Removing Overspray on 10 cars

L

LDPaul

New member
I recieved a phone call today about removing overspray (OIL BASED paint that has been on the cars for about 6 weeks) on 10 cars and 1 motorcycle. I went to customers site to look over the cars and found medium to heavy overspray on the cars. The cars range from small to medium size SUV. The customer wants the overspray removed and all cars waxed. Here is the problem I face:



1. With overspray on plastic, I have used mineral spirts before with some luck but not a 100%. How do I remove the overspray from plastic without damaging with heavy chemicals?



2. How do I remove the overspray from the motorcycle's leather?



3. Customer wants this done as cheap as possible - under a $100 per car. This is really cheap and I am thinking about walking away on this one. I figure about 3-4 hours per car to remove overspray and wax vehicle. What do you think?



Customers I have had in the past with overspray did not have a problem with the price as insurance was going to cover the job. With the paint being oil based and sitting on the vehicles for 6 weeks it is going to be pretty tough removing. Normally I would compound the vechicle and then wax after I clayed to remove any light scratches created by the cay, but customer does not want this process. Any suggestions would be great!



rlspringer
 
Try one car and see how it goes. i wouldnt hesitate to clay the plastic, or the leather, just use some lube or even Quikshine. Follow up with CK Moosewax. Thats has some additional cutting power. Tell him $115.00 per car to cover the clay expenses, although you could probably do several cars with 1 bar.
 
Personally, i'd laugh at him for $100 a car, even if you are doing 10. Overspray is a PITA to remove, esp. if it's on thick.
 
id walk away. People are more likely to be picky w over spray as opposed to just claying a vehicle. Even then if the normal grade clay doesnt remove the overspray your going to need the medium grade clay which causes A LOT of swirls or scratch marks. Make sure you have lots of time and lots of pads and lots of SMR. But i wouldnt do it for 100 each. Your looking at 175 & up for overspray. Tell the cust to get a quote from a detail shop then charge her accordingly but still save her some cash.
 
6']['9 said:
id walk away. People are more likely to be picky w over spray as opposed to just claying a vehicle. Even then if the normal grade clay doesnt remove the overspray your going to need the medium grade clay which causes A LOT of swirls or scratch marks. Make sure you have lots of time and lots of pads and lots of SMR. But i wouldnt do it for 100 each. Your looking at 175 & up for overspray. Tell the cust to get a quote from a detail shop then charge her accordingly but still save her some cash.
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Agreed. No way would I do that for under $100 a car. A company that specialized in overspray charges a flat $250 per vehicle, so even those who only remove overspray understand how tough it can be. You might want to look at the vehicles and see how quicky the overspray will come off. If it doesn't come off easily, walk away. Don't give him my number either. ;)



I did remove some very light tar overspray from several vehicles for $50 per car and $60 per SUV because all it took was a quick QEW wash and Vanilla Moose. Didn't have to vacuum, clean the inside of the glass or dress the tires. I think I put 8 hours into the job and made $400 or so. I also ended up with additional weekly wash customers at this office. I went out to the office and did an estimate before starting so I knew I priced it right.
 
I did go look at the vehicles and on a scale of 1 - 10, I would rate them a 7 on overspray. I did not get the chance to do a test spot since I did not have any clay with me - used it all on Tuesday removing overspray for one of my regular customers. I am thinking about $1500 for all ten, but I pretty sure I will not get the job since they want it done cheap.



All said and done, I got back to the house and had to go over to Marine Max. Now I have 4 boats to detail - 24', 28', 33', & 45'. That will keep me busy for awhile.
 
I have removed road paint from several vehicles before for a highway marking company. I charge the $35/hr. I use straight denatured alcohol and let it soak to soften the paint then pressure wash and clay off and black out the wheel wells as needed.
 
Definitely call around to see what others in your area would charge for this job. If the norm is $250 like Scott says, you can cut them a deal if you want but the market price is the market price and at the very least you should tell the customer that. You might just end up with the job (if you want it).



If you're still on the fence, seriously consider using a decontamination system like AutoInt's ABC. Skip the clay and the wax, hire a helper for $10/hour and knock out the cars.
 
Bret-the company that charges a flat rate of $250 is Paint Overspray Specialists. There were about 40 cars that got overspray on them at a Super Walmart about 5 years ago, and since no one company could get all the cars done quickly, they allowed the employees to get estimates and get reimbursed. The cars I did has very light overspray, I charged $50 an hour for overspray removal and my normal rate for a wash and wax on top of that. The three I did took about 1 hour each to remove teh overspray, probably 1.5 hours total additional to wash and wax. The guy from POS was doing some of the really bad cars because of their flat rate. He told me one car took nearly 8 hours.



Some of the body shop estimates were $400+ and one said they would tack on another $50 each day until the work was done. I think I did that truck for about $125. Just unreal how the body shop was going to take advantage of the situation. Probably would have left that truck covered with rotary swirls.
 
Thanks for the input and I gave them my bid at $1200. The only thing I could not understand was the people that had the overspray wanted a discount. They were not paying for the overspray so that did not make since to me. I doubt I will get the job, but I feel good about the quote judging from some of the cars i saw. Some of those cars were really covered in paint.
 
I would try to get one car to try first. I have done alot of overspray removal and generally will not touch a car with full overspray for under $200 and if it's tough going closer to $300. That usually includes a buff and wax. I use medium duty clay and it is hard not to marr the finish, especially the plastic bumpers. It might be impossible to get it off the plastic mirrors,cowl,etc as it embeds into the grain.
 
Today was a great day - Another 33' and 29' boat arrived for details. So now I have 5 boats to detail. I finished the 24' today and will start the 29' tomorrow. Looks as if boaters are starting to get their boats winterized and detailed. This should keep me busy through the middle of December.
 
I don't know how it works in the US but 10 cars would be an insurance claim up here. I can not see how you could do such a job for around $100 (or$120 per). If by chance that it comes off easy then it is a $100 job min. If it's a bear, you better have a big breakfast, cause your arm is gonna fall off. About a month ago i did a black full size e/cab Dodge truck. It was about a 7/10. It took 9 hours to remove , buff and seal. The overspray on any grainy plastic i might have got 20%. This job was given to me by the autobody shop across the street. Why? because my shop rate is less than their's and it was insurance. The plastic mirror, cowl, bumper pad etc. had to be replaced. My bill to them was over $300. If someone is trying to sucker you in to a job like this , run away or quote double, as it always seems to take twice as long as you expect.
 
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