am i slow ? how long does it take you?

[THERUSE]

first of all its great to be back here again. :xyxthumbs



i have been detailing for several years now, and after reading autopia i came to the conclusion that i`m either slow at it, or you guys are really fast.



i started around 10 am, washed, clayed, meguiras fine cut w/ pc, washed, z1 and z5.



finished around 7 pm



how long does it take you guys to detail your car? oh and its a 4 door sedan.



:nixweiss

[imported_dl9589]

Originally posted by tomciob

first of all its great to be back here again. :xyxthumbs



i have been detailing for several years now, and after reading autopia i came to the conclusion that i`m either slow at it, or you guys are really fast.



i started around 10 am, washed, clayed, meguiras fine cut w/ pc, washed, z1 and z5.



finished around 7 pm



how long does it take you guys to detail your car? oh and its a 4 door sedan.



:nixweiss



I can do my 4 door sedan (Aurora) in about 4-5 hours. That`s total exterior (wash, clay, paint cleanser, compound/polish, wax, polish wheels, dress tires and trim), and total interior (vacuum, clean/dress vinyl, clean/protect leather, clean windows, and shampoo carpet).:xyxthumbs



I don`t think your main concern should be how quickly you can get it done, your biggest concern should be the final result. If your happy after 10 hours of work then I`d say it was well worth the time.

[Accumulator]

tomciob- You`re not alone! Heh heh, this is one of my favorite rant-subjects ;) I take *forever*, and I work fast enough that it`s aerobically demanding (and I`m in shape). I have no idea how some people do a car in an hour, it takes me almost that long to do the "dirty bits" (like wheels, wheelwells, doorjambs, under the hood and the undercarriage). And that still leaves the whole rest of the car. Even when you`re "done", blowing all the water out of the nooks and crannies can take a LONG time if you want to get it all.



On our sedans (Audi A8 & S8) it takes me about 3 hours to wash and dry them. But then, I don`t miss ANYTHING.



I can apply a quick coat of LSP in under half an hour, but if I`m doing a "full detail", I might take several days. EXAMPLE: the S8`s main grill has sixty-some slots, and each one has four surfaces, and I`m applying then removing AIO then the LSP to each (and working the seams with a toothpick, etc.), well, just the GRILL can take forever!

[vprdak]

I jus did my major spring detail yesterday (wash, clay, paint cleaner, polish, gold class, nxt) and it took me a little over 10 hours and thats without a break but i did it all by hand so.... Anyway thats just my time i was happy with the result so i consider it well worth it.

[andriver]

I guess I must be getting better. This last time it only took me 5 hours to detail my Jeep. It helps when the vehicle is maintained.

[chris0626]

tomciob, I`d be thrilled if I could do a complete detail in a mere 9 hours. But my experience is more like Accumulator described; I`m doing lots of work at the Q-tip or toothpick-level. I could probably make the cars look BLING from 6 feet away in just 3-4 hours inside and out. But I`m trying to make it so that it`ll look BLING under a magnifying glass -- because I`m prepping for concours shows. Thank God I`m not making a living at this hobby. :lol

[du3ce]

takes me about 4-5 hours thats washing, claying, cleaner wax, polish, final wax

[Gonzo]

It takes me from when I start until when I finish. I don`t care how long it takes. I polished last May, but still has swirls. I polished again over Thanksgiving and had a lot less swirls. Finally I polished for a club show in March and finally my truck is 97% defect free - there are just a couple of deep scratches on the hard tonneau remaining, except for stone chips everywhere. Aaaaah, nearly there! Now I`m thinking getting a "quality" painter to repair the paint blems everywhere and shoot at least 4 mils of clear on top of everything (maybe the CeramiClear from PPG), then wet sand to remove most of the OP. Then there`s the ......, and the ......, and what about the other stuff like repaint paint blems on the underside, polishing the exhaust. Dang, I`ll I just realized I`ll NEVER be finished - so how that for "too long"?

[imported_ajbarnes]

Professionally, I have no choice but to format my methods to do a full detail job in about 3-5 hours depending on the size and condition of the vehicle. That speed comes with experience, and the simple mindset that "if you`re slow, there`s no dough" .:D If I am being extremely meticulous with a particular vehicle, then it`ll take longer. No matter what, I don`t leave until the work is up to my standard. :xyxthumbs

[audio1der]

Sounds about right, tomciob. I take a full day to do a full detail by hand. A PC would go a long way to cutting down the time- hoping to get one for the b-day or xmas this year.

[K_Csaxo]

i am no where near the level which most people are on when it comes to detailing but even for me an average detail would be around 5-6 hours for a "single day" detail.

[imported_neoflex]

My CTS With a Full detail from Clay on about 4-5 hours.

[imported_FordTaurus]

Full Detail on my Taurus (clay, full exterior, full interior shampooing, etc.) takes just about the whole day, or 6-7 hours. It takes more time if i go down to the Q-tip/toothpick level.

[armoredsaint]

It takes me longer to wash my car than to wax it with 1 coat!

[chris0626]

Amen, Gonzo! :bigups Words to live by:


Originally posted by Gonzo

It takes me from when I start until when I finish. I don`t care how long it takes.