Quick Detailing, Wholesale Detailing, Fleet Detailing - Underrepresented Here?

[gators241987]

Originally Posted by todd@bsaw

Dutrow, I just have a difference in opinion on this comment:


I just have to ask, why?

I have done countless engine details at a price between $25 and $50 for maybe 10 minutes of work. I have never once had an issue or complaint. One of my dealership accounts went from an "$85 detail" to a $125 detail just because I did the engine. The sales manager loved that I did the engine and I had many of the techs and sales guys come in just for me to detail their engines.

Sure, people rarely look at the engine while driving. They rarely look at the wheels while driving as well... same for the trunk. Not everyone is going to care if their engine gets detailed, but if they ask about it they will pay extra for it. I just think this is an add-on service that you are neglecting because of irrational fears.

What do you do for an engine detail that only takes 10 min?

[2k2blackWRX]

Originally Posted by gators241987

What do you do for an engine detail that only takes 10 min?

I will answer for him,

before washing the car spray the engine bay (we use a pressure washer) and the under side of the hood. Spray our APC all over the bay and scrub the dirty areas and let sit while you spray the wheels and mats down. Spray off the engine.

At the end of the detail we dress the engine and that is it. 99% of the engines come out GREAT with just a tiny bit of work. Hundreds and hundreds of cars and we have had only 1 single problem.

[DutrowLLC]

Originally Posted by todd@bsaw

Dutrow, I just have a difference in opinion on this comment:


I just have to ask, why?

I have done countless engine details at a price between $25 and $50 for maybe 10 minutes of work. I have never once had an issue or complaint. One of my dealership accounts went from an "$85 detail" to a $125 detail just because I did the engine. The sales manager loved that I did the engine and I had many of the techs and sales guys come in just for me to detail their engines.

Sure, people rarely look at the engine while driving. They rarely look at the wheels while driving as well... same for the trunk. Not everyone is going to care if their engine gets detailed, but if they ask about it they will pay extra for it. I just think this is an add-on service that you are neglecting because of irrational fears.

This is definitely a debatable issue. And I think that if you can get $40 more on dealership work for an engine detail, then you should do that, thats a really sweet deal.

Currently, I don't have an engine waiver, if I did I might feel differently. But here is my reasoning:

My company has done thousands of cars. Lets say the average car has engine trouble every 4 years. Thats every 1460 days. So that means every 1460 jobs that do, someones car isn't going to work afterwards and its going to have nothing to do with me, but I'm still going to get blamed for it. But if I was never in the engine bay, then its going to be hard to blame me for it.

I've done a fair share of engine detailing, and it is easy and makes the engine look nice, spray some degreaser on there, let it sit, rinse if off, wipe down a few areas, silicone dressing, and BAM, you got a nice and shiny engine. But lets face it, you are spraying water in a direction on the engine that its not made for. Best practices dictate to cover the electrical components... what if you make a mistake? What if the vehicle has components that you don't know exist? What if water gets on them anyway? What if you are not 100% familiar with the mechanics of that specific vehicle and you screw something up? What if the vehicle has components that are just about to break and your presence there agitates them and breaks them? <---(This is probably the most likely event)

Like I said, 99% of the time, you'll be ok, especially with brand new vehicles, but its still risky. And I don't think it holds a lot of value for the customer unless they are trying to sell the vehicle. My policy is that I do engines by request, but I always try to sell customers away from it over the phone, 85% of the time, I can do it. The other 15% want it done anyway. And when I do do engines, I don't spray them directly with water, we wipe them down and then spray dressing on the Black plastic and rubber hoses. Haven't got a complaint yet.

[Holden_C04]

Kudos to all involved. I am really surprised this thread didn't get locked. Dutrow, you care a lot more about quality than most shops I know. That means something.

[mcc]

I have really enjoyed this thread as well. Dutrow, some of your posts could have been written by me, almost in their entirety. I really agree with the point about interiors. I get so many customers that let me know they really just care about the inside, but the price was good so I might as well do something to the outside as well. None of my customers have ever really cared about keeping up on the waxing of their vehicle, but if the inside gets dirty, they'll call me out. They are usually thrilled with the exterior, which shows that they just don't have a lot of expectations as far as that goes.

In my area, the detail goes in this order of importance:

1. Price
2. Interior
3. Exterior

My website has also been responsible for getting me a lot of work. People will tell me that it really stood out to them and caught their attention, then they looked at my prices and photos, and then what I actually do last. I try to tailor my services to what the market in my area will bear. If I lived in other areas of the country I would probably do something different. I do this as a business first, but if I'm going to do something, I'm going to give it all I have for the services that I'm being paid for, even if just a basic wash.

