'03 Tahoe...Man am I tired!!

mose · 01-07-07, 11:30

I did an'03 grey Tahoe today. My first SUV....I should have started taking vitamins a week ago!! LOL!! I picked it up Friday night and got started on it Saturday morning at 9AM and finished the first coat of DG #105 at 6PM. Second coat went on at 9AM and was done by 11PM.

Here's what I did and what I used:

Washed with Dawn
Sprayed the wheel wells with degreaser
Clayed whole vehicle including glass, chrome and rims while washing
Dried vehicle with leaf blower
Taped off all outer trim with painters tape
Polished with Megs #9 (more on that in a minute)
DG #105 x 2
1 coat of DG AW.
Cleaned all glass with Stoners
Clean and dressed interior with DP cleaner and protectant
Removed all carpet stains with Megs carpet cleaner
Dressed wells with Megs Hot Tire Shine

So here's some thoughts:

Megs #2 - All it did was gum up my pad. Any thoughts.....anyone?

Megs #9 - I had so much dust left over that the cops showed up and thought I was selling cocaine! OMG!! *** is that? I have some OP coming and I can't wait to try it! I have had great success with Mothers Power Polish but all of a sudden I can't find ay OTC!!

I also had my 6" backing pad start to come apart whenI was just about done. I had to switch to a smaller pad which slowed me down.....but I got it done all the same. It seems to be coming apart due to heat. Does that sound like something that might happen? At any rate I got it from Autogeek so it shouldn't be a problem sending it back.

I also used QD to wipe off all of the polish. I made taking the polilsh remarkably easy!! Anyone else ever do this?

The customer was very happy and wants me to do her white Maxima in February.

Here's some pics!
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Dave KG · 01-08-07, 03:36

Nice work! A big vehicle to work on, not surprised your tired! Well worth it though, judging by the pics!

mgm121499 · 01-08-07, 06:05

Great work!

The paint, wells, wheels *everything* looks night and day better.

Dave1 · 01-08-07, 06:15

Excellent job......On a very big vehicle.....

What's a fair price to charge for that much labor......?

(In general...)

mshu7 · 01-08-07, 09:10

Great work on a huge vehicle. You've gotta be tired after something like that.

sixty7mustang22 · 01-08-07, 09:15

Very nice work.

mose · 01-08-07, 09:31

Thanks for the kind words guys!!

Dave1: This was for a very good friend of mine AND it was her BDay so I didn't really charge her what I should have. It meant a lot to me that she trusted me with her vehicle and I wanted to do a nice job for her and save her a few bucks while making a few bucks! If I were to do the same vehicle for someone I didn't know I would seriously have to start pricing at around $350. Normally customers will only get one coat of wax and she got two plus a coat of AW. I hope that answers your question!

Mr.Cool · 01-08-07, 10:12

Wow that came out perfect, great job.

Dave1 · 01-08-07, 05:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by mose

Thanks for the kind words guys!!

Dave1: This was for a very good friend of mine AND it was her BDay so I didn't really charge her what I should have. It meant a lot to me that she trusted me with her vehicle and I wanted to do a nice job for her and save her a few bucks while making a few bucks! If I were to do the same vehicle for someone I didn't know I would seriously have to start pricing at around $350. Normally customers will only get one coat of wax and she got two plus a coat of AW. I hope that answers your question!

Yes it did, thanks......

btw....she's got a good friend.

Scottwax · 01-08-07, 09:31

Turned out really nice!

I hear ya on SUVs, that is a large chunk of my business.

Dave1 · 01-08-07, 09:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scottwax

Turned out really nice!

I hear ya on SUVs, that is a large chunk of my business.

Question Scott....What's an average large SUV full detail for a guy with your experience going to cost in todays market .....?

Scottwax · 01-08-07, 10:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dave1

Question Scott....What's an average large SUV full detail for a guy with your experience going to cost in todays market .....?

It is very area dependent. Small SUVs like that Tribute start at $175 (typically a 5 hour job) and $225-275 starting point for large SUVs. Those prices assume one polishing and one sealing step, light claying and no major interior nastiness. Price go up for major correction, land fill interiors, etc. Figure on 25-50% more on either coast.