Guide for mobile detailing?

[DetailnByDustn]

Originally Posted by ohiostate

Word of mouth....

Okay, saves money, instead of fliers.

Originally Posted by AeroCleanse

Sometimes they don't want the sound / smell of a generator, just depends.

Ill just have to ask them, when I start on their car, if they want me to use their power or mine.

Originally Posted by brwill2005

Mine barely makes any noise at all. As for the wattage, I have no problem running any of my equipment. The only exception would be the electric PW.

Okay, ill have a gasoline pressure washer if I get a pressure washer

Originally Posted by quamen

get a pramac with a honda motor. will run about 400 bucks, been using it for detailing last 5 years full time never broke down once. u will want about 2800 or more watts, because to turn a 1hp or 3/4 hp compressor takes a toll other than that everything else runs fine, even a 1600 watt extractor.

Okay, quamen whats your set up other than a pramac with a honda generator, do you use a truck, trailer or car?

[quamen]

Originally Posted by DetailnByDustn

Okay, saves money, instead of fliers.



Ill just have to ask them, when I start on their car, if they want me to use their power or mine.



Okay, ill have a gasoline pressure washer if I get a pressure washer



Okay, quamen whats your set up other than a pramac with a honda generator, do you use a truck, trailer or car?

I have a small chevy xtreme with a 4 1/2 by 8 foot trailer. On the trailer i have a generator, pressure washer, compresser, 65 gallon water tank, utility box, air hose real. This whole setup cost about 2000 dollars give or take and i painted the trailer to match my truck, looks really sharp. here is a picture of my setup. similiar setups retail for 8k or more which is quite a bit. I turned profit within a month or so, and the only real equipment i replace is the pw. A decent consumer honda will last about 2 years, but the pumps go bad they run about 500 bucks. My commercial pressure washer was over 1000 dollars but i got it on sale for 600 bucks, they last forever. the picture isn't the greatest,but u get the hint. I have been using this setup all throughout college, i didnt have the trailer when i fist started out.

It is time for a new setup, i just didn't realize i would still be doing this. I went to school got a BA degree and haven't had a job that i enjoyed as much as being my own boss and making decent money pretty quickly, even when i live in a ****** area. never thought the business would be even like this, i planned just doing it part time to make extra money and it took off. U have to let me know what kind of budget etc your trying to work with, because i can layout a nice setup for you. As i mentioned, my first setup sat in the back of that small 6 foot bed, and included a 35 gallon water tank, and everything else, but i had to take it out and place it on the ground but it worked. The 65 gallon you can do alot of cars, believe it or not. Today i did a wash on a Toyota sequoia, a eclipse, a f550 dump truck, a f250 truck and a 16 foot enclosed trailer, had about 5 gallons left to spare.


also don't waste your money on one of those super quiet Honda generators, unless you have that kind of money. My generator has never bothered anyone, and inst that loud at all. If it is running i really cant even hear it in my own home, no need to spend 2 grand on a ultra quiet, but will be nice. I only use my generator at certain places, because 99percent of the customers always have a outside outlet on there home, so u can just plug in and they dont mind at all. The only downfall to my generator, is you cant really run the vaccum and the air compressor at the same time, needs a little more juice. Tractor supply has some really good equipment at cheap prices, even cheaper then the internet. Harbor freight tools even though they are ******, offer the best replacement warranty. My compressor costs 100 bucks and the 3 years replacement cost 8 dollars, i wont be paying for a generator anytime soon. The last one lasted 5 years, so it costs me about 20 dollars a year lol. the most important machines would be ur pw and generator, i really recc getting a commercial washer if ur going to stay int the business.

[bufferbarry]

I can't beleive no one said a water reclaim mat?

[quamen]

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

I can't beleive no one said a water reclaim mat?

u can use a water berm and be under regulation, much easier to use and cheaper.

[DetailnByDustn]

Originally Posted by quamen

I have a small chevy xtreme with a 4 1/2 by 8 foot trailer. On the trailer i have a generator, pressure washer, compresser, 65 gallon water tank, utility box, air hose real. This whole setup cost about 2000 dollars give or take and i painted the trailer to match my truck, looks really sharp. here is a picture of my setup. similiar setups retail for 8k or more which is quite a bit. I turned profit within a month or so, and the only real equipment i replace is the pw. A decent consumer honda will last about 2 years, but the pumps go bad they run about 500 bucks. My commercial pressure washer was over 1000 dollars but i got it on sale for 600 bucks, they last forever. the picture isn't the greatest,but u get the hint. I have been using this setup all throughout college, i didnt have the trailer when i fist started out.

It is time for a new setup, i just didn't realize i would still be doing this. I went to school got a BA degree and haven't had a job that i enjoyed as much as being my own boss and making decent money pretty quickly, even when i live in a ****** area. never thought the business would be even like this, i planned just doing it part time to make extra money and it took off. U have to let me know what kind of budget etc your trying to work with, because i can layout a nice setup for you. As i mentioned, my first setup sat in the back of that small 6 foot bed, and included a 35 gallon water tank, and everything else, but i had to take it out and place it on the ground but it worked. The 65 gallon you can do alot of cars, believe it or not. Today i did a wash on a Toyota sequoia, a eclipse, a f550 dump truck, a f250 truck and a 16 foot enclosed trailer, had about 5 gallons left to spare.


also don't waste your money on one of those super quiet Honda generators, unless you have that kind of money. My generator has never bothered anyone, and inst that loud at all. If it is running i really cant even hear it in my own home, no need to spend 2 grand on a ultra quiet, but will be nice. I only use my generator at certain places, because 99percent of the customers always have a outside outlet on there home, so u can just plug in and they dont mind at all. The only downfall to my generator, is you cant really run the vaccum and the air compressor at the same time, needs a little more juice. Tractor supply has some really good equipment at cheap prices, even cheaper then the internet. Harbor freight tools even though they are ******, offer the best replacement warranty. My compressor costs 100 bucks and the 3 years replacement cost 8 dollars, i wont be paying for a generator anytime soon. The last one lasted 5 years, so it costs me about 20 dollars a year lol. the most important machines would be ur pw and generator, i really recc getting a commercial washer if ur going to stay int the business.

