How Long Does it Take You to Detail a Vehicle?

vanev

vanev

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I gotta say.
It takes me such a long time to detail a vehicle.
Even a simple one stage wash and clean can take 4-8 hours, or more.

I work hard and can move pretty fast.
It is not an issue of making more effort.
I feel like I am moving as fast as I can, a professional speed, but am by no means trying to break any speed records.

I am incredibly thorough, OCD level.
I also truly detail every surface and any crack or crevice that is reachable.
The end results are always fantastic, and I would not trade or compromise the final product.

I am interested in taking on more detail work on a professional level.
The biggest reason I have not taken on more work is due to the time factor.
The time factor really is not so much an issue with me, as it is a logistical issue in working out a schedule with a potential customer.

So, how long does it take you to detail a vehicle?
 
That's a wide open question.......how bad is the vehicle inside & out? What are you being paid? There are WAY too many variables here to give a realistic answer. Is this a daily driver Accord or a rare classic car?

There is no good answer to this question.
 
My $300 jobs take about 7-8 hours. That equates to around $42 an hour which is more than I make at my normal job :) so I'm happy with it. I do this as a hobby so I'm not in it to make lots of $$$. It's my mental escape from my hectic work weeks.
 
I've spent 2 hours, and I've spent 12, it all really depends on variables

Customer expectation
Severity of the work to be done (Simple wash and dry? Full correction? Interior only?)

I look at it like this: If I can get an interior done in 2 hours, great, but if it takes me 8, it takes me 8. I'd rather do an exceptional job that takes me 8 hours instead of an okay job that takes me 2 or 4.
 
It depends ,it depends what the customer is willing to pay,if it's a production job moderate dirty 1 hr on inter 1 hr prep 2 hr exterior,I stay away from f series pickups ,and tahoes even a considerate production detail is all day on those ,and it's a hit or miss ,some will pay 40 and hr majority won't ,I will accept newer ones and spend a couple of hrs on it.
 
It's all about how I'm getting paid.

Sometimes you lose witch is always seems to be the case.

A tip I have that helps is ask your self how much do you charge to do a full interior.

How much for a wash

How much for a engine cleaning. Shampoo etc and price it together. If its too high knock off to what is fair and go from there that way you don't say crap I under charged it helps a lot
 
As others have said it is too broad of a question. Fastest I do a one step is around 7-8 hours but I've spent 40+ hours on a large detail before. All depends..
 
U won't make aloft of money detailing hard business to scale while quality can't be sacrificed .know one will do a better job than u stay mobile stay small stay booked u probably keep it 9 to 5 or less in a average market u can do 81500 a year ,and don't kill yourself ,u will feel it when ur 40.
 
I could never spend forty hrs on one car unless it's a minimum of 1300 .
 
I will have about 2.5 days in this ACURA TL I'm doing for a friend. But it was dirty inside/out. Full interior detail, engine detail, rims (they took 2 hrs scrubbing) and will spot compound the big scratches then do the whole car with M205, then seal it.

But, I wasn't moving fast...
 
GSKR said:
U won't make aloft of money detailing hard business to scale while quality can't be sacrificed .know one will do a better job than u stay mobile stay small stay booked u probably keep it 9 to 5 or less in a average market u can do 81500 a year ,and don't kill yourself ,u will feel it when ur 40.
Click to expand...

Don't listen to him OP. Detailing is scalable, not quite to the degree of a software company etc. but you can grow for sure. I'll pm you later but just wanna say this here before I go to bed. I'm working on some stuff that will hopefully innovate the detailing industry. Here's a little hint.. Spreadsheets ;)
 
GSKR said:
U won't make aloft of money detailing hard business to scale while quality can't be sacrificed .know one will do a better job than u stay mobile stay small stay booked u probably keep it 9 to 5 or less in a average market u can do 81500 a year ,and don't kill yourself ,u will feel it when ur 40.
Click to expand...

agreed :)
 
4-12 hours are common numbers for us on full details. We do however get some pretty bad vehicles. We do mostly 1 step polishes with spot correction. Nathan
 
A word of wisdom...young detailers better be putting at least 10% away for retirement if they are self employed, and they better sure as heck make sure they can afford their own health care by the time they hit 50...because detailing takes a heavy toll on the body. You may not feel it now, but like athletes...there's a price to pay later in life.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Natron said:
4-12 hours are common numbers for us on full details. We do however get some pretty bad vehicles. We do mostly 1 step polishes with spot correction. Nathan
Click to expand...

Full detail as in interior aswell? How bad of an interior? Two man team?
 
