Dealership Detailer hourly rate??

Were I work part time they send all the used cars out to get detailed. They pay 80.00 to 100.00 per car depending on how big the car or suv is. The new cars we do get spray wax if a light color and if its black they will get a hand wax.
 
you are lucky to get that rate. We have very few delerships still in operation here in western NC and the sales mngr acted like I was crazy for wanting $75 a car in and out. they would rather pay some highschool kid for minimum wage. other dealerships pay $10 an hour here. due to the economy they get ppl to do it for their price. the old saying you pay for what you get is so true. The private market is where we have to make our money here. I have seen cars come out of dealerships still with crumbs in between the seats.
 
I worked as a used car detailer at dealerships for a few years and it was not rewarding at all. You bust your ass for little pay. I worked flat rate and really had to bust a hump to make any money. I was paid 3 hours per car, that was it. Some cars were sent out for detail at about $80 per car, and not done very well. At dealerships it is all about turnaround. The faster they were cleaned up, the sooner they went on the lot. the only reaon I worked at dealerships for so long was beacause there was always work to do. Who wants to pay for a full detail in the middle of Winter? I truly enjoy detailing cars, but when you are told to do them as fast as you can, and no one cares what it looks like when you are done, it was time to step away. I work on cars on the side from my home, and I enjoy it now more than ever. It is a lot less like work, and more for enjoyment that pays.
 
Nissan dealer I am at the "detailers" make 9 to 9.50 hr. But that's only for the ocassional buff job their pay is more per job. New cars sold come with a "free" washh and wax done e very 6 months for 3 yrs called a Paint Renewel they get paid $14 to do it, an exterior wash for a customer that spends a few bucks is called a Free Wash and pays $7. New car prep includes remove plastic, wash, wax, clean windows apply Rain Xand tidy up interior pays $28 add a pin stripe another $9. Used cars get an A clean which is wash, carpet shampoo (tuff stuff sprayed on), interior vac and leaned, suppose to do a 1 step polish and wax plus clean engine pays $28. I help my detailers out by makin sure my loaners are always clean so they get a quick was but detailer gets paid a Paint Renewel, any customer that spends some coin i ay detailer a Pain Renewel and tell them a quick wash and vac. So one of the guys there I use often makes about 3 to 4k a month.
 
Call me crazy, but I think $12 an hour is pretty gracious. There's guys around here in my area working for less.

Obviously that rate doesn't compare to working for yourself. But for someone just starting out who wants to gain experience...that's a great way to get into it.
 
Just found this thread and for the most part everything is on point. I was recently hired at Lexus to "detail" cars. I'm just doing this for maybe a year till I get enough clients where I won't have to worry about paying bills.

And Mike I got to meet Lenny, he does work for Lexus sometimes and we got to talk a few times. Great guy and gave me some helpful tips. I also asked him if he ever need help, don't hesitate and call. It's a small world. :)
 
What about detailers at places like BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus.
Do they make more money?
How much do you think they make per hour?

There is a opening for a detailer job at my local Mercedez, I was thinking about applying for it, even though I just bought all this stuff to start up my own business.
Maybe I can work for them during the week and myself on the weekend.
Do you think they would allow that. or forbid that in the contract?
 
I worked at the local ford dealer for 4 years. It's a smaller dealership and they cared what the cars looked like so I had to do good work on all of the cars. After busting my butt for them all those years I got up to $9.50/hr. Started out at minimum wage which was $7.15. But I finally had enough and told them I wanted more money or I'm leaving and of course they didn't want to pay more so I bought a bunch of supplies from AG to do it on my own. I knew nothing about detailing when I was hired but I caught on quick and knew there were better ways so I looked online and did lots of reading. It was a good experience working there though, just sucks cuz I busted my butt an got paid squat.


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Flip said:
What about detailers at places like BMW, Mercedes, and Lexus.
Do they make more money?
How much do you think they make per hour?

There is a opening for a detailer job at my local Mercedez, I was thinking about applying for it, even though I just bought all this stuff to start up my own business.
Maybe I can work for them during the week and myself on the weekend.
Do you think they would allow that. or forbid that in the contract?
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from what i have seen it dont really matter what type of cars the dealership sells. i had an interview at a used car dealership and even with my 15 years experience(which the manager told me was more than what his whole detail staff had put together) he only wantedto give me $13/hr. this dealership sold Lambo's, Audi R8 ,Ferrari ,Bently etc......... and they still did not want to pay any type of good money
 
I work in a Audi dealership as a technician, every co-worker knows what I do. I get my own special parking away from everyone else ( because I complain that someone touched my car ) with security camera facing my car while im at work. If we get a customer that's picky, the managers sends me referrals. I even PDI picky customers cars. I think my dealership cares if you speak up or else its sent to our detailer.
 
