how long are you taking to detail an average car?

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nrosdal

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Hey, i am just curious what all of you are taking on average to do a typical detail (wash, clay, seal or 1 step polish/wax, interior detailed vac, minor stain removal, hard surface cleaning). I am just curious because of seeing what some have posted price wise and knowing that my average detail (usually with either a bad interior or bad exterior is taking me 5-6 hours and a good car is taking me 4 hours) i am wondering if i am either: A) really slow B) doing a better job C) about right (but more concerned about how much money is coming in for my time). For a 4-5 hour job i am usually $195-265 which for me falls somewhere in the range of fair and slightly less that i would like for the average job. Just curious where you all are coming in and if i need to get more efficient or maybe just charge more to be better satisfied with the average hourly rate (for the typical job as there are obviously the nice ones that work out much better hourly and luckily very few that are less).

Thanks for any input.

Nick
 
My (average) detail takes much longer but I do not do production detailing like you. Pricing can be touchy and has a lot to do with your location. When all else fails... I like to follow my rule.... charge hourly but charge honestly!!
 
Have you tried to search? This exact question comes up quite often.
 
Some may say it's slow but it sounds about right to me if you are doing a good thorough job.

You're not happy at around $50/hr for non correction work? :dunno:
 
I work alone. 5 hours and I charge the same price plus or minus depending on who the customer is.
 
I would say that it varies greatly as I've had to do cars where it will take me 2 hours to do everything (Lexus GL470 [not a small car]), but I've also had cars that were trashed that have taken 8 hours.
 
My interior details minimum take 5 hours and maximum can take 50 hours.
My paint correction can take minium 8 hours to maximum 60 hours
My car wash can take a minium 1 hour to 2 hours depending on the car.
 
Minimum 12 hrs for me for a one step with full interior


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3 to 4 hrs for good production job.Coatings and paintcorrection one day or a day to polish next day coat it.I can't see how some people are working on cars at 40 hrs.That's insane.
 
3-4 hrs to do a full interior and exterior job?


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Some even less than that.With the right tools being organized no fumbling around 4 hrs on a moderate dirty car no problem.I did 04 corvette black with overspray interior 4hrs done 240.00.Facebook St Lucia auto spa.
 
ascarbo27 said:
3-4 hrs to do a full interior and exterior job?


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Click to expand...

It does greatly depend on the condition of the car, but I can do all of the following on most cars in 4-5 hours; sometimes less, and sometimes more. Engine cleaning, clean rims and tires and dress them, clean door jambs, wash, wax, vacuum the whole interior, steam carpets and seats, wipe down all plastics on the interior, as well as the door panels, clean the dashboard, gauges, center console, and finally clean the windows.
 
Tommorow have a coating job and interior.It will be finished the same day. Wednesday have a huge travel. Trailer to do.
 
Exterior only:

Friday Night: Wash, decon, clay...wheels and paint
Saturday: Compound/Polish
Sunday: Coat, misc cleanup...trim, wheels, tires, etc.

I'm easily distracted so generally waste a lot of time wandering around garage congratulating myself on how wonderful it looks...until I pull it out into the sun and my dreams are crushed.
 
nrosdal said:
Hey, i am just curious what all of you are taking on average to do a typical detail (wash, clay, seal or 1 step polish/wax, interior detailed vac, minor stain removal, hard surface cleaning). I am just curious because of seeing what some have posted price wise and knowing that my average detail (usually with either a bad interior or bad exterior is taking me 5-6 hours and a good car is taking me 4 hours) i am wondering if i am either: A) really slow B) doing a better job C) about right (but more concerned about how much money is coming in for my time). For a 4-5 hour job i am usually $195-265 which for me falls somewhere in the range of fair and slightly less that i would like for the average job. Just curious where you all are coming in and if i need to get more efficient or maybe just charge more to be better satisfied with the average hourly rate (for the typical job as there are obviously the nice ones that work out much better hourly and luckily very few that are less).
Click to expand...

Nick,

The time it will take will shorten as you learn and refine your processes. Don't be discouraged. Set a goal in terms of per our earnings and work towards that. Keep it reasonable of course, then price accordingly and target your market. I've seen people pay $1,200 for a full correction and coating on a basic Chrysler 300C and I've done the same for half that. All depends on market and customer and your time/ROI.

That said, on a standard sedan for exterior only it can range depending on what's being done. I offer four packages, but with any of them, I spend about 1.5 to 2hrs cleaning, decontaminating and prepping the car for the polisher. The rest depends on what level of correction is needed. I have a new car prep, a single step AIO, a 1-2 step 75%+ correction, a 90%+ two step correction, then full 100% correction offering. Again, time varies and I adjust my rates and time based on vehicle size of which I have five categories.

My goal/plan is that I usually take vehicles in the night before, start at 6am and wrap them up for delivery that next afternoon. I usually do weekends only and do 1-2 cars per weekend. Obviously this is just fun-money time for me so I'm not a "pro" running a full time shop. Often times I'll wash/decontaminate it the night I take it in too.

Good luck and have fun.
 
Your gonna have to do tests on your own. It depends on how effective you are, the size of the vehicle, the work that needs to be done on that vehicle and so on.

There are plenty of threads like this one on the forum, try to do a search you may find the answers you are looking for.

What I suggest you do is time yourself for every aspect. With experience and practice, that time should go down by maybe 25%.

Let me give you an example.

For me, doing wheels takes me about 5-10 minutes per wheel depending how thourough I wanna be.

The pre-rinse with the power washer takes me about 5-10 minutes depending on size of the vehicle and how dirty it is.

The foam bath takes me an other 5 minutes to apply and 5 mins to let work.

Rinsing off the vehicle is 5 mins.

Hand washing depends greatly on size of the vehicle. For SUVs and minivans the fact I need to use a platform to wash the roof slows down things considerably. But I would say 10-25 minutes to do that step correctly.

and so on...

once you know how long each step takes, you can add the time up for your various packages. Also if you use very expensive products, don't forget to calculate them in the price. For instance Iron X is pretty expensive so adding a few dollars to your package would be a good idea if you use it.
 
^^^ This is exactly what i would suggest to increase productivity: Time steps. Don't focus on total time to begin with. Wear a watch and time each step. Then take time to think about your technique and movements. I know in one of his videos, the guy at the Rag Company suggests filming yourself and then sitting down latter and reviewing the tape.
 
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