Moble car detailing in Atlanta

[adlassing]

Who do you guys use for your F-Cars and your other cars in the Atlanta area.

How much are you getting charged? I'm looking for numbers from lets say for example $500.00 to $700.00 (that maybe high but again just using those numbers as an example)

So how much are you getting charged for the whole job inside and out, 100% everything done to the car to make it gleam and shine better then ever?

[mwhitesell]

Originally Posted by adlassing

Who do you guys use for your F-Cars and your other cars in the Atlanta area.

How much are you getting charged? I'm looking for numbers from lets say for example $500.00 to $700.00 (that maybe high but again just using those numbers as an example)

So how much are you getting charged for the whole job inside and out, 100% everything done to the car to make it gleam and shine better then ever?

I'm not sure about the mobile one, but I know someone who just had his 430 done at Ferrari of Atlanta and it was $250. He said it was the best detail job he has ever seen. This was inside and out and engine detail. They even polished all the chrome bits back to new.

[beezerhound69]

Originally Posted by mwhitesell

I'm not sure about the mobile one, but I know someone who just had his 430 done at Ferrari of Atlanta and it was $250. He said it was the best detail job he has ever seen. This was inside and out and engine detail. They even polished all the chrome bits back to new.

Might be Roger Sullivan from Glenns' Superior Car Shine off Holcomb Bridge.. He's $250 and does a spot on job. Take my car once a year for the "works". Known to to pre-delivery work for FOA on occasion.

[adlassing]

Yeah that sounds about right...$250.00 or so.

How long does it usually take? Is that buffing / polishing and the whole 9?

If it were a bigger car like an Enzo or F40 would that make the price go up a little since there is more car there to clean?

Thanks for all the input.

~A

[Gatorrari]

These guys are regulars at many of our events in and around Atlanta. Haven't used them personally, though, so I can't vouch for the service.

http://www.onsiteshine.com/

[beezerhound69]

i drop car off at 8 to 9 am , pick it up at 5...does everything.

[348_Spiderman]

Originally Posted by adlassing

Who do you guys use for your F-Cars and your other cars in the Atlanta area.

How much are you getting charged? I'm looking for numbers from lets say for example $500.00 to $700.00 (that maybe high but again just using those numbers as an example)

So how much are you getting charged for the whole job inside and out, 100% everything done to the car to make it gleam and shine better then ever?

Out of curiosity, are you inquiring because you are shopping for said services, or investigating how much we would pay for services you are offering?

[mwhitesell]

Originally Posted by adlassing

Yeah that sounds about right...$250.00 or so.

How long does it usually take? Is that buffing / polishing and the whole 9?

If it were a bigger car like an Enzo or F40 would that make the price go up a little since there is more car there to clean?

Thanks for all the input.

~A

Why are you driving your Enzo over for them to clean it up?? You provide the Enzo and I'm sure they would come to you and charge you more than $250.

[adlassing]

No sorry guys. I don't have a Ferrari or any super car. I have a friend that was asking if I know how successful he could be with moving to the Atlanta Ga, area to detail cars. I visit the area often to do work and am always talking about the wonderful automobiles I see when I'm there and am thinking about relocating there myself. I told him I would ask on Ferrari chat to see if I could get an idea for him. He just doesn’t want to jump into the business in the Atlanta area and over charge if he does decide to make the move. Were he lives now high-end cars are far and few. Just looking for an idea to charge an honest price. I explained to him that there are allot of successful families and people in the Atlanta area but...just because allot of people make more money then where he is from doesn't mean that he should in no way take advantage of that and over charge. He simply agreed and thinks that fair prices along with very good work can equal more and repeated business. I should have been clearer at the beginning but honestly really didn't think about it. But all input would be nice and I am thankful if anyone else would want to share there experience in having detail work done to there F-Cars or any other cars they own.

~A

[tropicaldetail]

Here is the problem in the detailing industry (as I see it as an insider)...

It is very easy to cut corners and fool the consumer. A small example in "Paint Polishing"

There are two ways to polish paint: The body shop/detail shop way (production) and the high end (perfection way).

