Suggested Exterior ONLY Price to charge?

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willowcat11

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Hi All,


It's been a busy summer with work and all, but I am back to the forum because Fall is the time of year I get a lot of calls from people wanting to do some winterizing before the cold comes.

My first car is coming up this coming weekend and it is just an exterior detail. It's a 2007 light blue Ford Taurus that's in really good shape. They want me to wash, wax. They wont be getting a SHOW CAR SHINE, because they dont even understand what a swirl is. I'll be dressing and protecting the tires, exterior trim, and rims. Cleaning the windows and that's it.


Would anyone have any suggested prices I could through her way?


Thanks greatly and have a good night all!
 
Throw her way.

Figure how long it should take you (probably about 3-4 hours) and then decide how much your time is worth per hour. There you go. That is always my suggestion and the general rule of thumb here on the forums.
 
125 150 depending on car or suv/truck
Depends on your market
All of of guys try to go for 30 to 40 an hr
 
willowcat11 said:
Hi All,


It's been a busy summer with work and all, but I am back to the forum because Fall is the time of year I get a lot of calls from people wanting to do some winterizing before the cold comes.

My first car is coming up this coming weekend and it is just an exterior detail. It's a 2007 light blue Ford Taurus that's in really good shape. They want me to wash, wax. They wont be getting a SHOW CAR SHINE, because they dont even understand what a swirl is. I'll be dressing and protecting the tires, exterior trim, and rims. Cleaning the windows and that's it.


Would anyone have any suggested prices I could through her way?


Thanks greatly and have a good night all!
Click to expand...
anywhere from 150 to 200 depending condition.
 
Kinda rethinking that for such a simple service.i would say 120.00 for 2.5 hrs of work.Throw in ironx and decon stick with my above reply.
 
I could probably do that car in 1 hr and 15 min.
 
$120-$150 just for that??? If I convert that to my countries exchange rate, a typical decent car wash would do all that for $10 in an hour. Are prices generally that high in the USA?
 
It really varies from state to state.florida is tough with fixed income older people and really hard to find decent jobs,unless your in medical field or a lawyer.florida is a me too state.what I mean is everyone is doing the same thing overcrowded and cut throat prices and saturated with small businesses.yes I agree it's everywhere but Florida is worse.
 
I would talk through your offerings and if the owner truly doesn't want to pay for a buffer user to add gloss/shine, I would charge $125 and do the below. If real cheap tards want it for $99 I'll skip the Iron X and Nano. I rarely get anyone that cheap though. My basic clean up package is as follows:

  • Wash it & remove tar/sap where applicable which for me I usually hit those areas with mineral spirits and a MF Rag
  • Iron X at least the hood, deck lid and rear bumper area
  • Nanokin sponge paint and windows
  • Use my buffer to apply a thin coat of Collinite 476
  • Dress tires and trim

Hate to say it but this is a lot of what I do on the weekends (side gig) for a number of local neighbors and friends. To them the vehicle looks fabulous and they love it. For me, it's tough as I'm a perfectionist, but I also value my time and want to make at least $40-50/hr if I'm spending my personal time on this stuff.

I can bust out the above on a sedan in 2hrs. Sometimes the wheels are trashed and it takes a little longer. When I look it over if I notice this I won't budge from pricing. Perhaps longer than some on the board would take but then as noted, I sometimes pay the price for perfectionism and in many cases I know and see these people regularly so I like their jobs to turn out great.

Key IMO is to give it a Strong clean up which removes all the gunk and gets the surface ready to accept a sealant, is smooooooth to the touch and offers them a little something extra so they don't forget. Kinda sucks to see a nice clean well waxed car only to rub your hand on the fender and feel tree sap and see flakes of dirt on the rear bumper coated in wax. You could I suppose skip the Iron X but as noted I usually on cheap jobs will just do the hood, deck lid and rear end.

I can breeze over a car with a nano sponge and a small bucket of soapy water so that's not much time. Same with applying some #476 (which is durable as heck) and then I can do the same with removing it with my microfiber bonnets that go over the applicator pad. Final wipe down to insure it's all off and I'm done. During the summer months this year I played with Hydro 2 as my final product on some thus really saving me some time. I'm personally not a huge fan of it but it works and provides protection and beads nicely. I use it on wheels quite bit.
 
Yeah $120 USD. I charge $200ish for a wash/wax with decon. That's in Canadian dollars which comes out to about $150USD. So pricing suggested here is reasonable. If the car doesn't need decon you can lower your price, but seeing as it is a 2007. You need to find out if it's ever been detailed. If it hasn't it might be like 800 grit sand paper by now. Wax will not bond at all well to this type of paint. So a decon is a must in that situation. (Plus the risk of marring the paint is much higher with all the contamation) Pretty much unavoidable if you use a machine to put wax on, and quite frankly a waste of money. :)
 
so im on the low price end but its mostly due to my area, I would charge $35 and that's because for something that basic I just wash, with uber or megs d115 and then clean rims. for a BASIC client they are more then happy with this as you have said "they don't understand what a swirl is" so they are mind blown by the results and it takes me an hr or less so im still at my $30 mark, I do these for the simple fact that so far each one ive done for $30 has spread the word to others that have spent over $200. if they wanted the decon and a wax then id upsell to keep my rate at no less then $30 an hr.
 
Here's the thing that starts to bother me about all of these "how much should I charge" threads... the answer is simple... you can literally charge anything you want.

Logically you want to at least charge more than your expenses (product cost, shop space if you have one, utilities, etc), but anything after that (ie your personal labor) is completely subjective. It depends on so many things that there is no right answer. For basic work as you describe, there will likely be plenty of competition, so that will have to factor into your pricing strategy in order to be successful. For higher end services, such as paint correction, paint coatings, wheels off detailing, etc there is more tolerance for high prices, but keep in mind that is an entirely different market than basic detailing as it falls more into the skilled labor area.

In the end, cover your expenses, then determine how you would like to value your time and charge accordingly. As long as you feel you are being compensated enough to make it worth your time, then you're fine. If you feel you're working too hard for not enough pay, then you're either not charging enough or you're in the wrong line of work. Charge enough to keep yourself happy and be within reason of those offering similar services nearby.
 
I would say $120 tops for wash, clay decon(maybe throw some iron remover if your nice enough, upto you), and wax/AIO
 
Man guys, thanks tremendously for you're very detailed and thorough replies!!! This helps out big time!
 
A few of u have mentioned iron removers. Is this something new? I have never heard of these before.
 
Thank You very much for that link notorious. Answered my questions!
 
I would charge $30 and here is what I would do

*ONRww in a Home Depot gallon pump sprayer used as Waterless Wash (one microfiber to wash and one to dry)
*While the panel is still wet I would use Meguiars D156 as a drying aid and it waxes the vehicle as you dry
*Clean wheels and tires with a soft brush and Optimum Power Clean and dry with a black microfiber
*** and your done. --- total time 1hr 30 min
 
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