So I talked to a guy today about DETAILING!!!

Bates Detailing

Bates Detailing

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OK - found a guy that worked at the airlines....... he said he does high end detailing for celebrities cars!!!! So of course I get really interested in this guy's business. So I say, "What products and buffer do you use?" ....... "what do you mean?" What type of buffer do you use? Rotary, Dual Action, etc.?" .... " I don't know how to buff" !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Without making him feel bad) "What is you method if you don't mind me asking?"

"well, I go to their place and do a thorough wash and hit every crevice there"





I'm thinking..... "my God, this guy doesn't know how to use a polisher?!??!?!?!??!"

He told me he has a detailing business!!!! I have a 100% Mobile Detailing Business and am shocked that this guy has Titans players, Predators Players, etc. on his list of clients!!! I service many industries..... but car wise I have clients that are average to above average clients - to see this guy service 100,000 dollar cars and up with a ?washing service? baffles me!!!!! And he says .... he has a detailing service...... !!!! He charges $145 for his detail!!!! Without Buffing!!!!!! Am I wrong with my pricing or are they wrong with paying that much for a basic "cleaning"?!?!?!?!?
 
Unfortunately...that's most of the "detailing" businesses out there. Even around me, there's a ton of shops that don't buff, or even machine polish with a DA. They just wash, and hand wax at the most.

It's funny too cause they tell customers that come in to "never let someone machine buff your vehicle!". Which I find hilarious, haha. They just don't know how. Or, they tried and screwed a vehicle up real bad and now they're afraid of anything you have to plug in, lol. :buffing:
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Unfortunately...that's most of the "detailing" businesses out there. Even around me, there's a ton of shops that don't buff, or even machine polish with a DA. They just wash, and hand wax at the most.

It's funny too cause they tell customers that come in to "never let someone machine buff your vehicle!". Which I find hilarious, haha. They just don't know how. Or, they tried and screwed a vehicle up real bad and now they're afraid of anything you have to plug in, lol. :buffing:
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A Customer told me that once lol -- - -- and I didn't put it together.... He said, "I never let anyone put a machine on my car!" or something similar to that...... shocked me cause I understand for major corrections a rotary/dual action is needed to produce the finest results!!! We'll Guess Either I need to tool him or teach him lol!!!! Rather teach him :(
 
B&B Tennessee said:
A Customer told me that once lol -- - -- and I didn't put it together.... He said, "I never let anyone put a machine on my car!" or something similar to that...... shocked me cause I understand for major corrections a rotary/dual action is needed to produce the finest results!!! We'll Guess Either I need to tool him or teach him lol!!!! Rather teach him :(
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I've gotten good at convincing people otherwise about it. It's just those detailers who think they can just pick up a wool pad and some glaze and think they're gonna buff a vehicle. Then when they cut the crap out of it, they think the rotary is evil, ha.

They don't wanna take the time to learn about the pads, products, and techniques. But, that's what separates us from them!:props:
 
Mobile detailers don't buff cars?

I had no idea. Seriously, I was always trying to figure out how they did that with poor lighting and everything.
 
rakkvet said:
Mobile detailers don't buff cars?

I had no idea. Seriously, I was always trying to figure out how they did that with poor lighting and everything.
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LOL - Im a moblie deatILer and I will DETAIL a car.....
 
That guy has alot of people fooled it seems like. However I don't think his prices are off. I charge almost double that before I even touch a buffer. I guess it depends on your clients and location.
 
Spicy McHaggis said:
That guy has alot of people fooled it seems like. However I don't think his prices are off. I charge almost double that before I even touch a buffer. I guess it depends on your clients and location.
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Wow, really? Almost $300 and you don't buff? How are you getting away with that?
 
I would rather have him out doing wash-n-waxes then hacking up paint with a rotary. Sounds like an oppurtunity for you to move in :buffing:
 
On a typical detail I don't buff either. Other than using my PC to apply a wax. Majority of my customer's are daily drivers who aren't willing to pay for the swirl removal or even a one step correction. I have had a couple customers and I always try to at least sell a one step. I just think that most people aren't concerned with that. It's the meticulous people that notice them and want something done.

Now, I don't have any experience a rotary really. I have a crappy one that I used twice on my truck and just didn't like it. I think the new Flex will fit me though. But I tell my customers this if they ask. I'm not going to try to sell myself on something that I'm not comfortable with yet. I do not need to risk ruining someones paint due to my lack of knowledge.

But I can do paint correction with my PC (may take longer but I get great results). But again I don't get a lot of paint corrections, just your typical interior, wash, clay, wax, etc.
 
