Me and one of my friends are gonna give it a shot...

Well, we both need $, so we`re gonna give it a shot. Not gonna do anything CRAZY, just around the neighborhood and stuff, but we`d like some guidance on where to start...
We`re thinking for 45 bucks or so per car (Trucks, vans, SUV`s extra):

*Wash
*Bug/Tar removal
*Clay bar
*Paint cleaner
**Scratch removal (Scratch-X?) if needed
*Paint polish
*Wax
*Clean wheels / hub-caps throughly
*Clean and dress tires
*Clean exterior trim (hood orniments, grills, exhaust tips, etc.)
*Vacuum interior
*Carpet shampoo
*Leather conditioner on leather seats
*Clean dash area, dress w/ plastic/rubber dressing
*Clean windows on inside and outside
*Clean door jams and trunk area

And for 5 or 10 bucks extra, clean engine and dress it up with appropreate stuff....

Anything that we`re missing? Charging too much or two little?
What sort of stuff should we be using? Is something like Zaino overkill for most cars, or will Meguiars Deep Crystal stuff be good enough?

Any suggestions on how to get started? Thanks
-Chris (And Scott)

$45 bucks per car for all that? No offense but are you crazy? You should be getting a minimum of $175 especially if your polishing and claying. How much do you expect to be making an hour? Most self-employed detailers make between $30 and $40 an hour.

okay, lol so is what we`re thinking about doing too much for a normal, daily driver, toyota camery, sorta deal?
lol thanks

What your talking about doing is pretty much a complete restoration of the vehicle. It takes a lot of time, a lot of sweat, and a lot of different products.

You should be equally compensted for your efforts, especially when you make somebody`s car look 100% better. While most people want their car to look great, few are willing to pay the kind of money a detailer should make for doing this kind of work. However, there are people out there who will - the hard part is finding them.

I think that for the most part, the majority of people just want a car that is clean and looks decent. So in your case, if your trying to market this group of people, I would offer an "express detail", which would include a wash, wax, vacuum and dust interior, clean windows. 45 or 50 bucks would be a fair price for that.

I`ve had a similar though recently, charging about $50 to do some family members cars. The main reason is for me to gain more experience, plus I get to try out a lot of different products, and I`m mainly charging for product, not so much for labor. If you`ve got plenty of experience, there`s really no reason to do all that work for under $100, unless someone has a large fleet of cars, that you`re gonna do.

Ok....
Yeah, the `express detail` is more what i`d be wanting to do i guess.....
(more like what the sort of people i`d be doing it for would be looking for...i`d rather do the whole deal, lol)

So wash, paint cleaner, maybe polish if there are swirl marks, wax, clean and dress tires, vacuum, clean the interior, glass, dashboard....50 bucks or so?
Sounds good...
Any other suggestions or ideas?

$50? You can come do my car anytime. :lmfao Seriously, after product costs and splitting it with your buddy, you`d be making like $10. So, does that sound good to you?

hahaha
Well my friend keeps on arguing that for 5 bucks they can go to the highschool on the weekends and the girls swim team will wash their car, half naked!
Although its a good argument, we both know that the quality isnt there...rags and dish soap is what it is there....but he`s afraid that for a high price, people wont concider it.....
I dunno....we`re still just planning this...
Thanks for all the help :-) any more advice or ideas are welcome!

Yup, way too inexpensive. I need some assistants in Georgia. :naughty

Hey speedpenguin,

:welcome

For $45, you should be spending NO LONGER than 1 1/2 hours on the vehicle. Any more time than that and you will be out of biz in no time.

Get the client sold on that package as a full detail ($125-$175 or whatever your market will bear), THEN offer the $30-$40 "Maintainence Detail" bi-weekly, or however frequent the cust. needs.

Good luck in you business venture!

Speedingpenguin,
I know someone who will wash with Zip Wax (that is a wash and wax product),remove tar sap,etc., quick detail with Meg`s Quik Detailer, scrub wheels and tires with apc and then apply Armorall, vacuum, wipe interior and attempt to remove obvious stains inside with carpet foam. It is about a one and a half hour project. He gets $100 but we know that is too much. But his clients (who are basically rich) are usually very excited to see their ride shine again. He will often get a tip on top of that ($25, $50 and yes,even a $100). An $80000 car looks like crap too if not cared for and just washing it brings out the luster because these cars are most of the time almost new. These people generally don`t have a clear idea of how easy it is make it glisten again. Your idea is a good one but what I think you have to focus on is people who have a lot of money. Word of mouth will get you a lot of business once it gets rolling. A blue collar neighborhood probably just won`t cut it. Can`t blame anyone for that. Even $25 is a heck of a lot when money is tight. And if you have not noticed about 90% of people , 90% of the time money is tight. Except when you get around big money. So go out, find them, offer to do their cars and get started. I think the real key is to have the courage to ask. Sounds like you are young enough to get away with it. If you see a real expensive car that is looking trashed and it is a local person, offer to do the car, they already know it looks bad and are probably too busy to get around to getting some one to do it. And by the way, I observe that none (that`s zero!) of them do their cars themselves. Stick to your simple cleaning plan and don`t go overboard because it is not likely the average person can tell the difference. Remember, DC has only about 2000 members so there must be a lot of people in the world who just don`t get it. Best wishes!

You need to figure out how much it costs you to operate. You have to not only consider the chemicals but also the wear and tear on your pads, towels, equipment, etc. You then will figure out how much you two want to be paid per hour. Add all that up and that`s how much you need to be paid.

Remember, the owner will be willing to accept more mistakes at $20 an hour than at $45 an hour. It might be a good idea to start off low so you can gain the experience and practice.