My boss from work just called and want's his wife's 99 suburban detailed. My delima is the fact that he's my boss, there's no market for detailing in Monroe, Louisiana, and I have no idea what process to use so that he doesn't think I am overcharging him. Anytime someone asks me a price for a detail around here, I tell them around $100 for a full detail and they look at me like I'm insane. My product list includes optimum compound, optimum polish, sonus sfx-2(I don't really use anymore), blackfire wet diamond, natty's blue, klasse aio, nxt liquid wax, and other misc. products that would be applied by a porter cable. Please give any advice on a process(I really want to be sure and get rid of the swirls) and a price to charge without undercharging or overcharging him. Thanks so much in advance and sorry for the long post.
need some advice
- Thread starter millerni
- Start date
DaGonz
Autopia fire/rescue.
Look at it this way....
He is hiring you as a contractor to perform a service, much like hiring a carpenter to repair a deck or a plumber to repair a leaky pipe.
Figure out what your time is worth to you. Ask yourself what your boss would charge you if the tables were reversed.
Worst case, ask for what is equivalent to you workling time and a half, then add for your materials.
He is hiring you as a contractor to perform a service, much like hiring a carpenter to repair a deck or a plumber to repair a leaky pipe.
Figure out what your time is worth to you. Ask yourself what your boss would charge you if the tables were reversed.
Worst case, ask for what is equivalent to you workling time and a half, then add for your materials.
Here in NJ I charge $225 for a Suburban. You seem to have some different products to use, so try the Optimum Compound on a panel and see what type of dent you make in the swirls. I don't know how bad the car is or what type of experience you have using those products. But if it's swirled really bad, block off a full 8 hours for the detail. Good luck.
I'm experienced with the porter cable and products I have. The problem is that I'm 17 years old and making six dollars an hour. $225 sounds about right, but I just can't bring myself to give this price to my boss in a market where detailing services really aren't in demand. Thanks for the advice so far and please keep it coming!
DaGonz
Autopia fire/rescue.
millerni said:
What's the worse he can say?
No.
If he holds it against you and fires you, then he wasn't worth working for in the first place.
Accumulator
Well-known member
millerni- IMO there's nothing wrong with coming right out and saying a) you don't know what to charge, b) others you know would charge $225, c) something to the effect that you feel weird about the whole thing anyhow because he's your boss and you don't want to give offense or, conversely, put yourself in a bind.
FWIW, the rent-a-Suburban I did last year had really hard paint. After trying the PC (with 4" pads too) I had to break out the rotary. It was a really big, long job even with that.
And, heh heh, yours wasn't a "long post" by a long shot
FWIW, the rent-a-Suburban I did last year had really hard paint. After trying the PC (with 4" pads too) I had to break out the rotary. It was a really big, long job even with that.
And, heh heh, yours wasn't a "long post" by a long shot
Accumulator
Well-known member
IIRC it was an '05. It was nearly new and this was last March-April. Black, incredible how bad it was for maybe 12K miles 
Accumulator said:IIRC it was an '05. It was nearly new and this was last March-April. Black, incredible how bad it was for maybe 12K miles
Well for my sake let's hope the clear on the '99 is softer than the newer models. I saw it for the first time today. She parks it under an acorn tree at work :wall . I just told them between $140 and $160. Anyone have a good way for taking out icee stains in carpet?
millerni said:
Dunno about ICEE stains, but our family van had stains from fruit punch (red colored syrup that's probably similar to ICEE) that I was able to get out with 303 Fabric Cleaner 4:1. It had been on the carpet for a couple of years and it came out by spraying the area, letting it sit for a couple of minutes, agitating the area with a nylon brush and then wipe down the area. Did this a few times and it came out. Good luck.
I wouldn't do a Sub for < $300 in CT. But then again I don't need the $$$.
You will be spending most of your time swirl removing. To cut corners here, use a semi-aggressive polish (for example IP with Yellow pad) that will remove them and not leave haze. Go over the spots (OP, FP II, BF Diam) that may leave haze. Then top off with an lsp.
How bad are the swirls?
