Originally Posted by
MooreImpressive
OK, I`m going to break this down a bit.
1) ... now to clean the leather, we use a well diluted APC and a boars hair brush. it gets leather VERY clean, much cleaner than the all-in-one leather cleaner/conditioner products can. that is the way I would recommend doing it. not just spraying a cleaner on and wiping off, but actually using a soft brush to get way down in the pores and perforations of the material, you WILL notice a difference. and we use warm water, which not only cleans better, but also opens the pores of the leather which will make the conditioner do a much better job and last longer.
2) when it comes to the services you offer, it is a bit odd that you don`t do any real deep cleaning of the interior, just basically spraying cleaner on the seats and plastic and wiping off, yet you charge $90 for that. that`s incredible and I could be a millionaire in a couple years if I could get that kind of money for about 1 hour of work on a vehicle that size. I understand you don`t do this everyday, so it probably seems like a lot more work than it does for someone who does do this everyday, therefore, you charge more. I get that. I don`t agree with it, but I get it. not sure what you mean when speak of leather "not cooperating". I mean, I see what you mean, but not when it comes to leather on a Porsche. there is nothing unusual about it.
The entire reason for this post was to find out HOW to deep clean the leather, I don`t want to just wipe and go. I did my Sister in Law`s Buick some years ago and the tan leather was almost black from age and use. Using Meguiar`s Aloe Leather Cleaner and a medium-rough scrubbing pad & brush, I got the leather looking like new, but it was A LOT of work and it took me most of a day to do the front and rear seats of the car, and I`m assuming the worst and expecting to run into seats like that on this detail ... just trying to be prepared. I`m looking for something that is more effective than that, so I can do a proper job without it taking me all day I do plan on conditioning the leather. I also plan on cleaning and protecting the plastic and vinyl using the appropriate chemicals and scrubbing as needed. I gave an estimate of it taking me up to three hours to complete the interior of the SUV ... doing it properly and completely. Plus if it doesn`t take me three hours do complete the interior, the price will go down. I don`t do carpets/fabric upholstery simply because I don`t have the equipment to do it right.
now when it comes to the paint on a vehicle, that is certainly where you can talk to the client about possibly having to charge more if you aren`t getting the correction you desire, and will have to spend more time, effort, and materials on it, assuming its not because of user error, but because the products just aren`t working well enough (and assuming you are using the right products, pads, tool, and have the experience to combine all those things for the desired end result in a timely manner). but then again, when it comes to a Porsche, you should no problem cleaning or correcting anything on it. if someone asked me "thinking in terms of the entire vehicle, what is the most user-friendly vehicle to work on", no question, its a Porsche. the paint is extremely soft (good thing for us), and the carpet and leather are very cleaning-friendly (also good for us).
I told him that a 2-step compounding or polishing + sealing might not end up being `perfect,` but I`m still going to strive for that, I mean all I do to my own car is a two-step and I work the polish until the paint is perfect or as close as I can get it, usually an all day affair. I`m glad you said Porsche paint is soft and easily workable, that will also help keep his cost down. I quoted him $300 to start, only increasing that if the paint turned out to be really hard and it took a lot of extra work to get it to my level of satisfaction which is pretty high.
3) I assume you live near Cleveland (good luck starting tonight by the way, should be a hell of a series). honestly, the price you are charging seems way high to me. I live near Indy, and even the very best detail shops around here who do higher end vehicles in an expensive suburb would charge about $200-225 to do what you are doing, and about 80% of that cost would be the result of doing a 2 step on the exterior, and certainly not the super quick interior job you described. matter of fact, if you brought it to us, we would do it for about $225 and that would include shampooing carpet and deep cleaning the leather, not spray on - wipe off. but again, I understand that you don`t do this every day, and you cant compare one area of the country to another. no doubt, you will get some guys who live in an area like southern California or NYC or Chicago who will think you actually UNDER charged this client, but then again, the cost of living is so much higher there that it all evens out, basically. I spend my fair share of time traveling the country so I certainly know how much things change when it comes to the costs of goods and services from one area to the next.
I actually live in a suburb of Akron, and the client lives in a suburb south of Cleveland. The shop where I initially picked up the basics is in Akron and for an exterior with an interior vacuum, wipe down and windows, they charge 75 percent more than I do to start, and they are swamped with steady business, although they insists it takes them 5 steps to do what I can do in 2 or 3. Actually this is my first detail that doesn`t involve a family member or a friend and I don`t have any way to measure the right pricing scale for what I do, other than my former boss` shop and what I see what the various detailers on the forums charge for various services and try to go a bit lower than that since I`m not a "professional."
end of the day, get what you can get at the time, and who cares if you over charge or under charge. if you are satisfied with the price, and the client is satisfied with the work, its all good.
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