All you mobile detailers out there

[Chuckmotor]

What products for paint (polish, wax, etc.) do you use for most cars when doing a mobile detail? Do you have different products for older cars, and do you charge them more for that? How much DO you charge?

[Jngrbrdman]

I don't know if I would consider myself totally mobile yet. I still need to take the car to water.

At a normal detail shop the first thing they do is take your car into a wash bay and spray it off. I've never seen one that fills up a bucket with water and hand washes it yet. I intend to offer that service when I open my shop, however. My dilema was that I needed to get the cars to water so I was basicly going door to door with my bucked and sponge to start. Now I scope out an area and take the car to the nearest carwash if I don't have a driveway handy. I'm sure a real detailing business wouldn't be able to do that for insurance reasons but I'm throwing caution to the wind on that.

I have a deal with a couple local car washes. Because I bring them so much business they allow me to keep my car in the bay while I wax or polish it. One of them even gives me access to a cord so I can use my own power tools. I've had to take seats out before in order to get the carpets properly cleaned and I'd rather use my drill than a ratchet. And it is nice because I can use my buffer too. I do most of my cars their just because of the deal I have. He doesn't mind if I do bucket washes there either. And he gives me a discounted rate on his tokens. I make more money when I use his wash so I go frequently.

I use Klasse all the time on cars. Most of them prefer it to wax. ( can't say that I blame them) If I have to use wax then I use Meguiar's Gold Class liquid wax. It really polishes up nicely.

The price is based on what I have to do to the car. It ranges from $35 for just a basic wash and vacuum to over a hundred depending on the condition of the finish and interior or size of the vehicle. I have a small table of measures for prices that I use when I examine the car before I quote a price. I tend to be on the cheap side because I just want to wash cars. I'd do it for free if I could afford it.

[Every Little Detail]

Here's my list,
Cleaning:
Valueguards ABC System
Productions Red Power Degreaser/cleaner

Protection:
Valueguards OEM One Step Polymer
Productions Red Baron Carnuba Cleaner Wax

Polishing:
Valueguards Pre Conditoner Cleaner
Megquiars Dual Action Polish

Interior:
303 Aerospace Protectant
Production Prime Leather & Vinyl Cleaner & Protectant

Exterior Rubber & Vinyl:
Meqquiars #40
Productions Super Stuff

I will be switching over to the Valueguard line for all of my products once my supply has run out.

As far as price I charge $150Cdn for a Car, $200Cdn for Trucks and SUVs for a 5/7 hour complete interior/exterior and $25/hr for any additional work that I estimate the vehicle will require outside of the normal time alotment. Shampooing the carpets and detailing the engine are not included in the starting price.

[Intel486]

At the car show here in New Orleans this past weekend I picked up a little pamphlet

I guess it's for Sonny Daze Mobile Auto Detailing. No address... Maybe because it Mobile Ok, I'm looking like a bigger *** the more I type. Here is the price list that I is in the pamphlet.

Basic Package
Wash, Dray, Wheel/Tire dress up, Clean all windows in/out, Vacuum interior, and apply protectant to all interior panels
Sub-compact to mid-size $20
Large cars, vans, minivans, f/s trucks, suv's $25

Wax Package
Wash, Dray, Wheel/Tire dress up, Clean all windows in/out, Vacuum interior, and apply protectant to all interior panels, plus wax & buff exterior
Sub-compact to mid-size $50
Large cars, vans, minivans, f/s trucks, suv's $60

Polish Package
Wash, Dray, Wheel/Tire dress up, Clean all windows in/out, Vacuum interior, and apply protectant to all interior panels, plus compound, polish, wax & buff exterior
Sub-compact to mid-size $80
Large cars, vans, minivans, f/s trucks, suv's $100

Concours Package
Wash, Dray, Wheel/Tire dress up, Clean all windows in/out, Vacuum interior, and apply protectant to all interior panels, plus clay, paint cleansing, polish, wax & buff exterior. Also, included is leather treatment(if applicable), carpet spot cleaning, and engine cleaning for the ultimate finish and shine. (wax layering $30/layer extra)
Sub-compact to mid-size $150
Large cars, vans, minivans, f/s trucks, suv's $200

Extras
Leather Treatment $10, Engine Cleaning $10, Carpet Spot Cleaning $5/spot or $30 entire interior, Scotchgarding carpet $15 or upholstery $15, Excessive Tree Sap or Tar Removal $20, Paste Wax $10

Well, there is what this guy charges. I'll try to grab some more detailer price lists from around my area for you.

[Scottwax]

You can get an idea of my prices on my 'service' page of my website at www.scottwax.com

For surface prep, I use Meguiars Body Shop Professional products-Dual Action Cleaner/Polish, Swirl Free Polish and Hand Polish. They have a strong compound called Diamond Cut, but I've brought back some really oxidized paint the Dual Action, so Diamond Cut must be for nearly hopeless cases. I use a 50/50 mix of Meguiars BSP Overspray clay and Clay Magic Blue for detailing clay.

I use Meguiars High Tech Yellow #26 for wax.

Tires I use a 50/50 mix of Armor-All and Meguiars W-Dressing. I like the Meguiars W dressing a lot, but it is a thick liquid so by cutting it with Armor All, it sprays a lot easier and since both have a similar satin sheen, they work well together.

Vinyl-Meguiars #40

Leather cleaning-Woolite and water mixed 6:1 (the laundry Woolite).
Leather conditioning-Either Meguiars Gold Class for leather or Tanner's Preserves.

Carpet and Upholstry-Magnum upholstry shampoo-mixed anywhere from 6:1 to 4:1, depending on how dirty the interior is.

Glass-Eagle 20/20 Glass Cleaner

[NY detailer]

Here is the breakdown i give to my customer's
complete detail = $125.00
exterior
Hand wash
meguiar's body scrub
Hand glaze- (made specially for me by a company, silicone free)
meguiar's high grade #24 wax
tier cleaner & shin (made for me, silicon free)
Interior
meguiar's tough cleaner, needs to be diluted
" " vinyl cleaner
tough stuff for stains

this is what most of the customer choose. If i go to them, i really never change the price.
to get more customers, i offer all my customers refferal fees or discounts. I have one young kid who brought me 12 cars after i detailed his car. I detailed his car for free as a thank you, and till this day he brings me business.