Full Detail = How Many Coats of Wax

shuddleston

shuddleston

New member
Just curious to see what everyone else does on a general full detail that isn't advertised as paint correction. I am doing full details for $125/$150, which takes me about 4 hours with two people (son). I usually wash, clay, Mothers witih Carnuba followed with NXT 2.0 or Duragloss by hand. Actually the last two I have done they paid me $140.00 beceause they felt like they owed me more. Hense I raised my price to $150 for cars and $180 for Suv's, etc. It doesn't correct much but so far most of what I am doing is newer vehicles. The customers have been estatic with what I have been doing and probably dont' even understand cob webbing, swirl marks, etc. I don't think I could add too many more steps and still make enough money to make it worth my while. I was just curious as to what other people do that aren't into paint correction here?:thinking
 
I usually did two, but it really just depended on how long the rest of the vehicle took. I had mine priced pretty low to begin with, so I couldn't spend a lot of extra time on the vehicles without turning extra profit. By the way, I only ever advertised one, so no one ever got cheated out of a coat of wax.
 
For technicality's sake, I'd reverse the order of your carnauba and NXT 2.0. What are you doing "correction wise" after the clay step? I noticed you mentioned you weren't doing much correction wise - just curious as to what you're doing that is taking 4 hours and costing $150.
 
First off, I'm a hobby detailer so I don't know what the traffic will bear or what the customer expects from a professional, but...

What you are doing sounds like a basic wash & wax.
In that case, I would use a one step product and use one application.
It could be hand or machine applied, but I think a DA would do a little better job of cleaning the paint and would even remove some marring.
Again, just my opinion, but I don't think I would clay if I wasn't going to do any polishing/paint correction.
The time needed and the price would seem to be a little much for that process.

One thing I would consider doing is cleaning the windows inside and out even if you aren't doing the interior. People really notice the windows whether they are clean or dirty.
 
I have been doing this for awhile, and 97% of my clients don't see beyond the shine. What I do is remove any of the deeper scratches or at least hide them and then just make sure that I have adequate protection, for the most part the customer isn't going to be looking for swirls or cob webbing if the paint is nice and shiny. I think that your prices are competitive.
 
IMO $125-$140 is too low of a price to give a vehicle a "full detail". It is "xxxxxxxizing" the industry, so when a "professional" advertises full details starting at $200 which is a decent starting price for the labor involve and talent and skill needed the potential customer says " I got a guy that will do it for $xxx" Then you have to into explaining the difference and you get what you pay for. The flip side to that coin is raising your price to reflect the labor and talent involved but not being able to deliver a quality product.
 
southerndetail said:
I have been doing this for awhile, and 97% of my clients don't see beyond the shine. What I do is remove any of the deeper scratches or at least hide them and then just make sure that I have adequate protection, for the most part the customer isn't going to be looking for swirls or cob webbing if the paint is nice and shiny. I think that your prices are competitive.
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JAYPRODTLR said:
IMO $125-$140 is too low of a price to give a vehicle a "full detail". It is "xxxxxxxizing" the industry, so when a "professional" advertises full details starting at $200 which is a decent starting price for the labor involve and talent and skill needed the potential customer says " I got a guy that will do it for $xxx" Then you have to into explaining the difference and you get what you pay for. The flip side to that coin is raising your price to reflect the labor and talent involved but not being able to deliver a quality product.
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So, $150 is a fair price for a basic wash & wax?
I'm not picking on what shuddleston is doing or the quality of his work, but.....
No polishing or paint correction, no vacuuming or interior detailing.
Wash, clay and one coat of a cleaner wax followed by an application of another wax/sealant isn't exactly a "Full Detail". Like I said, it sounds like a basic wash & wax and there's nothing wrong with that, but I would find it hard to justify more than his original prices for what would be 1.5 to 2 hours work.
Wash - 45 minutes
Clay - 15 minutes (Which I wouldn't do if I wasn't going to polish the paint)
Mother's - 20 minutes
NXT or DG - 15 minutes

Maybe I'm not seeing the whole picture, but that isn't a "full detail". That's a maintenance wash & wax with claying thrown in.
 
I know here, $200 is not a "decent starting point." You'd be pricing yourself out of work. And at $150, at least around here, you'd better be doing a full out detail (paint correction, interior, engine bay, etc.)

I have to agree with Charles - there's a difference between a detail and a wash and wax.
 
I charge $30 per hour. My "full detail" minus any paint correction generally takes 5-6 hours and costs between $150 and $180.

That includes complete clean, shampoo, and protect the interior, wash, clay, seal the exterior paint, treat trim, clean and detail wheels, apply wheel wax, dress tires, vacuum trunk, clean all jambs, and degrease and dress engine bay.

