Washing vs. detailing

I was wondering what percent of you pros out there offer regular washing services to your customers. I have noticed that, for me, I end up making a little more money with washes than with full details. For example, Every friday i go to the same business complex and wash their cars, last time i washed 6 cars ( one was a wax) in 6 hours and made approx. $165, now if i were to only detail one car in that same time i would charge about $130, and half of those cars i do every week and the other ones rotate, I dont really know what my question is but was just curious as to wether or not anyone else has similar issues, I would like to focus on detailing but if I can be guaranteed cars every week , i really dont want to pass that up and take my chances.
I hope this makes sense, if not , then i apoligize.

The problem with washing and not detailing is that I feel like I am cutting corners too much. I can`t just wash down the outside and ignore all the problems and feel good about charging $25 bucks for it. The money just isn`t there to do the washing. I figure that I`ll let the cheerleaders handle the `washing` and I`ll stick to repairing the damage that car washers inflict. Unless I am working on site at a business and have 15 cars to wash, then its just not worth the time. I`d rather pick up a $200 detail than have to run all over town looking for $25 washes.

I had an easy job where the individual wanted the interior cleaned and the exterior just washed because he thought the vehicle was in good condition. Let`s just say that if I did do paint correction I would have charged double due to the condition of this vehicle, apparently it had just sat for a couple seasons in a forest. Anyways the customer was nice but despite my attempts only wanted his car cleaned and didn`t want to spend much money. Work is work and I`ll do anything but I can guarantee you that you`ll probably find yourself disappointed like me because you want to make that vehicle shine for the customer.

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Originally posted by HBblazer
I was wondering what percent of you pros out there offer regular washing services to your customers. I have noticed that, for me, I end up making a little more money with washes than with full details. For example, Every friday i go to the same business complex and wash their cars, last time i washed 6 cars ( one was a wax) in 6 hours and made approx. $165, now if i were to only detail one car in that same time i would charge about $130, and half of those cars i do every week and the other ones rotate, I dont really know what my question is but was just curious as to wether or not anyone else has similar issues, I would like to focus on detailing but if I can be guaranteed cars every week , i really dont want to pass that up and take my chances.
I hope this makes sense, if not , then i apoligize.

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I think that there is no question that a straight wash is more profitable, all other things being equal. If all the cars are in one place and you don`t have to factor in travel time, you will make more money washing six cars than you will detailing one. In your case, you have six cars in one location to wash, as opposed to one car in one location to detail, and then pack up and travel to the next job.

Am I making any sense here?

Take the guaranteed was jobs every time.

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Originally posted by ncal
I had an easy job where the individual wanted the interior cleaned and the exterior just washed because he thought the vehicle was in good condition. Let`s just say that if I did do paint correction I would have charged double due to the condition of this vehicle, apparently it had just sat for a couple seasons in a forest. Anyways the customer was nice but despite my attempts only wanted his car cleaned and didn`t want to spend much money. Work is work and I`ll do anything but I can guarantee you that you`ll probably find yourself disappointed like me because you want to make that vehicle shine for the customer.

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:yeah Thats the way i feel kinda like you work on someones vehicle but ur really not satified with it. If that makes any sense,well you get the picture!

$165 FOR 6 HOURS OF WORK?!?!?

You will be broke or out of work soon at those prices. We charge $30 for med size cars and more for lrg cars , trucks and SUVs. We do 2.5 an hour (cars). In 6 hours we do 14-16 vehicles, about $420-$500 for what we call a mini details.

The money is the same for detailing. We have an hourly rate that I price my work by and stick to it no matter if we wash or polish.

Well superior shine, as much as 2.5 cars per hour x 15 cars would be, i work alone and thats just not possible to do and unphold any kind of integrity in my work. AS for me , I take all of my classes for college in two days and work the other three ( and usually detail on saturdays), I figure that 2k + per month for a part time job is more than enough for me , and thats way more than any of my buddies are pulling in at the grocery store. Dont get me wrong, my business is only about three weeks old and I would love to see it grow to where i would need to hire employees, that would be awesome.
As for ncal, i totally agree with you that its not easy to just do a wash on a car that needs much more, but , for the most part, the cars that i do wash are all newer than a year or two, and they have been washed every week and waxed every month since they were new, they are absolutly beautiful high-end cars, i post some pics when i get a camera, ( there all in the Real Estate business) and also if someone wants you to take care of their car every weeek they are probably going to want you to detail it when it comes time.

The point I was making is that your labor rate is your labor rate no matter what. If you make $165 washing cars in 6 hours, then you should make $165 detailing for six hours. No diff.