timing...how long does it take you??

E

Envious Eric

New member
for the following process:



wash

clay

1 step compound with rotary

1 step polish with pc/udm

1 wax with pc

tires, wheels, wells

windows in and out

plastics, carpets, seats

leather conditioning



on a 4 door sedan -

on a tacoma size truck -

on a escalade size suv -



trying to guage how long it takes others compared to how long it takes me...
 
Jakerooni said:
about 2-3 hours. for outside and another 2-3 hours for inside. Very few exceptions.
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You guys amaze me with your speed. I could never wash, clay, compound, polish, and wax my car in three hours - no way possible I could without doing half arsed work.



Now the interior work I may be able to do in four hours but I cannot get anywhere near your speed on the exterior. I just don't see how you guys do it so fast.
 
Now see I can get the outside done usually a lot quicker than I could ever get an inside done. It's all about technique and know how. Once you have it down it's really just going through the steps.
 
Jakerooni said:
Now see I can get the outside done usually a lot quicker than I could ever get an inside done. It's all about technique and know how. Once you have it down it's really just going through the steps.
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I guess so. Granted you are probably using a rotary while I am using a UDM so you probably don't spend near as much time working compound/polish in as I do.
 
bert31 said:
I guess so. Granted you are probably using a rotary while I am using a UDM so you probably don't spend near as much time working compound/polish in as I do.
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Defiantly. The only time I ever pull out a D/A is only to apply wax. I personally don't see much of a use for a D/A if your already skilled in using a rotary. Plus I have a ton of other goodies that make doing the job alot easier.
 
bert31 said:
You guys amaze me with your speed. I could never wash, clay, compound, polish, and wax my car in three hours - no way possible I could without doing half arsed work.
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I definitely agree here, if you don't really care about the amount of correction then I am sure you can fly through a job, truth is one pass doesn't take care of the majority of paint issues. This is another reason it's hard to charge so much when there are shops that claim they do the same thing for a lot cheaper, there's one huge difference.
 
Well anytime you guys are ever anywhere near Flint Michigan you are always more than welcome to stop by shoot the breeze and watch me detail.I have absoultly no issues at all putting my quality of work against anyone on this board. Not saying I'm the best by any means but I know I'm very very good at what I do and I have a rock solid reputation that keeps bringing them in.



And for the record my paint correction process is a very minimum 3 step process (for really good paint) up to a 6 step process for really messed up oxidzed scratched to crap paint. There is never a time if I have to break out the machines that I will ever do a "one pass and done" process.
 
Jakerooni said:
Well anytime you guys are ever anywhere near Flint Michigan you are always more than welcome to stop by shoot the breeze and watch me detail.
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I may take you up on that if I am up north. I am always looking to learn.







Jakerooni said:
And for the record my paint correction process is a very minimum 3 step process (for really good paint) up to a 6 step process for really messed up oxidzed scratched to crap paint. There is never a time if I have to break out the machines that I will ever do a "one pass and done" process.
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How much time would you guess you spend on a 2' X 2' area using a rotary.
 
mm good question. I don't normally work in 2x2 sections (per instruction on the bottles) My process is a little different. I first start with the drivers side of the hood. I take that from start to finish to figure out exactly how many steps it's going to take to get my desired result. Once I know which steps I need to take I go back to my first step (usually a medium compound) finish the hood. Then I move onto the trunk, then the roof, then I go down the sides. Like I said it's all pretty automated to me I do every car the same process. Really eliminates wasted time on my end. For me this process works out the best.
 
I wasn't attacking you jake, just merely implying that most shops that deal in volume and push cars out the door do not take the adequate time needed per vehicle. Sorry you took it personally, I wasn't even referring to you. Devils advocate on your statement of reputation, I know many people who go on and on about their rep that know little about the profession. Once again not meaning you in any way. The trouble with reputation and this business is most lamen swear by bs products and bs procedures, the lack of knowledge to the average consumer creates huge margin for error in gaining reputation.
 
i am a noob by all standards but to:



wash/clay/first pass polish/second pass polish/wax + interior, that would like take me at least 6 to 7 hours, depending the size of course.



but i have been finding ways to 'speed' things up or basically work more efficiently.
 
