Anyone work at a carwash?

I

imported_speedingpenguin

New member
Hahaah oh man. I just started my new job, at a car wash/detailing place (Simoniz / Wash City)

The first day was sorta painful, watching Audi's and BMW's and WRX's and stuff go through the car wash, having to scrub the backs of Escalades and stuff with one of those brushes thats been sitting on the cement floor for who knows how long, etc., and when i get a car to detail i have a hard time getting just the basic interior cleaning done in twice the time they say it normally takes. Not cause I'm a slow worker, but because just the "detailer" part of me wants to get every little thing PERFECT, even though I'm only getting 8 bucks an hour to do it. Also, its amazing how dumb people are, cant even go through a car wash without screwing something up, WITH FOUR PEOPLE GIVING DIRECTIONS AND A BIG SIGN THAT SAYS WHAT TO DO!!!!!! AGH!



Fortunatly this is just a job to get me through the rest of the school year, then i can start working for Dish and get paid a lot better.



Anyway, does anyone else work at a car wash and have any good storys? I'm about to fall asleep now but I'll post a few good ones tomorrow:hmph:
 
haha, I worked at a dealership. I was alittle younger but I still knew what was going on. The stuff that we did and used was just insane.



If anyone knows what Pink Clean is, we sprayed that on the entire car and it was only diluted 1:1.



Ill never forget when the end on the pressure washer wand I was using shot off and hit a BRAND new GTO. good times.
 
i work at one. we have better than normal setup and personally i try to do a good job (better than most others there) but theres just not enough time. ive been working there for years to get thorugh school so i oculd tell stores all day. speaking of a new GTO, we had one kid who was high on pills pull a car onto the track, missed the conveyor track and wound up on the metal plates that cover the pit where all the water is collected and recycled. it held for about a minute but we couldnt get the car off and it felt right in. the worker was fired and we had new steel grates custom built for a few grand so it wont happen again. repairs to the car was only 130 dollars so no big deal...want more stories?
 
mikebai1990 said:
Why don't you try detailing for money by yourself? You would enjoy the detail more, and you would get significantly more.
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The individual people that are getting their cars cleaned may not agree with that. They may think they are getting a better deal at the carwash.



After you get a fan base setup, you would probably be alot better off. :woot2:
 
BlueLibby04 said:
haha, I worked at a dealership. I was alittle younger but I still knew what was going on. The stuff that we did and used was just insane.



If anyone knows what Pink Clean is, we sprayed that on the entire car and it was only diluted 1:1.



Ill never forget when the end on the pressure washer wand I was using shot off and hit a BRAND new GTO. good times.
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do u mean C.A.R. products' "pink cleaner" all purpose cleaner? :bolt
 
I worked for a car wash in 1958. W used Cheer laundry soap, and we dried them with a chamois. When we werent washing cars we had to pump gasoline, ever in the winter , with wet cloths.
 
I worked at several mass production shops when I was first starting out. The kind where they bring you a pig dirty Expedition and tell you that it takes 1.5, maybe 2 hours to give it the perfect full detail. I would usually finish the wash and vacuum by the time the 2 hours was up and get yelled at because I hadnt buffed, polished, waxed or extracted yet. Talk about a crock of crap...



Glad those days are over!!
 
Allred00535 said:
I worked at several mass production shops when I was first starting out. The kind where they bring you a pig dirty Expedition and tell you that it takes 1.5, maybe 2 hours to give it the perfect full detail. I would usually finish the wash and vacuum by the time the 2 hours was up and get yelled at because I hadnt buffed, polished, waxed or extracted yet. Talk about a crock of crap...



Glad those days are over!!
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I dont know any shop that would/could polish a vehicle that fast plus do everything else, its not even possible.
 
Coupe said:
I dont know any shop that would/could polish a vehicle that fast plus do everything else, its not even possible.
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Its not possible, but the owner pays 2 hours labor for all suv's and trucks, an hour and a half max for cars.
 
Coupe said:
I dont know any shop that would/could polish a vehicle that fast plus do everything else, its not even possible.
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Coupe - If you get a chance, go over to the Manhiem's Auto Auction in Flint. 10 people will do over 100 *decent* complete details in 1 day. :wow: :shocked Amazing assembly line detail production. It would probably give an Autopian a heart attack at 1st glance.
 
mikebai1990 said:
Why don't you try detailing for money by yourself? You would enjoy the detail more, and you would get significantly more.
Click to expand...



actually i do. my room is stocked up with thousands of dollars worth of products. ive got more products in my closet than the detail shop at work does:p

i am working full time and in college though so i dont have enough time to do a lot of side jobs but i decided long ago that this is what im going to do for my life, i love detailing(the right way, atleast):waxing:
 
speedingpenguin said:
and when i get a car to detail i have a hard time getting just the basic interior cleaning done in twice the time they say it normally takes. Not cause I'm a slow worker, but because just the "detailer" part of me wants to get every little thing PERFECT
Click to expand...



Give yourself some time there man, you'll be surprised on how fast you can get going..I can do most cars in about 3 hours top to bottom with a single stage polish. I take significantly longer when I do it on my own time for my own clients, but I can probably still get through 3 cars a day at my own speed. A little APC goes a long way with an airgun and a microfiber cloth in the interior...You'd probably fall flat on your face if you saw how cool air guns can work for you. A strong vacuum helps a lot too.
 
yea, interior cleaning is the key. if you have a clean surface the dressing/protectant will go on very quickly. i only use air tools inside on extreme cases though. the only thing i truly dont like doing is shampooing carpets and seats. the rest is a cakewalk, shampooing is just annoying
 
David Fermani said:
Coupe - If you get a chance, go over to the Manhiem's Auto Auction in Flint. 10 people will do over 100 *decent* complete details in 1 day. :wow: :shocked Amazing assembly line detail production. It would probably give an Autopian a heart attack at 1st glance.
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Im gonna have to check that out!



Im thinkin (with my own experiance of course) how long it takes to do a full and complete detail. Say a medium sized sedan, even with a rotary and medium marring and scratches it would still take me ~5 hours and thats haulin arse. Hard to believe someone could do an SUV in 2 hours.
 
I sure couldn't do it up here. Too freaking cold to be messing with water all day in freezing temps. LOL

But, Jim Croce did it. :lol
 
The local AutoSpa has a detail guy, I've talked to him on a few occasions. He uses Meg's products and does a fine job with a buffer. They normally have it as appointments only and stress quality over quantity. Where he saves time is - the machine does the wash, the regular workers do the tires/wheels,vac, wipe down and glass, so he justs has to (if needed) clay, compound, polish and sealer.
 
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