This information fits me to a t! Thank you for this info, The way people are talking about mobile detailing, you can start out small and work your way to full trailers, I think the best approach is to buy something I can put in the back of the bed of my truck that will allow me to do six car washes, which sounds like your first set up, do you still have the information from where you bought your mobile set-up for your truck bed? If the prices are not to much more, I would like to buy a small tote around trailer that way I didn't have to take the equipment out every other day.

[DetailnByDustn]

Originally Posted by bufferbarry

I can't beleive no one said a water reclaim mat?

Me either? I probably don't need one for Madison County, there pretty lenient for run-off of water, but if I go to Asheville, I will def. invest in one. The only reclaim mats I have seen is from detailing king's videos on youtube.com

Originally Posted by quamen

u can use a water berm and be under regulation, much easier to use and cheaper.

That's probably what I will use, don't they attach to a shop vac?

[toyotaguy]

Originally Posted by DetailnByDustn

Me either? I probably don't need one for Madison County, there pretty lenient for run-off of water, but if I go to Asheville, I will def. invest in one. The only reclaim mats I have seen is from detailing king's videos on youtube.com



That's probably what I will use, don't they attach to a shop vac?

ONR...problem solved!

[brwill2005]

One more thing in regards to marketing. This is a very important part of starting any business. I learned the hard way about this. You should develop a plan that states who your target market is, and how you will reach them. Word of mouth alone is not enough to grow your business. If your doing this part time, it is fine, but full time is another story. Develop a strong web presence, as that is where most people look for these types of services. Find ways to advertise that will drive traffic to you website, which should be professional looking. As for the generator, buy what you can afford, however, like most things you get what you pay for. It is not all about noise and wattage either. The cheap gens have very erratic power that is not 'clean'.

[DetailnByDustn]

Originally Posted by toyotaguy

ONR...problem solved!

ONR Bio-degradable?

Originally Posted by brwill2005

One more thing in regards to marketing. This is a very important part of starting any business. I learned the hard way about this. You should develop a plan that states who your target market is, and how you will reach them. Word of mouth alone is not enough to grow your business. If your doing this part time, it is fine, but full time is another story. Develop a strong web presence, as that is where most people look for these types of services. Find ways to advertise that will drive traffic to you website, which should be professional looking. As for the generator, buy what you can afford, however, like most things you get what you pay for. It is not all about noise and wattage either. The cheap gens have very erratic power that is not 'clean'.

Great Point, If I build a skid for my truck, I will look into the different features of each generator and make a choice then, If I can find a tug along trailer that has a pw, tank, generator, and hose reel ill go with that for now, when I start to get a bit bigger Ill go for the very best in equipment, even with my detailing equipment, I would love to try the different menzerna's products, and zaino's products, and buy a flex, but for now one thing at a time!

[quamen]

don't buy a trailer with everything mounted, to expensive. if u dont go the trailer route, don't build a skid for your truck. Get a little carry grate that will attach to a hitch, sort of like to carry coolers or some people use them when they kill dear around here, mount ur stuff to that.

[EcoAutoCT]

Originally Posted by quamen

don't buy a trailer with everything mounted, to expensive. if u dont go the trailer route, don't build a skid for your truck. Get a little carry grate that will attach to a hitch, sort of like to carry coolers or some people use them when they kill dear around here, mount ur stuff to that.

+1, if you're on a budget this is a good route to consider. In fact I've been sending PMs back and forth to another member who saw my old setup using a hitch mounted carrier. Rather than retyping it, I'm just going to copy/paste what I've written already:

Originally Posted by Morgan

They are called hitch mount cargo carriers, my advice is to get one rated for 500lbs with sides at least 6-8" tall. They make smaller ones rated at ~300lbs with 2" sides; and they didn't seem safe/sturdy enough to me. Can be had at truck accessory sites and stores like Tractor Supply Co I believe.

Morgan @ Eco Auto

Originally Posted by Morgan

Mine is 35 gallons, I can scrape by doing a 40' RV but have been thinking of upgrading to a 55g just for the big jobs. As it stands now, with ONR on the paint and using the pressure washer for just wheels/wells/dirty cars I can do 4-5 washes no problem while focusing on water conservation.

The thing about those cargo racks is they max out at 500lbs, and you have to check the tongue weight of your truck. Subtract the lbs of the rack (usually 40-60) from the trucks spec's and that's your carry weight. Each gallon of water weights 8.75lbs, so a 66g tank filled would weigh about 575lbs- way over capacity of the rack. These are all things you have to consider, plus the weight of anything else on that hitch and how a fully loaded tongue affects vehicle handling.

Do your homework before you purchase. Buy it once to maximize efficiency- especially if this is a new business. Avoid overspending before you know it's successful.

Morgan @ Eco Auto Detail

[AeroCleanse]

Originally Posted by toyotaguy

ONR...problem solved!

Exactly, no water run off equals no need for a water reclamation system. I take my dirty ONR water and put it down a sanitary sewer.