no idea as to who the detailer is just putting out some thoughts of mine.

Thanks,
Mark

**Sweet Chops** · 09-22-2010, 08:50 AM

Well then if you don't want to pay $350, buy everything you will need and do it yourself. You will have more than $350 invested when it is all said and done. But you will have a ll the equipment and products for next time.
I do detail work and $350 sounds a tad high, but, if you want the best you pay for it. If I was paying that money it better be perfect when it is finished.

**Y2KPewterSS** · 09-22-2010, 03:18 PM

@ $350

**SiggyZ** · 09-23-2010, 01:38 PM

$350? Detail it yourself.

**RyanJM** · 09-23-2010, 01:44 PM

I charge $350 if the car needs to be completely wet sanded with 2000 then buffed and I use a servant instead of wax and I will vacuum and do the interior as well as degreeese the motor for $400.
Just to compound,polish, and seal the outside I charge $150 to $200 so that price is a little high unless it needs to be wet sanded 1st because of deeper scratches or oxidation

**Darkrider02** · 09-29-2010, 01:04 AM

Shit I got offered 500 to do mine

**98TransAmWs-6** · 09-29-2010, 08:08 AM

Originally Posted by Darkrider02

Shit I got offered 500 to do mine

WOW all of these prices i've seen on here are cheap for a detail, by me it's like 1k min and can get up as high as 2k well unless they are just washing and waxing but a real detail on the outside is definately a min of 1k but then again I live near DC so prices are outrageous on that crap.

**GoFast908Z** · 10-03-2010, 06:16 PM

Too all those saying its too high, how do you know? There is no mention of what is being done and that makes a HUGE difference. To those quoting other numbers, you aren't listing what all is included, so you can't really compare anything.

Originally Posted by 98maro

350 I think is to much..
I have a blk car too. I took it to 3 diferent places and the highest price I found was 250
Inside. And out side puls the engine bay.
Or 150 just for the out side

Its not high if you want paint correction done. It is high if there is no correction being done.

Originally Posted by Z06-Goose

That's a little bit on the high side.
I'd expect that kind of prices in states like, NY, California, Florida, etc...
I'm suroprise that he can charge that in KY.

Yeah for the area it may be high, but thats pretty typical in CA (at least if they aren't hacks).

Originally Posted by 67CamaroRSSS

I paid $200 to have the 98 detailed but that was inside and out for $165. The extra $35 was for polishing up the headlight covers which were hazed so bad the lights barely lit up the road. They (and the car) look good now...

Again, probably not paint correction I'm guessing, thus the big difference in price.

Originally Posted by Sweet Chops

Well then if you don't want to pay $350, buy everything you will need and do it yourself. You will have more than $350 invested when it is all said and done. But you will have a ll the equipment and products for next time.
I do detail work and $350 sounds a tad high, but, if you want the best you pay for it. If I was paying that money it better be perfect when it is finished.

You can do it yourself, but remember you are also paying for their experience. You'd be going into it blind. Not saying you can't....just that a pro will do it much better. And $350 won't get anywhere near perfect lol.

Originally Posted by RyanJM

I charge $350 if the car needs to be completely wet sanded with 2000 then buffed and I use a servant instead of wax and I will vacuum and do the interior as well as degreeese the motor for $400.
Just to compound,polish, and seal the outside I charge $150 to $200 so that price is a little high unless it needs to be wet sanded 1st because of deeper scratches or oxidation

I'm assuming you work/run a body shop? A body shop doing a wetsand and buff is very different from a detailer doing it. Body shops don't finish down to the same quality that is demanded of detailers. Some do, but they are very rare. If someone told me that tiny amount to wetsand my car I'd run for the hills, wayyyy too low. Every car I've seen that's had that done has had numerous patches of sanding missed, compound in every crevice, and burned edges throughout. The time it takes to make sure these things don't happen immediately put it out of that price range.

**Maro SS** · 10-03-2010, 06:21 PM

dont mean to sound ...ignorant... but what do they do when they do "paint correction"

**02silverbird** · 10-03-2010, 06:27 PM

shit for $350 I'll do it for ya that's freakin' way to expensive!

**GoFast908Z** · 10-03-2010, 06:31 PM

Originally Posted by Maro SS

dont mean to sound ...ignorant... but what do they do when they do "paint correction"

Paint correction is the correct term for removing swirls and light scratches. It is often confused with buffing which can mean the same thing but is equally used to describe removing a wax by hand, which is nowhere near the same thing. Detailing terminology among the average joe is very misused. Let me grab a pic to show you...

Originally Posted by 02silverbird

shit for $350 I'll do it for ya that's freakin' way to expensive!

Well not everyone wants to pay for quality work...

**GoFast908Z** · 10-03-2010, 06:33 PM

Left side uncorrected. Right side corrected. Doing this takes time and this is where detailing reaches its potential to make your car look amazing, not just 'good'. So when you spend the kind of money the OP was asking about, you start to get results like this.

**Maro SS** · 10-03-2010, 06:52 PM

Originally Posted by GoFast908Z

Left side uncorrected. Right side corrected. Doing this takes time and this is where detailing reaches its potential to make your car look amazing, not just 'good'. So when you spend the kind of money the OP was asking about, you start to get results like this.

holy moly. lol so what kinda questions would one ask to make sure they are getting those type of results?

**GoFast908Z** · 10-03-2010, 07:32 PM

Originally Posted by Maro SS

holy moly. lol so what kinda questions would one ask to make sure they are getting those type of results?

Are they polishing the car, with what kind of buffer (cheap Sears POS, Random Orbital DA like the Porter Cable, or a rotary), what products they consider polishes (cleaner waxes don't qualify here), how long does it take to do one pass (go over the car one time with the buffer)...heres a hint if it takes less than an hour thats too fast. 2-3 hours per pass is about right.