My desire is to get into mobile detailing...PLEASE HELP!!!

You can never have too many supplies.

If you're dealing with car clubs to start with, you're going to be spoiled. Once you attract a different clientele, you are going to run into some absolutely disgusting vehicles & these are the ones that will teach you some valuable lessons regarding pricing & when to move on from a problem area and deem it "it is what it is..."
 
heckhole said:
You can never have too many supplies.

If you're dealing with car clubs to start with, you're going to be spoiled. Once you attract a different clientele, you are going to run into some absolutely disgusting vehicles & these are the ones that will teach you some valuable lessons regarding pricing & when to move on from a problem area and deem it "it is what it is..."
Click to expand...

Haha you are absolutely right on this! My first couple of cars I worked on turned out to be the dirtiest ones imaginable. I got over the one price fits all idea real quick after that.
 
Has anyone else here used a steamer? Does it work well on auto glass????

I am leaning more toward a steamer compared to an extractor. I checked out some detailing videos with this in mind, seems very versatile.

I figure if I have one I can do good interior work and help cleaning wheels and even be able to offer engine bay cleaning.

Yes?
No??
Maybe???
Don't be stupid!
 
I don't have one yet but it's on the priority list. It will make cleaning anything that much faster and easier. I doubt I'll invest in a extractor, dry foam cleaner and a wool pad on a rotary works great for me.
 
I have no real world experience but I think is good advice.

I personally don't think a mobile detailing is a good idea because of the work environment. You need shade and a set place to do quality machine work.

However, a mobile car wash may be a bit better because you are doing production car work rather than show car. For production car, with the right tools, products, method, bing bang boom your done in 30mins and $100 richer. That's how much I charged my neighbors lol. Mind you, it's good work not 17 year old kid car dealership work. There cars are higher end and newer so they easily shell out $100 easily. Selling point, just tell them if they take it to the car wash, it will damage the paint, now they are listening lol

So that's how I would set up the mobile wash. Cater to higher end vehicles by putting business cards on new cars in a parking lot. People love their cars you know that. Don't bother with older cars, it be a waste of your time and their money.

I actually been working on my neighbors car with a shoestring budget but manage to get good results lol.

For production work, you have to find a very good paint cleaner. One that polishes without leaving in fillers or oils and does not cause swirls. It should bring up the gloss of the car cleanly. Then put your own coat of wax.
 
Anyone else think mobile detailing is not a good idea?
 
Gretchen731 said:
Ceriglass, check! I have the 6" inner flex as well

2 MF per 5" and 6" set.

My biggest thing is i of course will need more pads, but should I worry about having extra care products like iron x I hear so much about? Is claying after wash sufficient enough before paint corrections?
Click to expand...

I always use Iron-X, actually BDX lately. It's a little less expensive, you can get the job done using a little less product, and it's faster. I'm also not running a business. It will be interesting to see what kind of response people who are making a living doing this say. I know you definitely won't want to use it on every application.
 
I want to learn how to make 100 in 30 minutes,I've been doing this for many years I never encountered that.Flyers are a waste of time it's been proven over and over again. No pun intended
 
GSKR said:
I want to learn how to make 100 in 30 minutes,I've been doing this for many years I never encountered that.Flyers are a waste of time it's been proven over and over again. No pun intended
Click to expand...

A 30 minute car wash for $100 would have the be the best job in the detailing business. All you would need is a bucket , a wash mitt, some ONR, and a waffle weave drying towel and you are in business. If you did 5 cars a day that would be $2500 a week for 12.5 hours work and you still have the weekend off
 
Just in case anyone missed the point,

Anyone have success at steaming auto glass can able to get poor window cleaning out (ex. Streaks, previous chemical smudges, etc.)?

I figured being good at window cleaning is a simple task but a bonus thing to know because I know many average joes who simple cannot tackle this part of the car.
 
Glass cleaning can be difficult,yes not the average joe can't do it.As far as steamer I've been doing this for a long time I tried the steamer thing ,it eats up so much time ,it looks good when your mobile people are interested when they see the fog thing going on.Never tried it on engines I would think you can spend 1 hr on that alone.It is so beneficial on interior stains and spills,so my opinion on steamer would be no just detail it the traditional way and save the money hope this helps good luck.
 
Again the point is, can you steam glass clean flawlessly?!
 
GSKR said:
I want to learn how to make 100 in 30 minutes,I've been doing this for many years I never encountered that.Flyers are a waste of time it's been proven over and over again. No pun intended
Click to expand...

I may have exaggerated a bit. Realistically you're looking at 1hr of work time. Regardless of that one hour, with the right tools and process, its easy brezzy. I do have one major concern though. Its washing the wheels. I don't see anyway to clean the wheels and tires thoroughly without a power washer and to get all four wheels thoroughly cleaned requires a ton of water. Im using eagleone a2z. Anyone know of a good method?????

I don't think flyers are a waste of time. Just utilized in the wrong way. You have to think of it as a niche within a niche almost. You really can't cater to everyone within the mobile detail/carwash because all people think differently about their car. Even though they all have different views, there's only so many different views so you have to be picky about the area and car.
 
Guys you are all focusing on way too many details and miniscule stuff when starting out a business. Let's boil it down really simple....

Plan your business, meaning what type of business you want to be.
Promote yourself
Market yourself
Acquire new customers
Figure out technical stuff as you go
Promote yourself non stop
Continue acquiring new customers
 
Yes it can clean glass but why the extra effort when a good glass cleaner will do.Flyers make work for some,but definitely not all .My business cards are a menu from front to back glossy big nice and unique cards I will not go around and waste them putting them on cars.When you're mobile you're exposing you're services to people who drive by.If someone stops with a pos car I tell them I ran out of cards.As for steamers some may like some don't ,I don't cause I'm not getting paid to rub a seat clean over over again,and I will never clean a exterior with that to much work to many towels,if you like that great .I keep my detailing simple less effort all possible.Now I can tell you what works as marketing call the local newspaper and pay to put a post it size sticker of you're company and what you do,on everynews paper that hits the driveway,convenience stores etc that works all the time.Living in south Florida is quiet from June to sept that's when I will run it mass marketing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top