Z Factor

I have a garage queen that has the original red paint from 1990, and while still looking good, over time I have some swirling, so it needs a mild paint correction along with a quality wax/polymer.
I am beyond doing that myself, and the last time I had someone do it at their shop, I paid $200 for top to bottom interior/exterior detail without any paint correction.
The shop I used moved, and I haven't priced anything recently, because I am not sure where to take it for a reasonably price job.

So what are decent detailers getting these days (not exotic shops) for a plain detail, and/or minor paint correction?

BWF07

I can tell you is you are looking at paint correction, you are not going to get it for $200. Depending just what you mean by some swirls can make the difference in the price. I know you mentioned wax/polymer and not ceramic. Actually, the actually ceramic coating is not the big cost in this type of project, it is the paint correction.

cmonkey713

Paint correction is one of those things that entirely depends on the condition of the paint when you start. There is also the level of correction that is expected, this could be a show quality correction or something less. I would estimate the cost would begin at around $200 and go up from there. A concours correction and detail could run over $1K not including PPF or ceramic coating. If any paint work is needed that is a whole other story.

Z Factor

Some light swirling in original paint on a garage queen.

I found someone who wants to do it at $400 however his paint correction does not include decontaminating the paint first. I do not have great detail knowledge, but not deconning the paint first with a wash and claybar seems counter-intuitive.
What say the detail experts of CF?

BWF07

I am no professional detailer, but I have been doing my own cars for some time now, and I would never do even the smallest paint correction without first washing and clay barring. Now, with that said there is a decontamination process that many top detailers do, and I believe it has to do with removing iron deposits that you may get in your water that do not totally rinse away.

Corvette03051

I am a pretty good DIY detailer and just did a friend’s 2011 which had lots of swirl marks and scratches.
1. Washed the car to see what I had
2. washed it again with a surface cleansing bath
3. clay bar entire car with detailer
4. orbital correction cream entire car
5. examine car for trouble areas & repair
6. Apply mirror glaze with orbital polisher
7. Apply first coat of sealant
8. Apply second coat of sealant hours later
9. clean wheels and wash tires
10. Apply wheel protection
11. Apply tire dressing

So how much is that worth? No idea but the products were certainly costly so let’s say I used $50 of product and took 6 hours of Labor

yamabob

I hope that car had a nice rubber duckie while getting it’s bath
When correcting any car, unless it’s a touch up from a garage queen, mechanical and chemical decon should be part of the process prior to polishing.I might venture to say chemical more so than mechanical, but a good practice to incorporate both. Chemical adds very little time at all

Vetteman Jack

For what you are hoping for $200 is not going to be a reasonable price.