need detail. how do i choose?

G

galleystoker

New member
Hello Folks

I'm looking for a detail on a vehicle that i'm getting ready to sell. I live in northern md. what should i be looking for in a detail shop? Are there many private detailers that do side jobs? how do i find them? what kind of prices should i expect? any help is much appreciated. btw the vehicle is a 1990 vw van
 
found a guy who's gonna do the job for 100. i guess compared to most prices i found while calling around he is relatively inexpensive. he says he used to detail for a mercedes dealership. i'll let you know how it comes out.
 
toyotaguy said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH



good luck with that...
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Haha come on man, at least help him out a bit.



Galley, my advice would be to post here in the regional forum and ask for a detailer... you should get a few responses and can also get some feedback from other members... the $100 guy that used to detail for a dealership will make your car worse... that's why toyotaguy meant by "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

good luck
 
toyotaguy said:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAH



good luck with that...
Click to expand...





lecchilo said:
Haha come on man, at least help him out a bit.



Galley, my advice would be to post here in the regional forum and ask for a detailer... you should get a few responses and can also get some feedback from other members... the $100 guy that used to detail for a dealership will make your car worse... that's why toyotaguy meant by "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA"

good luck
Click to expand...





ditto on both comments
 
Hello galleystoker,



That price is very good. I would take that. Just see how it turns out. Hope the best and I hope you do sell your car.



Maybe if it doesnt turn out to be what you like, We can do our best to find someone close by and maybe help you out.





D Reaves
 
Galley,



The title of the thread is NEED A DETAILER HOW DO I CHOOSE. I am not sure that your question has been addressed. Obviously you chose based on price, why? Probably because you are selling the car and are not really concerned with having it detailed, just cleaned so you can get a couple of extra $$$ when you trade it in, correct? Believe it or not but I have seen cars which are fully detailed for a cost of $300.00 fetch the owner an extra $1,000.00 to $1,500.00 at resale or trade. Cleaning your van up for $100.00 will probably not give you that return on investment.



Here are a couple of detailers who belong to the National Association for Professional Detailing and Reconditioning. They may be close enough for you to check out.



Car Pool Detailing

Contact Gina

804.288.1515



Celebrity Detailing

Contact David

610.905.9769



Good luck.



Tony Stubblefield

Founder

New England Detail Authority

617.464.4481 ext.2

National Association for Professional Detailing and Reconditioning

Bulletins
 
Hey I really appreciate that you all even responded to me. thanks for all the info. i'm definitely interested.

I haven't gotten the van back yet..

Where can i see examples of detailing? I mean what does a $300 detail have that a $100 job doesn't? I'm not trying to sound to stupid about it but i can see if you own a lamborghini you might want to find the $300 detailer; you would just feel better about leaving your car with the guy as compared to the guy thats got my van, but really, i 'm hoping to get $2500. when i sell it. And i really am interested in seeing some real details..

maybe a website that rates detail shops would be nice? this is why i choose price as my option. and relative to the asking price it sounded like a good deal. I'll see tomorrow i guess. what could go wrong....?
 
galleystoker said:
Hey I really appreciate that you all even responded to me. thanks for all the info. i'm definitely interested.

I haven't gotten the van back yet..

Where can i see examples of detailing? I mean what does a $300 detail have that a $100 job doesn't? I'm not trying to sound to stupid about it but i can see if you own a lamborghini you might want to find the $300 detailer; you would just feel better about leaving your car with the guy as compared to the guy thats got my van, but really, i 'm hoping to get $2500. when i sell it. And i really am interested in seeing some real details..

maybe a website that rates detail shops would be nice? this is why i choose price as my option. and relative to the asking price it sounded like a good deal. I'll see tomorrow i guess. what could go wrong....?
Click to expand...





This is the thing, most people on here are just fanatics. To the regular person , a 100$ detail will make them notice the car is clean... But Autopian's will look in depth at the car , notice fine swirls and scratches. A professional detail will basically make the car look almost brand new. There is a huge difference in a detail to Autopians but to the normal eye, the 100$ detail might just do it for them. If I were you , I would go professional because the extra 100-200$ I might spend on the detail , you can probably get back in selling it.... Good luck anyway.
 
Ditto with what everyone here said. You can even pm me if interested in my services as I can probably find a way to your location. I find it completely true how the "average" person can be very happy with work that would be horrible in the eyes of an autopian. One characteristic that I've noticed with many people who claim themselves as "detailers" is that they never follow-up when polishing with heavy compounds. This limits the amount of defects removed, such as swirls, since using aggressive products in the first place can create swirls.
 
