Getting started in the detail industry

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Prerunner06

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I am debating about switching jobs from wrenching on cars to detailing cars. Currently I have been wrenching for just under 2 years absoulty hate it. I have always used detsiling as my get away. Then started doing friends and families cars. Made money to travel for vacations and such.

My main concerns are that I have never seen in a detailing job listing that there are benefits. Is this a rarity in this industry? And also how can I get into a shop with just my weekend worrior experience? I have skills just not with a rotary. Seems to always hold me back.

I would love to be my own boss but right now I need the benefits for my wife who has ms. Once she is done getting her masters degree and gets a job with benifits. She said I can go full steam ahead on that. But it would just be nice to make money doing something your passionate about.


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Sounds like you should really just suck it up for a few more years till your wife is done with school. Unless you have a good amount of clients already, you don't want to go into something new when your the only source of income in your household.
 
That's totally my plan. I was just hoping to get into a shop in the meantime just curious how to get in to the industry and about benefits

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Prerunner06 said:
I am debating about switching jobs from wrenching on cars to detailing cars. Currently I have been wrenching for just under 2 years absoulty hate it. I have always used detsiling as my get away. Then started doing friends and families cars. Made money to travel for vacations and such.

My main concerns are that I have never seen in a detailing job listing that there are benefits. Is this a rarity in this industry? And also how can I get into a shop with just my weekend worrior experience? I have skills just not with a rotary. Seems to always hold me back.

I would love to be my own boss but right now I need the benefits for my wife who has ms. Once she is done getting her masters degree and gets a job with benifits. She said I can go full steam ahead on that. But it would just be nice to make money doing something your passionate about.


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You might hate auto mechanics. However, Imo I would keep the background of it and educate your clients on automotive mechanics and do detailing
 
Im curious, did you go to a Mechanics school by any chance?
 
CM8 6MT said:
Im curious, did you go to a Mechanics school by any chance?
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Actually yes I went to two of them first went to MMI (Motorcycle Mechanics instatue) and couldn't find work. Then went to AAI (Arizona automotive institute) worked for Land Rover north Scottsdale as there tire tech. Was told it was going to be. 5 years before I could actually be a tech. Then got a job at an independent shop work as a general service tech for just over a year now.

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Just curious, why do you hate wrenching? I did it for 7 or 8 years - I know why I hated it. But wondering what your experience has been??
 
swanicyouth said:
Just curious, why do you hate wrenching? I did it for 7 or 8 years - I know why I hated it. But wondering what your experience has been??
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It might be that I'm sick of someone always on my ass to get it done I want it now now now. Or the company I work for is just so money drivin that it doesn't matter as long as its dollars in the bank. I started wrenching because I liked taking something that drove like crap and made it better. The people just dont care when they get there car back. Now with detailing you see people light up when they get there car and just are in aw. I do detail time to time for the company I work for and I have made a mother cry because her van was so clean. I like the reactions and the apperiation that people give you.

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Does the dealer you work for have a detail/recon shop?
 
Right now I dont work for a dealer. The dealer I worked for had a detail/recon shop and they where on a flate rate pay for the cars they did.

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Prerunner06 said:
It might be that I'm sick of someone always on my ass to get it done I want it now now now. Or the company I work for is just so money drivin that it doesn't matter as long as its dollars in the bank. I started wrenching because I liked taking something that drove like crap and made it better. The people just dont care when they get there car back. Now with detailing you see people light up when they get there car and just are in aw. I do detail time to time for the company I work for and I have made a mother cry because her van was so clean. I like the reactions and the apperiation that people give you.

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I feel your pain. Where I was at we were all flat rate and there was a lot of favoritism how work was handed out - and a lot of warranty fraud. I ended up going to college and getting a degree. Just an FYI - every company is money driven if they are successful.
 
And I totally understand the money driven part but when quality starts to go down just to have it done in a day like my lead techs do. The combacks are alot more. Word is out that our work is crap. Also the fact that the owner will not purchase anything for the 3 stores to keep cost down is driving me insane.

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My friend went to one of those motorcycle schools to better himself in a field he thought he could advance. He now has like 40k in student loans and didn't really learn anything. He is currently looking for employment.Some recovery huh?? As far as benefits maybe with a dealership. Most of those places you will be lucky to start out at $10 hour. The only good thing is if you burn paint with a rotary or damage a vehicle it's on them. I would recommend finding a locally owned mechanics shop that specializes in high-end European vehicles etc..Most of these shops charge big money and usually pay decent book rates. There is no reason you would not be able to start out there changing oil , brakes, simple stuff. Once you are able to establish yourself at shop and able to install turbos, suspension, exhaust, custom track tuning that's when you might enjoy turning wrenches again. It would just suck to have that mechanical knowledge go to waste. Even marinated charge $100 an hour doing simple water pumps tune ups. A decent independent boat mechanic can charge $65 an hour and will be booked out for weeks around here. Sorry , didn't mean to rant but it bothers me when these pretend schools give you a piece of paper and a boat load of debt.It actually sickens me.
 
