Help with pricing for small car dealership

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powerpunk5000

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so me and my friend started a small detail company to make some extra money since we are both in college. Its defiantly not a professional company or a full service detail, i have some experience but not any where near professional. so recently i called a small used car dealership and he let us come out and detail on of his cars. he picked the worst one on the lot for us to detail. basically the only reason he let us is because i gave him a super cheap price for the 1st car and completely got scrwed over on the price. we charged $60 and it took us between 2-3 hours. i compounded the whole car ( keep in mind these products are just products you can buy at auto zone and we don't have professional buffers) so i compounded the whole car since it was oxidized then but a layer of polish or sealant on it we cleaned the wheels tires windows vac the inside and whipped down the dash. cleaned all the door jams and ect. how much do you think this kind of work is worth? after the detail he put us on the spotty saying how much do i owe you. I wanted to get repeat business from him because he said he would give us more cars. so i wanted to give him a cheap price and show him what we could do on the first car.
 
Realistically most dealerships will not pay more than $100 per car. Try to stay at or above that price or you will get completely burned. Even at that price it is really working for barely above minimum wage after expenses.

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Walk the lot and check out some of the trade-ins and auction buys. What condition are they in? Figure some of them wont be so bad but others are going to take your entire day to turn around. Work out an average time you think it's going to take to do most vehicles depending on what the dealership wants. Then figure out a price that still makes it worth your while and is economical for the dealer. You should end up with a fair price that isn't going to run your business into the ground and will give the dealer what they want their vehicle inventory to look like.
 
At $100 you guys are making $17 - $25 an hour each. That's pretty decent for a "non professional" business, assuming you aren't reporting income. At that price you can take on 3-4 cars a day together, come home with $150 a piece for 6-9 hrs of work. Not bad I think for side cash
 
Has to be cash, never spend more than 3 hours under any circumstance unless you upcharge. I would also just use an AIO polish like Meg's D151. It's very cost effective. Keep your chemicals simple and cheap and don't worry about getting every stain out. A good cheap wheel cleaner is Meg's Non Acid Wheel cleaner. It's basically a gallon size of Hot Rims. Use Dawn to wash. Find the gallon size if you can (Sam's Club).

This is something I would never tell a high end professional, but Meg's super degreaser is one of the most versatile APC's there is. At 4:1 it will clean wheels, tires, wells, jams, engines. at around 15:1 it's great for interiors. Don't ever do this on anything but cheap dealer cars, but it get's the job done.
 
$100-150 here is a good process.

Wash (ONR)
Nano Skin Pad on DA
Megs D151 (AIO)
Megs D156 (Spray Wax)
Dress Tires (Megs Hyper Dressing)

Brush and Vacuum Interior
Wipe Down Dash, Console, Door Cards (Megs APC)
Door Jams (Megs Super Degreaser)
Windows (Megs Glass Cleaner or ONR)
 
statusdetailing said:
This is something I would never tell a high end professional, but Meg's super degreaser is one of the most versatile APC's there is. At 4:1 it will clean wheels, tires, wells, jams, engines. at around 15:1 it's great for interiors. Don't ever do this on anything but cheap dealer cars, but it get's the job done.
Click to expand...

Hey, it's got to be better than the Auto Magic garbage they would be using otherwise.

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Scott@IncrediblyDetailed said:
$100-150 here is a good process.

Wash (ONR)
Nano Skin Pad on DA
Megs D151 (AIO)
Megs D156 (Spray Wax)
Dress Tires (Megs Hyper Dressing)

Brush and Vacuum Interior
Wipe Down Dash, Console, Door Cards (Megs APC)
Door Jams (Megs Super Degreaser)
Windows (Megs Glass Cleaner or ONR)
Click to expand...

Good call on the Meg's Hyper dressing. Probably one of the best deals out there if you use it at 4:1.

Durability is pretty good as well and doesn't leave any nasty residue on trim or tires.

I use it straight on my high end details and apply it with a MF applicator like a gel. Before pick up I wipe dry with a clean microfiber. I love the look.


OP: Don't do that on a dealer car lol. 4:1 all the way. You'll go broke using walmart bottles of dressing or using hyper dressing straight.
 
My advice for products is go cheap and use anything that can be diluted and sprayed. Your overhead per car should NEVER exceed $4.00 if you want to be profitable. Do not bother with applicators pads for anything.. except maybe dressing or leather clean/condition. Even then, try spray and let it sit and dry.

Product List:
Dressing: Meguiars HyperDressing - dilute 5:1 or 6:1. I know it's going against the grain. The idea is to spray generously and walk away but spray, not apply.
Wax/Polish: Meguiars All-in-One - Slow movement with 1/2 passes only.
Interior: Meguiars APC - Dilute 4:1 for hard spots, 10:1 for everything else.
Wax: Meguiars Synthetic Spray - Prefer this over Polish/Wax. Much faster.
Compounding: Don't even bother at that pay rate!
Soap: Anything cheap, dilutable and is wash-wax-shine.
Leather: Meguiars Leather Cleaner & Condition (Very good and cheap, applicator pad required but takes less time) Sounds like I'm promoting Meguiars but they are good products at low rate per car.

Your task isn't to make it look pretty here. Here's a rough list:

$60:
Wash, dress tires, All-in-one polish/wax, Vacuum and wipe clean. Spray and scrub carpets with upholstery brush. Real Quick wipe of the doorjambs. Pace yourself: 1 hour exterior, 1 hour interior.

$100:
All of that, but maybe condition leather, gentle clean fabric and/or apply interior dressing. If you try paint correction or anything, smack yourself! lol. Think shiny, clean and quick.

