03 GMC Envoy 1/2 compounded & polished hood

Tlefe091985

Tlefe091985

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First off, let me explain. I work for a terrible car dealership. They do not want me to spend the time needed on the vehicles. They do not understand the time, or process that goes into detailing a vehicle. In fact they do not even want me to buff lol.
Anyway, the vehicle is a 2003 GMC Envoy, with 153K miles. The interior was completely trashed. Stained carpet (carpet in the trunk area was disintegrating?), tan leather was black with dirt and body oils. Nevermind the interior, I worked my magic on it with what they give me to work with (Eureka APC, scrub brush, shop vac, brushes I found, and a McCulloch 1275 Steam Cleaner [was like pulling teeth to get that lol])
Anyway, the exterior was ridiculous. You can see the half of the hood I didn't touch. The entire body was like that. Anyhow, because Im a rebel, I decided to buff the hood, and only worthlessly polish the rest. The picture shows the difference between compounding (Eureka Medium Grade compound, purple floppy wool disc (don't know who makes it) and polishing (Eureka High Definition Polish, and a yellow polishing foam pad (which is actually a cutting pad) a $70 Drill Master rotary from Pep Boys on speed 4 for cutting, and 3.5 to polish.

I would like to see more videos on paint corrections of this magnitude. I could have, and would have spend numerous hours on wetsanding, and compound and polishing as I am paid by the hour. But like I mentioned before, the company does not want me to take the time needed. So I am left doing work that makes me as a detailer with 8+ years experience, look like crap. BTW I spent probably a total of 10-15 minutes on the hood, and maybe another 1-1.5 hours polishing the rest of the exterior.
My goal is to start my own business soon. Waiting for the weather to warm up, and gives me time to figure everything out, and get the proper equipment and product.
 
Nice work

You are certainly stuck in a dilemma

You know what is possible, but they won't let you do it

What will this Envoy sell for?
 
HAHAHA that is a funny question. Because I am not a sales person, they don't let me in on the prices, or how much they have in the vehicles.
If I had to guess, I would say somewhere in the $7900-$9900 range. BUT...my surefire answer to anyone off of work property is..."TOO MUCH"
Basically they are a dealership that is a guaranteed credit approval. So the vast majority of the clientele are sub prime credit. The owner, and his wife take full advantage of the people who need help. Banks allow 110%-120% of the book value. So, in turn, they price their vehicles above that, and come down to the over book percentage to look like the customer is getting a good deal. On top of drastically overpaying, the banks hit the customer with a 18-21% interest rate. Good work ethic huh?

Anyway, sorry to ramble on there.
I appreciate the kind words.
 
Yeah, the Blue Book on that car is $3,881 in Good Condition

I wonder if dealerships have some percentage of the sales value of the car in mind when they are having it detailed or if they just want to raise all of the cars to some minimum standard
 
most places (at least dealerships I have worked for or heard about) set aside a certain amount just for detailing. For instance, I worked at a Cadillac dealership. The used car portion of the dealership, paid the service portion of the dealership for details. Not as much as they would charge a customer, but still not getting it done for free. Another dealership (better used car dealership, with better inventory, but still after the subprime customer) puts aside $150 per vehicle.
So I assume that would be the correct procedure for most.
 
Here is another 50/50 spot on a 2008 Infiniti g35 sedan. Again compound and polished hood, only polished the rest of the body.
Only thing different was I used a softer light blue foam finishing pad instead of the yellow cutting pad for the polishing.
 
I have no clue as to the quality of Eureka brand products or a $70 rotary but a quote i heard many many years ago from a course in photography...

There is no such thing as a professional camera...only professional photographers! Basically any camera can yield amazing photos when used by a pro. Looks like you worked some "pro" level results with what you had.

My only question i would pose to used car dealerships is, wouldn't they sell faster and for slightly higher if detailed up like that? And maybe the answer is "sure, but not at the cost of employing and equipping employees to do that".
 
Puckman said:
I have no clue as to the quality of Eureka brand products or a $70 rotary but a quote i heard many many years ago from a course in photography...

There is no such thing as a professional camera...only professional photographers! Basically any camera can yield amazing photos when used by a pro. Looks like you worked some "pro" level results with what you had.


My only question i would pose to used car dealerships is, wouldn't they sell faster and for slightly higher if detailed up like that? And maybe the answer is "sure, but not at the cost of employing and equipping employees to do that".
Click to expand...

Thank you...working at a place like this brings my confidence down. But posting my results and having replies such as this brings it back. Thanks again.


I have been trying to tell them this from the gate. A detailed vehicle will sell quicker, and many times the customer is willing to spend a little more . I don't make hourly nearly as much as I think I am worth detailing, but I do know a lot of others who make a lot less when working for a production shop, or other dealerships.
 
Also...Eureka is a lower quality product IMO. We have a "Dealer Goodies" supply company very locally (who also delivers) that mainly distributes Meguiars products. (Which I would personally love to use again.) But the prices for Eureka are so much less expensive, they force me to use them instead. I think out of my 5 gallon containers. (Wash soap, bug remover, spray wax, tire shine, and APC, the most expensive thing was $39. And I think the tire shine ( which is water based, and only lasts for 2 days tops) and the APC (which is an auction formula, whatever that means) were both at the $39 price point.
 
Most dealerships are concerned with interior looking as close to new condition and the exterior just needs to be "glossy." Some care more than others.
 
Yes, i hear ya. And they would like the interior like new and the outside glossy at the lowest cost possible and NOW!

Keep pluggin' tiefe. The 50/50 hood shots look awesome with what you have ro work with and the little time they let you do it.
 
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