I am debating on whether to get my car detailed or to buy a porter cable myself and do the whole thing myself.

Porter cable and supplies would run me about $400

While a good auto detail would cost me less than $200

Im thinking I probably would detail my car once a year and including the time spent I may be better off going with paying someone to do it for me....

Help!

 

a few things to think about:

once you have the stuff that you need, you have it for a long time!
so the cost of doing it yourself is actually much less than paying someone.

the guy who does it for a living is trying to make a buck- he is forced to do things "quickly"- you are not. you can use the slow route, which is often better for your car. pros do not often use products that take a long time (like zaino), but you can.

its a whole lot more fun to diy !!
a great way to learn is to post up in your local forum and offer to supply refreshments and products if someone will supply the machine and know how.


and we are full of tips and ideas right here if you decide to do it yourself!

finally, you can get one of our very desireable wacko badges by doing it yourself and taking some pics and posting them up-

(did i talk you into it yet? !!)

 

I think cost wise wanabe's post says it all. I would also like to stress that quality detailers are few and far between. Finding one is not always easy. I go with the old saying . . . "if you want something done right you have to do it yourself."

 

I am a novice at detailing myself. I have asked alot of questions, and fortunately we have great guys like MikeyC and wannabe to help out. I have already bought a PC and will be ordering the rest of the crap I need shortly. $400 is a bit high IMO for what you need. I just need the weather to break so I can go nuts detailing. I could have sent it to a shop, and we have several reputable shops in my area, but I think that is short changing myself on some good times. If you look at detailing as "work" than you are missing the whole point. To me, the satisfaction of getting the car looking great and then knowing that I did it is worht more than having someone do it for me.

 

that says it all right there!!

for those words of wisdom- badge earned, pre-detailed pics- just pm me.

 

Thanks wanabe

Like I had said in my PM to you, detailing is really a "hobby within a hobby". There is no feeling like sitting back after any job well done, and appreciating what you have done.

 

What do you need for PC?

I need to remove some light swirl marks. Whats a good starter set?

 

I am going to give the Pinnacle XMT line a try on my first go round this spring. They have a nice starter kit:

http://www.autogeek.net/pixmtinswrek.html

I am going to follow that up with some Sovouran <sp?> wax.

 

if all you need to do is remove swirls, all you really need is a light cutting pad (edge pads are now my favs) and a good swirl remover.
extra credit is a pad to apply your synthetic or wax-

other extra credit would be a pad cleaning solution and a spur (for roughing up the pad)

 

You could probably get by on $250 or less if you look around... when I think about it, there's only a few products that I use regularly--most of my stuff just sits around collecting dust

Also, I agree with what some of the others have said--good detailers are VERY hard to find. I'd rather pocket the $200 and know that I did the job right myself