I went to a detail shop today to get a price to have a ceramic coating on the Mini. Here's the break down (in Calif) correction (polish) $600.00 coating (2 coats 1 clear coat) $900.00 wheels (front & back) $499.00. It takes 2 weeks to complete with setup times. I seen sum of there work and it looks very good , but $2100.00 seams a bit much.
I’m not saying the shop doesn’t do superb work, but I could not pay that much money. I’d do the job myself or just use products that I was comfortable with. There are plenty of tips on products to use and how to detail by a number of folks on this site.
This is why I do this as a hobby for friends for $500.00 + $200.00 if they want rims done to look like brand new. I find detailing as my relaxing zen like time with headphones on. I look at it was passing on my passion at a reasonable price to friends and recommend clients. It makes me upset to see what other “businesses/ shops” are charging and taking advantage of people. $2,100.00 is a rip off as the products do not cost that much and labor, insurance, rent and electric is not that high. Honestly I could point you to a few videos and show you how to do the same work yourself at a fraction of the cost as long as you have a garage. You would need to buy a machine and some products but, look at them as investments for the next cars you do.
I was a little apprehensive about doing it but with Dave.0 and Tod at Esoteric help it went smooth. It’s well worth your time.
Yes, I agree with the commentary and Dave.0, that is really high, I will ask around and see what the folks in Colorado are getting for the high end cars for cleanup, detail and cereamic coating. Also, on BAT if you are interested to watch a 38K 05 MINI. https://bringatrailer.com/listing/2005-mini-cooper-s-33/
I'm in the middle of a wash, clay, polish and ceramic coating of my wife's car right now. Here's my rough estimate: Products: $150 (Ceramic coating, polish, pads, soaps, clay) Wash: 1 hour Clay: 1.5 hour Polish: 2 hours Ceramic 1st coat: 1.5 hours Ceramic 2nd coat: 1.5 hours Ceramic 3rd coat: 1.5 hours Detail (on a 6 month old car, treated very gently... vac, trim coating, leather conditioning, etc) : 1 hour So that's $150 in products + 10 hours of labor (for a basically new car that didn't need a lot of paint correction). I'm probably way overkill for how most people treat their cars, but I'm way short of what I'd expect for a 'do everything to the max' detailing. $100 an hour rates (shop rate for a fully trained/certified mechanic, so that would be too high IMHO) would take you to $1150. That leaves you with almost $1000 of contribution to the business (profit + overhead coverage for the facility / marketing / equipment). Sounds a bit excessive, IMHO, but if they are a high-end shop and focus on serious paint correction, high-end customer service, collector cars w/ difficult paint, I can see it. I'd bet there are cheaper alternatives in your area... just don't expect the same level of attention to detail from them. Keeping the car for 2 weeks? That's just crazy. They should be able to turn a job like that in 2-3 days (even if they insist in curing the car overnight before delivery) unless it needs large # of hours of paint correction. $500 for wheel cleaning/treatment seems a bit excessive as I've seen companies do a complete refinish (powdercoat) of wheels for under $90/wheel. It might be worth it if the wheels are severely crusty. I had a mobile detailing shop (maybe 10 years ago) that would do a wash, clay and 2 coat of sealant in about 1/2 day in your office parking lot (2 guys)... it cost about $500 and seemed good value for the money given their product, quality and convenience. They had paint correction services, but that meant they kept your car for a while.
I was about to brag about taking my sweet wife's MINI through the touchless warsh this morning. Now I can't, I did spend $10 doing it.
When I do full details with coating I have the car 3 days. Most cars are dropped off Fridays after work, this way I can do all the washing and wheel work outside and let the car air dry on the garage overnight. Saturday is polishing/ paint correction day for however long it takes. When the paint is perfect I apply RainX to all windows wipe down the cars bodywork with “PREP” to remove all oils and waxes. Then I start coating the car with two complete layers. Cure times in between are about an hour. Then the car bakes in my super bright light garage where the temp gets up to 105 degrees easy. Sunday most cars are picked up at Noon. All I have to is pull the car out, do final touch-ups on windows and tires and off she goes.
You know those touchless car warsh are worse than touching car warsh tunnels because of the super strong chemicals they use. They are so strong theydestroy any wax and sealants. The only reason your car beads at the end is because they rise with soft DI ionized water.
Thanks, been using them for years. When I get home I spray with Prima Hydro & dry it off. Seems to work well for me. Not Dave O approved. It is Crashton approved. The paint still shines 12 years after it was built.
The paint on my car & wheels are in good shape. Every other time I wash the car I pull the wheels and clean them inside and out then wipe them down before I put them back on. I wipe the car down twice. and most of the time I polish it. I looked at some of the work they were doing on other cars and part of reason the on the time line is they take some of the parts off the car to apply the coating such as grilles and bolt on parts. Then when they coat the car it covers all the paint even under were the bolt on's are. I am still thinking about it.
I forgot the labor rate here is around $275.00 per hour at dealers and some were around $200.00 at other shops.
The way you take care of your car is way above what others do. The price they quoted is still way too high even if they do that stuff.
A couple weeks ago I located a lightly used resonated mid pipe for the Milltek exhaust sitting in my garage, so this weekend I pulled the JCW exhaust and installed the Milltek. The first surprise was finding the front hanger on the JCW exhaust had split in the middle causing the exhaust tube to crack and leak. I was hoping the Milltek would just bolt on and go, but it took some bending of the hangers to fit so it was fairly centered and the tips had clearance from the rear bumper. I also took the opportunity to install the Vibratechnics transmission mount I got from Colin.
Did nothing to the MINIs, other than drive to the CU and to Lowes in the 2011, afternoons around here are way to prone to flash hail-storms. Two so far today. Nothing big, just loud with the thunder. And all the lightening alerts from my weather app. Take care, mask up. Don
Haven’t posted in a while, here is a new shift knob I installed. It is an universal knob, had to cut the plastic notches off the stock shifter. Overall satisfied with the finish. The perforated leather mimics the stock steering wheel and no more HOTASS chrome on the top to burn my hands. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro