Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General General What's the average charge for detailing work?

Since I'm going to the Carlisle All Ford Nationals on May 31st, I went out today looking for a detail shop. I went to a local detail shop that seemed really great. Nice guys, one guy was working on a boat (??) and one guy was working on a black Cougar. For their Blue Ribbon package, which includes buffing out scratches, waxing, getting the clay crap off of the paint, cleaning out the inside, etc, they quoted me $139.99. They said if they had to do other little work around the fenderwells and other stuff it would only be a little more (Probably like $160, but most likely wouldn't be needed). He told me when they were done, you wouldn't be able to even notice the scratches and the paint would stand out again like it was new. From the cars sitting in the garage area getting detailed (Especially that Cougar! Wow Wow Wow! ), I could see that their work speaks for themselves. Do you think this is a good deal? What have you all paid for detailing work? He said it would take about 6 hours, so at least I know it's not a quickie 1 hour job; these guys seem to take their time and not rush it.

Those prices sound right. My buddy paid $150 to get his lease Windstar detailed before turning it in.

A local CEGer (Stripped SVT) details cars on the side and charges $100 normally for inside and out. The details of his process are in here. He doesn't use a buffer to polish out the swirl marks, but does by hand. I don't think he does the clay bar treatment either. Anyway, $140 sounds pretty fair to me, as long as they use quality products.

theres a place here in omaha that will detail your car to the shine it had the day you bought it for $100, its great

but i'd rather do it myself :p