So I bought an LR3 that needs every panel clay bar’d, buffed, and ceramic sealed. The headlights need polishing, and I thought I would also have the interior and engine compartment completely detailed. A guy is quoting me $800. That sounds ridiculous.

 

Does to me to. Having Sam’s club do my headlights $50 and a five year warranty on the cleaning. Think in my neck of the woods that detail would run you $350

 

I've done that exact service for SUVs for about 3-400. Depending on how bad everything is.

 

Great feedback guys. So if it needs every panel buffed out, polished, and ceramic coated, you'd be in the $400 range?

 

Why ceramic seal it? A clay bar with a good polish, wax applied correctly will do wonders. What is the charge without the ceramic? My guess is that is where your $$ is going. I’ve done countless headlights using Griots, RainX, you name it kits for $20. They look brand new. Takes about 30-40 min a light with tape prep and application. $500 should easily cover a wash, clay bar, polish, wax. An LR3 isn’t exactly a Honda Civic. What state/city you are in probably makes a difference also.

 

It is on the high side but it really depends on the quality of the output.

You do not need to do ceramic sealing on an older car. You can achieve the same results for cheaper with wax. Just wax the car every month or so and you will be good. I'd use ceramic only on newer cars that have some "show" potential, if you will. Not on an SUV that is older.

I have been using ScratchX on my headlights. To do things properly, you may need to get a used set of lights, treat them while they are out of the car, then put them in. In any case, for the best results you'll spend some $ and time.

Detailing may be time consuming depending on how deep the guy wants to go. For example, will he do proper polishing? Paint correction? The list can be quite extensive and without seeing all items line by line, it is hard to say whether $800 is on the mark. It is, however, on the higher side of typical by hand detailing. I'd expect 400-600 price range, depending on the location.

 

First post, woot. About to do my Disco II, I do professional detailing and 800 seems ok depending on whats needed. What exactly did they say, it really goes by the number of passes aka how many times the car needs a polish/cut. It also matters what Ceramic coating they are using. Pro installers have MAP (Minimum area pricing) and have to charge a certain amount otherwise they will be barred from a certain product. IGL, Modesta and Carpro are all pro level and require 800-1200 MAP depending on the location.

My process for my Disco is this, hope this helps. Keep in mind mine is in pretty rough condition and needs a lot of work.

APC Strip wash
Clay
Citrus wash
Heavy cut compound
Finishing polish
prep polish/IPA wipe down
Coating application

 

800 is not a-lot if its bad enough

 

I gave ohpee a like for their name alone

 

I was wondering about this also. Are they doing the underside also due to salt from the roads?