Some of you guys who are charging so little, how do you guys do it?

im not a professional car detailer but i am a professional, i think u need to find time saving techniques, like for example do u use a pressure washer with a foam lance? do u have a routine where u and youre helper dont have any down time? do u have a steam cleaner for the interior? things like that, maybe a one step polishing wax?
 
Eldorado2k said:
Not to mention it's that last 20% that takes the longest time/effort.
i.e. someone can do a quik vacuum and be done with it fairly quik, but if you really go all out and get every nook and cranny, meaning under the seats where it's never been done and in between the seat cushions, seats, everywhere and a proper job can take an hour if the vehicle is halfway trashed when you start on it.

I did a customers PT Cruiser for the 1st time today and it looked like it hadn't been vacuumed in well over a year.. It took me nearly an hour to finish the interior and it wasn't even a "detail" [meaning I didn't scrub any carpets or seats] But I vacuumed that thing as good as possible. When I was done I made sure she came out and walked her through, opening every door so she could see there wasn't a grain of sand or dust to be found inside.

She said the magic words "wow it looks like brand new" and I got paid:)

I'm still working on ways to get faster... But I'm not so sure that same job gets done in a quikie.
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Exactly... 80% progress in 20% of the time.... Joe public seldom pick clayed vs un-clayed and a high quality wash fallout removal coat of wax, interior vacuum and surfaces wipe down with APC will look like a huge improvement .....
Getting the the last 20% will likely take another 5-10hrs... But many will struggle to see the difference..
(Enthusiasts see it right away.. But regular folks not so much)....
 
GSKR said:
It all boils down to the customer expectations for 90.00.you would be amazed with 2'skilled detailers working on one car on how many you can do in one day.for90.00 your profit margin is small.Its all about the overhead and how you live.my friend and I would double team a car and do 10 pdi preps and 2 used car details,we would pump out tops 12 cars a day from 8 to 5 with no breaks.Now that I'm a one man operation I could not survive at 90.00 a car.with this economy you have to do what ever it takes to get metal in your shop.He is probably surving on volume.Even so it's still a small profit at the end of the week.People want a clean shiny car cheap and now.
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how xan u work nine hours everyday with no break, dont u need to eat? how much do u weigh? that kind of workload is not healthy, id have a nervous breakdown in six months tops working like that, not to mention the labor laws to put it politely, u could never run a company like that
 
Just remember this. There is a difference between a "full detail" and "cleaning and waxing the car". A lot of people advertise a "detail" but all you are getting is a cleanup and some cheap wax put on and most people don't know the difference because the car is so bad that anything that is done to it is a improvement. I do this as a side thing on the weekends and don't change a lot for the 2 days I spend on a car but everyone of my customers always say that their car has never been this clean. That's my goal.
 
fightnews said:
how xan u work nine hours everyday with no break, dont u need to eat? how much do u weigh? that kind of workload is not healthy, id have a nervous breakdown in six months tops working like that, not to mention the labor laws to put it politely, u could never run a company like that
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Working at a dealership back in the days ,selling 200 new and used .At the end of the month was even more and on Saturday as well.we could of taken lunch but opted not to on busy days.
 
Every morning a nice spread of bagels and muffins fresh,and pizza from wen to fri.
 
GSKR said:
Working at a dealership back in the days ,selling 200 new and used .At the end of the month was even more and on Saturday as well.we could of taken lunch but opted not to on busy days.
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oh ok i know how it is especially if working for yourself, i actually had a nervous breakdown about 5 years ago and i think working for a company that didnt want to stop for breaks was a big part of it, im a big guy and i was down to 156 pounds after months, for perspective im close to 225 now and im not fat at all. its dangerous working like that u gotta fuel the body
 
fightnews said:
how xan u work nine hours everyday with no break, dont u need to eat? how much do u weigh? that kind of workload is not healthy, id have a nervous breakdown in six months tops working like that, not to mention the labor laws to put it politely, u could never run a company like that
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When its hot and humid we work 6 hour days, no lunch , drinking whatever you want to bring, but we dont sit down and stop. Everyone agrees, eating when its 95 out sucks. The laborers will have snacks they pick at usually.

We pour sweat for 6 hours straight, no way im stopping to sit down and discuss life and pour sweat at the same time lol.
 
