how long are you taking to detail an average car?

[nrosdal]

thanks for the replies. I might try the recording thing to see where i am losing efficiency as i have been using a timer for each step to see what it takes on average for each sized vehicle. But seeing others times makes me not feel to bad as many are more and some are less than i am currently taking for the standard production detail.

 

[Avgguy]

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.

Excellent. Same here.

 

[nrosdal]

For the last month i have been doing 1-2 dealer trucks a week which threw my normal numbers way out of wack since the trucks i am getting generally are trade ins from contractors that have not touched them cleaning wise since the lease date (1-4 years) and are closer to restoration jobs than they are to detailing. So, my average on these has been 8ish hours and some have gone as high as 16 (with 85-90% being interior work).

The thought of many hours of interior work daily sucks but once i get a couple hours into the filth i tend to lose track of time and just work away and 3-7 hours will pass quickly as i finish out the interior. When i started i was excited mostly for the fancy paint compound/polish jobs but business wise the interiors get me 2-3 times as many calls when posted on social media and really are bringing in the dollars. I am curious to see if the interior work stays steady through the colder weather as i am sure that the exterior work will start to slow down in the coming months.

 

[TrueColor]

^^^ 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.

Really great advice.

One thing to remember, it's probably already been hit, but remember: slow is smooth and smooth is fast.

At first, I was so worried about doing everything fast that I wasn't doing anything correctly. One day, I finally took a breath and started timing myself doing it correctly.

Crawl-Walk-Run. I'll crawl with you buddy!