How much is reasonable to buff a car?
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Jun 2009
Posts: 225
From: Berkeley, CA
Car Info: LGT Wagon
How much is reasonable to buff a car?
There are some cars at work that have some clear coat etching from bird droppings. How much is reasonable to clean and then buff a medium size sedan?
Does anybody have a recommendation for a shop?
Does anybody have a recommendation for a shop?
Registered User
iTrader: (2)
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 839
From: Sacramento, CA
Car Info: San Remo Red '05 WRX
I'd talk to Man or the other guys at Detail Maniac.
It really shouldn't be THAT much money. You'd be better off buying some supplies or borrowing them from a member and doing the work yourself if you have a bit of time on your side.
It really shouldn't be THAT much money. You'd be better off buying some supplies or borrowing them from a member and doing the work yourself if you have a bit of time on your side.
1. Bird droppings are highly acidic because of what they eat, there could be porous debris such as sand mixed into the feces. With bird droppings sitting on your paint surface, each hour counts, and does not take days to ruin your paint. The longer it sits there, depending whether the section sits in the shade or exposed to direct sunlight and the acidic properties of the birds diet, and also the thickness and sensitivity of your paint, the faster and deeper the bird bomb will eat into your paint layers. If bird droppings are attended to as soon as possible, then there is a higher chance the spot can be salvaged and corrected. The longer it sits, the deeper it will eat through your clear, once its eaten past the clear, it will eat into your color coat. From that point, it is non repairable because too much paint material has been diminished and only a respray job will fix the defected area.
Some defected areas can be saved by wet sanding and cutting the spot, depending on how much material the dropping has ate away. Droppings can permanently eat through the paint in as little as three days if not attended to. From that point, it is no longer a light acidic "etching" (early hours of contamination settlement) but has turn into full clear coat failure, which has to be resprayed. Correcting this issue is a very delicate procedure and each bird dropping case varies in paint depth. I would not advise you to try this yourself if you are unfamiliar with the procedures of paint correction, especially wet sanding or "buffing" the affected area with highly aggressive compounds for the risk of further permanently damaging your paint.
2. As for an exterior paint correction on the vehicle. The costs really reflects on the finish and level of restoration you are looking to achieve with said vehicle. The costs also reflects on the skill level of the Detailer, and if they are truly knowledgeable and not just a valet/ hack detailer offering a "wash and buff". If someone is charging you 80 dollars for a whole exterior correction, you have to think twice. I have seen cars "cleaned up" with buffer swirls left all over each panel because it was worked on by an untrained so called "professional". In this line of work, it REALLY matters on what you pay for what you get. Most people are not knowledgeable enough about automotive paint care and correction, so they give their trust in the detailer to know what they are doing. But in reality, the majority of detailers around also do not possess the proper knowledge on automotive paint care and correction even though they solely believe they do because they claim to have been doing it over XX amount of years.
What really reflects the price is what you, the customer, is seeking. Some customers would be completely satisfied with some work that I would be absolutely appalled with. I would get the vehicle inspected with the chosen automotive professional and get their opinion on how much care the paint requires and how much time will be spent. Some professionals offer set pricing for a standard sized vehicle or package, and some charge by the hour. The price you are going to pay will reflect the level of perfection you seek.
Now with that said, if you are looking for the minimal paint correction process on your vehicle, then I would be estimating around $200 dollars for a average sized sedan. Deeper scratches and heavier defects will of course require more correction and time, which in return will be at a higher cost.
It's QQ thankyouverymuch
iTrader: (39)
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 19,721
From: San Jose
Car Info: 2011 SWP WRX Hatch
^^^
pho_shizzle knows his ****.
Mike has done a couple cars for me. The results were outstanding!
IDK if that pun was intended...
I also don't know if I can plug it or not, but check it out. Prodigy Detailing
pho_shizzle knows his ****.
Mike has done a couple cars for me. The results were outstanding!
IDK if that pun was intended...
I also don't know if I can plug it or not, but check it out. Prodigy Detailing
Seriously, have pho_shizzle help you out. For evidence of the kind of level of paint restoration that you could get (given how much money you want to pay the man) see Post # 24.
https://www.i-club.com/forums/bay-ar...thread-240862/
https://www.i-club.com/forums/bay-ar...thread-240862/
Registered User
iTrader: (11)
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 6,849
From: Cheesesteakville
Car Info: 05 wrx wagon, 90 celica alltrac, 66 mustang
^^^
pho_shizzle knows his ****.
Mike has done a couple cars for me. The results were outstanding!
IDK if that pun was intended...
I also don't know if I can plug it or not, but check it out. Prodigy Detailing
pho_shizzle knows his ****.
Mike has done a couple cars for me. The results were outstanding!
IDK if that pun was intended...
I also don't know if I can plug it or not, but check it out. Prodigy Detailing
It sounds like you have two scenarios on hand.
1. Bird droppings are highly acidic because of what they eat, there could be porous debris such as sand mixed into the feces. With bird droppings sitting on your paint surface, each hour counts, and does not take days to ruin your paint. The longer it sits there, depending whether the section sits in the shade or exposed to direct sunlight and the acidic properties of the birds diet, and also the thickness and sensitivity of your paint, the faster and deeper the bird bomb will eat into your paint layers. If bird droppings are attended to as soon as possible, then there is a higher chance the spot can be salvaged and corrected. The longer it sits, the deeper it will eat through your clear, once its eaten past the clear, it will eat into your color coat. From that point, it is non repairable because too much paint material has been diminished and only a respray job will fix the defected area.