You will be spending most of your time swirl removing. To cut corners here, use a semi-aggressive polish (for example IP with Yellow pad) that will remove them and not leave haze. Go over the spots (OP, FP II, BF Diam) that may leave haze. Then top off with an lsp.
How bad are the swirls?
I personally wouldn't touch it for less than $300. Remember this young 'un, Value is what people remember. If you do a good job, and I'm sure you will, your boss will be bragging to people that he paid $300 for a detail and got his money's worth. I've done it. If you do it for $100, he will think he got a $100 detail job.
The swirls are absolutely terrible. I think I'm just going to skip testing products and pads and go right to an orange pad with optimum compound. I also have a 4 inch yellow pad if ya'll think I should use it over the whole vehicle. There's also some hazing on the hood that I really don't know how to treat (I suppose I could try AIO after OC). The thing about value and the cost is that just by telling them $140-160 they seemed to be scared off a little bit. They also informed me that they are selling it after the detail. My biggest problem is the fact that they see that their paint looks terrible and know the interior is a mess but don't understand all the work that goes into correcting it. The people around where I live (North Louisiana) think that just washing their car with dawn and water and spraying the interior down with oxyclean is all there is to detailing. Sorry about all the whining, but at this point I just feel like they think I'm ripping them off while I know that I'm adding at least $1000 to their resale value.
why dont you show them some pictures of details on here of bad to good and a similar competitior pricing online and then describe all of the process involved, time required, product costs, etc. basically teach them about what you have to do, tell them that it increases the value 1000 dollars and they can then decide. Im 16 and suffer the same dillemas as you that people just dont understand. I have to explain everything like this to every person I detail for, and afterwords they understand and start calling friends. If they dont opt to pay that money, tell them you cant afford to detail their car. They will understand, and Im pretty sure that your boss isnt going to fire you over this.
Accumulator
Well-known member
I get the feeling you're pretty much already on the hook to do this one, huh? Maybe it's a lesson for the future about taking on jobs for people you're otherwise involved with in one way or another. "Sorry, I only do my own car these days, no free time" might be a good response
Keep track of the time it takes, they'll be astounded. Don't worry about doing it to "Autopian Standards", just do the best you can in a reasonable amount of time. Nobody sees the stuff that drives us nuts anyhow.
I suspect you'll do a fair amount of work with the yellow 4" pad but note that it'll leave some micromarring. Also, if it's a Cyclo brand pad it'll lose some cut after the first few panels.
If I had to take a wild guess I'd say the hazing will come out same as the marring, by abrasive polishing.
Keep track of the time it takes, they'll be astounded. Don't worry about doing it to "Autopian Standards", just do the best you can in a reasonable amount of time. Nobody sees the stuff that drives us nuts anyhow.
I suspect you'll do a fair amount of work with the yellow 4" pad but note that it'll leave some micromarring. Also, if it's a Cyclo brand pad it'll lose some cut after the first few panels.
If I had to take a wild guess I'd say the hazing will come out same as the marring, by abrasive polishing.
Accumulator said:I get the feeling you're pretty much already on the hook to do this one, huh? Maybe it's a lesson for the future about taking on jobs for people you're otherwise involved with in one way or another. "Sorry, I only do my own car these days, no free time" might be a good response
Keep track of the time it takes, they'll be astounded. Don't worry about doing it to "Autopian Standards", just do the best you can in a reasonable amount of time. Nobody sees the stuff that drives us nuts anyhow.
I suspect you'll do a fair amount of work with the yellow 4" pad but note that it'll leave some micromarring. Also, if it's a Cyclo brand pad it'll lose some cut after the first few panels.
If I had to take a wild guess I'd say the hazing will come out same as the marring, by abrasive polishing.
Absoulutely the best advice I've gotten so far. It's really my fault for pulling myself into this detail, so this is a great learning experience for me. Never detail your boss's wife's suburban lol! Thanks for all the help folks. :xyxthumbs
the other pc
New member
There's a math lesson in here too. You'll find it if you try to use a 4" pad over a whole Suburban.millerni said:
PC.