RV Paint Correction Pricing???

I

imported_JoshVette

New member
Need to know a realistic idea of pricing for an RV.



This is a 45 foot $850K dollar RV that has bad swirls and scratches, the owner is not needing perfection, but wants me to fully polish the damage out.



I have not looked at it yet, but I know I've got my work cut out for me.



I normally charge $75 per hour for paint correction on cars, but what do you think would be a good price for paint correction on this big momma?



I want to keep it around $60 per hour, is that reasonable you think for so much work, or am I selling myself short?



TIA

Josh
 
I've always charged by the linear foot for boats & RVs. I use to love doing Prevost Motorcoaches. Josh, based on the level of work you normally do, plan on spending about of week just for the outside for mid-level quality. If you can, after doing a thorough decontamination of the exterior, try to find the best 1 step product for the application and then seal the heck out of it. A WOWA sealant would be ideal.
 
I agree with Dave, charge by the foot. Same with boats. I'd say at least $12-15 per foot with light polishing, closer to $20, maybe $25 per foot for heavy correction.



I used to do a 45' coach (their business has run into some hard times) about once a year. They had a rolling staircase for me to use that made it a lot easier.
 
JonP said:
If they can afford a $850k RV, they should have no problem with $65-75 per hour.
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Yea, I don't think he'll have a problem paying, I just want to give him a good deal since he's not wanting 100% perfection and it's all just flat surfaces..... not that it will be an easy job cause it's all side panels.
 
David Fermani said:
I've always charged by the linear foot for boats & RVs. I use to love doing Prevost Motorcoaches. Josh, based on the level of work you normally do, plan on spending about of week just for the outside for mid-level quality. If you can, after doing a thorough decontamination of the exterior, try to find the best 1 step product for the application and then seal the heck out of it. A WOWA sealant would be ideal.
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Yes, I figure at least a week as well....



If I were just washing and cleaning it that would be the way to charge, but with paint correction it's a whole different story.



Won't be doing any interior, only paint correction.
 
Scottwax said:
I agree with Dave, charge by the foot. Same with boats. I'd say at least $12-15 per foot with light polishing, closer to $20, maybe $25 per foot for heavy correction.



I used to do a 45' coach (their business has run into some hard times) about once a year. They had a rolling staircase for me to use that made it a lot easier.
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But what happens if it takes a good 50 hours to polish out, then I'll be loosing a lot of money? or if it turns out to need a two step polishing process.



Scott, how many hours did it normally take you to wash, polish and seal the exterior on one of those things?
 
Im with Scott and Dave. This is the kind of work I do every day. Its a crap shoot, as to the time it will take. Just like a car, its all about the condition its in. To clean, polish, and protect it, you could be into a 40 footer around 40-50+ hours. Those are the projects you'll wish you had employees for. :)



KAIO is a pretty good one-step for full paint coaches, I've found.
 
I'm sure this will job could take every bit of 40 hours for 1 person to complete. If that's the case, then charging someone $3000 (@ $75/hr) is excessive IMHO. Some jobs might be better suited for people focused on doing this type of work on a regular basis. A job that takes 1 person 40 hrs, could take a 2 person team 2 days. Most RVs aren't scratched up that bad (they never get washed) and correct really easy (soft paint). Most are grimey and faded.
 
JoshVette said:
But what happens if it takes a good 50 hours to polish out, then I'll be loosing a lot of money? or if it turns out to need a two step polishing process.



Scott, how many hours did it normally take you to wash, polish and seal the exterior on one of those things?
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I was able to do a one step polish (Meguiars #20) buffed off with OCW in about 8 hours by myself. It was already washed though. He had a DI/RO wash system and a pressure washer set up at his warehouse since either his one of his workers would wash it, or he'd have me do it. Washing took me about 3 hours (including dressing the tires/fenderwells/mudflaps) since it would air dry spot free. With my son helping me, we were able to do it in 5 hours (already washed that time too). The rolling staircase made a huge difference. You can see what I am talking about in this picture:



2777me_buffing_bus.jpg
 
David Fermani said:
I'm sure this will job could take every bit of 40 hours for 1 person to complete. If that's the case, then charging someone $3000 (@ $75/hr) is excessive IMHO. Some jobs might be better suited for people focused on doing this type of work on a regular basis. A job that takes 1 person 40 hrs, could take a 2 person team 2 days. Most RVs aren't scratched up that bad (they never get washed) and correct really easy (soft paint). Most are grimey and faded.
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I'll let you guys all know what I find after I inspect it. Supposed to get the call today but didn't. I'll probably get it while in Houston these next two days....



I agree about having a team to tackle this, but he specifically asked for quality paint correction and knew my name from some Fcar clients. He's also got two Fcars, a Lambo, Bentley, Porsche and BMW's, but lives in CA so I won't be detailing any of those.



Anyways, other then Scott, I don't know anyone around here I consider qualified to tackle paint correction on a quality level and I know how busy he is....
 
Scottwax said:
I was able to do a one step polish (Meguiars #20) buffed off with OCW in about 8 hours by myself. It was already washed though. He had a DI/RO wash system and a pressure washer set up at his warehouse since either his one of his workers would wash it, or he'd have me do it. Washing took me about 3 hours (including dressing the tires/fenderwells/mudflaps) since it would air dry spot free. With my son helping me, we were able to do it in 5 hours (already washed that time too). The rolling staircase made a huge difference. You can see what I am talking about in this picture:



2777me_buffing_bus.jpg
Click to expand...



