I think Im taking too long. How long do you guys take for Wash Vac Shamp Mats? Time Management Help

V

Volvonomics

New member
Hand wash, vacuum, shampoo mats. I thought i would be done in 1 hour.
I have an SUV and could bang it out in that time, but my car is cleaner than most.

I launched on April 12th, and have done 14 cars.
I am totally mobile. I worked on a neglected hand me down 97 Accord, Brand new 16 435i conv, 15 Range with white leather trim, the killer was 09 Yukon XL.
I take from 1 1/2 to 3 hours per vehicle.
Condition will dictate the level of cleaning, and of course size.

Here are my issues:
1- People stop to get info, even drive their cars up for inspection, despite me telling them " Ill call set up a time when Ill come by"
I dont want to be rude, or turn away business... just wondering how to handle this.
and-
2- Im my worst enemy: Even on the Accord, Im looking for show quality, theyre happy with clean.
I notice im looking in every crevice, looking for every crumb, every scuff mark.
So, for a basic wash and dry, would a once over do?
i would never think of leaving anything behind, a crumb, sand, even pollen that entered while the door is open.
 
Though Im probably the *LAST* Autopian who oughta respond to this....

Things take as long as they take.

1) Id tell the interrupters something along the lines of "I cant stop to talk right now lest I mess up/run out of time/etc." Something they wouldnt want happening if you were doing *their* car. Just be really nice about it (while remaining firm that you cant be interrupted).

2) My goal would be to exceed your customers expectations without doing things they either dont care about or wont notice. Biggie is to be sure you *know* those expectations, and that the customers know what they *oughta* expect for the price/time involved.

Now Ill be interested to hear what the Pros here say!
 
Accumulator said:
...

Now Ill be interested to hear what the Pros here say!
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Agreed. I havent done sufficient washes to give adequate input. I think Im also on the slow side of things!

Let me think.... last wash and hand wax with basic vacuum took about 5 hours. Owner was happy. But hes too cheap to do it again!
 
I just spent 5 hours today on a Yukon Denali XL interior alone, that wasnt exactly in terrible condition either.

You need to figure out what kind of business you want. Do you want to be the best and cater to those you expect or desire your level of detail? Or do you want to try and cater to everyone and sacrifice your quality of work because its enough to make the customer happy? You cant please everyone, and trying to will drive you insane. Ive been over this already in my 2+ years of doing this professionally. Its a tough thing to manage. You really need to think about how you want to handle it and adjust your services accordingly. If you try to capture the whole market from the wash n wax people to the show car people, you are going to be in for a lot of disappointment. My prices turn maybe 1/3 of my phone calls away because "the other shop is cheaper" or "I dont want to pay that much." I dont let it bother me because those arent the customers I want. You can be the cheapest, or you can be the best, you cant be both (and make a decent wage at least).

I agree with Accumulator that you should always try to exceed your customers expectations. This is the number one thing that will get you referrals. I havent been at this very long compared to others here, but I can tell you that each year I get more and more people calling saying things like "you did my friends car and it turned out amazing! I want you to do mine!" This is because im always doing my best, even if that means I spend an extra hour of time on something I know I wont exactly get paid for.

As for how long you take... On a good day I can fully detail a sedans interior in 3 hours. And that would have to be in decent shape to begin with. Outside roughly the same. If youre doing inside and out in 1-3, id say youre breaking records. But the other side of me says that you arent exactly doing "show quality" work either. I typically spend upwards of an hour on wheels and tires alone. So it sounds to me like youre doing more of a wash n wax job than a true "detail." Please dont take that personally, I do not intend to offend. Thats the service you choose to provide and customers want it so more power to you. Considering what you are offering and how long its taking you, id say you are right about on par for how long it can/should take. So dont sweat it too much.

How much work you do should be directly related to what you charge IMO. If you advertise inside and out for $50, and spend 2-3 hours on a car, youre about right. People looking to pay that dont expect miracles, they expect clean, which I believe youre providing. Now the customers I look to attract, for example the Yukon Denali XL I did earlier today, I charged the guy $150 and worked for 5 hours on the interior. These people expect spotless, they expect miracles, and they expect to be blown away with your work. I know I have the highest prices in town, but ill be damned if im not putting out the best level of work as a result.

What are you doing that is attracting so many people to where you are working who keep interrupting you by the way? I am mobile as well and usually get one or no people come up to talk to me. More often than not I am not bothered at all. Maybe you could help me with that lol. I would recommend you do your best to accommodate the drive ups, shoot them an estimate and give them a card. Be polite and just kindly let them know youre busy and would love to talk but simply cant. Ask them if you can take their number down and give them a call when you finish.

