wetsanding entire car

[Envious Eric]

then compounding, polishing, glazing, waxing to a near perfect shine



how much...on a sedan like a toyota camry, or a BMW 3 series....



do you just based it on time as in $$ per hour, or base it on a flat day rate, and its going to take 3 days, or price at what you think, and hope you hit your hourly wage???



someone hit me up for it and I was thinking about 2500 the whole car, then carrying on with the rest, but I have never done a whole car before...mainly to knock down the orange peel on the lower half, as well as some scratches

[clnfrk]

$2500 for the whole car??? :eek:

[imported_themightytimmah]

6-700 probably.... figure 20 hours @ 30/hour

[Flexin]

I have had people ask me to do it and I won`t give them a price. I just tell them its going to be $40/hour and X number of hours and I have no intrest in doing it at all. I will wet sand scratches but wet sanding a whole car sounds about as fun as sticking forks in my eyes. After trying to buff a car that someone did a piss poor job wet sanding I don`t want to deal with that again.



I think it would be hard to get $2500 for most cars. Good for you if you can get it. At that price I would think about doing it.



What kind of car is it? Is it factory paint or a re paint?



James

[imported_GregCavi]

I typically throw out an outrageous figure when approached to do this. I have zero desire to do such a thing. If you are up to it, I would charge at least 800+ for the work. Also, if you aren`t insured, make a contract clearing you of any possible damage.



Greg

[usdm]

On a 3 series (assuming it is a late model), with a single stage wet sanding (2000 or 2500 grit), figure about 15 mins per vertical panel, and 25 mins per horizintal panel. If on the other hand we are talking a 2 stage wet sanding, figure to double those numbers since of course you will be sanding each panel twice; first with the more coarse and then less coarse sandpapers).



Compounding, if needed, will tack on another 2 hrs.



Final polishing will tack on another 2 hrs



If the final polish is up to snuff, then a glaze is not really needed, but if you decide to do it anyway, figure in another hour.



Wax is about 20 mins.



And just in case anyone is curious, yes I`ve done it before, but not on a Camry or 3 series. Total time from car wash to wax was approx. 12 hours.

[LeadingEdgeDetail]

Am I the only one that noticed 2500 was the sandpaper grit, not price? :wow:



I did a Toyota MR2 (Black), and it took me about 18 hours start to finish... And I undercharged at $400. Should have been $800.

[imported_turbomangt]

Consider this also, think about the areas you end up sanding that you can`t get a buffer near? tight cornors and such. :nomore:

[porta]

Why stop with a 2500grit? I would finish at least with a 4000 grit or 3M trizact.



I would charge around $700-800?

[coupe]

Am I the only one that noticed 2500 was the sandpaper grit, not price? :wow:





I noticed.







I wouldnt do a whole car at 1 go. See if they will pay for it piece by piece over a course of a few weeks.

[Nica]

Wet sanding an entire vehicle...wow. I agree I would write up a contract to cover your self, when wet sanding you never know oh by the way a paint gauge is a must. You really need to know how the clear coat and paint thickness is.



I find that to remove orange peal all you really need is 3000 grit but 4000 grit would be ideal. It doesn’t take much to remove orange peal. I`ve done some orange peal removing but not an entire vehicle. Sounds like it would be fun if you ask me, lots of work but fun.



Well just my feed back.

[jimmybuffit]

I believe that the most important part of a $3-4000 paint job is the sanding, buffing and polishing to achieve a near flat finish.



Do not under value the skill and time involved. $900~1200.



Patience.



JB

[ZoranC]

Last time (that I can remember of) person posted how much they charged to wet sand whole vehicle it was $1200. It was Superior Shine Joe and car was exotic.

[Superior Shine]

Last time (that I can remember of) person posted how much they charged to wet sand whole vehicle it was $1200. It was Superior Shine Joe and car was exotic.



.......... that was for minor spot sanding only before a complete polish.



My colorsanding work is almost always more than $2000 for a complete. The price is determined by size of vehicle, type of paint, conditon of paint (amount of overspray, debris, etc..)



If a show quality finish is wanted we start out with 800 grit and work our way done to 1500 or 2000.



I may have a suburban to do soon. It has a custom paint job and I bidded $2800 to do it. It was done already but bvery micky mouse.



If I get the job I will post pics of the process.

[ZoranC]

.......... that was for minor spot sanding only before a complete polish.

I stand corrected :)