How Long Does It Take You w/ PC7424 ?

RyansAutoDetail

RyansAutoDetail

Weekend Warrior
i have been using it for one summer now and will hopefully get a few more practice cars under my belt this summer but i was wondering :

how long does it take you to do a full exterior compund/polish/wax with a PC ?

i did do my dads bmw last year with PB SSRs and mothers cleaner wax/polish
and it took about 3.5 hours with a good paint condition .

im sure with nasty dark paints i can expect at least to double that and if i take a paid job on this summer for money i should charge for around 6 hours of labour or more for say a coupe or small sedan passenger car ?

I like to charge as close to $20 hourly for my time

but i have seen some people that could take far longer than 5-6 hours ?

anyone with vehicle/timed results please post below how long it takes you !
 
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I did a charcoal black Dodge Magnum with very hard clear coat and I had 21 hours in it. That was a 3 stage correction with some wet sanding and using a rotary for the first 2 stages, tires and wells cleaned and dressed. Exterior glass polished and a complete interior scrubbing carpets, cleaning everything and treating leather seats. The exterior work probably took 16 hours. Then I did a VW Jetta wagon with soft paint and it took half the time. Your question can't really be answered.

You might do well to simply charge an hourly rate or do some more for friends and family until you get a better handle on how long it will take. That's what I did anyway.
 
tuscarora dave said:
I did a charcoal black Dodge Magnum with very hard clear coat and I had 21 hours in it. That was a 3 stage correction with some wet sanding and using a rotary for the first 2 stages, tires and wells cleaned and dressed. Exterior glass polished and a complete interior scrubbing carpets, cleaning everything and treating leather seats. The exterior work probably took 16 hours. Then I did a VW Jetta wagon with soft paint and it took half the time. Your question can't really be answered.

You might do well to simply charge an hourly rate or do some more for friends and family until you get a better handle on how long it will take. That's what I did anyway.
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I know that this is not answering the question but why would you not just get the rotary out?
 
to wash, clay, tape, compound, polish, wax should take no less than 3 1/2 hrs. you have to compound and polish only a small area at a time. it takes time but its worth all the effort.
 
tuscarora dave said:
I did a charcoal black Dodge Magnum with very hard clear coat and I had 21 hours in it. That was a 3 stage correction with some wet sanding and using a rotary for the first 2 stages, tires and wells cleaned and dressed. Exterior glass polished and a complete interior scrubbing carpets, cleaning everything and treating leather seats. The exterior work probably took 16 hours. Then I did a VW Jetta wagon with soft paint and it took half the time. Your question can't really be answered.

You might do well to simply charge an hourly rate or do some more for friends and family until you get a better handle on how long it will take. That's what I did anyway.
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Beemerboy said:
I know that this is not answering the question but why would you not just get the rotary out?
Click to expand...

Assuming that Dave quoted my reply he might have been directing his question to me.(unsure)

The reason that I replied with a 21 hour time frame was to illustrate that some jobs differ, that Dodge Magnum was more of a restoration than a simple detail where the owner was considering a repaint for $3000 so cutting half the rock hard clear off the car to get the results was a cheaper option for her. An option that was fully explained to her and her husband and agreed apon. I stated that the first 2 passes were with the rotary, I would still be there today if I had to use a PC to get the same results.
 
im also thinking of getting the megs cutting pad to use on my PC and ordering the M205 to go with my M105, and hopefully the megs cut pad has more cut than the usual orange LC pad and might shave some time off the usage
 
Maybe I work slow, but I have never been able to wash, clay, 2 step polish and apply sealant/wax on a vehicle in 3-1/2 hours.

I find that a wash and blow drying a car to prep for the job takes an over an hour. Claying can be from 30-60 minutes depending on how bad the contamination is.

I would really like to know how you guys, using a PC, can do a job that fast.

Again, maybe I just work slow. I did a Mercedes S500 using a rotary and it took me 7 hours for the exterior (wash, blow dry, clay, 2 step polish, and 2 coats sealant)
 
Redwings97 said:
Maybe I work slow, but I have never been able to wash, clay, 2 step polish and apply sealant/wax on a vehicle in 3-1/2 hours.

I find that a wash and blow drying a car to prep for the job takes an over an hour. Claying can be from 30-60 minutes depending on how bad the contamination is.

I would really like to know how you guys, using a PC, can do a job that fast.

Again, maybe I just work slow. I did a Mercedes S500 using a rotary and it took me 7 hours for the exterior (wash, blow dry, clay, 2 step polish, and 2 coats sealant)
Click to expand...

I agree that 3 1/2hrs seems awful quick.
 
Dubbin1 said:
I agree that 3 1/2hrs seems awful quick.
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yeah i did my mini van windstar in like 4.5 hours with clay polish and NXT but i didnt wash it after polishing which i should now be adding in as another step in the process on the next car i do so theres another 30 minutes there ...

my guess if i had to do another small car i would need 5 hours minimum provided i had an effective process to remove the majority of swirls and scratches in the shortest time but with a pc it can take time cuz ive learned ...

but till i can master the PC i wont be buying a flex or any other polisher just yet
 
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