comotiger

Thanks, y'all for your skeptical responses and PMs from a couple of you

I forgot to add that the detailer works with an assistant, so time needed may be 50% less for the same job, but the costs are still low. I realize the work will not be on par with the top pro work you are referring to, but for a few hundred bucks, the car will look much sharper than it currently does, and will hopefully look that way for the rest of the summer. I will update with pictures in a few weeks.

UDel

It take a lot longer to polish a sedan then 3 hours unless they have a couple guys working on it and then you can be sure those guys are getting paid about $8hr and are not professionals. You don't "close up swirls", you eliminate them and you don't "put natural oils back into the paint", what kind of silly BS is that, does he plan on polishing through your clearcoat to try to put those "oils" back in the paint. A polish is only used to take out defects in your clear or paint with no clear and no product has the ability to "put oils back in automotive paint". They have no clue what they are talking about.

A LS is not a enormous vehicle either, he is exaggerating a bit, a Caddy Escalade, limo, or full sized van is a enormous vehicle when it comes to polishing and a major back breaking PIA.

I have been critical of some of the ridiculous prices some auto detailers charge but $200 for a full paint correction for a LS is too low unless it is for a friend or family. For $200 they are not going to clay your car, they are going to run a rotary pretty quickly to get rid of or cut down on your big swirls and defects and then will add a sealant, I would be surprised a shop like that would even use Jetseal and will likely just use a common auto store sealant.

When you first look it, it is going to look nice and better then when you brought it in, paint will be smooth and slick, and will bead water nicely but once you really start looking at it in the sun you will likely notice buffer trails because they used the rotary too quickly and did not use a finer polish or a random orbital to take away the trails, you will notice some areas are still a little rough because they were not properly clayed, you will also notice after a few washes that some of the smaller swirls re appear and likely the sealant won't last very long, if that is all you want then $200 is a okay price, maybe even a little high compared to what other shops/people charge for doing the same thing which is a very basic paint correction.

I only detail on the side and I don't do it very much anymore, I would charge around $400 for a LS and it would take me at least 2 or 3 days for the amount of time I have, if I had to clay I would charge around $450 and give you the choice of sealant/wax, Zaino, collonite, blackfire, Klass or Opti coat 2.0 for an extra $35 though I would not tell you any of the sealants or waxes were going to last a year. Most pro detailers charge a lot more then I do though.

comotiger

Thanks, UDel, very helpful info I also like your quote for doing the work and the time and care that would go into it. I live in Columbia, MO. Are you close by?

I am asking the detailer several questions based on all your comments, and hopefully it will lead to a better quality detail, especially if he decides to take more time and increase his quote.

popping

This part x1000000 even as a novice.. i read this and thought in my head: huh??

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iTrader: (17)

I have a very trusted detailer who I work with on a daily basis. He travels to Missouri almost every weekend. He's done hundreds of paint corrections on anything from a family sedan to high $$ exotic cars with us. I'll ask if this is something he is interested in doing on the side for you if he is close to your area in MO. Will get back to you. I would trust this man with any car as much as I trust myself.

comotiger

Thanks for checking

UDel

No problem. I am not anywhere near MO, don't travel for detailing, sorry, but I am sure you could find someone.

You really should just look into getting a random orbital polisher, some pads, some polish and do it yourself. You could buy all that stuff for around or less then $200 and do a much better job yourself. I only use PC7424, all I have every really needed but it does take longer. You would be surprised how good the results you can get by yourself. Lexus has soft clear, no matter how great the detail is unfortunately you are going to be putting some more swirls/scratches in your finish pretty shortly after when you wash your car, if your car is black they will stick out more, the good thing is they can be polished out easily with a soft clear, the bad is it swirls easily even if you are careful and use microfibers and proper washing methods. You will be able to polish your car every few months for free and keep your finish looking much better instead of looking for a good detailer who is semi affordable.

If your car has not been polished in years then you need to make sure the finish is clayed because polishing won't take off certain baked on contaminants, if there is a way to watch them do it then that would be better, they also need to do a 2 step polishing process, one to take away all the big scratches/swirls with a more aggressive polish and then to follow up with a less aggressive polish to take away haze, buffer trails, smaller swirls, the car then needs to be properly washed with a more aggressive car wash or rubbed down with alcohol to make sure all polishing oils are removed before a sealant or wax is applied.

Chuckinnj

I suggest getting the car paint PROPERLY corrected/detailed by a pro who uses quality products and has a car at the location that you can see. BLACK paint shows every swirl and imperfection so you want to have the paint polished to a mirror like finish BEFORE you seal the paint....... The polishing process is time consuming and without pics I cannot make a judgement on what has to be done. Once the paint is properly detailed it is easy to keep up with a two bucket wash and a waxing. I have detailed plenty of black cars and the process is very time consuming to get the paint in a mirror like condition that may need a polishing with "ultra fine" polish...... The sealing and waxing is the easy part! Expect to pay $500 and up for a quality correction and it will be well worth the money...... Trust me!
BTW! I see some car washes in my area that do a 2 hour detailing and it looks great for a week or two (to the untrained eye) because of the "glossy quick detailers" they spray on the paint. The guy who quoted $200 is "way too low" and I suggest getting another price because you want the job to last and be "mirror like" finished ESPECIALLY on a High End Lexus with black paint........ But hey, it's your car so choose who you want.

Chuckinnj

^^^^^ This guy knows the PROPER methods for correction....... Please take his advice!

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

I do not recommend polishing a vehicle this often if you plan on owning it for many years... clear coat is extremely thin, and manufacturers only recommend removing a small fraction of it over the years to maintain its UV protection and depth. Learning to properly wash & maintain the vehicle will drastically improve the overall finish of the vehicle throughout the course of a given period of time, and I recommend polishing at most every 6 months with a very light polish if absolutely needed, but typically once a year should be adequate. A vehicle should never need a true paint correction if it is properly cared for, but light polishing will enhance gloss and clarity and is a very non-invasive process.

Clear Coat Preservation: Are You Polishing Too Often? by Zach McGovern


Any vehicle that is being polished should be properly decontaminated & clayed beforehand. Age is not a factor in this... even brand new cars can require a time consuming decontamination process.

Without seeing the condition of the vehicle, there is no way to know if it truly needs a 2 step, or if perhaps a 1 step correction would suffice. The golden rule of paint correction is to always use the least aggressive method, therefore test spots are used to determine the least aggressive method needed to produce the results you desire.

Analyzing Your Test Spot by Zach McGovern

Sometimes you can be surprised at what can be achieved with just a one-step correction...

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iTrader: (17)

OP, Sorry no luck with my contact. Too far out of his way. However, if you're ever in the Chicago area, PM me.

comotiger

These swirls are pretty bad. My paint looks pristine compared to this. I can see some swirls when the light hits just right. I can also see "holograms" on the hood and door panels in direct sunlight.

Thanks for checking. Much appreciated!

Thanks, everyone!

zmcgovern4

iTrader: (2)

If that is the case, then you should probably not need that 2 step correction the guy mentioned... clear coat preservation should be the #1 priority. Being too aggressive with the correction will remove excess clear coat which can lead to premature paint failure as the worst case scenario.

-Zach

SW17LS

Well...put a halogen light up to the sides of your car and it might look a lot more like zmc's picture than you think...

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iTrader: (17)

Agree with you. Outside tends to wash out alot of the deeper defects in the paint. Every time someone drops off a car at our shop, all they can say is "wow it looks alot worse than I thought", or just randomly notice stuff in their paint that apparently they never saw before. That's the power of a simple over head light and a basic LED light.