Race Trailer and Toter

G

Got Wax

New member
We have this client, a fairly successful spine surgeon, who has a 40' race trailer and semi-toter ( the kind with a 10'x8' living quarters attached, SS fuel tanks used as steps, etc). The trailer is a lot of glossy fiberglass and stainless steel. Both are in need of a good cleaning. I quoted this guy somewhere in the area of 80 hours @ $50.00 per. My delimma, he is VERY capable of paying this price - his trailer holds four cars, two high, two deep. And, all four cars are F430 track cars. So, again, this guy can pay our price. Problem is, he think s we should give him a break of $1500. I wanna tell him no but, he has five cars we wash weekly and provide complete detail every other month. I don't want to lose the ongoing business. But, this rig will take at least 80 man hours. Am I being a hard a$$ sticking to my guns and risking the ongoing business or, do I just suck it up? In my view, it is what it is and he should just do it or take it elsewhere. Just trying to make good sense of what has, thus far, been a loyal customer relationship.
 
I really don't know the answer to this one, never done a trailer or motor coach etc. I do know that at $1500 this might sound like cheap labor to you or me. I mean, I just got $1250 for an NSX, but I spent over 30 hours on that. The thing is, and I might be wrong, is that many detailers that specialize in RV's and such charge per foot, and most of the ones I've looked at charge anywhere from $15-25 per linear ft. That could be where he's getting his price range from, but I'm not an expert on RV's. It sounds like he has alot of custom work to do. If you have the right equipment maybe you could knock some time off, or work with him to meet in the middle somewhere. Just my thought's because I've had offers like this before but just never had the time. I would definitely try to work with him though, because when he roll up at the track, or everytime he stops at a gas station, etc everybody''s going to ask him how he got that trailer and those cars looking so perfect. Everybody on Autopia knows referrals(at least for me) are where I get most of my major reconditioning jobs.
 
I really don't know the answer to this one, never done a trailer or motor coach etc. I do know that at $1500 this might sound like cheap labor to you or me. I mean, I just got $1250 for an NSX, but I spent over 30 hours on that. The thing is, and I might be wrong, is that many detailers that specialize in RV's and such charge per foot, and most of the ones I've looked at charge anywhere from $15-25 per linear ft. That could be where he's getting his price range from, but I'm not an expert on RV's. It sounds like he has alot of custom work to do. If you have the right equipment maybe you could knock some time off, or work with him to meet in the middle somewhere. Just my thought's because I've had offers like this before but just never had the time. I would definitely try to work with him though, because when he roll up at the track, or everytime he stops at a gas station, etc everybody''s going to ask him how he got that trailer and those cars looking so perfect. Everybody on Autopia knows referrals(at least for me) are where I get most of my major reconditioning jobs. So, and again I might be wrong about most guys charging per ft., you're basicall charging $100 per foot.
 
I suppose some of it may depend what exactly you plan on doing to this trailer. Are you going to polish it to perfection? This might help us help you a bit.
 
I really don't know the answer to this one, never done a trailer or motor coach etc. I do know that at $1500 this might sound like cheap labor to you or me. I mean, I just got $1250 for an NSX, but I spent over 30 hours on that. The thing is, and I might be wrong, is that many detailers that specialize in RV's and such charge per foot, and most of the ones I've looked at charge anywhere from $15-25 per linear ft. That could be where he's getting his price range from, but I'm not an expert on RV's. It sounds like he has alot of custom work to do. If you have the right equipment maybe you could knock some time off, or work with him to meet in the middle somewhere. Just my thought's because I've had offers like this before but just never had the time. I would definitely try to work with him though, because when he roll up at the track, or everytime he stops at a gas station, etc everybody''s going to ask him how he got that trailer and those cars looking so perfect. Everybody on Autopia knows referrals(at least for me) are where I get most of my major reconditioning jobs. So, and again I might be wrong about most guys charging per ft., you're basicall charging $100 per foot.
 
