Cost of product per a detail

[SSStang]

Ok tried to search but didn't find a answer. I know that that products have a range of prices but about how much do you spend per a detail in the products you use?
Right now I have mostly Wolfgang products.
If I use half a bottle of Sonax wheel cleaner on a car that $10 in product.

 

[Paul A.]

A few years ago i set up a speadsheet to quantify exactly what you are asking. While it may sound difficult, it really wasn't. I noted every single product i used on a full detail and then broke them down into units of cost. For example...

Let's say i used 1.5 ounces of a product at .60 per ounce. That's 90 cents of product cost (1.5 X .60) for that product. I noted every single product used and the amount used. Easy math to then add everything up. The more difficult calculations were the more intangible costs like pad wear, machine or tool use, electricity used, water used etc. I have since stopped that practice mainly because i was simply trying to get a "feel" for the actual cost to me but it was insightful. If i remember correctly, i was anywhere between about $6.30 and $22 per vehicle.

Good question and thanks for asking. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has done this.

 

[allenk4]

Ok tried to search but didn't find a answer. I know that that products have a range of prices but about how much do you spend per a detail in the products you use?
Right now I have mostly Wolfgang products.
If I use half a bottle of Sonax wheel cleaner on a car that $10 in product.

IMO that is excessive

I use Megs Wheel Brightener 1st. If that does not get it all, I use a color changing wheel cleaner

If you like your technique, you should be buying the larger size

 

[TroyScherer]

^^ Agreed.

The only real way to figure it out is to do the math and calculations on your products. IMO WG products are good for personal use but not very cost effective when compared to others. So the cost per detail can very greatly based on the full line of products you use.

 

[AutowerxDetailing]

I use mainly Meguiar's Detailer line and CarPro products. My basic packages average around $5-10 product cost per detail (depending on what's included) and my correction packages vary between $20-40 product cost (1-step polishing up to full correction). There is a spreadsheet floating around AGO somewhere that I posted a while back. It has a format to track product costs per job depending on what you include in each detail package.