Dealership detailing

andy2485

andy2485

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Hi all,

How many of you have had to work at a dealership? or are working at one currently?

if so, maybe some of you can relate to my little story.

Had a 2010 suburban come in for a complete detail, interior and exterior. as some of you know its all about quantity not quality. This car was trashed, they lived on a dirt road, so there was mud everywhere!!! kids, so there was candy, crayons, etc. on the floor, you're typical family truck. point is i took 4 hours to do it, interior and exterior! and it ended up not being good enough, yet if I had taken the proper amount of time I would have gotten trouble for taking too long. Anyone else been in my situation???
 
i worked at toyota for 2 years. I can tell yeh, thats how it is everywhere. I live in a small town so it wasn't as bad as a city.. but they expected a complete interior and exterior (polish included) in 1 day. i told them straight up no i need at the min 2 days. they laughed at me and gave it to the other guy who half a@#ed it. They don't care about quality.. they just want to make a sale. Sadly the only way to fix it is to either

A) Talk to your boss and explain why you would like more time
B)Find a new job
C) Deal with it as i did. lol

I should also mention they wanted me to do a detail on a disgustingly dirty van in 2 hours. the inside of a van alone takes 2 hours... let alone another few for the outside. Also should mention i worked there till last thursday.lol so it's fairly recent data
 
Oh man, what happened? Id leave but i need the benefits. And really, when things are going smooth the money can be good. These guys just dont get it. I have yet to see a dealership actually care and ive worked at a dealership where they sell maserati's, ferrari's, and bentleys.
 
I was once given a full detail to do 25 years ago, a white '63 T-Bird. It was a recent repaint, and a poor one at that.

My friends purchased the car for a $1000. In retrospect, the car probably was never wet sanded, and this should've probably been done at some point. This car had no gloss, and felt like sandpaper.

I worked a full 8 sweat filled hours on this car, was "promised" $100 for the detail, they wanted it "spruced up", the intention was to flip it for profit, and weren't there, they'd had no idea that this was actually the worst car I ever had the displeasure of detailing, and cleaning up in my entire life till this date.

I used a local wax factory's "Buff&Shine" Compound with Rotary, finished with a high concentration liquid Carnauba (Pink Magic) and literally vacuumed up 5 lbs of sand-dirt from the interior. God only knows where this car had been and what was done to it?

The car sold the next day for $2500. They more than doubled their money, and I was cut a $50 bill. My so called friends reaped the profit, and bent me over, literally "pants me" without a jar of vaseline.

That day, was a critical turning point in my little "detailing career and hobby", which prior to that point was fairly enjoyable, and rewarding. I was never the same after that sadly, and concluded, "the detailing business was not for me". Word of mouth, promises, and all that rigamorole was never being pulled on me again, or so I thought.

I took on one major makeover after that, again, my good friends '65 black Caddy, who the next week took a first in show, and the judges asked him "who painted the car"?

My reward, and payment? A rat nasty 6 hour old buffet Chinese dinner at some local hole in the wall dive.

That there was pretty much the end of me "detailing" other's vehicles. I take care of my own, that's it! Lesson learned.

I know all too well, the wear and tear that a good detailer goes through, I am surely one, and my hats off big time to all who can hold up from such physical, and mental punishment to satisfy a prospect.
 
Find a dealer with one of these. It will be polished in about 10 minutes. It doesn't actually correct paint, but makes it incredibly glossy and hides a fair amount of defects.

photo-16.jpg
 
thats pretty fancy.. wow ive been around here in the minneapolis, st. paul area and ive never seen a dealer have one of those. doesnt scratch the paint? like other swirl-o-matics?
 
Working at a dealership or a high volume car wash is the fastest way to drain your passion for detailing. It's also one of the fastest ways to destroy your lower back. You don't owe anyone a superhero treatment when you're being paid pennies.
 
I actually currently work at a dealership detailing (told myself I would never again) Everything they do, I cringe but the money is excellent. By that I clear 45k a year. I detail and correct out of work but in work its impossible to achieve the same results with the materials that they use. When i see a customer spend almost $200 and the worker cuts so many corners all I can do is shake my head.
 
i agree with that. when i put a few hours in on a subi WRX at toyota (came in on trade) i went in on a saturday, which was my day off to do it cause it looked like it was scrubbed with a brillo pad.. and i used my own product just to make sure they could make money off it and not have an ugly paintjob on the lot. sure enough i fixed it. not even a thank you for spending your own time and product ect. that was the last straw and i never did extra for them again.

