Prices for a local detailer.
 

I was at the store shopping for some products to wash and wax my car when I realized I have no idea what I'm doing. I figured I'd rather pay a professional to do the job right. This is a local one I am looking at:

Auto Detailing, Car Wash & Wax, Frederick, Md - Doctor Details Auto Salon

$550 for a yearly detail. Includes 1 Ultimate Detail, 2 Exterior Details, and 9 washes. Let me know what you think, thanks in advance! I've had my 40th for about a month now...I'm worried if I go any longer I may cause damage to the paint.

It seems like a decent deal if you are not wanting to do it yourself, but I personally for that price would by my own detailing stuff from Adams and then you could detail as many times as you want. But just depends on how much time you have on your hands and if you want to just detail yourself. For example for the same price as that one year you could get this:
Adam's Premium Porter Cable 7424XP Detail Kit
Which really comes with everything you would need for a few full detailing jobs, then you would just have to buy the small maintenance bottles of like shampoo and such.

not to mention that when you get good you could detail family/friends and make a little cash on the side to pay for the purchase. Like Weezal said not eveyone has the time but if you do its a good trade to have because it will go with you from car to car in the future

Overall sounds like a good deal to me if the people know what they are doing.

That deal sounds okay in theory, but chances are, they will not likely treat your car like there own. A high quality full detail can run anywhere from $400-$800 per visit depending on the extent of work done. Clay bar & polishing take a lot of time to finish and finish correctly. It took me over 2 hours to clay bar the entire car...polishing was over 4 hours. Include the car wash and cleaning the interior and thats roughly 7-8 hours of work. Some of these shops actually do more damage than fix it when they rush jobs through the door. The products themselves can get expensive also, so don't expect a detail shop to apply the high grade stuff for that amount. Likely just a quick coat of bottom shelf wax.

^^No mention of clay bar or polishing.

It's a bit overwhelming at first, but its worthwhile to learn to do it yourself. This way you at least know if a "pro" is doing it right or not. I would suggest watching the videos from the Adam's website as well as the Junkman's. It's really not that complicated once you know what to avoid.

I agree with Cmike, I didn't know much at all about claying / detailing / waxing, but I watched all the Junkman and Adams videos and they really help to break everything down to make it much easier. I now spend about 3 hours everyother weekend cleaning and waxing my car because I like to know that I did the job and wasn't just rushed, but I do not have the flexpolisher which would cut that time in half.

It is overwhelming....you are talking to a guy who has never changed his own oil. I am not a car guru, I just wanted a beautiful car and ended up with a 40th 370Z. I just want to keep it in good condition, and don't mind paying to do so.

Doesn't sound like a bad deal. However, the key as with anything is the quality of the work. I would try to find previous customers and talk with them. Check out their shop, how clean and organized is it. If all seems good, have them do an ultimate detail and if you are happy with the results, get the package.

Nick if the detailing part is overwhelming i would suggest learning how to properly wash a car. I say this in a non threatening manner because like you mentioned you want to keep it in good condition. Knowing how to properly wash your vehicle can severely reduce the build up of swirls etc that destroy the clean clear look on your paint that would otherwise cause you to need to bring the car in for a detail. There are a bunch of easy techniques that can extend the amount of time needed between details greatly. Junkman and Adam's Polishes both have video on the proper way to wash your vehicle along with how to detail which was mentioned in earlier posts. You will be suprised how easy it can be. I hope this help you.

I bought the car a month ago at 6,000 miles and it already had swirls on the rear end. I have not washed it yet...so I figured I would at least take it in to get rid of the swirl.

That package won't get rid of the swirls since it only a wax. Polishing is the only way to get rid of swirls and get the car the "deep" shine. Some cheap waxes fill in scratches, but it doesn't last very long. Maybe a month if that.

I know, they have a program to rid of the swirls. Maybe they will throw it in for free if I sign up for a year?

Ok, so I dropped it off at that place this morning, to do a full detail. I asked them to do a buffer to remove swirles and a scratch mark my cover cover left for an additional $50. I was told to pick it up at 12...which would give him a little less than 3 hours to do the work. That doesn't seem like enough time...I guess if I am unsatisfied with the job I will complain.