dirtiest car I have detailed!

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I was unable to get before pictures because the wife had my camera in her car but I got these after pictures when I was done. This 1999 Honda Accord had never been cleaned since it was new. It was covered with massive amounts of dirt and grime and pet hair. The owner(a good friends girlfriend) had 2 dogs and one cat that rode in the car every day. The tan leather was a light to medium brown color because of dirt build up on it. It had poop and vomit stains in the carpet. I don't know how people can live like that!!!
Anyway The owner is selling the car and asked me if I could clean it up. I spent about 12 hours getting 80% of the crud out. It would have taken me another 12 hours to get the last 20% of crud out. It was not worth the effort on this car so we called it good. I vacuumed the heck out of it and then shampooed the carpets. Used Woolite on the leather and Murphy's oil soap on most of the other crud. Lots of Q-tips and dental picks! Wiped everything down with Meguires and Lexol on the leather. It came out pretty well considering it's condition and abuse it took over it's life:







 
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I would have loved to see the B/4 pics
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I can only imagine!
 
hat's off to you, nice job
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reminds me of some of these home make-over tv shows - owners live like pigs for years, then get somebody to show up and remodel for free....
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I am not sure I would get leather for a car where animals would ride in daily. My 2 big dogs only go in my pickup and I generally have a beach towel on their section of the bench seat.
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
I am not sure I would get leather for a car where animals would ride in daily. My 2 big dogs only go in my pickup and I generally have a beach towel on their section of the bench seat.


It's probably better than cloth which would rip badly if clawed. And cloth is very absorbent of various animal waste products.
 
You did a great job, these cars are excellent with the manual. Paint is often an issue though unfortunately. As for your other thread, these cars are still popular and people will pay for them, I would start out at $4000 and go from there.
 
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Working at a dealership we saw some seriously "gross" cars come in for repairs. So much trash that there was only room for the driver and not much else. Well done cleaning that Honda up!
 
Looks good. You've returned it to a level that most everyone would consider as being above average for a 15 year old car, so there's not a whole lot of reward for getting that extra 20%.
 
Originally Posted By: JHZR2
That steering wheel still looks nasty. Hats off to you working that mess!


The steering wheel is 100% cleaned. That "dirt" is actually wear and the color worn from the leather.
 
Thanks guys! It has been awhile since I did detailing for a living but it looks like I still got it! It was kind of fun in a way to bring the old girl back to presentable condition.

Thanks for the kind words everyone!
 
Originally Posted By: Donald
What would your cost have been if the owner was just someone off the street?


15 years ago I was charging $25 an hour so about a $300 detail job. Today probably closer to $30-35 per hour. I would have been much cheaper for her to just clean the poor car once in a while!!! Then it would have only took me a couple few hours to make it look new.

I only charged her $100 for this job because her boyfriend is a good friend of mine. A week later I'm still waiting to be paid! LOL.
 
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$100 for 12 hours work and you're waiting on your money? Wow.....keep your day job. With no before pictures no one can see the improvement but no doubt it was drastic. Nice thing to do on your part.
 
Originally Posted By: RTexasF
$100 for 12 hours work and you're waiting on your money? Wow.....keep your day job. With no before pictures no one can see the improvement but no doubt it was drastic. Nice thing to do on your part.


Yeah no doubt! I think I have something like 15 people who owe me money. I'm going to start calling payments in! LOL

I do like helping people....maybe a little to much! LOL
 
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stunning job. I love this generation of accord.

perhaps being a "friend" means you will only get paid after she sells the car.
 
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