Polishing paint (to absolute perfection) is an extremely time consuming process and requires an extreme level of skill and experience (1000s of hours of experimentation and experience of doing the job the right way). It involves removing a microscopic amount of paint (the damage layer) then slowly bringing the paint back to an extreme gloss. To get a car truely perfect requires at least 15 hours (sometimes a lot more). I cannot tell you how many cars I have polished (3-9 steps per every square inch of the vehicle) that have run into 20 hours or more of just paint correction. For 250, this means I would work at less then 15 an hour (which is 1/5 hourly rate, roughly).

The other end is the production work. Guys who work for 15 dollars an hour (usually less as they are being paid by a dealership/bodyshop/etc) and have been taught a process that they repeat on every car. In general they will buff the car with a wool then follow with a "glazing product" similar to laying a coat of oil on the car. The will look good (for a short while until the masking oils where away) and will be shiny, but it will not be perfect. However the plus side is that this level of detailing is seriously easy to learn and takes far less time, so you pay quite a bit less for it.

In my experience, there are very few people in the country who are actually capable of making paint perfect. It is an art forum. The down side is the cost is much higher (more per hour/more hours) but the results are perment and the car will glow to absolute perfection.

If you have your car detailed at a shop, ask them to wipe the car down with a solvent or rubbing alochol then inspect the paint in the sunlight. You might be suprised to see the true condition of the paint (since the oils you paid 250 dollars for have been removed). Many people have claimed to see perfect paint but never have (like I said there are maybe 30 people in the US who are truely that good and do not rely on smoke and mirrors or glazes to make there work look okay).

So if you are looking for a quick shine and a clean car, by all means spend the 250.

If you are looking to have your car made perfect, expect to pay a great deal more (500-700 sounds like a reasonable starting point).

In the end to is completely up to you and make sure you are happy with the results you recieve eitherways.

While I cannot recommend any production polishing shops/body shops that do good work in your area, you are lucky to have a true artist in Bryan Burnworth from Peach State Detail. I have had to fly Bryan in to help with me with several collections and cars and can attest that he is a true artist with paint defect removal and high level detailing.

In fact here is a write up that Bryan did on a Ferrari F430 Spider that he helped me on.

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...orn-ready.html

And here is some of Bryan's top level work in ATL

http://www.autopia.org/forum/click-b...k-amg-s65.html

[tropicaldetail]

Originally Posted by beezerhound69

i drop car off at 8 to 9 am , pick it up at 5...does everything.

This goes with my previous post. Please understand that I am in no way saying your guy doens't do great work or you should consider switching at all.

I have been working (I focus on high end work) a Gallardo Spyder for the last 3 days and have over 35 hours into it, and it still isn't at my level yet. To get a job done in 8 hours or so means that either the paint isn't being polished or it is being lightly glazed. Nothing wrong with this of course because as long as you are happy then that is all that matters.

Here is a write up on a Ferrari Boxer detail I did. This was billed at 53 hours (at 75/hour), but realistically had 60-70 into it. It also gives a clear cut example between the different levels of detailing, which is why this is a general question. Several cars I have done for Pebble Beach have topped 85 hours of work...

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...ics-video.html

[ExoticSpotter]

Wow! You are a seriously motivated individual to have the time and patience to learn such an art. I understand the reason many people take the short cut and pay low $$$ to get fast results, but to hear the way you talk about paint and perfection, it truly reminds me of the artistic magnificence these cars were put into production for.

[mwhitesell]

I agree that cleaning a boxer or a 250 for a concours would require much more effort. For those of who drive these and not trailer them around, the regular detail works just fine. Also you probably do not need to take off a layer of paint on a car less than a few years old.
I'm sure you do great work but if you bill out 60 hours at 75 dollars an hour, and someone pays this, for a modern Ferrari than you have found someone I need to sell something to. That's 4500 bucks for a car that can be repainted for 8-12k.

Just my 2 cents worth.