Kristopher1129 said:
Wow, really? Almost $300 and you don't buff? How are you getting away with that?
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jimmyjam said:
That was same exact thought....What state does he live in, to me thats MONEYS!!
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I don't think I'm "getting away with" anything. I live in an area that has some very weathy people that like to keep their vehicles looking their best. I also have a couple "celebrity" clients, and that also helps drive the price up. People are always willing to pay more to have the same guy detail their car that also does their favorite football player's or radio host vehicle.
 
Let me add, that I will use my PC to apply a paint cleaner and/or glaze on most of those jobs, but never for correction. So I guess in reality I touch a buffer, but don't do any correction.
 
It's just a sad fact that most people don't know what a vehicles finish should look like after being detailed. Granted if that guy is washing $100,000 dollar cars for pro-players, they probably don't need much polishing on their paint. However, I hope that he is at least waxing their cars every couple months or sooner. Most people just want there vehicle to look clean and reflect the sun. They don't understand what was done in the first place(from the factory) to make there paint look good on their exotic/expensive ride. :(
 
Some people have had bad experence with hack detailers with buffers. A detail is supposed to make a car look better , not fill it with swirls.
 
ShaunD said:
It's just a sad fact that most people don't know what a vehicles finish should look like after being detailed. Granted if that guy is washing $100,000 dollar cars for pro-players, they probably don't need much polishing on their paint. However, I hope that he is at least waxing their cars every couple months or sooner. Most people just want there vehicle to look clean and reflect the sun. They don't understand what was done in the first place(from the factory) to make there paint look good on their exotic/expensive ride. :(
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You hit it on the nose "Most people don't know what a vehicle finish should look like".

A few years ago I had a Blk Honda Passport (loved it) and 2 goddaughter wanted to flirt with the boys across the street so they washed my car. They used paper towels to dry it when I saw it I thought "Boy! that is so shiny" :dblthumb2: right behind me was their uncle that nearly fainted into my arms...lol Lucky for me he worked at car paint garage and one wkend came over with his buffer and spend the whole day fixing my paint job. I so miss that guy now, my girlfriend divorced him years ago :cry:

Educate your clients women will list then you need to SHOW then something like a portfolio and men show them first then they listen. Feel free to show then a picture of my car that will scare the s#$% out anyone...lol

People think (well the ones I have spoke to and this is specially men) that if they wax their car every time they wash it at the "car wash" their good for ever.

I kept telling my sister to have the paint clay cleaned over and over until she told me "Stop telling me that, I'm not going to do that"......ok I showed her on the laptop a before and after picture of a car and she said "OH! maybe I will have hubby learn from you how to do that to our cars" :bash:

Take that to the bank my friends.
 
Yeah I just did a personal RV on Saturday and noticed an insane amount of concentrated swirl marks from a rotary - The owner said that it was from the detailer that came out and removed a scratch from a tree branch hitting it. It looked really bad - so I will fix it next time around for him (400,000 dollar RV with gross deep swirl marks!)

Everyone is making good points on here - I supposed it shocked me that he doesn't know how to buff but says he is detailing them. He told me he has some amazing pics to show me - can't wait to see them.

Flash - I won't move in on his clients - I'll end up showing him how to polish.... there's more than enough clients out there then to take his few from him! Just not in me I suppose.

Well - there are different levels for "detailing" and after reading alot of these comments - - -- more power to those that can pull $200 + for wiping down a car..... if I had clients that would pay that I would be more than happy to make that in an hour.
 
Automess said:
A few years ago I had a Blk Honda Passport (loved it) and 2 goddaughter wanted to flirt with the boys across the street so they washed my car. They used paper towels to dry it when I saw it I thought "Boy! that is so shiny" :dblthumb2: right behind me was their uncle that nearly fainted into my arms...lol Lucky for me he worked at car paint garage and one wkend came over with his buffer and spend the whole day fixing my paint job. I so miss that guy now, my girlfriend divorced him years ago :cry:

Take that to the bank my friends.
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Boy you really lost me on this one...drying with paper towels makes your roof rusty and your gf used to be married to your goddaughter's uncle???
 
In my opinion there should be 2 separate entities - Clean Up Shop for those who do basic services (wash, wax, vac), and Detail Shop for those that offer machine polishing, odor removal (not air freshener), on top of washing and waxing. This may ruffle some feathers, tick off someone, etc., but think about it - you work hard to stand out from the crowd.

Celebrity or not, in the end you're still cleaning a car. It's your attention to details or quality of your work that sets you apart. You can be that person who charged a celebrity $150 to wash and wax their car only to be forgotten about because you didn't do anything special, or you can be the person that charged them that or double because you made their car look "complete". You attended to all the details.


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