Detailing a motorhome

OCD Detailing

OCD Detailing

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Or should I say a MANSION on wheels.

I got a call the other day from a guy that wants us to detail his 40 foot Monaco Diplomat. He was referred by his neighbor who is a client of ours.The photo isn't his. I just Google the same model and color he told me it was. We are supposed to go look at it this weekend. He said the way it is parked in his side yard the driver side gets a lot of sun and is "oxidized"

We started detailing about 4 months ago and I have no clue what to charge other than maybe hourly but I would think people would still want an estimate of the time it will take. I am pretty sure we have the tools to do it. We have the Rupes 21, 75 and duetto along with the Flex 3401. We have all the Rupes pads in all the sizes along with the compounds. We also have all the LC Hybrid pads in the 5" for the Flex along with Menzerna 400 and 4000 and the XMT AIO. And finally we have the Meg's MF DA kit with all the pads and product.

I was thinking of doing a 1 step with the XMT but we are going to do a test spot tomorrow before I quote him. Any advice? Maybe how long to do a 1 step? Do we clay a motorhome?

Thank you
 
I'm sure that others will be able to provide a more specific price but most people that do large jobs like that charge by the foot of length. Take a look at what is involved in a typical foot of length then multiply by the total.

Does the customer expect you to do the roof? Get a ladder and check it. Some roofs on RV's are a rubber membrane and not metal or fiberglass and require very careful, different handling.
 
I have done a few tour bus rv vehicles,I charge 30 a foot ,outside only. I have found the meguiars micro system works great. The finishing wax also leaves a nice finish on the rubber trim around the windows without turning it white. You can follow the finishing wax with something more durable.
 
Around me they charge $25/foot. The Monaco's are very nice and detailing expectations can be high, I know some folks here charge a sur-charge for units like the Monacos since the owners can generally afford it.
 
Thank you. Just to make sure when you say by the foot you mean the length of the motorhome, not 40 foot on one side and 40 on the other?

Is the 25 to 30$ a foot a single step like an all in one? With the Megs it would be two steps.

Also do you guys clay first?

Last question, how long do you think it would take to do a 1 step not including the roof. Just a rough estimate I know it might be different depending on condition.

Thanks again
 
$25 to $30 x the overall length. So figure $1200 for this 40 footer (base price). There is a ton of surface on these units. You are looking at a really long day (2-people) to wash and AIO a big unit like this. If you want you could clay or nano sponge the lower section (add to the price). If you are going to 2-step it you will need to adjust the price and add a day.
 
Thank's again everybody. One more question. Here are a couple of photos of the motorhome. The stickers look pretty faded. Will any of that come out? Should I just go over it with the AIO or would you suggest a different product for the stickers? I went by this weekend to look at it, unfortunately the worse side of the motorhome was up against a wall and I couldn't do a test spot on that side. The owner is out of town at the moment as well so couldn't have him move it.

Thank you,

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Thanks everybody for the responses. Just an update. He responded with $1200 was out of his price range. So I ended up emailing him back with a different idea to save him some money. We do the buffing on just the faded side since it is always in the sun where as the other side is in the shade and really only needs washed. He said that sounded like a good idea, asked how much, I said $500 to which he responded he will contact me in August so he has time to put money away for it. No biggie but got me curious as to how much he was thinking it would cost to buff out a 40 foot monster.
 
I charge by the foot on RV's and boats.
IMO it's good for both me and my customer.
I charge $20.00 per foot , in the end it's decent money.
Lsp is extra but just for the cost of the product.
 
HateSwirls said:
I charge by the foot on RV's and boats.
IMO it's good for both me and my customer.
I charge $20.00 per foot , in the end it's decent money.
Lsp is extra but just for the cost of the product.
Click to expand...

I quoted 30$ a foot based on the previous post but if $1200 and $500 is too much the $20 a foot wouidn't have worked for him.

It would have been nice to have a motorhome in our "portfolio" as well as the arm workout, lol, but I'm proud of myself for not caving in. We have struggled on what we charge for our services and how much work we actually put into it. In our 5 or 6 months existence we have gone overboard in the amount of service we gave compare to the prices we charged. That's been the hardest part of detailing business.

But who knows, he may call in August like he said. I'll probably send a "How have you been" email every so often with some info on covering that side of the motorhome.

Thanks again everybody for the help.
 
I would charge by the foot. You can get a good idea on pricing from searching online and on the forum
 
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