Hard to make money washing

R

RAG

New member
I don't know how guys make money performing wash-only services. I've inadvertantly dabbled in it a bit (I have a hard time saying "no"), but by the time you drive there, unload you washing supplies, and complete the gig...it really works out to be a bad deal. I actually wash cars at a business location one day per week, but I wash 10-14 cars a day and people bring their cars to me. But going to someone's home - it's a real waste of time and gas. I wanted to see what others are doing in this regard? I was thinking maybe I should offer "mini-details" instead of washes...same good wash plus dress tires, trim, and a quick QD application for an extra $15? What do ya think?
 
I have regulars whose cars I wash every week, minimum of 2 vehicles in my immediate area and they are all really good about have their cars waxed on schedule, tip pretty much every week and big at Christmas. About 30-40% of my week is regular washes, the rest are mostly details. It is actually nice having guaranteed (weather dependent, of course) each week.
 
I guess it all depends on how much you are charging, and what you are doing, how long it takes, and how far...if I am going to just wash a persons car, I tell them I need at least 75 bucks for me to come out to make it worth it with gas prices being so high and so forth! I can usually sell them on a wash and wax, or if they get 3-4 other people to get their cars washed...my wash includes wash, tires, windows, vacuum, wipe up interior, and spray wax....25-40 per car, takes about an hour for a truck, +/- for size
 
I only offer wash services to my customers whose vehichle I maintain on a constant basis. Not those who call you ever 4-6 months to clean it up. One of my customers I would see every week, but most enjoy the bi-weekly wash job.
 
toyotaguy said:
I guess it all depends on how much you are charging, and what you are doing, how long it takes, and how far...if I am going to just wash a persons car, I tell them I need at least 75 bucks for me to come out to make it worth it with gas prices being so high and so forth! I can usually sell them on a wash and wax, or if they get 3-4 other people to get their cars washed...my wash includes wash, tires, windows, vacuum, wipe up interior, and spray wax....25-40 per car, takes about an hour for a truck, +/- for size
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So far that's what I've done - made sure they have multiple cars for me to wash (except in one instance where i got suckered to go out and wash a single vehicle for a while...and just like you said, with gas prices being what they are...no good).



I was thinking of having an economy-of-scale curve where more vehicles would cost less and less per vehicle (depending on how many of course). But even if I charged $50 to do a single vehicle and it was only 10-25 miles away, I still don't see how that can work out...financially. A 2 or 3 vehicle minimum would also be a good idea I guess.
 
damn man if you can get a $50 detail that is aweome! I cant get people to understand that my $30 is pretty good pricing for a mobile detailer who takes an hour to wash a car! I am not a guy who throws on some water, a little soap here and there, spreads it all around and creates a big pool of water below the car....hahaha



but right now I need atleast 75 to even start my travels....i know joe from supreme shine requires 120 per stop....
 
One missing point is what does your downtime cost. What the time between jobs really costing you? If you wash one car for $100, but thats all you did all day... thats not a winning situation.



FIve Star has an interesting philosphy about making $300 a day. If thats profit, then you're in good shape, but if thats before gas, insurance, advertising, supplies, taxes, etc... well thats not so great.



For my side business I don't get show up for anything less than $50 an hour. (me walking away with $50 and hour in my pocket that is...)That includes the initial estimate, all the work, and any follow up. That is also after I subtract out all of my above mentioned supplies, taxes, insurance, etc...



Latest issue of Car Washing magazine had an article on pricing. One thing that stuck in my mind was the question of volume. Does volume really mean you can wash cars faster to make more money per hour, or does it justincrease the volume of cars needed to wash. Most people don't make more per hour our per car on volume jobs.
 
Down time is why my wash area is limited and I have my schedule set so I stay in the same area during those times. If I had to go from one end of town to the other, it wouldn't be worth it-but when the next customer is less than 5 minutes away, no problem.
 
I think Scott has the right idea. If your organized geograpically and time wise then you can offer wash services otherwise it's probably not good business. Washing could be a good business deal if you could do fleet or truck washing.
 
Its called time and route management. fill your day, plan your route, then give a time



you will get killed running all over the place.



think like UPS does
 
True, but I dont get a lot of jobs just asking for a wash, plus Im scattered all over. I have done more details 30+ miles lately then closer to home. I just dont see how one could afford to pass on a detail, knowing he has a wash scheduled. I mean if you cant fit a detail in on Tuesday when its convenient for the client, due to the fact Tuesdays are your wash day, he will go somewhere else.....

I just gave up on washes altogether. I use to do some washes in pretty affluent neighborhoods, but a "good" wash generally, "to me" is just like a light detail. I would wash, Spray wax, vacuum, wipedown, wipedown wheels and do windows. If someone can do that on a Escalade or Tahoe with chromies, in under 2 hrs, well............I guess I would be envious. But for $50.00? Not worth my time.
 
RAG said:
I don't know how guys make money performing wash-only services.
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When you factor in your actual operating expenses, such as; salaries, marketing, advertising & promotion, administration, legal & accounting costs, supplies, products, insurance, taxes & licenses, equipment repairs & maintenance and vehicle repairs, maintenance & depreciation - it is not easy to understand how some detailing businesses actually make a profit offering low priced wash-only services.
 
For detailing I actually have a $150 minimum, but I'm still figuring out what to do for car washing (I actually like it best when my clients wash their own vehicles); but for those that don't, I'm simply going to have to charge a big premium, coordinate multiple jobs in one area, etc...don't know any other way around it.
 
I think you would have to in order to make it reasonable. You cant go from point A for 40 bucks, then point be for another 40 when they are 25 miles apart and takes 1 hour to get there due to traffic. Some customers will understand this and some wont, at least in my experience.
 
I'm a detailer around the houston area and also a full time student. I live at home, my car is paid off, insurance is paid too. I try to detail 3-5 cars a week but most of those will be an extensive detail, while the other 2 might be a wash and wax. What's also great is that I do not pay for advertising, its pretty much word of mouth or trading for ad space on a message board.



Being a full time student, I can't really go all out on advertising, which kind of sucks because I know I'll make good money, but on the other hand, i'm about graduate in marketing. :)



I don't wander to far away from my homestead to just wash a car anymore. this was kind of me rambling. :o
 
I am washing cars every Thursday morning at a wheel warehousing business about 30km from myself. From them alone, I've gotten well over 10 full details, including both of their cars, and family members still waiting for a full detail! I ask for $100 for both the cars (Dodge Magnum and GMC Sierra), and they are easy to keep perfect since I detailed them! Takes less than 2 hours for both, washed/vac/wiped down. They're more than happy and tell everyone they know.



Word of mouth advertising rocks :woot2:
 
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