Thanks for the info Scott.



I do believe the client has some sort of latter as well.



I will have to test out the surface to find the best combo, but thinking of trying out some M105 with a white pad and seeing how that finishes out. If the paint is too soft, I'll go with a lighter combo.



Josh
 
A good formula is to take the length in feet and divide by two. That number is approximately how many hours it will take to wash and polish/wax. If you are doing paint correction the formula may not apply. I have a guy right know that wants a 50 foot RV washed polished/waxed. I was thinking of using Poli-Seal and charging at least $1000, if not more like $1200-$1300.
 
Whatever you do, don't bid it and risk losing out making less than you should. Bid high if you have to and come off of your quote if you want to give a good deal.



Just my opinion. /shrug
 
If you think your not charging enough YOUR NOT as said in a previous post the length divided by 2 times your hourly rate is the best way to go.
 
David Fermani said:
I'm sure this will job could take every bit of 40 hours for 1 person to complete. If that's the case, then charging someone $3000 (@ $75/hr) is excessive IMHO. Some jobs might be better suited for people focused on doing this type of work on a regular basis. A job that takes 1 person 40 hrs, could take a 2 person team 2 days. Most RVs aren't scratched up that bad (they never get washed) and correct really easy (soft paint). Most are grimey and faded.
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Why would the price be excessive? I am sure there are pleny of "detailers" who could handle this for much less, but the owner wants somebody of Josh's caliber to work on the vehicle. If they want the best, then they should/will have to pay top dollar. Most of our show car details (such as the 7 cars we prepped for Cavallino) where between 3-4k a piece, because of the huge amount of time involved.



I don't think we should farm out work to lesser detailers because we want to make sure the client isn't paying too much. It is my niche (as well as many others) to offer the best service possible and charge accordingly, regardless of the vehicles we work on. 3000 dollars seems perfectly reasonable if they want somebody of Josh's talent to work on something that big.
 
TH0001 said:
Why would the price be excessive? I am sure there are pleny of "detailers" who could handle this for much less, but the owner wants somebody of Josh's caliber to work on the vehicle. If they want the best, then they should/will have to pay top dollar. Most of our show car details (such as the 7 cars we prepped for Cavallino) where between 3-4k a piece, because of the huge amount of time involved.



I don't think we should farm out work to lesser detailers because we want to make sure the client isn't paying too much. It is my niche (as well as many others) to offer the best service possible and charge accordingly, regardless of the vehicles we work on. 3000 dollars seems perfectly reasonable if they want somebody of Josh's talent to work on something that big.
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Todd is right. The reason he saught me out was specifically for paint correction purposes and he knows from his Ferrari friends of my abilities.



Also, it should be noted that the client himself told me a lot of the mess I'll be cleaning up is from detailers washing and hacking it up. I'm betting the detailers he's used are using brushes to wash it with and cutting it up at the same time.



I will do it by the hour and bring it to a point that I can be happy with. We've already agreed that I will do a test section for a half hour and see how much it will take to correct it and I will base my "general" estimate off of that with the understanding that the price can fluxuate.



Thanks for everyone's input.



Josh
 
JoshVette said:
Todd is right. The reason he saught me out was specifically for paint correction purposes and he knows from his Ferrari friends of my abilities.



Also, it should be noted that the client himself told me a lot of the mess I'll be cleaning up is from detailers washing and hacking it up. I'm betting the detailers he's used are using brushes to wash it with and cutting it up at the same time.



I will do it by the hour and bring it to a point that I can be happy with. We've already agreed that I will do a test section for a half hour and see how much it will take to correct it and I will base my "general" estimate off of that with the understanding that the price can fluxuate.



Thanks for everyone's input.



Josh
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Please do not take this the wrong way, but why would someone pay thousands of dollars for paint correction on something that, most likely, will get scratched up again. This of course assumes that you will not be maintaining it on a regular basis. The guys who wash RV's for a living are going to use brushes because washing using a sponge is not practical. A Ferrari is one thing, but an RV is another. Anyways, be sure to post some pictures. Thomas and I may be doing the 50 footer I mentioned above.
 
brwill2005 said:
Please do not take this the wrong way, but why would someone pay thousands of dollars for paint correction on something that, most likely, will get scratched up again. This of course assumes that you will not be maintaining it on a regular basis. The guys who wash RV's for a living are going to use brushes because washing using a sponge is not practical. A Ferrari is one thing, but an RV is another. Anyways, be sure to post some pictures. Thomas and I may be doing the 50 footer I mentioned above.
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Good point, that's why I try my best to teach my clients proper washing and drying techniques. I will convince him to find a detailer/washer who uses mitts or something other then brushes. I'm sure there's sticks you can attach mitts to right?



I think the damage is just getting to the point that he can't stand to see it anymore and wants it gone.



You say why spend $KKKK's for such correction just for it to get hacked again. Remember this thing costs over $850K new so it's a wise investment to have it corrected, as well as when he's on vacaction it is his home and he just wants his home to look it's best, I'm sure we can all relate to that.



Josh
 
Hey, what can I say? If you guys can get that kind of money for those types of specialty services, that great. More power to you. I guess I need to start charging alot more to stay competitive with the high end market? If your clients value your detailing abilities that much and can afford your services, you should expand out to cleaning their homes too while you're there cleaning their vehicles?
 
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