When I detailed for carmax they started me at $10.00 an hour. After 12 weeks you can test to be certified in "the carmax process" and you get around $13.00 an hour. 7 guys working at 5 stations we turned out 16-19 cars a day.If we were behind on quota or trying to set a week record we would go cherry pick the cleaner/newer cars from the "to-do" section and knock those out.Quota was 16 cars a day.
 
detailgod said:
from what i have seen it dont really matter what type of cars the dealership sells. i had an interview at a used car dealership and even with my 15 years experience(which the manager told me was more than what his whole detail staff had put together) he only wantedto give me $13/hr. this dealership sold Lambo's, Audi R8 ,Ferrari ,Bently etc......... and they still did not want to pay any type of good money
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Wow what cheap people!
I thought detailers at those kinds of dealerships made a lot of money.
Maybe I will try to work at a local dealership just to get some experience under my belt. Then I can go ahead and start my own business.
 
David Fermani said:
I don't mean to sound too arrogant but when I had my shop doing "hack" dealer work, we managed to produce $500K /yr in revenue. My wife drove a new Mercedes, I had a new Vette, my $300K house was paid for and both my kid's guaranteed college funds were pre-paid. Don't discredit dealer work unless you've experienced it full force. It's a very lucrative business in any part of the country. Yeah, you might make only $70-$90 per car, but when you do 20, 30 or 40 cars a day it adds up real fast.
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Sounds like you've been doing this for a while Dave! ;) :props:
 
pickles said:
When I detailed for carmax they started me at $10.00 an hour. After 12 weeks you can test to be certified in "the carmax process" and you get around $13.00 an hour. 7 guys working at 5 stations we turned out 16-19 cars a day.If we were behind on quota or trying to set a week record we would go cherry pick the cleaner/newer cars from the "to-do" section and knock those out.Quota was 16 cars a day.
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no offense to you but i have seen the work 3 Carmax's near me turn out and thier certification program must not be that good cause there was polish splattered all over the cars buffer trails and ALOT of swirls
 
David Fermani said:
I don't mean to sound too arrogant but when I had my shop doing "hack" dealer work, we managed to produce $500K /yr in revenue. My wife drove a new Mercedes, I had a new Vette, my $300K house was paid for and both my kid's guaranteed college funds were pre-paid. Don't discredit dealer work unless you've experienced it full force. It's a very lucrative business in any part of the country. Yeah, you might make only $70-$90 per car, but when you do 20, 30 or 40 cars a day it adds up real fast.
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how did you turn out that many cars in one day and what was getting done to the cars for the $70-$90
 
David Fermani said:
I don't mean to sound too arrogant but when I had my shop doing "hack" dealer work, we managed to produce $500K /yr in revenue. My wife drove a new Mercedes, I had a new Vette, my $300K house was paid for and both my kid's guaranteed college funds were pre-paid. Don't discredit dealer work unless you've experienced it full force. It's a very lucrative business in any part of the country. Yeah, you might make only $70-$90 per car, but when you do 20, 30 or 40 cars a day it adds up real fast.
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20 cars a day? In a 10-hour work day that means one every 30 minutes...I bet those cars weren't getting 25+ hour 3 stage paint corrections, were they?:props:
 
Detailing at dealerships vary in different states. Used car lots you will bust your ass and hourly rate generally sucks. At a new car lot still an hourly basis but the cars are in better shape and I go to the auctions with the lot buyer. If the vehicle he is looking at is a POS, I tell them how long it would take and most likly I would outsource it cause its not worth my time or effort. They generally dont want to put to much into a car or time due to bottom line of time is money.
Dealerships can save a detailer in the colder months when business for the private detailer can struggle to make ends meat.
cant make money when you get sick and it 20 degrees outside.
Another upside to dealerships is you use their products and there machines and if you have a good dealership they will listen to your sugestions in distributers, products and machines.
 
Flip said:
Wow what cheap people!
I thought detailers at those kinds of dealerships made a lot of money.
Maybe I will try to work at a local dealership just to get some experience under my belt. Then I can go ahead and start my own business.
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remember my friend knowledge is power. working at local shops will teach you alot of tricks of the trade. think of it as an internship with pay and local shops depending on location and amount of business can show you alot and give you an idea of varity of customers and what they are looking for.
 
detailgod said:
no offense to you but i have seen the work 3 Carmax's near me turn out and thier certification program must not be that good cause there was polish splattered all over the cars buffer trails and ALOT of swirls
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You're right,the cars weren't supposed to be perfect,only "sellable". to save product and time we were only allowed to polish/buff and wax the high visibility areas.I haven't worked there in 4 years and recently went back to the Fresno store to look at an Infinity G37 and I was shocked at the condition of the cars in the luxury car section,very poor work.I was 23 at the time and the second oldest guy in the dept.
 
I work for the largest dealership in the area. they pay me $16.00 an hour flat rate. I get paid 5 hrs. for cars and 6 for trucks/van and suv's. if I need more time for a vehicle they are usually willing to pay it.I also get paid hourly for any wet sanding. I average 3 vehicles a day. In this economy I cant complain.

I also work for a private shop 3 days a week. I get paid 14.00 hr. and 10% comission. which comes out to a minimum of 27.00 an hour. we also do dealership cars frequently we charge 100 per car and 120 for over sized vehicles. we call them lipstick details. they are very basic details. we don't do underhoods or buff. cars are wash,clayed,polished with D151. interiors are vac'ed,extracted. wiped down and all effort put into removing all stains and marks.
 
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