Detailing is scale able to a certain degree if ur by you're self no ,you're income will be limited and it's a revolving door in this business,u can get three good feeding dealers ,hire 5 guys pay all those taxes and chemicals and insurance,and work 7 days a week and deal with dealers they will run you to the ground at the end of the year u will be saying why did I do this cause maybe just maybe u will break even,as to u work in by ur self guys I've been doing this for 23 years ,I've done all that,just trying to educate u in the real world ,get a 9 to 5 job with health insurance and detail on the weekends . You're not gonna make 100k in you're pocket net ,the most I mademism87 k then start making ur deductions,if u like to work on cars stay small make 60 k a little deductions that's the way to do it ,and stay away of brick and mortar it will eat ur profits quick.or but a 500 k car wash which is on the cheap side and do 150 cars a day ,that will maybe get u to a 100 k take home
 
Thank you everyone for your responses.
A lot of the time frames stated by many of you are on par with what I experience.

RTexasF said:
That's a wide open question.......how bad is the vehicle inside & out? What are you being paid? There are WAY too many variables here to give a realistic answer. Is this a daily driver Accord or a rare classic car?
There is no good answer to this question.
Click to expand...
Yes.
I realize it is a wide open question.
Overall, what I am trying to communicate is that it seems to take me a very long time to detail a vehicle, even in the best of conditions.
Condition of a vehicle certainly factors into greatly increasing that time frame, or decreasing that time frame.

I will note that most of the vehicles I have worked on are daily drivers, and are usually in terrible shape both inside and out.
Having said that, even when I detail a vehicle that is in great shape, it seems take an incredibly long time as well.

Again, I am very pleased with the end result when the work is finished..
I am also a solo operation, so no added help to potentially make it faster.
 
Annnnnddddddd.... what color blue is the sky? :laughing:

Just doing an exterior WASH for me, takes most of the day.

That includes however:

  1. Make large glass of ice tea!!!! :D
  2. Take pain meds! ;)
  3. Get back brace, make ice pack, strap ice pack to back. :rolleyes:
  4. Clean underneath front and rear lip(s)
  5. Remove floor mats and vacuum
  6. Vacuum interior (even when not doing an interior cleaning)
  7. Clean wheel wells
  8. Clean rocker panels
  9. Clean exhaust tips
  10. Clean tires and wheels with dedicated cleaner(s). Dedicated wheel bucket, 12 assorted brushes. Mothers, Woolies, Daytona, plus assorted brushes
  11. Rinse all lower washed areas with pressure washer.
  12. Open doors, hood and trunk, wash all jambs by hand and/or appropriate brush.
  13. Rinse all jambs, then close doors, hood, and trunk
  14. Rinse entire vehicle with pressure washer, concentrating on lower panels to dislodge foreign matter.
  15. Foam vehicle with foam cannon and let dwell
  16. Rinse vehicle
  17. Foam second time, top section first and all glass.
  18. Wash top section and glass with appropriate mitt (Merino or Microfiber depending on which vehicle).
  19. Rinse top section and glass
  20. Foam the remaining sections one at a time and wash.
  21. Rinse sections as they are washed.
  22. Do final (overall) rinse
  23. Decon paint with clay / Nanoskin pad(s). Nanoskin via hand and via DA pad
  24. After decon... Light soap wash to remove traces of decon process
  25. Final rinse entire vehicle to remove any traces of decon process
  26. Dry with blower
  27. Pat dry with drying towels
  28. Open hood, doors, trunk and dry all jambs
  29. Apply protectant to all weather stripping
  30. Apply WOWA sealant to all jambs
  31. (optional) apply trim sealant to ALL exterior trim
  32. Clean glass INSIDE and OUT
  33. Apply spray sealant / liquid sealant to exterior
  34. Apply shine to wheel wells
  35. Apply tire gel and/or coating to tires
  36. Polish exhaust tips
  37. Seal wheels
  38. Get another glass of iced tea
  39. Get MORE pain meds
  40. Fall down and moan in pain
This of course is on my car, not CarMomma's Envoy Denali. With hers I have to do the running boards and the rear bumper step black plastic trim at the very least. Helps to do around the mirrors, under the front bumper, and the roof rack every second or third wash as well.
OCD, much? Naaaahhhhhh :buffing:


Seriously, I'll take a MINIMUM of 4~5 hours to do a wash job. It's just what I *DO*. :D


If I'm doing the interior, on my car, I do the wheel cleaning, jambs, and interior first, then do the washing part later. My car doesn't get dirty so it's fast compared to a DD like CarMomma's. Even so... I'll likely not do my interior and exterior in the same day.

With hers... you MUST sit aside 3~4 hours at least to do the interior.

Always do her exterior the next day!
 
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