5 - 6 hrs for most situations. But I ALWAYS tell my customers that the detail will take "as long as it takes" I also charge over 100 dollars more than any other shop in town.





The best way to cut down your time is to do the same basic patterns for every car.



Here is how I do my interior detailing (2.5 to 3 hrs)



Remove all the floor mats and move the front seats all the way forward



Clean up the mats and leave them to dry

clean out the trunk (Usually vac, apc, steam, vac and stripe); spray wax jamb and dress seals



Driver Side Rear, Pass Rear, Pass Front, Driver Front,



I usually vac, apc, steam and then vac and stripe the carpets.



Always work from the top down, and from the inside out,



If you are working on leather condition it last so you dont smudge it as you finish the carpets



I dont clean the interior glass until after ive cleaned the outside glass because you have no way to know if it is clean or not. Leave the windows rolled down while you are cleaning the interior so you dont get dressing on them



Work systematically and the speed will come naturally. That being said, dont push for speed always make quality your goal. Minimum wage is the foundation of hourly workers, True professionals get payed what they are worth because they focus on the product not the production time.
 
Jakerooni said:
mm good question. I don't normally work in 2x2 sections (per instruction on the bottles) My process is a little different. I first start with the drivers side of the hood. I take that from start to finish to figure out exactly how many steps it's going to take to get my desired result. Once I know which steps I need to take I go back to my first step (usually a medium compound) finish the hood. Then I move onto the trunk, then the roof, then I go down the sides. Like I said it's all pretty automated to me I do every car the same process. Really eliminates wasted time on my end. For me this process works out the best.
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Interesting. I do the same sequence. I wonder how many others do it that way. Do you have a lift?
 
picus. Yes we have a lift up here for those undercarriage washes than need to get done. (usually only do the undercarriage per request though) and proservices you speak great words of wisdom in your process there. The only thing I would add to how you do it is I always wait until I pull the car outside in the sunlight before I touch the windows at all. That way I'm sure to get every little smudge possible.



and VaSuperShine I didn't really take it as a personal attack (really nothing there to attack) Just pointing out facts over confusion is all. and the offer stands. Should you ever get up this way I'd be more than happy to sit and detail with anyone that shares the same passion for this business as I do.
 
VaSuperShine said:
I definitely agree here, if you don't really care about the amount of correction then I am sure you can fly through a job, truth is one pass doesn't take care of the majority of paint issues. This is another reason it's hard to charge so much when there are shops that claim they do the same thing for a lot cheaper, there's one huge difference.
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I agree. I just spent 9 hours on a car doing this exact same process.....minus interior.



I was concentrating more on serious paint correction though and not a quicky.



The swirls were heavy and I cut them out about 75% with LC orange pad and Menz PG, then followed up with PC LC orange pad and Menz IP. It was a black Suby so it had a lot of side moldings and such, but it looked great afterwards.



You really have to move the rotary over the surface slowly and build up the heat while you're working in the compound to get the best results.
 
I'm apparently way too slow. It typically takes me 2+ hours to just do my exterior prep work (wash, clay, wheels, tires, wells) on a 4-door sedan. And the last big truck I did took me nearly 4, but that included alot of tar removal from the flares and wells..



And on the correction, it depends on what the customer is really wanting, but I'd say minimum 5hrs for a 2 step with the rotary (maybe 70-80% correction, basically all swirls gone but still leaving traces of random scratches), and if I'm shooting for perfection, somewhere between 8-10hrs (just machine work unless its already in good shape) depending on the condition and paint type.
 
Picus said:
Interesting. I do the same sequence. I wonder how many others do it that way.
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I do this exact same process as well. I started doing the test "patch" so I don't have to do as much spot checking (moving lights, whatever) I know that x process, polish, time is going to work out for this particular car. Of course some spots will need tweaking but generally this works...
 
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