Think like the dealer. What would a customer see in the first 10-20 minutes in the car just to buy it? A lot of people are just happy they got a new car. Some(smart!) folks know that they need to get a full detail anyway as soon as they drive away from the dealership.

Cheers and good luck!

PS: This is just my recommendation. I am sure others have fantastic advice to offer and please go through them as they may be more refined and feasible.
 
fmahmad88 said:
My advice for products is go cheap and use anything that can be diluted and sprayed. Your overhead per car should NEVER exceed $4.00 if you want to be profitable. Do not bother with applicators pads for anything.. except maybe dressing or leather clean/condition. Even then, try spray and let it sit and dry.

Product List:
Dressing: Meguiars HyperDressing - dilute 5:1 or 6:1. I know it's going against the grain. The idea is to spray generously and walk away but spray, not apply.
Wax/Polish: Meguiars All-in-One - Slow movement with 1/2 passes only.
Interior: Meguiars APC - Dilute 4:1 for hard spots, 10:1 for everything else.
Wax: Meguiars Synthetic Spray - Prefer this over Polish/Wax. Much faster.
Compounding: Don't even bother at that pay rate!
Soap: Anything cheap, dilutable and is wash-wax-shine.
Leather: Meguiars Leather Cleaner & Condition (Very good and cheap, applicator pad required but takes less time) Sounds like I'm promoting Meguiars but they are good products at low rate per car.

Your task isn't to make it look pretty here. Here's a rough list:

$60:
Wash, dress tires, All-in-one polish/wax, Vacuum and wipe clean. Spray and scrub carpets with upholstery brush. Real Quick wipe of the doorjambs. Pace yourself: 1 hour exterior, 1 hour interior.

$100:
All of that, but maybe condition leather, gentle clean fabric and/or apply interior dressing. If you try paint correction or anything, smack yourself! lol. Think shiny, clean and quick.

Think like the dealer. What would a customer see in the first 10-20 minutes in the car just to buy it? A lot of people are just happy they got a new car. Some(smart!) folks know that they need to get a full detail anyway as soon as they drive away from the dealership.

Cheers and good luck!

PS: This is just my recommendation. I am sure others have fantastic advice to offer and please go through them as they may be more refined and feasible.
Click to expand...

basically the guy was worried about the paint being "shinny" because it was a white car and it was dull and yellow looking. He didn't even look at the inside. he wanted the oxidation taken off and the paint brought back to life. so i don't see any other way of doing that but compounding the car. your guys tips are very helpful! It may be hard trying to explain that we will need to charge more for what we just charged him for. But i think 100$ would be a better price even $80 would be decent. He wanted us to print him a receipt to so he could write it off on his taxes... he's getting 1/2 the price of a pro company around here and he still wants to write it off... don't know if well be going back to him.
 
statusdetailing said:
Good call on the Meg's Hyper dressing. Probably one of the best deals out there if you use it at 4:1.

Durability is pretty good as well and doesn't leave any nasty residue on trim or tires.

I use it straight on my high end details and apply it with a MF applicator like a gel. Before pick up I wipe dry with a clean microfiber. I love the look.


OP: Don't do that on a dealer car lol. 4:1 all the way. You'll go broke using walmart bottles of dressing or using hyper dressing straight.
Click to expand...

would you dilute the Megs D151? and how well will that take off oxidation and bring the "shinny" back to the paint?
 
fmahmad88 said:
My advice for products is go cheap and use anything that can be diluted and sprayed. Your overhead per car should NEVER exceed $4.00 if you want to be profitable. Do not bother with applicators pads for anything.. except maybe dressing or leather clean/condition. Even then, try spray and let it sit and dry.

Product List:
Dressing: Meguiars HyperDressing - dilute 5:1 or 6:1. I know it's going against the grain. The idea is to spray generously and walk away but spray, not apply.
Wax/Polish: Meguiars All-in-One - Slow movement with 1/2 passes only.
Interior: Meguiars APC - Dilute 4:1 for hard spots, 10:1 for everything else.
Wax: Meguiars Synthetic Spray - Prefer this over Polish/Wax. Much faster.
Compounding: Don't even bother at that pay rate!
Soap: Anything cheap, dilutable and is wash-wax-shine.
Leather: Meguiars Leather Cleaner & Condition (Very good and cheap, applicator pad required but takes less time) Sounds like I'm promoting Meguiars but they are good products at low rate per car.

Your task isn't to make it look pretty here. Here's a rough list:

$60:
Wash, dress tires, All-in-one polish/wax, Vacuum and wipe clean. Spray and scrub carpets with upholstery brush. Real Quick wipe of the doorjambs. Pace yourself: 1 hour exterior, 1 hour interior.

$100:
All of that, but maybe condition leather, gentle clean fabric and/or apply interior dressing. If you try paint correction or anything, smack yourself! lol. Think shiny, clean and quick.

Think like the dealer. What would a customer see in the first 10-20 minutes in the car just to buy it? A lot of people are just happy they got a new car. Some(smart!) folks know that they need to get a full detail anyway as soon as they drive away from the dealership.

Cheers and good luck!

PS: This is just my recommendation. I am sure others have fantastic advice to offer and please go through them as they may be more refined and feasible.
Click to expand...

Totally agree excellent advice
 
powerpunk5000 said:
would you dilute the Megs D151? and how well will that take off oxidation and bring the "shinny" back to the paint?
Click to expand...

Dont dilute. Its one of the best cutting aios i know of.

Trying to do any real cutting via dedicated compound for those prices in those time frames will get u labeled as a hack really quick.

Offer a budget detail at a budget price but never do hack detailing.
 
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