There is a ton of work involved in my full detail.
 
Premium said:
I charge $30 per hour. My "full detail" minus any paint correction generally takes 5-6 hours and costs between $150 and $180.

That includes complete clean, shampoo, and protect the interior, wash, clay, seal the exterior paint, treat trim, clean and detail wheels, apply wheel wax, dress tires, vacuum trunk, clean all jambs, and degrease and dress engine bay.

There is a ton of work involved in my full detail.
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Quite a bit of difference between "wash, clay, Mothers witih Carnuba followed with NXT 2.0 or Duragloss by hand" and "clean, shampoo, and protect the interior, wash, clay, seal the exterior paint, treat trim, clean and detail wheels, apply wheel wax, dress tires, vacuum trunk, clean all jambs, and degrease and dress engine bay".

And Premium, IMO your price is too low. :)
 
I didn't notice there was no interior work, I charge $50 per hour with the average detail taking 3 hrs. If you plan to do any quantity of work you really have to balance your time while not sacraficing quality. For the most part your average client wants there car cleaned, not knowing anything about paint correction and for the most part going blank when your explaining the process with them. A properly cleaned "detailed" car (inside and out)goes a long way with just a machine polish and a coat of wax,imo.
 
I would also reverse the order and use the 2.0 first, followed by the carnuba. The NXT is a synthetic sealant so it should be allowed some time to bond to the surface. 8 hrs. to overnight. JMO.
 
I think not everyones definition of a full detail is the same.
Also different areas have different economies which allows for a difference in prices for the same service.
Thats why say a bagger at Vonns in SOCAL might make $10 a hour and a bagger at Publix in SW Florida may make $7.00 a hour both doing the same job.
 
Premium said:
I charge $30 per hour. My "full detail" minus any paint correction generally takes 5-6 hours and costs between $150 and $180.

That includes complete clean, shampoo, and protect the interior, wash, clay, seal the exterior paint, treat trim, clean and detail wheels, apply wheel wax, dress tires, vacuum trunk, clean all jambs, and degrease and dress engine bay.

There is a ton of work involved in my full detail.
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this sounds just like my details except when I am not doing paint correction I run a single pass with PWS on my cyclo so I always do clay the paint and also clean and dress wells and do windows inside and S&W outside windows.My paint corrections also include a polishing of the exterior glass before being spray&wiped. I too charge $30 per hour whether or not I am doing correction.
 
tuscarora dave said:
this sounds just like my details except when I am not doing paint correction I run a single pass with PWS on my cyclo so I always do clay the paint and also clean and dress wells and do windows inside and S&W outside windows.My paint corrections also include a polishing of the exterior glass before being spray&wiped. I too charge $30 per hour whether or not I am doing correction.
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I did neglect to mention a few steps in my full detail process, but I am sure you get the point. I do clean and dress the fender wells, remove bugs and tar, clean windows inside and out, ect.
 
Let me clarify I was just asking about the wax steps but my full detail includes - wash, clay, cleaner wax followed with NXT or DG 105 (now I am confused on the order I thought the cleaner wax -- Mothers with Carnauba was supposed to go on first and then the LSP went on last - isn't NXT OR DG considered a LSP)? Sometimes after claying I'll use Meg Color X or UC. I don't have a machine so I do everything by hand which takes some time. I clean the fender wells, door jams, inside and outside windows, dress the outside rubber, polish rims and chrome. I also do a full interior detail, vacuum, shampoo, dash, door panels, cup holder’s console, etc. It has taken me 4 hours to do all this thoroughly with the help of my son on the last couple of details. Most of time I am spending the majority of my time cleaning excessively dirty interior, crazy tar, oxidation or extremely dirty rims. I haven't been doing this for a long time, but I feel that I do a good thorough job and my customers have been happy and sending me referals. I need to eventually get a PC but for now I just do it by hand. Any suggestions on some other types of polish/wax I can use to get better results by hand please let me know. I appreciate the critics!
 
Sounds like you do a lot more than you initially let on. NXT or DG 105 are both synthetic sealants, and per manufacturer recommendations should be applied to clean paint. By applying a "cleaner wax" (i.e. carnauba content) you are possibly interfering with the sealants ability to "cling" or bond to the paint by leaving behind a wax/oil residue from the Mother's.

In layman's terms - I'd find a polish that doesn't contain any kind of wax or added protection or I would find a different LSP (last step product) such as a wax.
 
So a color X or UC would work? Soon I am going to invest in a PC accompanied with some PB products. I am really curious to see what the PB products can do for me especially the SSR products and not to mention the Natty. Thanks for the advice.
 
Color X leaves behind some sort of protection as well. I think it is synthetic. In any case, it is probably a better base for a sealant than the Mother's carnauba cleaner wax.
 
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