Dont get discouraged, keep working and keep learning from each and every experience. You can only read so much, get out there, keep at it and youll figure it out.
 
Sounds like you need to work on optimizing your processes. Personally, an average sized vehicle’s interior shouldn’t take any longer than 2 hours to complete whether it’s trashed or a cream puff. The only variable that could take longer is excessive carpet and/or cloth seat soiling. You need to work in such a way that you aren’t back tracking your steps/processes. You also need mandatory tools/products like a dedicated carpet shampoo and compressed air. This will not only produce top results, but also dramatically speed up the cleaning process.

I’ll elaborate on steps for interior cleaning and typical max time to complete:

*Vacuum loose debris (a thorough vacuuming isn’t needed) – 5 minutes
*Pre-soak fabric stains with appropriate cleaner – 2 minutes
*Clean (APC scrub, wipe blow) door panels – 15 minutes
*Clean center console, center pillar trim & dash (APC scrub, wipe blow) – 10 minutes
*Clean left front and left rear seats – 5-10 minutes
*Shampoo left front and left rear carpets & connected trim (vacuum & towel dry ~ extract as needed) – 10 minutes
*Clean right front and rear seats – 5-10 minutes
*Shampoo right front and rear carpets (vacuum & towel dry ~ extract as needed) – 10 minutes
*Blow out complete interior (front to back or back to front) – 10 minutes
*Final vacuum – 10 minutes
*Door jambs – 5 minutes
*Windows – 10 minutes
 
David Fermani said:
Sounds like you need to work on optimizing your processes. Personally, an average sized vehicle’s interior shouldn’t take any longer than 2 hours to complete whether it’s trashed or a cream puff. The only variable that could take longer is excessive carpet and/or cloth seat soiling. You need to work in such a way that you aren’t back tracking your steps/processes. You also need mandatory tools/products like a dedicated carpet shampoo and compressed air. This will not only produce top results, but also dramatically speed up the cleaning process.

I’ll elaborate on steps for interior cleaning and typical max time to complete:

*Vacuum loose debris (a thorough vacuuming isn’t needed) – 5 minutes
*Pre-soak fabric stains with appropriate cleaner – 2 minutes
*Clean (APC scrub, wipe blow) door panels – 15 minutes
*Clean center console, center pillar trim & dash (APC scrub, wipe blow) – 10 minutes
*Clean left front and left rear seats – 5-10 minutes
*Shampoo left front and left rear carpets & connected trim (vacuum & towel dry) – 10 minutes
*Clean right front and rear seats – 5-10 minutes
*Shampoo right front and rear carpets (vacuum & towel dry) – 10 minutes
*Blow out complete interior (front to back or back to front) – 10 minutes
*Final vacuum – 10 minutes
*Door jambs – 5 minutes
*Windows – 10 minutes
Click to expand...


Im old fat and lazy. So I need 3x what you quoted.
 
David I need to stop by your shop sometime and watch your guys work. I bet its pretty impressive.

I wish I had all the tools you have at your shop at my disposal. Being able to run all those tools all at once must be nice. Someday I may be able to work that efficiently.
 
David, you should put some videos together of your guys cleaning interiors. And I remember a article you wrote on prepping cars on the exterior. A video of that would be awesome also. Something about a half hour to wash, clay towel, clean engine and jambs? You know how to get it done!

edit: looks like shane is thinking the same thing
 
ShaneB said:
David I need to stop by your shop sometime and watch your guys work. I bet its pretty impressive.

I wish I had all the tools you have at your shop at my disposal. Being able to run all those tools all at once must be nice. Someday I may be able to work that efficiently.
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Oldfordisbetter said:
David, you should put some videos together of your guys cleaning interiors. You know how to get it done!

edit: looks like shane is thinking the same thing
Click to expand...

Shane - I never realized you were so close! You have an open invitation to come by. Heck, Ill put you to work and youll be doing 2 hour interiors in no time!

Id love to put a video camera in front of my prep & good interior guy for you to see how quick and to the point they do their job. When you do the same thing multiple times a day for sometimes decades you learn how to maximize your work time for maximum income potential from both an owner and a worker perspective. Im actually considering doing an open house training in the near future and would soley be focusing on these items.

Oldfordisbetter said:
And I remember a article you wrote on prepping cars on the exterior. A video of that would be awesome also. Something about a half hour to wash, clay towel, clean engine and jambs?
Click to expand...


Funny thing is I was thinking about that thread and just decided to bump it: http://www.autopia.org/forums/car-detailing/179134-poll-average-prep-time.html
 
David Fermani said:
Shane - I never realized you were so close! You have an open invitation to come by. Heck, Ill put you to work and youll be doing 2 hour interiors in no time!
Click to expand...