I would have done a $100 *detail* for you and it would have been a win-win for both of us. Alot of mobile guys will turn down a $100 job in a minute, but I think getting an extra $100 is better than nothing in a fixed location. You certainly wouldn't be getting a white glove service, but I'm sure you'd me more than happy and it would help sell your vehicle. As an operator, it not about getting what you pay for with low price bargin detailing, but filling in the gaps on a slower days. I would have given it to one of my newer detailers and supervised the whole process. $100 more on the books helps everyone. It would have helped pay my cell bill for the month. Who knows, maybe he'd spread the word and you'd make it up on future customers. That's a form of advertising you can't pay for.
 
Th pros in this thread missed something very important. He trusted this detailer becasue he use to work at a Mercedes Dealership. From my experience, the general public perception is that the detailers who work at dealerships are 'top of the heap' - those on their own aren't good enough to work at a dealership. Now, we all know that's not the case, but I have heard that so many times - people take their car to the dealership becasue they must hire the best detailers available! That is the public perception. 'Car guys' know different - 'Soccer Moms' don't.
 
kompressornsc said:
Th pros in this thread missed something very important. He trusted this detailer becasue he use to work at a Mercedes Dealership. From my experience, the general public perception is that the detailers who work at dealerships are 'top of the heap' - those on their own aren't good enough to work at a dealership. Now, we all know that's not the case, but I have heard that so many times - people take their car to the dealership becasue they must hire the best detailers available! That is the public perception. 'Car guys' know different - 'Soccer Moms' don't.
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Where is the poster saying that he trust's this detailer because he worked at a MB dealership? He's just simply stating this person's past experience. I don't think it's fair to stereotype any detailer just because they've worked for a dealership, auction, car wash or high volume detail shop. You'd be amazed with the talent at some of these shops. They might not know about Menzerna, Zaino or all the other boutique brands out there, but having an eye for detailing is an art in itself. There's plenty of hack mobile and fixed location detailers out there too that call themselves pros that suck too.
 
David Fermani said:
Where is the poster saying that he trust's this detailer because he worked at a MB dealership? He's just simply stating this person's past experience. I don't think it's fair to stereotype any detailer just because they've worked for a dealership, auction, car wash or high volume detail shop. You'd be amazed with the talent at some of these shops. They might not know about Menzerna, Zaino or all the other boutique brands out there, but having an eye for detailing is an art in itself. There's plenty of hack mobile and fixed location detailers out there too that call themselves pros that suck too.
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Then why am i always fixing their hack jobs? Why does everyone who turns me down and says something to the effect of: "look at my (place vehicle name here), look at how it shines, my previous detailer is more than half the price of you?" and not see the swirls, scratches, etches, rotary holograms and the paint is always rough to the touch? Im sure there are very talented people out there forced to work for these places but why havent i seen any quallity work from them? You would think eventually i would run into one of these people or actually see quality work from them, i havent yet.
 
Coupe said:
Then why am i always fixing their hack jobs? Why does everyone who turns me down and says something to the effect of: "look at my (place vehicle name here), look at how it shines, my previous detailer is more than half the price of you?" and not see the swirls, scratches, etches, rotary holograms and the paint is always rough to the touch? Im sure there are very talented people out there forced to work for these places but why havent i seen any quallity work from them? You would think eventually i would run into one of these people or actually see quality work from them, i havent yet.
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Not really sure what you're saying. Are you fixing these people's cars that originally turned you down? Are you saying that the people that are "forced" to work at dealerships or ones that do work for dealerships are not able to put out good work? Do you 1st hand know these people, or are you just stereotyping? Do the people that only do quality work have shops of their own or do it out of their garage? Do you have a shop that would cross paths with good detailers? Have you ever heard of Great Lakes Detailing? They do most of the new and used cars in the Grand Rapids area and have some of the best detailers around.
 
I was only saying he worked at the mercedes dealership because, he said it, i assuming to give me some sort of confidence in him. i'm trying to pick up van today.
 
David Fermani said:
I would have done a $100 *detail* for you and it would have been a win-win for both of us. Alot of mobile guys will turn down a $100 job in a minute, but I think getting an extra $100 is better than nothing in a fixed location. You certainly wouldn't be getting a white glove service, but I'm sure you'd me more than happy and it would help sell your vehicle. As an operator, it not about getting what you pay for with low price bargin detailing, but filling in the gaps on a slower days. I would have given it to one of my newer detailers and supervised the whole process. $100 more on the books helps everyone. It would have helped pay my cell bill for the month. Who knows, maybe he'd spread the word and you'd make it up on future customers. That's a form of advertising you can't pay for.
Click to expand...



Unless he shows the car to someone that has used detailers before. They might look at that and thing that is the level of work you offer. That can hurt you.



But we haven't even heard what is being done for $100. It might be a good price for what is being offered.



James
 
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