I look at it like this, cars break down and HAVE to be fixed to get around, having your car detailed is more of an indulgence, or when someone is looking to sell it along, I'd stay where the more consistent money is and wait it out.

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Prerunner06 said:
And I totally understand the money driven part but when quality starts to go down just to have it done in a day like my lead techs do. The combacks are alot more. Word is out that our work is crap. Also the fact that the owner will not purchase anything for the 3 stores to keep cost down is driving me insane.

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Tell me about it. We were lifting Ford FSDs (Super Duety), loaded E350s, and stretch Lincoln Limos up on car lifts. Every time you went under one you said a prayer it wasn't going to come crashing down on top of you. Of course, none of the safety catches worked on our lifts worked either, because they were all clogged up with oil dry. If you had to sneeze - you wouldn't do it under those lifts, or you may be wearing a full size truck for a hat on your head.
 
Yeah there are times that I am praying with a fully loaded utiltiy box f350.

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Klasse Act said:
I look at it like this, cars break down and HAVE to be fixed to get around, having your car detailed is more of an indulgence, or when someone is looking to sell it along, I'd stay where the more consistent money is and wait it out.

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THIS!!!!!!

There are but few certainties in life, and one of them is that vehicles will ALWAYS need repairing. That is one of the reasons I stayed in the towing business so long. ;) Problem is that in THAT business someone is always willing to cut your prices. You'll get some new guy that just bought a truck, had some cards printed up, and goes door to door saying he'll tow cars for $25. Meanwhile you've been giving them a deal for $35 to $45 telling them you're going up to $55. Sure enough, they'll call the $25 KID! Then once he figures out he has to pay for tires, brakes, oil changes twice a month, insurance, cell phones, office overhead etc. then HE goes to $35. Fast forward a year and when he STILL isn't making any money he tries to go up to YOUR OLD PRICES of $55 and ANOTHER new kid steals the business from him! :laughing:



Prerunner06 said:
And I totally understand the money driven part but when quality starts to go down just to have it done in a day like my lead techs do. The combacks are alot more. Word is out that our work is crap. Also the fact that the owner will not purchase anything for the 3 stores to keep cost down is driving me insane.

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It's a shame that the shop you're at is known for crap work. That makes it hard on everyone. I had a buddy that was doing a Nissan dealership and their yo-yo/comeback rate was 45%. Typically the towing business has to eat comebacks (along with so many free ones for XXX amount of dollar sales per month). But he was literally having to give them a freebie on every other tow so he went in and told the Service Manager that he was cutting the strings and ALL comebacks would be $45 minimum. The guy went NUTS!!!

Ronnie told him that if he would up his quality that he'd be glad to give him freebies, because sometimes spiff just happens. The Service Manager's reply was that he was TOO BUSY to up the quality! SERIOUSLY!!! WTH? "Do you realize that the ONLY REASON you are so busy is that every other car you do is a comeback?", my buddy said. He said he didn't care, didn't have time to do it and that he'd get another towing company.

What he didn't know was my buddy was drinking buddies with the dealership owner. (The owner never knows those numbers, only that the shop is always full.) Once he got wind of what was happening, the next week the Service Manager was looking for a new job! :dblthumb2:

Bottom line is you should continue to hone your skills. Get better at turning wrenches, get better work, get better at detailing. I honestly wouldn't worry about not working with a rotary. Anywhere you go to do detailing they'll already have someone there that works with a rotary, maybe that's ALL THEY KNOW. :dunno: Working with a DA is where it's at. :D

As a young couple you have to make choices and sacrifices. Your wife is a choice, your work is a sacrifice. Put feelers out for openings. Ask your tool guys to put the word out for you and you can bet they will, and get back to you on who is looking. They are in shops EVERY WHERE! ;)

Life is about pleasure and pain. We all live it. Dogs and kids understand pleasure and pain. You know how you hate to get up at 5:00 to go to work, how painful that is. Yet come Friday and payday, there comes the pleasure. It's up to you to figure out where your pleasure is, where your pain is, and how to balance them out.

It'll come around, it really will. Keep up your standards, keep up your faith, and it'll come to you.
 
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