It is so bad that several acquaintances of mine that work at dealerships sad they would feel bad have me do work for them if they could only pay me $10/hour. You are better off working for yourself and finding the jobs you want to do for the money you need to make. Only one of my acquaintances actually knows what the finish on a car should look like and is actually willing to pay when it's done right. Said person actually offered his detailers commission from car that sold well at auction because of how good they made it look. But that didn't last long as his guys started pumping cars out for auction and less concerned their work was top notch.
No one wants to pay production car washers/detailers more than minimum wage.
I hear that!
And speaking of "Mike", not the Mike here, but the Mike from my Lexus detail. He thinks EXACTLY like most of the people you just mentioned. The entire time I was doing his wife's Lexus he complained how long it was taking. (while he was helping) Then after it was done, and even after she came home the next week and saw it, along with FELT IT the both KNOW it's done right, BUT don't really care. Neither cares a rats ARSE about someone taking 6, 7, 8 hours to detail a car and what's worse... thinks it is a waste of time.
Point made here is we all know a well detailed car, WITH no swirls will bring more when you go to sell it. It has been proven time and time again that it'll at least bring the $200 ~$250 detail fee and most likely double that amount and then some. Mike has decided he's selling his Corolla that he uses for work (has to drive a LOT) and moving to his Tacoma. I told him I'd detail it so he could sell it for more. His reply... "I'll wash and wax it." Which means, he'll wash it with some old scratchy rag and put some wax as you dry on it while he dries it with some old scratchy towel. Then complain about not getting top dollar for it because it's never been smoked in! *&^Q%^&(*&^%$#$%^&
I'm hearing $10/hour a lot. I know that's not much in most places but I gotta say that much where I live is pretty decent money. For example my wife's dad has been a welder for over 30 years working at the same place the whole time. And I know he makes under $15/hour.
I worked at a trucking company for a long time 5+ years my ending pay was $10/hour. And I lived a pretty nice life off that.
Dude, that's hard to hear that your father in law has been welding for that long and doesn't make more than that. Heck, I remember when a welder was treated as a skilled professional and STARTED at $15~$20 an hour and by the time they were 30 they were making $30 or more an hour. Plus it was something that by the time you got 30 years in you were making really decent money which meant a lot of guys got out by the time they were 50, bought motor homes and toured the US.
And to think, my daughter has been complaining because her job started her not quite 4 months ago @ $13.25 and she wanted to quit! Just in the last week her review came in and she got a TEN percent raise and STILL wants to quit. Most people are not getting 3% raises these days. I know her mother (my wife) is way at the top of (well over the top of) the range for her job, that she's been at for 31 years and stands no chance of getting a raise. The way her company looks at it, she's making twice what they could hire someone half her age for!!!
A friend of mine is a Master Polisher with Mercedes. He started off as a "detailer" earning next to nothing, they sent him to schools, he worked hard, and now he makes good money. Don't forget that Paul Dalton started off this way.....
I used to know one of those guys when I did towing for the Mercedes dealerships around town. (There are 3, one was 100% mine and a buddy did the other two but once you're in one you end up in all three) He started with a big rotary doing 'domestic' cars and once he went to Atlanta Classic Cars it was like he died and went to Heaven! Now THAT dude could run a rotary without swirls!
