Approximate cost for car to be 'detailed'.

[bazzabear]

I'm asking to see what other people's experience is. I've just had a quote from a recommended detailer - it's higher than I was expecting but I suspect my frame of reference is way off kilter since it's about 10 years since I last had such work done.

It's on an Audi S4 cabrio, and would involve cleaning and sealing the hood, touching up some stone chips, then full interior, exterior and engine bay clean finished off with a 1 stage paint correction. Everything sealing (including the interior leather) but not with the ceramic coating I know is dead popular these days. His stated difference was the coating lasting 12 months instead of 3 years.

Reckons he will just about be able to complete the work in a full day, and quoted £600.

 

[Antony101]

I'd stay away from anyone that claims they can do all of that in one day if it was me. There is at least a couple of days work there if it's done properly.

 

[bazzabear]

He mentioned that it being a cabrio, and therefore having a lot less paintwork to cover, was the reason he thought he could just about manage it in a day.

 

[dlockers]

Presumably that won't be a 7.5 working day. Heck of lot of ground to cover there.

 

[The Running Man]

People charging £500 for a days labour and £100 (max) for materials.

Wow...

Did he get a PhD in detailing from Harvard.

 

[[TW]Fox]

£500 a day for cleaning cars.

Yea, no.

 

[Diagro]

Yea no way.

A proper detail is 3 or 4 days to charge that amount.

A single days detail id expect to pay £200 at the most. Especially if a decent machine polish and sealant were used.

 

[tamzzy]

I paid £250 £350 for 3 days
Detailing + ceramic coat

 

[Scania]

I paid £400 ish to have my e38 detailed but, that included having all 5 alloys powder coated and he had the car for 3 days.

Judging by your quote I got a bargain.

 

[The Running Man]

Any of these cheapo places oop North?

 

[Rroff]

£47.95/h labour and about £300 for parts (would have to phone to get an exact quote per vehicle) at a place near me - though weirdly they'll do it as an add-on for other major service work for a flat £130. (doesn't include stone chip work though as they have a body work subsidiary who does stuff like that).

 

[kindai]

Reckons he will just about be able to complete the work in a full day, and quoted £600.

Considering he wont be able to touch the stone chipped areas the same day to clean and detail it, sounds like he is just trying it on or doing a crap job and overcharging.

 

[EdGey]

£600 are you actually joking

 

[Dis86]

I don't think I've actually come across a detailer that fills stone chips!

 

[Rroff]

I don't think I've actually come across a detailer that fills stone chips!

One of my school friends did detailing for awhile - would do stuff like that. Doesn't look like we are still friends on Facebook any more though so I can't readily find the information.

EDIT: Weird - he now works as a detailer where I bought my pickup - didn't come across him while I was in there.

 

[AWPC]

Would DIY instead. You can buy the tools for under £200 & 100 more for material why pay someone else. Just DIY over a few days & do a good job instead!! Not to say there are not some amazing detailers out there because there are some incredible ones but not £600 worth unless you have money to burn or its a 6 figure hypercar!!

 

[AWPC]

I don't think I've actually come across a detailer that fills stone chips!

Yeah those alone would take a day to do properly & most likely you need to respray a few panels so realistically its not going to produce a good finish!

 

[WJA96]

Yeah those alone would take a day to do properly & most likely you need to respray a few panels so realistically its not going to produce a good finish!

No. The guy who taught me can do a reasonable job in about an hour.

1. Paint bottom of stone chip with appropriate colour. Apply heat lamp for 10 minutes.
2. Over-fill stone chip with clear. Apply heat lamp for 20 minutes.
3. Flatten clear with denibber.
4. Polish paintwork local to stone chip.

It takes me 3 days because I don’t have a heat lamp, but he just cracks on. It may not be perfect but most people would need a torch and a magnifying glass to find his repairs. Most folks just paint the bottom of the chip because it’s enough to pull the eye away from the defect.

 

[WJA96]

£500 a day for cleaning cars.

Yea, no.

If it’s a REAL detailed then £500/day is about where the market is. And the detailer isn’t “cleaning” the car. They will be repairing the damage caused by the people who get £10 to “clean” your car with a bucket of scratch. And then protecting the finish so it stays nice if you look after it.

The service listed in the OP is roughly the ‘Bronze’ detail offered by Kelly Harris and that’s £500+VAT and you leave the car there for a full day ie. drop it off last thing Tuesday, pick it up first thing Thursday. Platinum detail is £2000+VAT and that’s “we’ll call you when it’s done”. Some of his details are effectively restoration projects.

 

[robj20]

As above seems too high and not enough time. I used to do a fair bit on my youth.
Day one you'd just give it a body good clean, wheels off and everything, you'd then get your paint depth chart filled in so you know what and where you can take off in the correction stage, I'd get the stone chips filled in as well (they don't take too long to do with a cocktail stick, heat source and denibber, wet sanding)
Day 2 you'd give it a quick clean again and start correction on the panels you didn't paint. Then maybe tackle the interior (are they wet cleaning as that's a full day on its own).
And on it goes you can see how it takes a good few days to do it properly.
However there are so many ways of speeding things up depending what exactly you want doing.