Show me how to do it on a single 15A circuit and ill be impressed ;)

Actually looking over your list, I may try that process. I sometimes rely a little too much on my steamer I think. maybe spraying a little apc and using some brushes first, then using the steam to rinse may be a faster option.

Still not sure I can get the average car done in 2 hours though! Who knows though, maybe ill surprise myself! Id love to be able to streamline my process better and save time. Sometimes those interiors that take me 6+ hours can drag on and its hard to maintain focus. Of course the issue is always with the upholstery. Such a pain
 
Sounds like you need to get a larger sample size of your times, so you know how to gauge. Even a quick rinseless, dry, tire dress and QD wipe down takes about 2 hours on my well maintained car. You need to be able to set a realistic expectation for your work.
 
I can do my full size truck in an hour and have timed me doing my Aunts Tahoe, wash, wax, and interior in 1:15 minutes. She has 3 granddaughters that she cares for so the inside isnt immaculate by any means. Now granted I spent 8 hours really going over it in detail and polishing it a couple of months ago. Its amazing how much easier it is to clean up a vehicle with a decent coat of FK1000P on clean, polished paint. I also dont have to clean carpets other than a thorough vacuum job and clean the leather.
 
Thanks for the tip!
1- Im going to say some variation of: " owner needs to leave in 1/2 hour, so i really need to be on point, are you local? Ill swing by when im done, give me your # Ill call you when Im on my way, heres my card.....etc.
2- i always go over with customer and say "this will come out, this may not, 80-90% of this will, are you happy with that?" If theyre finicky, Ill say something like, "getting this out would require some harsh chemicals, and or special machine not included in price" / "sometimes chasing the the stain may damage or compromise the carpet fiber, Do you want me to go that route? How important is it to see that mark/stain removed? "
That sets the bar on where they want to be......and i always over deliver
 
Just starting out, and being my side gig, Ill take ALMOST anything.
I see from many posts, even outside this one, my prices are set too low. Im looking for $25-30 an hour. I used prices from a local detailer who works out of his garage, and marked accordingly.

As far as drumming us business, i think my timing, and my target community had a lot to do with it.

I targeted a community that had a lot of nice rides in the driveway, Im talking Bentley and SLR. I managed to land the up and coming.
I come to find that a Passover ritual involves a thorough cleansing, home and car. That community is where the bulk of my customers came from.
Some really sweet rides. Most cars are new to 3 years old.

Next week i only have 4 cars lined up. I did that in one day last week.
My goal is to convert some steady premium customers that i visit weekly or bi-weekly for a wash, and one interior a month. Add a trickle of some corrections and other biz i can find.
I realize just because you hang a shingle, they aint come a knockin
Thanks again for your input.
 
ShaneB said:
Show me how to do it on a single 15A circuit and ill be impressed ;)
Click to expand...

Actually, everything we have (except out compressor) can be run on a 15A circuit. At home I have a 15 gallon Craftsman compressor that will work though. I used to bring it with me on mobile jobs back in the day. Cant do an interior properly without one!

ShaneB said:
Actually looking over your list, I may try that process. I sometimes rely a little too much on my steamer I think. maybe spraying a little apc and using some brushes first, then using the steam to rinse may be a faster option.
Click to expand...

Ill tell you right now....forget the steam! Leave it for breaking up heavy soiling on carpet and cloth seats and do the rest manually. Steamers are great, but take too much time and shouldnt (IMHO) be used on leather or many trim panels. Theres no substitute for scrubbing. The biggest factor is allowing the cleaner enough dwell time to do its job. Time will allow it to loosen and break down the soiling so a little agitation will make it vanish. Then, give it a wipe and a blow and its done.

ShaneB said:
Still not sure I can get the average car done in 2 hours though! Who knows though, maybe ill surprise myself! Id love to be able to streamline my process better and save time. Sometimes those interiors that take me 6+ hours can drag on and its hard to maintain focus. Of course the issue is always with the upholstery. Such a pain
Click to expand...

You really should allow me the opportunity to show you our system. The worst interior, even on a full sized SUV should only take 3, maybe 4 hours at the absolute longest. That would mean theres dog hair, trashed carpets and cloth seats.
 
Ill have to find some time to make my way out there some day! I have a hard enough time getting out to wash my car, let alone take off for a few hours lol.

My my steamer is my substitute for an air compressor. I get pressure up to 105psi with it so its how I blow everything out. Ill give the APC dwell a try and see how it goes. I spent way too much money on my steamer to just forget it.

What at kind of extractor are you running that can run on 15A?
 
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