[Closed] Cost to machine polish a car?

About 4hours at your chosen bodyshops hourly labour rate

Depends how bad it is, how big it is and what result you want.
Wash, clay bar, wet sand, couple of grades of polish with a couple of different pads and a finishing glaze and carnauba to return the paint to its former glory
Or a quick whiz with a trick polish that will add shine and fill your scratches, make it look good for a week?

Depends if you talk to a valeter or a detailer...

I used to run a detailing business and we would charge depending on the level of correction required. A simple process of washing/decontaminating car followed by a single stage polish and then a wax we would turn around in a day for £99.

That would go right up to full decontamination which would be 2-3 days and start at £400 depending on which wax you topped it with and any other options like wheels/drop hood etc it could go up to £600.

I would advise you speak to a local valeter who will be able to sort it out for you and don't get taken in by a detailer as unless you intend to maintain the finish it would be waster money.

Also depends on the size of the car.

Just for reference this is what the local detailer told us when we queried the new car being polished:

Our most popular option on new cars is the Gtechniq coatings, the
coatings provide a far more durable and easier to maintain finish than
any traditional waxes and polishes, and are in a different league to any dealer offered coatings such as Gard X and Lifeshine.

Probably the best option for you on the gtechniq would be the 5 yr C1
Crystal Lacquer option. This on your car would cost you £300+vat. The
protection os applied to all exterior paint, wheels, glass and trim,
with interior plastics, leather and fabrics also being treated. The C1
comes with a 5 yr guarantee and is one of our most popular packages.

I just can't see how they make a living doing that.

The products are expensive and doing the job takes quite a while..

5 year guarantee on what exactly!

Reckon I need a valeter rather than a detailer, as it strikes me that detailing is effectively putting the icing on the cake, but you need to have the cake baked to start with.

Car bodywork has tree-sap, bird droppings and some scratches - nothing that I have not been able to take out using Autoglym and the like in the past.

Car interior - cloth seats which really need a very good clean....messy children of previous owner.

I was concerned when I called one local valeter and his initial response was "Sounds like you need an A-Glaze treatment". I could be wrong but is this essentially a sealant which is applied after you do the base paintwork remediation and polishing first? I also have a bag of Supaguard stuff in the garage which came free with a previous car purchase (dealer neglected to recollect I had said no thanks during car purchase so was FOC).

Machine polishing can mean discoloured and damaged mouldings. Going through the lacquer on corners and polish splatter getting everywhere .
It can look good when you collect it but get it home and in the wrong light you'll see nothing but swirl marks.

Reckon I need a valeter rather than a detailer, as it strikes me that detailing is effectively putting the icing on the cake, but you need to have the cake baked to start with.

Detailing* is more like the marzipan, it's getting the paint (cake) smooth before you put the wax (icing) on top.

Now I clay and polish it once a year, then wax a couple of times, then the rest of the year just use the spray in 'instant shine' type waxes. They may only last until the first rain, but they only take 10 minutes to apply, and look good**.

*as in paint correction, not the OCD "my car must look showroom fresh so I'll not underseal it and spend my evenings poking flies out of the radiator matrix with a cotton bud" side of things.

**probably exhibiting the same fallacy as estate agents, this suit is shinier, therefore must be better.

My Merc was looking a bit swirly so I used Poor Boys Black Hole which masks the swirls rather than removing them. The end result looks okay though. I taped off one bit at the start so I could see how big a difference it actually made. I think you can tell where the tape was

[url= https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7188/26892093182_25ec170084_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c7.staticflickr.com/8/7188/26892093182_25ec170084_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/GYn1p1 ]20160513_114928[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

It was applied with a cheap Halfords polishing machine and polished off with a microfibre cloth

[url= https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7266/26917882191_f488cd3686_c.jp g" target="_blank">https://c8.staticflickr.com/8/7266/26917882191_f488cd3686_c.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/H1Dbz6 ]20160513_120110[/url] by [url= https://www.flickr.com/photos/89686376@N04/ ]WCA![/url], on Flickr

£30 for polisher
£13 for polish

That Gtechniq P1 is incredible. Used it one bikes, car and dishwasher glossy plastic scratches!!

Benz - Where about are you in the country??

If your around Stockport area, I can put you in touch with someone.

WorldClassAccident - Member

My Merc was looking a bit swirly so I used Poor Boys Black Hole which masks the swirls rather than removing them. The end result looks okay though. I taped off one bit at the start so I could see how big a difference it actually made. I think you can tell where the tape was

that's good result WCA. Do you have to use a machine to apply that stuff?

I keep thinking one day I'll get round to giving my Wife's (metallic black) Ibiza a decent clean, clay bar, wax & polish but never find the time. It's lucky to get washed once a month!!

Do you have to use a machine to apply that stuff?

The results will be massively better with a machine.

I use a fairly cheap DAS6 polisher. Here's recent work on a ZX6R

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/IMG-20160602-WA0004_zpsymizqhzr.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/IMG-20160602-WA0004_zpsymizqhzr.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/IMG-20160602-WA0002_zpsgpzgrrww.jpe g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/IMG-20160602-WA0002_zpsgpzgrrww.jpe g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0739_zpsotwmnz1f.jp g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0739_zpsotwmnz1f.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0738_zpsnytu8icq.jp g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0738_zpsnytu8icq.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0741_zpsis58cp88.jp g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0741_zpsis58cp88.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

[URL= http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0740_zpsaellze7y.jp g" target="_blank">http://i248.photobucket.com/albums/gg167/weeksy59/ZX6R/DSC_0740_zpsaellze7y.jp g"/> [/IMG][/URL]

I have done it by hand. Once. Then I bought the polisher and it was so much easier and better.

Also the polisher means I can be bothered to put a sealing layer over the Poor Boys. Previously I was bored of polishing after one layer.

Cheers for the feedback. Looks like I'll just be washing and waxing for a while, then...