He's wanting a polish and sealant on the glass and polish, "mirror finish" on the SS. Well, the SS would require a two-stage process with Nuvite - that stuff is a mess!! The fiberglass wouls not be too terrible. Thing is, because this thing stacks cars, it is as high as a standar 18 wheeler trailer, has big alum Alocas, polished alum. fuel tanks, ext stacks, rear door on trailer is all stainless, borders around entire trailer,...stainless. I can see no less than 80 hours. Our hourly is $50.00 per, per man. I guess my thing is, are we going to get half way through this and decide I made a mistake on the dicount. I don't know about you but, for me, that makes completing the job absolutely miserable!! Don't want to get into the last 10 hours and realize we are working for free. And, I have too consider the work we are missing, or delaying because we are spending a week on this rig. I need a drink!!!
 
compromise...take 750 off, hire someone to do the easy work like the tanks and lower sections while your team does the taller things. Hire an additional guy to get it done in 4 days instead of 6 days...that way you are not pushing back anything else...



if he wants you to give him 1/2 off, ask him if he would give his clients 1/2 off just because they asked him to....
 
Suck it up,and keep moving.Unless you have so much business that you don't need this guy any longer.He will find someone else,just like he found you.
 
Denzil said:
I would just charge him your normal rate. If he disagrees with it, he can find someone else to do it for cheaper if he likes.
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Thanks for the reply! This is exactly what I had been thinking!!
 
toyotaguy said:
compromise...take 750 off, hire someone to do the easy work like the tanks and lower sections while your team does the taller things. Hire an additional guy to get it done in 4 days instead of 6 days...that way you are not pushing back anything else...



if he wants you to give him 1/2 off, ask him if he would give his clients 1/2 off just because they asked him to....
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I would have at least a two man crew at the job. But, at $20.00 per hour per man and $50.00 per hour billing, I'm not making much of anything. So, hiring so many guys would put me in the negative on this job!



And, I'm not really in the practice of the tit for tat with customers. We have our rates and really don't think we need to negotiate or play the what would you do. Maybe...MAYBE on a standard detail we may go down $20.00 but, on something this big, the only reason we would even consider something like this is to accomodate the customer. Our rates for aircraft detail are $180.00 per hour, per man. So, with four guys on a plane, there is plenty of margin. But, something like this doesn't really net us much.
 
I guess I can't believe that the guy is only "fairly successful" but has 4 F430's...how about you tell him your price is based on 80 hours at your hourly rate, and you're afraid that you might be wrong since you haven't done something like this before, and ask him to pay you for the hours it takes at your rate. That means if you run over, you'll still get compensated, and if you get it done faster, he'll get a lower price.
 
Setec Astronomy said:
I guess I can't believe that the guy is only "fairly successful" but has 4 F430's...how about you tell him your price is based on 80 hours at your hourly rate, and you're afraid that you might be wrong since you haven't done something like this before, and ask him to pay you for the hours it takes at your rate. That means if you run over, you'll still get compensated, and if you get it done faster, he'll get a lower price.
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"Fairly Successful" was my way of keeping from geting flamed as though this is the wealthiest detail customer in history. He is the director of a spinal institue, highly rated surgeon. In any case, I actually believe 80 hours is optimistic, which is why I quoted him hourly vs. a flat fee. I fear runnning over. I'm heading over there right now to service one of his cars. We'll see what he says.
 
Oh, sorry, I guess I thought you had quoted him the flat $4000 and he wanted $1500 off that. So you quoted him hourly at $50 per, with a guesstimate of 80 hrs and he didn't like that? As has been said, if he's that good a customer, you can just tell him you don't think you can do it that fast, and since you value him as a customer, if he can get someone to do it for $2500 (who may be better equipped for these large vehicles) he should do that, so that you two can stay on good terms, no harm no foul.



Or are you afraid he will like the new guy and let him take care of his cars, too?
 
So, this is the rig I'm talking about. Keep in mind that our rig measures 38' next to his trailer extending 5' beyond ours.

th_Trailerandtoter.jpg
 
In regards to this detail, what is the average per foot charge?? I'm wanting to figure if my hourly compares to by the foot.





Thanks!
 
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This is the most expensive price I could find, but I didn't search very long. These guys are out of South Florida.
 
Got Wax said:
So, I guess my $4k is reasonable??!!
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From what I got, that rig is approximately 65 feet long?



At $26/ft that works out to $1690...



I would ask him to split the difference at around $2250 and try to get it done quick!
 
I get the whole idea of working it out and securing the job. BUt, this is a pretty tall order - excuse the pun - 13.5 feet tall, trailer 54' long plus the toter is an overall 28 feet. LOTS of alum and SS. I still think $4k is the magic #. If that doesn't work for him, I'm moving on.
 
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