Some defected areas can be saved by wet sanding and cutting the spot, depending on how much material the dropping has ate away. Droppings can permanently eat through the paint in as little as three days if not attended to. From that point, it is no longer a light acidic "etching" (early hours of contamination settlement) but has turn into full clear coat failure, which has to be resprayed. Correcting this issue is a very delicate procedure and each bird dropping case varies in paint depth. I would not advise you to try this yourself if you are unfamiliar with the procedures of paint correction, especially wet sanding or "buffing" the affected area with highly aggressive compounds for the risk of further permanently damaging your paint.
2. As for an exterior paint correction on the vehicle. The costs really reflects on the finish and level of restoration you are looking to achieve with said vehicle. The costs also reflects on the skill level of the Detailer, and if they are truly knowledgeable and not just a valet/ hack detailer offering a "wash and buff". If someone is charging you 80 dollars for a whole exterior correction, you have to think twice. I have seen cars "cleaned up" with buffer swirls left all over each panel because it was worked on by an untrained so called "professional". In this line of work, it REALLY matters on what you pay for what you get. Most people are not knowledgeable enough about automotive paint care and correction, so they give their trust in the detailer to know what they are doing. But in reality, the majority of detailers around also do not possess the proper knowledge on automotive paint care and correction even though they solely believe they do because they claim to have been doing it over XX amount of years.
What really reflects the price is what you, the customer, is seeking. Some customers would be completely satisfied with some work that I would be absolutely appalled with. I would get the vehicle inspected with the chosen automotive professional and get their opinion on how much care the paint requires and how much time will be spent. Some professionals offer set pricing for a standard sized vehicle or package, and some charge by the hour. The price you are going to pay will reflect the level of perfection you seek.
Now with that said, if you are looking for the minimal paint correction process on your vehicle, then I would be estimating around $200 dollars for a average sized sedan. Deeper scratches and heavier defects will of course require more correction and time, which in return will be at a higher cost.
1. Bird droppings are highly acidic because of what they eat, there could be porous debris such as sand mixed into the feces. With bird droppings sitting on your paint surface, each hour counts, and does not take days to ruin your paint. The longer it sits there, depending whether the section sits in the shade or exposed to direct sunlight and the acidic properties of the birds diet, and also the thickness and sensitivity of your paint, the faster and deeper the bird bomb will eat into your paint layers. If bird droppings are attended to as soon as possible, then there is a higher chance the spot can be salvaged and corrected. The longer it sits, the deeper it will eat through your clear, once its eaten past the clear, it will eat into your color coat. From that point, it is non repairable because too much paint material has been diminished and only a respray job will fix the defected area.
Some defected areas can be saved by wet sanding and cutting the spot, depending on how much material the dropping has ate away. Droppings can permanently eat through the paint in as little as three days if not attended to. From that point, it is no longer a light acidic "etching" (early hours of contamination settlement) but has turn into full clear coat failure, which has to be resprayed. Correcting this issue is a very delicate procedure and each bird dropping case varies in paint depth. I would not advise you to try this yourself if you are unfamiliar with the procedures of paint correction, especially wet sanding or "buffing" the affected area with highly aggressive compounds for the risk of further permanently damaging your paint.
2. As for an exterior paint correction on the vehicle. The costs really reflects on the finish and level of restoration you are looking to achieve with said vehicle. The costs also reflects on the skill level of the Detailer, and if they are truly knowledgeable and not just a valet/ hack detailer offering a "wash and buff". If someone is charging you 80 dollars for a whole exterior correction, you have to think twice. I have seen cars "cleaned up" with buffer swirls left all over each panel because it was worked on by an untrained so called "professional". In this line of work, it REALLY matters on what you pay for what you get. Most people are not knowledgeable enough about automotive paint care and correction, so they give their trust in the detailer to know what they are doing. But in reality, the majority of detailers around also do not possess the proper knowledge on automotive paint care and correction even though they solely believe they do because they claim to have been doing it over XX amount of years.
What really reflects the price is what you, the customer, is seeking. Some customers would be completely satisfied with some work that I would be absolutely appalled with. I would get the vehicle inspected with the chosen automotive professional and get their opinion on how much care the paint requires and how much time will be spent. Some professionals offer set pricing for a standard sized vehicle or package, and some charge by the hour. The price you are going to pay will reflect the level of perfection you seek.
Now with that said, if you are looking for the minimal paint correction process on your vehicle, then I would be estimating around $200 dollars for a average sized sedan. Deeper scratches and heavier defects will of course require more correction and time, which in return will be at a higher cost.
I use a professional level guy who will do i-club cars for $120-$140ish depending on the job
That's a wash, claybar, polish and wax. Full exterior detail.
He's very good and prepares showcars
https://www.facebook.com/pcgperformance
That's a wash, claybar, polish and wax. Full exterior detail.
He's very good and prepares showcars
https://www.facebook.com/pcgperformance
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