[brwill2005]

Interesting thread. In general, autopians detailing expectations are much higher than average. I would say that most here do detailing more as a hobby than a profession. Those of us that do detail for a living have to make a profit above all else. Do not get me wrong, quality is very important to me and my business. At the end of the day it does come down to money though. The three years I have been in business full time have been a very good learning experience to me. I feel I am offering services that are a great value and high quality. I strive to operate efficiently as possible by buying great equipment and using high quality products that are cost effective. The more efficient you operate the less you have to raise your prices to be profitable. I have decided to concentrate on the maintenance aspect of the market. I have signed up a good number of clients for maintenance detailing (wash and vacuum) on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. This gives me x amount of guaranteed income throughout the year. I have stopped offering my wash and vacuum service unless there is monthly or bi-weekly service agreement. I also offer mini-details and full details. I find I rarely do full paint correction because most people do not want to pay me $40 an hour. Most are just interested in maintaining their new car and having it protected a few times a year. Those types of customer's understand that what I do preserves their car's appearance much better than a car wash. I would also much rather work on cars that are maintained regularly as opposed to cars that have been neglected for years. The types of customer's who do neglect their cars are least likely to be repeat customers in the near future.

[DutrowLLC]

Originally Posted by brwill2005

Interesting thread. In general, autopians detailing expectations are much higher than average. I would say that most here do detailing more as a hobby than a profession. Those of us that do detail for a living have to make a profit above all else. Do not get me wrong, quality is very important to me and my business. At the end of the day it does come down to money though. The three years I have been in business full time have been a very good learning experience to me. I feel I am offering services that are a great value and high quality. I strive to operate efficiently as possible by buying great equipment and using high quality products that are cost effective. The more efficient you operate the less you have to raise your prices to be profitable. I have decided to concentrate on the maintenance aspect of the market. I have signed up a good number of clients for maintenance detailing (wash and vacuum) on a monthly or bi-weekly basis. This gives me x amount of guaranteed income throughout the year. I have stopped offering my wash and vacuum service unless there is monthly or bi-weekly service agreement. I also offer mini-details and full details. I find I rarely do full paint correction because most people do not want to pay me $40 an hour. Most are just interested in maintaining their new car and having it protected a few times a year. Those types of customer's understand that what I do preserves their car's appearance much better than a car wash. I would also much rather work on cars that are maintained regularly as opposed to cars that have been neglected for years. The types of customer's who do neglect their cars are least likely to be repeat customers in the near future.

Ok, you are doing something that I've struggled thinking about and deciding if I wanted to handle it or not:

How do you do the bi-weekly and monthly services in terms of keeping the price reasonable for the customer in terms of reducing your driving and waiting overhead. Driving because you have to drive between locations a lot. And waiting because customers have to come out and give you their keys, or might not be there, etc...?

About how much do you charge for these services?

Thanks!

[brwill2005]

I do try and keep the price reasonable because (1) they are having me do the service monthly or bi-weekly, and (2) it does not take me long because the cars stay very clean. For a typical sedan the price would be around $50. For me, it is the guaranteed income year round and the fact that the cars stay clean that makes it worth it. Of course this is in addition to the mini-details and full details I do for these and other customers. I am also building long term relationships with these customer's that will hopefully provide me income for years to come. They trust me to take care of their prized cars like they were my own.

[Scottwax]

Originally Posted by DutrowLLC

Ok, you are doing something that I've struggled thinking about and deciding if I wanted to handle it or not:

How do you do the bi-weekly and monthly services in terms of keeping the price reasonable for the customer in terms of reducing your driving and waiting overhead. Driving because you have to drive between locations a lot. And waiting because customers have to come out and give you their keys, or might not be there, etc...?

About how much do you charge for these services?

Thanks!

In my case, I schedule all my wash customers on Thursday and Friday and every is set up so all my appointments are in the same general area. I don't do washes outside of the city I live in at all.

[SVR]

Originally Posted by DutrowLLC

About 99% of what I learned about detailing aside from trial-and-error, I learned from this forum. However, I've noticed that this forum is heavily weighted towards a boutique brand of detailing that in my experience:
* Is much more difficult
* Has lower profit margins
* Is less scalable

I am an entrepreneur by nature. I did not get into this business because I like to clean cars. I got into this business because I like to do something new every day while I pay other people to clean cars (not that I don't like getting outside and cleaning cars every once in a while, just not every day)

I'm writing this thread to see if there are any other people like me on here, and to see if a dialog can be opened up for us to share our experiences, hints, knowledge and know-how.

