I disagree with the above statement about paying a detailer THEN buying all the stuff to keep up on it yourself. Look at it this way, your paint is pretty screwed but, why not get a PC, pads, compound, polish, sealant and learn how to use it? I am sure you will see a HUGE improvement from before and after.
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Edit:**** IT looks like your clear coat is failing which cannot be fixed without a re-spray. I would be really careful compounding/polishing around those areas.
That was my thinking in recommending him let a professional do the majority of the "pre-emptive" work. I figured if he goes overboard in those areas, he could sure do more harm then good, and he might damage the paint to the point where a respray is absolutely unavoidable, which the OP has said he doesn't want to pay for at this time.
Then again, the other line of thinking is "well the paint is so far gone, how much harm could he really do? Let him practice on the car, and if he worsens it, then it needs a respray, which it probably already does. If not, then he learned hands-on how to handle the problem and saved himself some money."
But for me, OP, if I bought a used car that looked like that, I'd be seriously considering letting a pro handle it, and I already own all the PC/pads/polishes etc and have alot of experience detailing. I'm just not positive this particular job is one I'd want to tackle.
Stupid question. I'm looking at 300-600 for what your talkin about ?
Let me be up front with this. Detailing, like anything in the automotive hobby, is a money drain. 3-600 is what I'd expect a detailer to charge you, and what I'd expect to spend on materials and tools to do all future detailing yourself.
The good news is the bulk of the original cost to get everything is the Porter Cable and the pads; the PC isn't going to wear out and while pads do wear out, they don't wear out quickly if you're only detailing your own cars. Polishes and other "consumables" for detailing really aren't THAT expensive, especially when you consider what you'd be spending to have a pro detail the car on a regular basis. Plus, whatever you buy, you can use on family/friends cars, which can either help you recoup some cost.
OP, for a frame of reference: I detail my Mustang probably 4 or so times per year. That's stripping the sealant/wax off, claying, finish polishing, re apply sealant and wax. I get away with such a long interval between details because my car spends 90+% of it's time tucked safely in the garage, and also because it's light colored. I avoid driving it in the rain and I wash the car at least every 2 weeks if not every week. If I had a darker colored car (swirls etc would be more apparent), or kept it outside, this would be a whole 'nother ballgame. I regularly get people who tell me my car is the cleanest car they've ever seen.
My daily driver '02 Saturn gets a detailing like that once a year. Every 4-5 months I strip it and re apply wax, but I skip the claying and polishing because I just don't care lol. The car looks "decent" but certainly not "good." My other car, my '74 Challenger, falls somewhere in the middle. I strip and re wax it every 2 months or so, but it sits outside (under a car cover). I clay/polish the Challenger once a year, much like my DD, it just gets stripped and rewaxed more often than the Saturn.
Being that all 3 of my vehicles are light colored (Mustang and Saturn are silver, Challenger is '03 'Vette yellow), and 2 of them are stored in a somewhat protected environment, I get away with alot less actual work detailing than most people would assume. However, being that your car is black and sits outside, you can expect to spend alot more time on upkeep of the finish. Just something to think about.
Like everyone else has said, I'm eager to hear what Seer has to say on the subject.