Btw the reason i quit was because i am going to school for heavy equipment
 
andy2485 said:
thats pretty fancy.. wow ive been around here in the minneapolis, st. paul area and ive never seen a dealer have one of those. doesnt scratch the paint? like other swirl-o-matics?
Click to expand...

Surprisingly not. It doesn't give you a show car finish, but it doesn't make it worse. The gloss it produces is insane though. You basically spray on the "polish" which is more like a crap ton of fillers and gloss enhancers then the machine "polishes" it. Next time I'm at work I'll take a picture of a car that has had it done.
 
andy2485 said:
thats pretty fancy.. wow ive been around here in the minneapolis, st. paul area and ive never seen a dealer have one of those. doesnt scratch the paint? like other swirl-o-matics?
Click to expand...


Superior ford has one, Ali h with several other local ford dealers.
 
Dealerships will never understand what a real detail is. They think they can supply thier detailers with the cheapest products they can find and expect it perfect in 4 hours. Which is funny cause when i interviewed at the Audi dealership i am at now i asked what products and bufferd/polishers they have. All they have are high speed rotary and crappy products. Told them those products are no good and they need DA's. Also told them to actually do a good enough buff/polish job that would remove 90% of all defects it would take minimum 4 hours just to buff/polish. And that does not include prepping the paint wash clay etc. i get 4 hours to do a ultimate detail which includes claying vehicle and we all know how long a good clay job will take. I get paid like mechanics. I book hours. 4 per car. No matter how long it takes. Even after telling them how long it should take they still hired me knowing 4 hours was not gonna get them a perfect job. And stupidly i accepted. But it is better than the BMW dealershipni was at
 
Dealerships are all about customer service.
Good customer service = high CS grade
High CS grade = High marks for the dealership

Unfortunately the benefits all seem to end with the salesman. Surprisingly enough, the salesman are likely the rudest employees you'll have to deal with.

Never worked for a dealership. I've had accounts for detailing services with them in the past, however they had to play by my rules with regard to pricing and time invested. They made their profit and we made ours.

Pick up whatever experience you can from a dealership and enhance it by 1000%. Do what you need to do keep everyone happy, but know that eventually you'll be on your own and performing the work as you know it should be.
 
you can thank LEXUS and JD POWERS for destroying the dealership industry...they turned EVERYTHING into CSI, the CSI number is all they care about. The CSI rating system is good for the customer, but really bad for employees
 
I hate dealership work. totally stupid work done and not done right at all. People look at it as o, what a great job, when it never usually is
 
Here is a car that came out of the auto butler. Like I said it doesn't correct paint, but masks defects and gives an incredible gloss. Good enough for almost all dealership customers.

 
andy2485 said:
Hi all,

How many of you have had to work at a dealership? or are working at one currently?

if so, maybe some of you can relate to my little story.

Had a 2010 suburban come in for a complete detail, interior and exterior. as some of you know its all about quantity not quality. This car was trashed, they lived on a dirt road, so there was mud everywhere!!! kids, so there was candy, crayons, etc. on the floor, you're typical family truck. point is i took 4 hours to do it, interior and exterior! and it ended up not being good enough, yet if I had taken the proper amount of time I would have gotten trouble for taking too long. Anyone else been in my situation???
Click to expand...

Spend the xx hours doing that nightmare for pennies marketing your services to people who actually appreciate the effort in turning around a vehicle. Dealership work is just... not worth it if it's beyond a wash and vacuum.
 
I did right out of high school, I'm glad I did because I found my passion that way but now that I'm on my own looking back I did a lot of work for basically nothing.
 
SYMAWD said:
Here is a car that came out of the auto butler. Like I said it doesn't correct paint, but masks defects and gives an incredible gloss. Good enough for almost all dealership customers.

Click to expand...


Not to speak sacrilege but that looks pretty darn good. If you put through a car already well maintained I wonder what the results would be like?
 
LaFawnduh said:
Not to speak sacrilege but that looks pretty darn good. If you put through a car already well maintained I wonder what the results would be like?
Click to expand...

It's pretty damn glossy when you put a new car through it. Keep in mind the results are only temporary, but the people who use dealership detailing are the ones who take it through the swirl-o-matic so it's ok if the results don't last forever.
 
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