A few examples of the kinds of things I do:
* I avoid services that someone cannot learn how to do in a few days.
* I NEVER tell customers I will remove scratches or do wet-sanding. I tell them very light scratches will probably be removed or be less visible. I do this because:
a) It is difficult to communicate to a customer over the phone what kinds of scratches a detailer can and cannot remove and customers have a strong statistical likelihood of under representing the damage.
b) Most calls I get are from people wanting their cars to look shiny and nice and to clean out the interior that has been trashed by their two year old. Customers who are looking for a detailer experienced with a rotary and wet sanding are, in my experience, a statistical minority.
c) Proper scratch removal requires a high level of skill as well as assumption of risk. In my experience, it is much more profitable to operate to stick to jobs that are easier, less risky, less expensive for the customer, and more straight-forward.
* I NEVER use a rotary. Rotaries require a high level of skill and are risky. It is hard to train someone new in a reasonable amount of time to use a rotary. (I use Dual-Action Polisherers)
* I offer low-cost services in bulk. I use day-laborers for a lot of the wholesale stuff.
a) Quick washes, spray-waxes, vaccuum, and Dashboard wipe-down for $30 (minimum of 10 cars)
b) Auto dealerships
c) vehicle fleets
d) calcium/cement deposit removal for parking garages (2/3 posts I found on cement removal suggest using vinagar which doesn't work very well, I use something that dissolves it on contact)
e) The kicker for all this is I make a lot of money doing this stuff. Using advice and methods on here, I'd have to charge much more and make much less.
* I have computer software that I wrote myself that handles my scheduling. It uploads a calendar online so that the detailers can view what they are scheduled for and download and print out job information and invoices for the customer. I'm currently having a better version of this software developed my someone else.
* I use chemicles and products that work very well in my opinion, but seem to be vastly cheaper and easier to use than anything reccommended on here. (Seriously people, why would you want to work just to pay for your supplies and equipment?)

Some of the products I use are:
* Turtle Wax Ice Car Wash
a) Eliminates water spots
b) leaves paint glossy
c) costs $6.99/ gal @ Costco
d) I saw some clown on here offering some boutique car wash that looked like it did the same damn thing on this site for $30/gal.
* Stoners Products! - I order the cleaners in 5 gallon drums, 55 gallons at a time for the 55 gallon drum price. Shipping is free East side of the Mississippi and usually comes the next day. This company is awesome, they actually develop and manufacture the products themselves. (Stoner is your factory direct source for professional detailing products and car wash chemicals & supplies.)
-) Bead Max (straight polymer sealant, aerosol can)
-) Spead Bead (polymer sealant w/ cleaners, aerosol can)
-) Polish and Seal (One step)
-) APC (heavy dillutions)
-) Wheel Cleaner (heavy dillutions)
-) Trim shine
-) Tarminator
-) Window cleaner
* Microfibres from Costco
* Odo-Ban from Sams Club
* Detailing brushes from Wal-Mart ( sells brushes that work great for cup holders and another that is awesome for the crevice between the seats and center console)
* Zaino - (A good value, in my opinion, for our higher end stuff)

My Question:
- I have a lot of questions, but the one I was looking for the answer too that got me side-tracked writing this post is:
---Where the heck do I get good polishing pads for cheap???---
I feel like polishing pads are such a rip-off. They wear out too fast for my taste and cost too much to be just a stupid pad. Right now I use EDGE pads which I think are expensive, but they last longer. I used to use the ones with the velcro backing plates and the backing plates would get all full of gunk that I couldn't wash off and quit sticking to the pads. I feel like pads should cost a lot less than they do.

Sure it's really easy to be like the majority and do fleet work etc and you will make a good living from it
However what is needed in the world are true professionals not more monkeys with no idea what they are doing (thats not you obviously)

You'll never revolutionise the industry or be the best in your state or country if you just do fleet and car yard work
Yes there are people working in or owning a shop that does fleet work (I know one) but he also does autopian quality work and the shop is flat out with cars

The results from the typical shop who do non private work last a couple weeks and then it is back to zero again

The chemicals used by them are cheap and nasty and hazardous to their health

[brwill2005]

Originally Posted by Scottwax

In my case, I schedule all my wash customers on Thursday and Friday and every is set up so all my appointments are in the same general area. I don't do washes outside of the city I live in at all.

I have thought about doing this as my scheduling becomes harder, however, I try to be as flexible as possible with the maintenance clients. After all, they are my best customer's.

[JuneBug]

You know the biggest problem I have ... besides being overweight, is estimating a detail job. Some times I hit it but others I screw up cause it took way longer than I thought. That is one area that I'm going to fix real quick though, especially after last weekend's marathon.