A few questions before doing a coworkers truck

timbo7

timbo7

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I just got into this hobby after reading a lot of stuff on here then ended up going out and buying some product. I was planning on just doing my car ( 06 Legacy GT ) and my wifes car ( 07 TL ). But then I started talking to a guy at work and he bought an 06 GTO so he ended up buying a DA and I helped him on his car then.

Those are the only cars that I ever used a DA on and on all of them I used the LC flat orange, white, black with the UC, UP, Collinite 845 accordingly. All of the cars looked and felt fantastic afterwards :props:. Thanks AGO!

Now another coworker of mine wants me and the guy with the GTO to do his truck ( trailblazer ). My question is what would you guys do? I read Mikes article on starting a part time business detailing and it said about doing a one step instead of the two step that I did on the other cars. I dont see this guy washing it by hand and applying wax every few months to maintain the really nice finish so should I just use the UP with the white pad or maybe the UC with the white pad or should I try another product? I dont think the guy is going to want to pay us enough to do the two step.

I was planning on washing, claying, AIO or polish, then wax. What would be a good starting point for a price for that? He said the car has swirls and stuff would a one step be enough to get it looking really good?

TIA for the help. Ive never done anything like this before and dont want to rip myself off.
 
You doing the inside too? This is what I would go with, although I haven't tried everything out there: BLACKFIRE Total Polish & Seal, polish and wax, cleaner wax, car polish

I got some in yesterday and tried it out, got great results on the project I was starting on, but ultimately went with Sonax PF. Would BF have worked, probably. As for charging, pick a rate, if your doing one step you can probably bust out the outside including a bath in 4 or 5 hours.
 
Part of the answer depends on clients expectation and your time to meet that expectation.
 
Well... I think the first thing to do is to find out what his expectations are what you are willing to settle as far as payment is concerned.
 
Thanks for the replys. His biggest thing when I talked to him which I dont be able to do until Monday was the swirls. Will that blackfire AIO take care of most of them? Im sure he would be really happy if we got most of them out. I havent done enough vehicles and the ones I did we did the same process on them all so I have no experience with other products.

I dont think hell want to pay for the 2 step. I figure if we charge him $200 for the 1 step which would give us both about $20/hr if we bang it out in about 5 hours. If we did the 2 step it would probably take a good bit longer since ive noticed that the compounding usually takes me a bit longer than the polish to complete. I also washed it after compounding since it dusts. Would $300 be good for the 2 step?
 
Sorry for the newb questions but I feel like every time I sell something or do something for someone I feel like im getting the short end of the stick and dont want to screw myself or friend after a long hard day or polishing a car.
 
Mate I'd say $100/day each is a good deal for what's your 4th go at doing it. Try the Lightest product first (like the UV and white combo) if it works happy days.

I view any cutting as an evil, necessary, but an evil nonetheless. UC might be enough for parts of the truck, and then do the heavier processes where needed. This cuts your time, and also reduces unnecessary removal of paint.

With two of you working you have a great advantage, and if you're both keen on making extra beer money keep at it, you'll learn together share ideas and understanding.

As you get more experience you can do cars quicker and better, but at the moment I'd be feeling happy to make some $$ and have new challenges to learn from.
 
AaronM said:
Mate I'd say $100/day each is a good deal for what's your 4th go at doing it. Try the Lightest product first (like the UV and white combo) if it works happy days.

I view any cutting as an evil, necessary, but an evil nonetheless. UC might be enough for parts of the truck, and then do the heavier processes where needed. This cuts your time, and also reduces unnecessary removal of paint.

With two of you working you have a great advantage, and if you're both keen on making extra beer money keep at it, you'll learn together share ideas and understanding.

As you get more experience you can do cars quicker and better, but at the moment I'd be feeling happy to make some $$ and have new challenges to learn from.
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Yea Im not trying to make a living doing it but dont want to short change myself. Im torn between buying an AIO and just doing that or maybe doing either the UP or UC and leaving it at that. Ive read that the UC finishes nicely but have actually looked at the results in the sun without polishing first.
 
timbo7 said:
Yea Im not trying to make a living doing it but dont want to short change myself. Im torn between buying an AIO and just doing that or maybe doing either the UP or UC and leaving it at that. Ive read that the UC finishes nicely but have actually looked at the results in the sun without polishing first.
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Pick up an AIO. It will really make a difference rather than just waxing/sealing and will save you a lot of time if you are going to do a 2 or 3 step process.
 
Thanks for the replys. Sorry for taking so long to respond. He said he'd really like the swirls removed. So I'm assuming I'd need a compound. What do you think of the uc on maybe a white pad? Would that finish enough?

I think I'm going to get some of that aio to use on my own car. Seems like nice stuff.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using AG Online
 
The white pad may not give you enough cut. Try the ultimate polish with a green or orange pad. If not, you are going to have to probably do 2 steps with ultimate compound being the first step. I would start with the ultimate compound with an orange or MF cutting pad.
 
Anyway you can post a pic? Give an idea of what you're staring with? I just did a full restoration on a silver 2007 Trailblazer SS that hadn't ever seen wax, clay, polish, or compound, ever. Swirls everywhere from running it through gas station wash racks. Needed UC to get the cut necessary. As expected, it came out looking new. There are more pics on my photobucket if you want to peek through, but here is the final result.

 
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