How long does it take you guys?

I

Irkie500

New member
I want to get an idea on how long some of you guys take for complete Interior/Exterior detail WITHOUT paint correction seeing how I dont do that yet (I will soon though!). So how long does it take for you guys for complete interior/exterior with clay and wax? My dads nissan 350z took us 3.5 hrs and that was without any dirt in there (Dads a neat freak) When I wash it for him this spring ill get pics up.
 
It certainly depends upon the condition of the car when you get it. If it's completely TRASHED, it's obviously going to take at least twice as long as a car that's pretty well-maintained.



I'd say, on the average.... 2-3 hours... That's what I would call an "Express Detail". .
 
Thats about right...I did a Navigator yesterday and it look about 4.5 hours...and it was HORRIBLE! On average, 3-5 hours...im a one man show too!
 
On a customers car that isn't trashed, just average dirt (garaged, but daily driver). Me and another guy can knock out a wash / wax / interior in 1.5 - 2 hours on a bmw m3. thats no paint correction and taking about 10 - 20 minutes talking to the customer and putting different waxes on the car to obtain the best look for that car.



edit: just FWIW thats to experienced autopian detailers, with 2 very set routines. once you get a routine down, you can knock a car out much quicker.
 
yea my partner is kinda new so it took us a bit longer than usual. I would have have gone faster had I been by myself.
 
A complete wash and seal inside and out is a minimum of 6hours for me, in some cases 7 or 8. I take my time however, some people are far more efficient and work faster than I do.



EDIT: This is all heavily dependent on what condition the car is in initially btw. Some very dirty cars will always require a pre foaming even on a wash and seal detail (pre foaming is a standard step in my full correction details). Also some carpets are easily cleaned with some APC and a wet/dry, others need pre treating or pressure washing to get out the stains. See what I mean?



Some cars kept in good condition will clean up real easy, others which have a lot of neglect can take up to 8hours.
 
LoiG37 said:
by "complete" detail, did you shampoo the carpets and mats too?
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Yes Vinyl, Shampoo with leather or shampoo on the seats, clay, wax, rim cleaning ect.



At times I wish I could be working by myself however its nice to have someone to talk to while working, and besides the more cars he does the faster it goes. If I was by myself and the car was of average dirtiness I suppose I could do it in 2hrs or so with a machine to apply the wax.



At work I had to deal with 6 bags of flour exploding in a guys honda civic, man was that a nightmare, the vinyl on that took me an hour or so, tipped well though like $15 bucks.
 
A.P.D. said:
for that same time period and service what do you guys charge?for a sedan
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I would like to know this as well, I know it can be location based but I need a lot of data on what you all charge. For me I was thinking $150-$200 would not be unreasonable for the ammount of work that takes place. Also you need to charge enough to cover material costs. We all know some people wont pay this but the people who do will see its worth it.
 
4-6 hours for about everything exterior (non-correction) if the car has average contamination. Interiors can greatly vary depending on what all needs to be done.
 
This weekend I worked on 2 Chrysler mini-vans. On Saturday I did an interior full detail, shampoo and extract, clean & condition leather seats clean panels, dash & center console, wash, Clay and wax. That took me about 7 1/2 hours.



On Sunday I did another mini-van which happened to be almost identical to my Saturday's detail minus the leather seats. The carpet was a mess. Full interior and a basic wash took me about 5 1/2 hours.
 
first off, I dont wash and clay...the clay will scuff the paint resulting in the need for polishing/compounding to remove...fallout is terrible here in so cal and if you just wax over it, you will be covering it up, not removing it!



with that said, the average full interior takes me about 4 hours start to finish with leather! thats carpets shampoo'd, leather cleaned, plastics/vinyl cleaned, then leather conditioning, carpet fabric guard, and UV protectant on every inch of the interior, glass cleaned, and door jambs wiped. Then the outside gets washed, and waxed! or wash, clay onestepped with either poliseal or D151, wheels and tires cleaned, then all exterior trim and tires dressed. The outside takes about 2 hours or so...



so at 3.5 hours with two people, you are right on the money compared to working alone.
 
Full interior on a sedan- 3.5 hours/ Truck- ~5.5-6 hours.

+Exterior= Wash/clay on a sedan- ~2.5 hours/ Truck- ~3-4.5 hours.
 
toyotaguy said:
first off, I dont wash and clay...the clay will scuff the paint resulting in the need for polishing/compounding to remove...



with that said, the average full interior takes me about 4 hours start to finish with leather! thats carpets shampoo'd, leather cleaned, plastics/vinyl cleaned, then leather conditioning, carpet fabric guard, and UV protectant on every inch of the interior, glass cleaned, and door jambs wiped. Then the outside gets washed, and waxed! or wash, clay onestepped with either poliseal or D151, wheels and tires cleaned, then all exterior trim and tires dressed. The outside takes about 2 hours or so...
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About the same. Though today was dog hair and kids and exterior salt and dirt, and one scuff that needed work, on a Daytona. Time was 6.5 hours.
 
Luster said:
It certainly depends upon the condition of the car when you get it. If it's completely TRASHED, it's obviously going to take at least twice as long as a car that's pretty well-maintained.



I'd say, on the average.... 2-3 hours... That's what I would call an "Express Detail". .
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That's about where I am, in terms of time. Mini Details keep me busy too.

Alot of my customers new and returning do not want the full paint corrections. They would rather have a good wash, wax vac and shampoo. Then call me back in 2 weeks.
 
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