Maestro Sam said:
Like this title said, how do you guys do a full interior and exterior, which includes wash, clay bar, and wax in 3 hours? I have this competitor (can I post his business) who does this and charges only $90 bucks. He has 5/5 star reviews on yelp by 5 reviewers. When I do a full interior or exterior, it can take anywhere from 6 hours to 8 hours with a partner. What's going on here lol!
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I'll offer my perspective and use my words purposely. If a car is in very good condition, a clay bar, wash and wax (and interior) can be done in 3 hours BUT

(a) how many cars are in THAT good of condition and that's all they require? Very few. Said another way, how many cars would you allow to leave your hands with just a clay, wash and wax and say 'I am happy with how that car looks?' Again very few. Meaning most of use would ninimally have our DA's out for an AIO or polish in addition to that clay, wash and wax. There are very few cars where a wash, clay, polish, wax and interior can be done by one person in 3 hours. Add in a second pair of hands and now yoo've taken a bite out of what little profit might be in there. I've been known to spend several hours on the horizontal surfaces alone polishing some cars.


(b) at most this person is doing 3 cars a day - at most - and making $270 before expenses. Remove expenses of poducts, his own transportation, meals, labor help etc. and he's making much less.

(c) some customers will offer glowing reviews for their car being clean, even if it contains tons of swirls. Most customers look for clean versus perfect paint, and we all know which is harder and much more time consuming to achieve. Case in point, I show people the swirls before I start and you'd be surprised how many have a hard time seeing them - untrained eye.

...or it could be that this detailer can make ends meet at this price because of where he lives, maybe has very little debt?

ScottH
 
A friend recently moved to South Carolina, and told me that she gets her car detailed at the car wash for $19.
"The inside is all nice and shiny when they're done." I just kept quiet. I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate the quality of a true detail, and is happy with what she's getting.
 
Take a car to them and see what you get for the $90 you gotta shop the competition


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ScottH said:
I'll offer my perspective and use my words purposely. If a car is in very good condition, a clay bar, wash and wax (and interior) can be done in 3 hours BUT

(a) how many cars are in THAT good of condition and that's all they require? Very few. Said another way, how many cars would you allow to leave your hands with just a clay, wash and wax and say 'I am happy with how that car looks?' Again very few. Meaning most of use would ninimally have our DA's out for an AIO or polish in addition to that clay, wash and wax. There are very few cars where a wash, clay, polish, wax and interior can be done by one person in 3 hours. Add in a second pair of hands and now yoo've taken a bite out of what little profit might be in there. I've been known to spend several hours on the horizontal surfaces alone polishing some cars.


(b) at most this person is doing 3 cars a day - at most - and making $270 before expenses. Remove expenses of poducts, his own transportation, meals, labor help etc. and he's making much less.

(c) some customers will offer glowing reviews for their car being clean, even if it contains tons of swirls. Most customers look for clean versus perfect paint, and we all know which is harder and much more time consuming to achieve. Case in point, I show people the swirls before I start and you'd be surprised how many have a hard time seeing them - untrained eye.

...or it could be that this detailer can make ends meet at this price because of where he lives, maybe has very little debt?

ScottH
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Exactly. My typical customer is someone who has a 6 year old car and hasn't ever had the car detailed. There train wrecks. Paint has swirls all over it, surface scratches. Wax isn't removing the slightest surface scratch or swirls.

Sure, I can wax a vehicle in 15 minutes when using Collinite. Not even close when I'm using HD Speed and trying to remove light swirls and surface scratches on the entire car because it's a mini wreck
 
CC268 said:
LMAO it blows my mind how some people just totally neglect their vehicles. I never understood that mentality.
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i neglegyed my first car, i only washed it three times in fifteen years, reason? it was cheap and i never really liked it or wanted it in the first place, it was strictly transportation
 
I can knock out some work pretty quick, I have tried to make all my processes as simple as possible and whatever I need I have right next me,for the interior I complete a section at a time and for exterior I wash and clay a section at a time so I'm not circling the car a hundred times and I'm not doing a lot of thinking of what I'm going to use, I know what works and I don't have a million products, I have a few that I know work. Keep it simple
 
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