i am thinking of taking my truck to a detail shop to have it cleaned inside and out waxed etc.....

i do a lot of hunting and my truck is a mess..inside and out...

i was wondering if anyone has used a detail shop....what should i look for and what should i expect to pay....?

thanks.

 

well, 1st thing is the price. i dont know about your region, but anywhere from $125-175 will be about the average.

as for what to look for.
besides the basics, a place that has a steam machine will be able to get your interior real clean w/o soaking it completely. a place that will paint, or enen undercoat the wheel wells and undercarrage ( at least the areas you see standing outside of the car)

a place that will polish the truck as opposed to just a wax, and not charge extra for it, just make sure you get an agreement that they gaurantee about not leaving wheelmarks. a place that does carpet dying if a spot on your carpet wont come spotless. again, no charge for this if its a minimal area.
one big thing to look for is a shop that WONT dree the interior (unless you want that...) why, because you can hide alot of dirt by dressing, which means it may not be as clean as it could be and they took shortcuts (thats not always the case, but possible) abd dressing can also attract a hell of alot of dust which is a pain to you. the same upplies under the hood. a real clean engine wont need dressing, and the dirt it attracts when dressed is a headache

if i missed something im sorry. i have my own shop and these are things id look for. if they are in business, the basic should be covered, its these other things you need to look for. also, dont go with the cheapest you find either... its not always the best

i just reread that its used for hunting and "selfadmitted" a mess. do not be shocked if you are charged more. it'll be worth spending more. and when you take it in, make sure to remove all your personal stuff, it makes it that much easier to detail if the person dont have to work around all your personal goods especially in your center coulnsel and glovebox.

asn dont forget to tip the detailer who did it if it does look good. pay for details is pro rated whether its a super clean dealer car, or a dirty hunting truck. so if they have to put in extra work on yours, give him a little extra yourself

 

Man, I runa shop and if you can find me one that does all that for around $150-$170 I;d drive there and get it!

I charge $170 for cars, $190 for SUV and massive trucks. We shampoo the floors and seats (different iwth leather) and condition leather, condition dash, cetner console, all interior plastics, clean all windows, synthetic light cut the outside and wax it. We usually shoot some tire shine in the wheel wells to blacken them, but if request for an additional $25 we;ll paint them. Underhood cleaning is $25, or $35 with gooey tire chit covering it thereafter. Also try to remove door ding paint marks, not the dent though. Condition the exterior plastic, and sometimes a little extra based on car. Black is always extra, biggest PITFA color there is.

 

its all about your regions.
cant get much more then that here or the other guy will get it. only time it gets near $200 is if its a conversion or dually.

but i know someone down by you who said he could only get $100 to tint a vette, even with 1 piece back window, where i get $350...

its all about the area...
i wouldnt pay what you charge if i gotta pay extra for wheel wells and engine. its good for you if you get it, but not something im gonna pay for. i wish i could do that here.

 

[QUOTE=98Navi]Man, I runa shop and if you can find me one that does all that for around $150-$170 I;d drive there and get it!

$150-$175 is the average for a full detail in the Baltimore area on a full size SUV.

 

Why tip if someone is already paying extra for something in the first place?

 

your not paying "extra" ...in my post, or in my shop... thats why

 

Tipping is not a city in china!

And the tint thing, he must be south of me. Tint is effing outragous here. SUV is like $285, Car is $245, Pickup with three windows is $150.
I had my SUV's tinted while in charleston sc for $110 limo black!

 

I got quotes around here (Northern Virginia) and for a reputable detailer (15years exp) it was $350 for the outside of the truck including under carriage and engine bay. Inside was an additional $100. This is on a 04 lifted. Havent found much less than that.

 

Why not do it yourself, You can get all the wax and cleaners you need for less than $100, thats enough to detail your truck 5 or 6 times, and then you know if it was done to your expectations.

 

Seems like everybody and their brother expects a tip nowadays just for doing their job........

 

I am thinking of going in and having it done, how much do you guys charge to remove quarter sized dents? I have the Ding King, but haven't tried it yet. I have a MAJOR scratch, probably as deep as a scratch gets and it's accented by a dent a fist would make. Is that even fixable, it's in front of the back wheel, so its part of that entire back panel attached to the bed. I believe it needs to be repainted (how much is this?). I heard black paint does not need to be blended.

Whoever details my truck is going to have a HELL of a time, but I'll tip HUGE if it looks brand new. I have swirls out the a$$ and I can't get rid of them with just NXT wax, and I don't have enough $ at the moment for a good buffer (might buy one of those cheap $50 ones). I have mud stains in my carpet, very tough ones, and my engine bay is a mess, a pressure washer won't even remove the dirt stains on the radiator hoses, etc, nor will scrubbing. I probably need chemicals. I'd pay $350 in a heartbeat to make it look new and then I'd buy catchall floormats right away. Mudders need protection. My Leather seats look nice, everything has POTENTIAL but I can't get it to look very good at all. I'm most worried about scratches, 3 small dents, and some white spray paint-like dots (light dot scratches on the tailgate) in my paint, and the carpet. The undercarriage doesn't have to be perfect and neither does under the hood, God knows it will be dirty again soon. I need some sort of undercarriage protector so mud doesn't splash into the engine bay.

 

Get a list of former customers.
Be upfront and clear with the boss about what you expect.
Do you epect Q-Tip clean? If so, tell him/her.
Tell them you will inspect after they are done and again, what you will be looking for.