Anyone heard of this process? I talked to a detailer and he quoted me $130-150 to do it.

 

Color Buffing? I have been detailing for about 20 years. I have not heard of this. If they are talking about buffing with a compound to bring back the color I follow. I generally charge $100 to do a complete buff on a car.

 

I think this is what it is.

http://www.valvoline.com/carcare/art...amp;print=true

 

That seems really cheap to only charge $130-$150 to wetsand and buff. I would charge $200+ just as my starting price to fully buff a car and that just depends on what a customer wants.

I've done exterior details for show cars that I've charged $350-$500 to do. Something like that would include...claybar the whole car,polish/swirl removal,glaze,and seal. That takes several hours to do correctly.
I would make sure that this detailer really knows what he is doing. I've seen a lot of places try to wetsand or buff with a high speed and really mess the finish up.

There are a lot of places around here that do hack work that I've had to fix, like leaving buffer trails and holograms. I even fix a lot of work from some local bodyshops.

Just be careful who you choose to work on your paint.

 

The problem is I live in a smaller town (population 100K) and how am I supposed to know who to go with.

The way this guy portrayed the color buffing process they don't even need to clay the car. In the link I posted they don't include claying the car as one of the steps.

Does this color buffing process destroy the clear coat?

 

You need to ask the shop what they perform in 'color buffing'.

You can always ask to see a completed customers car in the shop, or if he has any customers that would let you take a look at their car.

 

+1 Obsessive Detail......it needs to be Clayed before polishing, with a wax or sealant afterwards.

 

My town is 27k people, and more than a third of that leaves every summer when college gets out.

I wouldn't say you're in a small town.

 

I agree with Juztang, That would be very cheap for a wet sand and buff. If you need some buff work done, go to several of the local car shows and look at the finishes on the cars that do well. Find out who they use or if the do the work themselves, I have picked up many customers this way. I have several regulars that I work with and do the majority of fixes for several New car dealers that have damaged paint.

 

Thanks I guess I'll have to do that. If there aren't any car shows coming up real soon then I'll just see about getting some references and shop around a bit.

The car has tons of swirl marks, scuffs, scratches, etc. and needs more work than I feel like doing myself. Especially w/o much experience.