How long does it take you to detail a (your) car?

R

RAP

New member
I’ve been reading about how you pros can do two cars (or more) a day. When I do a complete detail on my car, inside and out I can spend all day on it. Even then, it seems like I can always find something else to do to it the next day. ;)



To me, detailing my cars is like therapy. Some people like gardening or painting, I love to detail my cars. I’m thinking about buying another home and when I was picking out a lot, I had to keep in mind when the sun would be on the driveway so I would have the most shade. :D



But I tell you one thing, you pros really earn your money. There is a lot of knowledge, experience, responsibility and hard work involved in doing this kind of work, I think you should get paid more. :bow
 
You know, I honestly don't know how long it would take to detail my own car because I only have time to either do the exterior or interior only, or maybe even just a portion.



When you detail for a living, you have a system that you stick with. You get things done in the order that works fastest for you and it becomes habit.
 
I washed ( wash , dry , door/ trunk edges .. under hood wheels .. dress tires / wet sanded 2 rock chops on the hood and DACP'd the spots and polished them out then applied a layer of FMJ to complete car with my cordless orbital .. was 1.5 hours. None of the inside needed done. Interior / trunk never takes more than 20 minutes cuz I never let it get bad.



I have a good system .. I wash 3/5 times a week in the non-winter months.



My spring detail is a few days because of the polishing from winter damage. I spent close to 30 hours this spring just polishing
 
It takes me four hours to detail my Jeep. This includes claying, polishing with a PC and rim and tire care. If I include the interior, I would add another hour or two.
 
A week! :o I can get it done faster, I just like taking as much time as I can with my own car. My "regular" details take about 5-6 hours.
 
About 6-8 hours if everything goes well. That does not include the engine compartment (I never do it).



I think just washing the car takes me a good 45 minutes. LOL
 
When I work on a customers car.. I do a very good job.. but I dont go into the same level of work. When I work on my car... I will do things like condition the rubber door seals..... more wheel well / undercarriage work.... just more of everything.



I would still do all of that for a customer, but generally they dont need it and the price would add up way too fast. I also go sorta slow when working on my own car to get more relaxation out of it.
 
My normal detail is about 6-8 hours for exterior (wash/clay/polish/AIO/SG, door jambs, trunk/hood seams, windows, wheels-off wash/AIO on wheels & protectant on tires, wheel wells, windows)



Interior is about 3-4 hours, depending on how many french fries w/ketchup the rug rats dropped in the back . . .



Sure I can get it done faster (wash/clay/AIO/SG in about 2 hours) when I don't have the time, but when I'm doing my car it's part therapy and part pursuit of perfection.
 
For a full detail (wash/clay/polish/AIO/SG/S100), I usually give it a full day, though there's downtime between the SG and S100.



I work on specific 'problem' areas -- underbody and engine bay about 2x a month, but I do those until I'm happy with the results.



Interiors aren't bad on mine, about 1/2 hour or so, as I don't let them get too bad to start. My wife's Jetta, though, :rolleyes: Every wash gets a full interior treatment, one because it's outside of the garage, and two, because she drives my son and his friends all over. She still won't put towels down over the floor (but does on the seats now) ;)
 
I don't think I've ever completed a detail, well, maybe a couple of times. Between the demands of my job and being on-call 24x7x365, wife, 3 kids, 6 grandkids - not a lot of time to keep it washed sometimes. Please don't hate me, but I do appreciate all that I learn here.
 
2 hours per week.



I QD twice a week. 20 minutes



QEW once a week. 20 minutes.



Interior wipe, vac every week. 20 minutes.



Engine bay, wheel wells, every week. 30 minutes.



Wheels, tires, every week. 30 minutes.



Plus: ... Polish / wax / buff... 2 hours, once per quarter.



Traditional bucket/hose/mitt wash. Never.
 
took me initially 6 hours to wash my car, (no clay.. didnt need it), then polish with aio, then klasse sg, and to do everything on the interior, as well as clean the undercarriage... id say the interior took the longest... im very particular about how the interior has to look... but since then... every 2 days i add a coat of klasse sg... right now i have 3 coats on, and im going for 5. then im gonna do 2-3 coats of p21s. id say all in all, its prob gonna be another 6 hours of work ontop of the 6 hours from before... we'll see.. will post pics.
 
RAP said:
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To me, detailing my cars is like therapy. Some people like gardening or painting, I love to detail my cars. [/B]
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I'm with you...I do something almost every day ...like last night I spent 30 minutes on my leather seats.



On average, I'm probably spending about 5 hours per week on the car...that may seem like a lot, but it is my stress reliever.
 
A full detail I could see 8 hours if it's an extreme case, but I think a full normal detail shouldn't take more than 4-5 hours.
 
Luster said:
2 hours per week.



I QD twice a week. 20 minutes



QEW once a week. 20 minutes.



Interior wipe, vac every week. 20 minutes.



Engine bay, wheel wells, every week. 30 minutes.



Wheels, tires, every week. 30 minutes.



Plus: ... Polish / wax / buff... 2 hours, once per quarter.



Traditional bucket/hose/mitt wash. Never.
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Luster, great schedule. Is this for a daily driver?
 
Intermezzo said:
Luster, great schedule. Is this for a daily driver?
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Yes, that way it never gets very dirty.....



Winter is tough though. Especially when you know the next day your backing out of the garage right into the slop!



Don't want to think about it right now though! ;)
 
Thanks for all the replies.



I guess I’m about right with my time. I’m not as fast as some of you but I still need to factor in that I’m doing my baby and that is a combination of detailing and a labor of love.



I always have the problem of after I “finish� my detailing, I hate to take her out on the road to get dirty again.
 
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