fast detailing?

[cheapshot]

I have done quite a few details over the past few years, for friends family business owners etc.

It takes me about 4-8 hours to fully detail a car by myself. This includes everything, I mean everything.
I leave nothing behind! how do i make a good profit?

I charge 100 bucks sometimes 80. I would have to charge 150-200 to make a decent days pay!

So my question is how do i detail 2-3 cars in 8 hours?

One step products?

Cut a few corners?

Drink more gatorade?

Any info or advice will be greatly appreciated, Thanks

 

[CARTfan]

^ Umm, charge more than $80, lol.

Seriously though, if you're confident in your abilities, and the results reflect this confidence, you should be able to charge at minimum $20 - $30 per hour. This is what I charge my best friends ($20/hr) and their immediate families, and they're fine paying it. They feel it's a bargain...it is since I'm so darn good.:dnaughty

To do a detail in 2-3 hours will require that you only do a complete interior or exterior, not both IMO. You could easily do a very basic interior/exterior in that time too. Give the customer choices, and they'll decide what they want and therefore what they'll pay.

 

[PerroneFord]

Charge appropriate to your time. I certainly do. Full day details cost $250 or more depending on what is being done. Why are you nervous to charge what you're worth?

And quite frankly, I doubt you are doing "everything" in 8 hours. Frankly, sometimes it just takes longer to do certain processes. Done properly, a full engine detail could take 2-8 hours in itself. A compound, polish, sealant/wax could take a full 8 hours or more. A full interior detail with leather conditioning, carpet shampoo, and other work could easily take 4 or more hours.

To give you an idea, I quoted 4-6 hours for my upcoming detail this weekend on a small 2-seater. Needs a scuff taken off the quarter panel, and then a normal wash, spot clay, All-in-one. I'll wipe down the engine, take care of the seals and trim, and polish the wheels and do some other work, but it should take a legit 5 hours if not a bit more and I'm not even touching the inside except to do the glass and door jambs.

 

[tmacsad]

I have done quite a few details over the past few years, for friends family business owners etc.

It takes me about 4-8 hours to fully detail a car by myself. This includes everything, I mean everything.
I leave nothing behind! how do i make a good profit?

I charge 100 bucks sometimes 80. I would have to charge 150-200 to make a decent days pay!

So my question is how do i detail 2-3 cars in 8 hours?

One step products?

Cut a few corners?

Drink more gatorade?

Any info or advice will be greatly appreciated, Thanks

Process, Process, Process! Get you a good process down and master it. Once you have a good process you will find that it take you less time to do a full detail, and are still putting out top notch work.

O-yeah, skip the Gatorade and slam a MONSTER :bigups

 

[Beemerboy]

Your not charging enough for the hours that you are putting in...but this also depends on your process and if its taken you longer in some areas that is needed, or a process that you have somewhat out of order, and your having to go back over an area again.

Don't sell yourself short on your hours of service, a good detail should go for about $200 or better ...again don't sell yourself short and read up on process and timing

 

[Ronkh]

Caffiene, nicotiene.

BUt it doesn't work for me. SO when you find out, lemme know.

 

[Ivan Rajic]

I have done quite a few details over the past few years, for friends family business owners etc.

It takes me about 4-8 hours to fully detail a car by myself. This includes everything, I mean everything.
I leave nothing behind! how do i make a good profit?

I charge 100 bucks sometimes 80. I would have to charge 150-200 to make a decent days pay!

So my question is how do i detail 2-3 cars in 8 hours?

One step products?

Cut a few corners?

Drink more gatorade?

Any info or advice will be greatly appreciated, Thanks

What is the 'everything' that's included in your details? If it doesn't include paint correction you're taking way too long and should work on your process. If it does include PROPER paint correction (not just running a buffer over the paint to get it glossy) your prices are too low.

 

[cheapshot]

OK my process, please tell me if I'm wasting time! (everything except engine bay)

find out from customer what are trouble ares scratches stains etc. (I'll focus on these areas as i'm going through my process)

spray wheels and whels with apc work with brush if needed
wash car from roof down
clay (blue clay magic) I don't often use clay only if it is really need. (to much time!)
dry the car water blade and a nice waffle mf
remove interior mats dust and clean dash and panels
vacuum interior (pretreat any bad stains) kids and pets or my APC diluted

at this time the car is all clean out side is clean and ready for polish and interior
is ready for shampoo and vinyl leather cleaner. 303, lexol, kids and pets my apc.