[tropicaldetail]

Originally Posted by mwhitesell

I agree that cleaning a boxer or a 250 for a concours would require much more effort. For those of who drive these and not trailer them around, the regular detail works just fine. Also you probably do not need to take off a layer of paint on a car less than a few years old.
I'm sure you do great work but if you bill out 60 hours at 75 dollars an hour, and someone pays this, for a modern Ferrari than you have found someone I need to sell something to. That's 4500 bucks for a car that can be repainted for 8-12k.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Hi Mark,

You are correct that a brand new Ferrari (or even moderately new) should not need that type of work, and given the fact these are not rare cars (in terms of number built) a respray is not a big deal. I am not sure if you read the thread I posted on the Boxer in this thread, but please do if you get the chance. The car was in such poor shape that the owner was considering getting it restored and resprayed (quality resprays, including prep tend to run more then 8-12k, IME). A cool classic such as that Boxer can only be original once. When I was done with that Ferrari it recently won "best paint" and "people's choice" at a show in Indianapolis. Not only that but the original paint looked better (30 years later) then it did the day it was sprayed. These type of older Ferrari's require special (time consuming) techinques as you are working with 30 year old paint that wasn't the best the day it was made and extremely thin in some areas. VERY rarely would a car require this level of detailing with as much special care, but when I was done with it looked better then new, yet was still all original. The thread is probably a boring read, but its fun to look at the transformation (IMO).

A couple things. A "layer" of paint is never removed. In general, the paint on modern vehicle's is between 3.8 to 6 mils in the thickness, total (including primer, basecoat, clearcoat). 2.5 mils is the thickness of a sheet of paper. When you factor in the primer and base(color)coat you are left with from 1.5 mils to 3.5 mils of clear coat. When polishing and removing the damaged paint (even on the Boxer which had 30 years of damage) the amount of removed paint is almost impossible to gauge. This is because I measure the paint after each series of passes with the machine and an very careful in maintaining paint thickness. I prefer to be very precise.

Secondly, most new Ferrari's are in terrible shape (paint wise) from the factory. Little scratches from shipping and track time around Fiorano, as well as errant polishing and washing techniques from the factory and dealership.

Here is another thread (please read if you have the time) that shows this. This brand new Ferrari looked okay, but when I wiped the paint down with a solvent buffer trails appeared. (Probably glazed at the factory or dealership). It is sad that a 200k or more car is treated to a detail that actually damages the paint (because it is done by inexperienced people in a production enviroment).

Obviously the work involved is MUCH less then mentioned before and might cost 800 or so (which is a small price, IMO, to make sure the car looks the way it should, though in a perfect world it wouldn't need to be done at all).

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...-macchina.html

Once the paint is refined, re-leveled, and jeweled, it should never need that level of detailing again. Proper washing and drying technqiues go a long way towards preventing the small scratches that act to rob the paint of its potenital gloss. I am actually working on a write up for the benefit of the forum that will be an instructional "how-to" with over 100 pics, explanations, and maybe even proper spelling and grammar (unlike my posts in this thread ). However based my long-windedness it is still a while until I will have it up.

My original post in this thread was two fold. One to define the difference between the levels of detailing and point out extreme examples. Two, to provide a link to an amazing detailer in that area if somebody is intrested in having their car look their best.

[mred]

Call Jim Thomas at On Site Shine

[beezerhound69]

Originally Posted by tropicaldetail

This goes with my previous post. Please understand that I am in no way saying your guy doens't do great work or you should consider switching at all.

I have been working (I focus on high end work) a Gallardo Spyder for the last 3 days and have over 35 hours into it, and it still isn't at my level yet. To get a job done in 8 hours or so means that either the paint isn't being polished or it is being lightly glazed. Nothing wrong with this of course because as long as you are happy then that is all that matters.

Here is a write up on a Ferrari Boxer detail I did. This was billed at 53 hours (at 75/hour), but realistically had 60-70 into it. It also gives a clear cut example between the different levels of detailing, which is why this is a general question. Several cars I have done for Pebble Beach have topped 85 hours of work...

http://www.autopia.org/forum/pro-det...ics-video.html

HUH? All I was saying was that I drop my car off for the day and pick it up..before you ever even posted....

[tropicaldetail]

my point being that you said you get "the works"... This means different things to different people and I was trying to point out the differences with out being offense. No offense meant, just pointing out the wide spectrum that the word detailing convers (in my long winded way).