[Sorry so long] Hey Folks, I know the subject of detailing has kinda been beaten into the ground, but I just wanna make sure I'm headed to the right place. After seeing the threads that Zen Motorsports posted here once upon a time for their detailer, I've kind of always had it in the back of my mind that I was gonna get a detail job done there at some point. They're charging me $175 for a "stage 1 detail" which from my understanding doesn't include anything in the interior nor does it include any engine detailing or a few other nick nacks... and my car is needing some TLC... no wax in ages, and the exterior is just looking drab... I think the Stage 1 package includes some buffing blah blah blah... but I'm not expert at all that stuff... Now that's kind of a far cry from their original price for their Starter Package Plus deal that they once offered... Zen Motors Starter Package Plus: - Exterior Wash - Clay Bar Entire Vehicle - Clean All Door Jams - Wheels Cleaned & Tires Dressed - Window's Cleaned - Interior Vacuumed - Interior Panels / Console Wiped Down & Cleaned - Black Trip Coated (Gives A Deeper Black Shine) - Engine Bay Cleaned - Exterior Polish Applied - Exterior Hand Paint Cleaner - Exterior Hand Polish - Exterior Hand Wax Zen Motors Price: $139.99 Secondly, I had my bumper get pulled off once because I had a fight with a parking space divider and that along with my RCE Yellows, a v-limited lip, and buster inner fender liners, have made me apprehensive about my bumper falling off constantly... SO, I bought new inner fender liners today along with all of the clips (~$100) and I was gonna get Zen to install those and get the bumper mounted properly again. Lastly, I have my Rota SVN 18x8.5s (freshly powdercoated) and my 245/35/18 rubber going on em, and Zen said they were comfortable mounting/balancing the tires without damaging the powdercoat, so I was gonna get that done also. ALL that to say... the Out the door price including properly remounting the bumper, fender liners, the mount/balance tires, and the Stage 1 detail is ~$410... and it's all in one place. The question is... can I do better on price? Or is there a place that has comparable prices that's better quality, that offers all of these services? Or is there a couple of places that I need to go to get all of this done? Just want some advice here...
Well, you can talk with Justin @ Eco Clean to see how his products and services compare price wise. You may also talk with Forged as, if I remember correctly, they've got a decent paint correction guy that comes in from time to time.
besides material cost you can do it yourself. It's best to do the detailing inside or out of direct sunlight though. bumper and fender liners are about the easiest thing to do
Which price is it? $175 or $139.99? Personally, I always detail my car myself. But if Zen Motorsports is willing to clay bar, apply paint cleaner, polish & wax, all by hand to the entire vehicle, that's a decent price. I'd go with it. For good name brand polish and wax, pair of clay bars, paint cleaner, applicator pads, and good microfiber towels, it would cost you around $60-$70. So if for $139.99 for products and labor, and also to save 3 or 4 hours of your own time, that's a damn good deal.
If you like working on your car, you can get all the materials for exterior detailing at under 60$. That 60$ investment automatically pays for it self the next time you detail your car, or one of your friends sees how shiny your car is and offers you 80$ to do theirs
I've never had Zen do a car but I've seen the results and they do look good. I've got a shop that does cars that I flip. They charge $200 but they will touch up the seats with spray dye etc. When they get done the car looks new. I took them a 1998 Black 240sx once and when I got it back people couldn't believe how good it looked. I sold it to the very first person that looked at it.
The guy Forged uses is this one: http://www.mirrordetailing.com/ He did my car, I think a few people on here saw it after it was freshly done and can attest to how nice it looked. Honestly the paint looked better than when I drove it off the lot.
Another option is AJ @ Hill Top Cleanup over in Smryna (by Dobbins). They primarily work with older vehicles but everything I have seen from then shows me that they do good work. Their staff is also knowledgeable and courteous which is a plus.