Test a section with polishing pad and #80 if no sail I'll try polishing pad PB's 2.5
If it's a must I'll use a orange light cutting, and follow with a polishing with #80 or sometimes follow with PB's PwC. I use other products but i like to work with these.

after polishing.

shampoo the interior fabric.
clean if needed, treat vinyl
do all window stoner IG or EO 2020. MF

treat tires, and any trim out side the car. EO, PB"S BnB


check interior with mf towel, run around car with QD and MF.

look at the car have a smoke ice cold drink. I sometimes give a little QD to the customer for bird bombs, touch ups etc.

at this point i couldn't even think about doing another car!

The trick my be doing a cheap job, or hiring a person or two. i don't know
any advice?

 

[PerroneFord]

Ok, I understand better now.

Taking the engine out of the equation saves a bunch of time. Only brushing the wheels "if needed" saves a lot of time. Not doing clay or spot claying saves a lot of time. I didn't see any mention of taping the car, so there's 30 minutes to an hour right there. No mention of doing the seals, door shuts, trunk and hood lids, etc. No mention of crevice cleaning or brushing the vents. No mention of cleaning up the exterior lights. No mention of extraction of the carpets. No mention of a final polish, so basically it's just a 1-stepper with no topper, or 2-step with light compound and polish with sealant. No mention of polishing, claying, or sealing the wheels.

Not to say that you're not doing a full detail, but there are things that others do in a "full detail" that don't seem to be in your process. And many of those extras take quite a bit of time.

Thanks for sharing your process so we better understand. And be careful with that waterblade.

 

[Troy@Protekt]

I have done quite a few details over the past few years, for friends family business owners etc.

It takes me about 4-8 hours to fully detail a car by myself. This includes everything, I mean everything.
I leave nothing behind! how do i make a good profit?

I charge 100 bucks sometimes 80. I would have to charge 150-200 to make a decent days pay!

So my question is how do i detail 2-3 cars in 8 hours?

Are you really spending 8 hours on a $100 dollar detail sometimes? If so you are screwing yourself and hurting the industry to be quite honest.

Let's say you reach the higher end of your goal and get $200 for a days worth of work. Factor in vacations and rain days and your probably talking about 40k-45k gross. Now factor in expenses, not having any benefits, paying more tax than an employee does. Is that gonna be enough to keep you happy in life?

Before some of you say yes let me ask you one more thing. Wouldn't it be smarter to have a more desireable (sellable) business that is producing that same amount of income? I know that a detailing business is much harder to sell than a lawn business or pool service around here anyways.

Many people who have their own business rely on selling that business to finance their retirement.

I realize that we are probably not talking about a career in most cases. Just something to help pay the bills and get by at present. Just a little food for thought.

It's certainly not something I gave much thought to entering this business.

 

[cheapshot]

Ok, I understand better now.
I didn't see any mention of taping the car, so there's 30 minutes to an hour right there. No mention of doing the seals, door shuts, trunk and hood lids, etc. No mention of crevice cleaning or brushing the vents. No mention of cleaning up the exterior lights. No mention of extraction of the carpets. No mention of a final polish, so basically it's just a 1-stepper with no topper, or 2-step with light compound and polish with sealant. No mention of polishing, claying, or sealing the wheels.

-I tape when and where it is needed
-seals get done when I treat vinyl
-door jams when i was the car
-trunk and hood jams before washing
-crevice cleaning between seats all buttons, vents pockets are being done when i vacuum
-exterior lights when i polish.
-extraction when i shampoo

I thought some of these things were a given

 

[cheapshot]

troy you made a valid point! Not so much a career for me but a hobby, I really enjoy detailing. I want to make a few bucks on top of everyday work. I do most of my work outdoors in driveways. If later I get a garage and a few good guys then I would maybe seek a few good employees, and start a small business. Right now i pay no rent for a garage and have no insurance and whatever else comes alone with a business.

I figure if i could make at least 300 dollars on a Saturday. A few sats here and a few sats there i could bank a few thou during summer months.

that's 1200 a month say 3 months is 3600. not bad, like you said may not be steady, no health coverage etc. but 3600 is not bad on Saturdays during the summer.

 

[Troy@Protekt]

troy you made a valid point! Not so much a career for me but a hobby, I really enjoy detailing. I want to make a few bucks on top of everyday work. I do most of my work outdoors in driveways. If later I get a garage and a few good guys then I would maybe seek a few good employees, and start a small business. Right now i pay no rent for a garage and have no insurance and whatever else comes alone with a business.

