What would you guys charge for this detail

**SShine** · 01-14-2008, 12:26 PM

Originally Posted by jsatek

you are too nice of a guy to be in business for yourself! :dance

Once thing I have learned is you have to leave your emotions and sympathy at home in the morning:laugh:

**imported_JoshVette** · 01-14-2008, 12:33 PM

One thing I learned from a wise business man (owner of a major co.) back when I used to have a desk job was, he said, "either be the cheapest or be the most expensive"...... think about walmart and mcdonalds and how well they do..... also think about Ferrari and how well they do just for example.

The cheapest get tons of business and are known for shear quantity, but not really known for the best quality.

The most expensive typically don`t get as much business but are known for being rare, valuable and usually high standard of quality......and most I know of say "if they had the money they`d buy it".

**imported_Jakerooni** · 01-14-2008, 12:51 PM

Originally Posted by JoshVette

One thing I learned from a wise business man (owner of a major co.) back when I used to have a desk job was, he said, "either be the cheapest or be the most expensive"...... think about walmart and mcdonalds and how well they do..... also think about Ferrari and how well they do just for example.

The cheapest get tons of business and are known for shear quantity, but not really known for the best quality.

The most expensive typically don`t get as much business but are known for being rare, valuable and usually high standard of quality......and most I know of say "if they had the money they`d buy it".

Perfect example there Josh. I don`t spend a gajjillion hours on a car. I saw once on some show about Paul that he spend upwards of 2 weeks on a detail. I don`t go through all the steps alot of you guys do. I don`t need to. I however do know how to do them all. The main thing is my customers walk out happy and tell their freinds and family about it. I`ve only had one major complaint and even though "the customer is always right" and I refunded his money he was obviously plain wrong in the situation. (he got a wash wax and vac and thought his $35 was paying for a complete detail) But I strive on doing right by my customers expectations. Apparently it`s working

**imported_Conan777** · 01-19-2008, 09:33 AM

Sorry I just read the last few posts...good stuff, Very informational and good food for thought. I do not detail for a living so I`m looking to target more the higher end customers. I`m not looking to compete with alot of the local competition or under bid them. I am only interested in detailing a couple cars a month at best. So what are your guys thoughts on the new Flex Polisher (Orbital). If I could get excellent results correcting paint in 8hours or less I think that would be ok. Again I`m not going to be doing 2 cars a day 6 days a week and trying to push volume. I just want to complete a polishing job in a reasonable amount of time while having the quality be absolutely TOP NOTCH! If I could have used a Rotary and completed this job in 5 or 6 hours it`s worth it. If the Flex can do as good a job but take an hour or two more that is acceptable, but if the flex would take only a small amount of time off the over all polishing compared to my UDM then it`s not worth the expense. I definitely could have cut down on the amount of time it took me on this car but I am also a bit of a perfectionist and I worked on this car until I felt it was as perfect as it could get given the tools and products that I had. I did it for the love of taking a beat up car and making it beautiful again and the customer was very pleased. I would rather promise little and deliver Alot! I just don`t feel like spending all of my free time trying to do it. The 16hrs thing started to take away from my enjoyment and definitly made it feel like work. LOL! SO what I`m asking now is what machine do you guys recommend and pads. Also for those people who do not want alot of correcting done what glazes do you use to give the car the appearance of a flawless paint job? Thank You

**imported_JoshVette** · 01-19-2008, 11:43 PM

Originally Posted by Conan777

Sorry I just read the last few posts...good stuff, Very informational and good food for thought. I do not detail for a living so I`m looking to target more the higher end customers. I`m not looking to compete with alot of the local competition or under bid them. I am only interested in detailing a couple cars a month at best. So what are your guys thoughts on the new Flex Polisher (Orbital). If I could get excellent results correcting paint in 8hours or less I think that would be ok. Again I`m not going to be doing 2 cars a day 6 days a week and trying to push volume. I just want to complete a polishing job in a reasonable amount of time while having the quality be absolutely TOP NOTCH! If I could have used a Rotary and completed this job in 5 or 6 hours it`s worth it. If the Flex can do as good a job but take an hour or two more that is acceptable, but if the flex would take only a small amount of time off the over all polishing compared to my UDM then it`s not worth the expense. I definitely could have cut down on the amount of time it took me on this car but I am also a bit of a perfectionist and I worked on this car until I felt it was as perfect as it could get given the tools and products that I had. I did it for the love of taking a beat up car and making it beautiful again and the customer was very pleased. I would rather promise little and deliver Alot! I just don`t feel like spending all of my free time trying to do it. The 16hrs thing started to take away from my enjoyment and definitly made it feel like work. LOL! SO what I`m asking now is what machine do you guys recommend and pads. Also for those people who do not want alot of correcting done what glazes do you use to give the car the appearance of a flawless paint job? Thank You

Conan, you should probably start a thread asking these questions, I`m sure you`d get much more repsponses.

You mention absolute quality being top notch, then you talk about using glazes??? That`s quite a contradiction as glazes only temporarily fill and hide defects and two weeks later when the client sees his car looking like crap again they won`t be happy.....

Also, if you want to do faster correction, you need to invest in a good rotary and forget about the flex and udm.:xyxthumbs

Josh

**imported_Conan777** · 01-20-2008, 02:15 PM

I agree Josh, I have never used a glaze before so am curious how well they work even if only for my own black car for between polishes. I realized very quickly that no matter how well I care for my car and how meticilous I am it still gets scratches and swirls. I wash my cars weekly if not more in the summer months so re-applying a glaze every 2 weeks followed by a wax or sealant may work wonderfully for me?? Don`t know never tried ??

**SShine** · 01-20-2008, 02:35 PM

Originally Posted by Conan777

I agree Josh, I have never used a glaze before so am curious how well they work even if only for my own black car for between polishes. I realized very quickly that no matter how well I care for my car and how meticilous I am it still gets scratches and swirls. I wash my cars weekly if not more in the summer months so re-applying a glaze every 2 weeks followed by a wax or sealant may work wonderfully for me?? Don`t know never tried ??

I don`t recommend putting glaze down before a sealant or wax, at all.