jtford95
New member
Hey gang. What are you pro Detailers charging for interior vacuum on the mini vans with the fold down seats? I gave a 2016 Caravan and I find it a pain with all the extra space to vacuum. Really curious. Thanks. Joe
Question for the pro Detailers
- Thread starter jtford95
- Start date
ShaneB
New member
Just to vacuum??? Like... nothing else? Id probably charge like $10
TheMeanGreen
New member
I`d know my hourly rate, and charge accordingly. If I`m doing a simple service the customer is still going to pay for it, taking 20 to 30 min to vacuum for $10 is a waste of my time.
jtford95
New member
Shane, I’m talking about the stow and go seats. The compartments and all. 10$ isn’t enough IMO. That’s what I am curious about.
MG, what would you charge? Give or take? Nasty to not so bad?
MG, what would you charge? Give or take? Nasty to not so bad?
I don`t do just vacuum`s. I`d at least do a quick interior detail. I charge $95 for a quick interior detail (or it`s included on all of my exterior packages). My quick interior is still very thorough, however. My full interior detail is $375 and covers absolutely everything. $575 is for a full interior with everything coated.
ShaneB
New member
Sorry I misunderstood. If I`m asking $10, I`m making sure the customer is expecting $10 of work. I also detail with the mentality that if I have to scrub really hard, I`m doing it wrong. So I`m not ever trying to work miracles with a shop vac.
Lots to consider when i have to give a price. I don`t really offer just a quick vacuum for interiors, ill do it if a customer requests but its NEVER the primary reason I have contact with new clients. So if I`m already detailing the outside of the van and they ask for me to vacuum it for them real quick while I have it, sure $10 and kick it out the door, spend 5-10 minutes at most on it. They get what they get. I`m a detailer not a car wash jockey. If its a WRECK i may ask $15-$20 but that`s assuming ill need 20+ minutes to do it.
10 minutes is a reasonable amount of time to spend vacuuming a mini van if that`s ALL they want done. They want more than I can get in those 10 minutes then we are talking actually doing detail work and I would price accordingly.
ShaneB
New member
:blink::blink::blink:
I was originally dumbfounded by those prices until I noticed where you`re at. Still crazy to me as your prices are almost literally 4X what I charge here, and I still get people thinking I charge too much. And I`m not exactly in a low income area either (home values in my service area are upwards of $1M+)
If you`ve ever vacuumed out a van or large SUV with short white cat hair, maybe then you understand why it took me 4 hours to do so. I use a Sears shop vac and a lot of swiping-and-wiping with rubber gloves, along with a bristle brush to dry brush and vacuum. Ended up using tweezers to hand-pick out visible white cat hair still deeply embedded in carpet fibers. You do need to have crevice tools to get everywhere. I also use a stiff-bristled tooth brush alone carpet and plastic trim seams to get the last of that debris that inevitably ends up there. I end up moving front seats back- and-forth or folding and moving rear seats to get at everything or taking out truly removable seats. It all takes a lot of effort and time. So asking how much a detailer should charge depends on how clean you want it and what kind of debris needs to be removed.
One thing that professional detailers use is compressed air to blow out debris from those inaccessible areas, like under and between seats. Beats brushing or forcing your hands/fingers into confined.
One thing that professional detailers use is compressed air to blow out debris from those inaccessible areas, like under and between seats. Beats brushing or forcing your hands/fingers into confined.
Accumulator
Well-known member
Interesting thread for me.. Other people do stuff so much faster than I do!
ShaneB
New member
Nailed it
David Fermani
Forza Auto Salon
$100 which would include dry brushing and blowing out with compressed air.
ShaneB
New member
Yeah obviously my posts aren`t getting read thoroughly...
I have a select few customers who have me wash their cars, occasionally ill be asked to vacuum it out for them real quick. $10 is fair for 10 minutes of my time.
NOBODY is ever asking me to schedule an appointment to simply vacuum their car out. So it is done more as a courtesy when asked for just a few bucks.
The OP asked how much we would charge to vacuum out a mini van. No specifics were given, so i answered as simple as possible. Now lets raise the question of is there pet hair? Lots of crumbs, dirt, debris? Is it limited to one area of the vehicle or everywhere? Does the customer expect a miracle? Am I expected to remove said pet hair if there is any? Is there lots of debris in hard to reach areas that`s expected to be removed? Do they want me to go thru the trouble of brushing the carpet as well?
Take into account a lot of those variables then realize that NO I`m not going to do all that for $10. Just the other day I spent the better part of an hour and a half vacuuming a small SUV and removing some deeply embedded pet hair from the cargo area. In that instance that took up half the time needed to completely detail the interior (steam cleaned, dressed plastics/vinyl and leather conditioned) of which I charged $125. So figure ~$60 of that was just to vacuum it out. I`ve had other vehicles of the same size that I vacuumed out thoroughly in 10-15 minutes.
Mr. Fermani!!! Nice to see you posting now and then.
Your dry brushing methodology for cleaning interior, carpets floor mats, and fabric seats is a absolutely necessary step to cleaning an interior, and some thing I have learned from you. Somewhere there is a thread that you did on this very subject.
I will say that the type of brush makes a big deal and I use a small, stiff (very worn) nylon bristle and a stiff nylon bristled tooth brush for brushing carpets and fabric. Some might want to use a horse hair brush on softer seat fabrics , like alcantra , but each detailer can make their own choice. I have a tampico bristled brushes, but they tend to loose their bristles when used aggressively.
jtford95
New member
All great replies. Thank you. I did get a couple good ideas. I got the van about a year and half ago and with the storage with the seats and all other compartment and stuff I was curious. Been a while since I have done a detailing job and couldn’t think how much.
jtford95
New member
Lonnie I try to keep a nice amount of brushes on hand when I do vacuum. I did make a nice a score on a vacuum. An older Tennant canister vac. Nice and quiet. Can’t half hear now because of the hours of vacuuming and polishing.
Yup, know all about that hearing loss and impairment. I carry small foam ear plugs in my pocket so they are readily available and use them when I vacuum or use the leaf blower to dry a vehicle after a two-bucket wash. Just trying to protect the little hearing I have left (and it ain`t much!) Hearing loss is one of those "occupational hazards" of detailing, and until it happens to yourself, you do not think much about it or try to prevent it. And when it does happen, it is too late to bring back or "cure", short of hearing aids.
As a side note, "Huh? What did you say?" is probably the number one "complaint" and start of arguments in older couples. Just sayin`!...(but not hearing! LOL)
Accumulator
Well-known member
Yeah, I really oughta wear "ears" when using the AirWand, but I don`t 
"Eyes and ears!" as they say at the range...you can`t just get replacements so protect the ones you`re born with. Easy to take such things for granted until the incident that`ll "never happen" (says the guy who`s recovering from yet another emergency eye surgery).
"Eyes and ears!" as they say at the range...you can`t just get replacements so protect the ones you`re born with. Easy to take such things for granted until the incident that`ll "never happen" (says the guy who`s recovering from yet another emergency eye surgery).I charge those prices both in Boston and San Diego, both very different income categories. I also have very few people that come to me for just interior. Most people will get an interior detail when the car is in for a correction or coating or just a regular exterior package. I also didn`t start with those prices. I started quite low and worked my way up after I got some brand awareness.