I figure if i could make at least 300 dollars on a Saturday. A few sats here and a few sats there i could bank a few thou during summer months.

that's 1200 a month say 3 months is 3600. not bad, like you said may not be steady, no health coverage etc. but 3600 is not bad on Saturdays during the summer.

As long as you are realistically crunching the numbers. I wrote what I did because a lot of guys don't and your remarks about spending upto 8 hours and charging around $100 dollars sparked it.

Everybody places different value on their work. To some, making around $10 an hour working for themselves is better than making that working for someone else. I personally think that thinking is flawed and I touched on a few reasons why in my last post.

Keep in mind how much you make per hour is important and it really doesn't reflect the quality of the job in every case. There are plenty of guys out there making great money doing $100 dollar details. I know a business around here where the guy has employess, a couple vans on the road and he is doing well at that price level. I gaurantee you he is not spending more than 2 hours on a car though which is the big factor. Yes he uses cheap products, one-steps the paint and spends most of his time on the cleaning part of the detail but he has happy customers mostly.

 

[Ivan Rajic]

Based on the process you posted I think you're taking just the 'right' amount of time and I would highly advise you to charge more. Keep old clients at old prices, or maybe explain to them you must increase a bit, but new clients increase the prices a lot and make the money you deserve.

Few comments on your process though... stay away from the water blade as you're going to screw up the paint one day, badly, and you'll hate yourself for using it when it saves you maybe 2 mins of drying time... drying will be fast if you use the method of running low pressure water over the car to sheet off as much water as possible, then using a good m/f drying towel.

The other thing is please please please always clay, ALWAYS... it's much more important than polishing for a few reasons. FIrst of all, it will take off contamination that you might later pick up with the pad and scratch the paint all over while polishing, turning into something very counterproductive. Second, it'll give wax a much slicker, flatter surface to bond with, benefiting looks and durability. Lastly, by claying you're removing the chance of later picking up something off the paint during washing/drying and swirling up the paint, thus I say it's more important than polishing...

Once you get your process down, claying will be a quick 15-45 min job depending on car size.

Good luck, hope this helps.

 

[cheapshot]

ivopivo,
I use the pour spout and big waffle weave MF drying process on cars that are already polished and waxed. On cars that are ready to get polished I use the blade and a small mf! I have been using the blade for a while now, I now some people don't like it, but it works for me. As for the clay well if i raised my prices mybe i could put the time in to add the step.



troy,
thanks for the info, and I know you are very knowledgeable on the subject. How do I explain to customers that I'll charge them 200 hundred dollars for a complete package, when the car wash charges 60, 80 100, on the side to detail or speed wax it.

I feel I need to separate myself from the bunch! Thanks.

 

[shuddleston]

I just don't think you can do 2-3 details in 8 hours maybe 2 if you had a crew. I am like you I did one and interior of another for the same customer in one day and that's all I am good for. Do you have an older child? I bring my 15 soon to be 16 year-old son with me on all details saving me time and giving him money I would have to give to him anyway if he didn't have a job. I still have to go behind him until he grasps my concept for detail but saves time still.

 

[RaskyR1]

ivopivo,
I use the pour spout and big waffle weave MF drying process on cars that are already polished and waxed. On cars that are ready to get polished I use the blade and a small mf! I have been using the blade for a while now, I now some people don't like it, but it works for me. As for the clay well if i raised my prices mybe i could put the time in to add the step.



troy,
thanks for the info, and I know you are very knowledgeable on the subject. How do I explain to customers that I'll charge them 200 hundred dollars for a complete package, when the car wash charges 60, 80 100, on the side to detail or speed wax it.

I feel I need to separate myself from the bunch! Thanks.

By simply explaining what you do different, and how much more time you invest into the job. If the customer only wants the $60, 80, 100 job that the shop down the road offers, then offer the same amount of service they do with a little more attention to detail. I can just about guarantee they are not spending 8 hours on a car and doing the amount of work you are doing.

I just don't think you can do 2-3 details in 8 hours maybe 2 if you had a crew. I am like you I did one and interior of another for the same customer in one day and that's all I am good for. Do you have an older child? I bring my 15 soon to be 16 year-old son with me on all details saving me time and giving him money I would have to give to him anyway if he didn't have a job. I still have to go behind him until he grasps my concept for detail but saves time still.

When I used to work at a high volume shop I, along with the other workers, would get 3-4 cars done in a work day each on average (8-10hr days). This was the same at all 4 high volume shops I've either worked at or managed over the years. I can assure you that the level of quality was no where near what I do today working on my own, as well as some of the other high end detailrs.


It's all about providing a service that the customer is looking for.

 

[PerroneFord]

How do I explain to customers that I'll charge them 200 hundred dollars for a complete package, when the car wash charges 60, 80 100, on the side to detail or speed wax it.

I did a job a few weeks ago for a friend. Her husband had begrudgingly taken his car to the hand wash place for a detail. He was NOT happy when he got it back. When I delivered their car (I did a pickup/dropoff service for them), I opened the hood, trunk, and all doors.

I showed them to door shuts and hinges, the trunk lid, the underside of the hood, the rain gutters at the trunk, the spare tire, etc. I ran my finger along all those surfaces so they could see it was clean.

Invite any of your customers who've recently gotten one of those "details" at the local shop to open the door, hood, trunk, etc. and do what I did. The difference is obvious.

Another customer had long ago let a tube of ben-xxx or some other linament melt in their glovebox. It had never been cleaned out properly. They shared this in our consultation prior to the detail. I made sure to correct this. It took some strong APC, some scrapers, and some patience to get it out of there and kill the smell. But that customer was THRILLED to have her glovebox back.

It's those kinds of things that make the details worth it in my view. Shiny paint is shiny paint to most customers. But personal touch is something that is sorely missing in those fast details.

During a consultation on a Porsche last weekend, I noticed the customer had his sunroof open. As I examined the tracks, I saw a lot of dirt and grit. I asked if the service dept. had cleaned the tracks. He said no. I said, don't worry, I'll take care of that for you. That is not part of a standard detail, but it's something I saw that can and will be addressed. That gentleman knows he is going to get his money's worth from me.

Differentiate yourself with quality, attention to detail, and customer service. People ARE willing to pay when they know it's going to be right. That's why I say 4-6 hours for external details with no correction. Or 10-12 with correction. I charge by the job, not the hour so I can take my time and do what needs to be done.

I don't care for volume work. I care about quality work. And I'd rather do 4 cars a month to the best of my ability, than 30 cars a month on quickie jobs even though that may pay better.

 

[RaskyR1]

I did a job a few weeks ago for a friend. Her husband had begrudgingly taken his car to the hand wash place for a detail. He was NOT happy when he got it back. When I delivered their car (I did a pickup/dropoff service for them), I opened the hood, trunk, and all doors.

I showed them to door shuts and hinges, the trunk lid, the underside of the hood, the rain gutters at the trunk, the spare tire, etc. I ran my finger along all those surfaces so they could see it was clean.

Invite any of your customers who've recently gotten one of those "details" at the local shop to open the door, hood, trunk, etc. and do what I did. The difference is obvious.

Another customer had long ago let a tube of ben-xxx or some other linament melt in their glovebox. It had never been cleaned out properly. They shared this in our consultation prior to the detail. I made sure to correct this. It took some strong APC, some scrapers, and some patience to get it out of there and kill the smell. But that customer was THRILLED to have her glovebox back.

It's those kinds of things that make the details worth it in my view. Shiny paint is shiny paint to most customers. But personal touch is something that is sorely missing in those fast details.

During a consultation on a Porsche last weekend, I noticed the customer had his sunroof open. As I examined the tracks, I saw a lot of dirt and grit. I asked if the service dept. had cleaned the tracks. He said no. I said, don't worry, I'll take care of that for you. That is not part of a standard detail, but it's something I saw that can and will be addressed. That gentleman knows he is going to get his money's worth from me.

Differentiate yourself with quality, attention to detail, and customer service. People ARE willing to pay when they know it's going to be right. That's why I say 4-6 hours for external details with no correction. Or 10-12 with correction. I charge by the job, not the hour so I can take my time and do what needs to be done.

I don't care for volume work. I care about quality work. And I'd rather do 4 cars a month to the best of my ability, than 30 cars a month on quickie jobs even though that may pay better.

:bigups

 

[RyansAutoDetail]

this is the reason two years ago i started this small and now i am charging roughly $20 hourly in most of my detailing packages

for me i also do not touch the engine or do headlights or taillights or chrome exhaust tips as i just cannot do any extras but i do do the basics .

for me without polishing or even doing anything to the paint i could easily take up to 6 hours on a wash and full interior detail which would cost about $120 but on average the interior package alone i spend about 4 hours on and i charge roughly $70

for a full 8 hour detail with polish u could be charging at least $150 .... where i am charging $170 for up to 9 hours but i could even charge more once i get the demand up !