Thinking about doing some detailing stuff for a few people I know. I like doing this stuff and figure I could make a few bucks on the side...only problem is I don't really know what to charge. Anyone want to give me some suggestions? Anyone have a rough price list for basic detailing services?

 

I charge roughly $50 an hour for my work. As a beginner I was doing my first few details at $25-30 an hour.



For exterior only (clay, polish, wax) I charge roughly $150 for an avg sized automobile.


I no longer do interiors

 

Cool, I'll start off with the noob pricing for now

So do you figure a full exterior takes you 3 hours on average?


and yeah, interiors kinda suck, oh well.



some dude down the street from me has an 8 car garage full of ferraris and bentleys and shit... I gotta get him as my client

 

yea, if you get that job, you'll be in heaven, I did one high end car and before I knew it he had told all his friends.


Yes, exterior generally takes me 2-3 hours

although i've had a few that took me 6+

 

I want to get a polisher. Should I get dual action or orbital? What brand? Porter Cable?


thanks

 

hows this for starters, 'beginner' prices, and for friends that have been asking me about this stuff...



Full Exterior Wash/Wax.

Wash
Clay
Polish - Klasse AIO
Sealant - Klasse Sealant Glaze

Done with brand spankin new random orbital polisher.

(+ RainX, tire gel, 303 on ext. trim, etc)

-$100




Interior.

Seats and leather trim cleaned/conditioned with Zymol leather care products.

Dash/trim cleaned and treated with 303 Protectant.

-$25

(Mats and carpet shampooed or hand scrubbed as needed for +$20)

 

No doubt a PC will be a time saver, and should be part of your arsenal.
I usually charge about $40.00 P/H. Sometimes it works out to $60.00 PH, sometimes it works out less, it all depends on how much work is involved.
Last Porsche I did worked out to $75.00 PH. I prefer a per job quote, and then hope I can get it done at my preferred rate. I wish I could say no to interiors....Scott elaborate will ya ? How do you get by without interior work ?

 

I don't really mind doing interiors that much. Besides doing the mats by hand it should be pretty quick and easy, if someone wants to pay me $45 or so thats fine by me.

 

My problem with interiors is developing a pattern to follow! Everytime I think Im done, I find something else I need to do!
Clean seats, condition, dash, Instrument panel, gear shifter and boot, steering column, all the door features and accessories, headliner, windows, vents, then all those flip up and flip downs on seats, cupholders, windows, video players, cat hair, dog hair, human hair, stains, vaccuum, deodorize, windows, mirrors, visors, ashtrays, glove box, consoles, electric seat adjusters, scuffs, headrests, seatbelts, stereos, tv's, (insert breath here), windows, rear window defrosters and clips, knobs, carpets and matts, windows and all the places you cant reach!! I hate interiors, windows most of all....lol
Happy Halloween, and may you car be in the same condition tomorrow morning, as it was this morning....Did i just jack this thread? Sorry...........
Hey Beet, good luck!

 

Thanks man. Yeah I guess I'm spoiled by the s2000, the interior takes about 3 minutes to do the whole thing.

 

Only 2-3 hours? Do you usually only do new cars?

I did a neglected white 02 Civic and that took me 6 hours. Clayed (that was some nasty paint), SFX-1, SFX-2, Klasse AIO and S100 on top...

 

I think my longest was a Suburban, dark metalflake Blue that took 8 hrs.....my next 4 cars are all black! 1 Mercedes, 1 Seville, 1 Escalade, and 1 Porsche...

 

I just tell them upfront I only do exteriors. It's done pretty well for me lately and usually brings me higher end automobiles. If it really needs it bad, I have a couple of different buddies I'll bring along and give them $50 to do the inside.

There is a local car wash that does a good job on interiors, i'll send clients to them


and that said, I still don't have a shampooer, so my interior work is still limited.

 

I did an excursion, took me about 7 hours just to do the exterior. This benz took me and a buddy a good 5 hours just to polish!

 

I have a steady group of cars I do work on now that I maintain only. So they are in pretty good shape. That said, if the car is neglected it'll definately take me extra time.

My 2-3 hour process is usually "clay, polish, polish again if need be, wax"

 

I see...That Civic I did was a mess. And I have to say that single stage paint SUCKS. Took some time to get it looking decent. The hardest part was getting the rust bits out. That was a new one for me. Found out I need a decontamination system for that. Had to use the old fingernail and clay for that one

 

How do you guys find your customers? Word of mouth?

 

For the most part, thats how it works......i did some advertising in the beginning, but word of mouth is my main sorce. The advertising didnt pan out for beans. I also did some flyers that resulted in some work, you know, pick a neighborhood with nice cars.....=) =), then talk to people....
That and walk ups while Im working.....

 

yea, the advertising i've seen hasn't gotten much feedback. Find someone local in a car club, do his car, before you know it, you'll have tons of work.

 

Scott, i dont want anymore...............lol

 

you mean you still work patrick???


I was pretty sure you wouldn't want to get those hands dirty these days

 

I'll getback into action for the holiday $$, but thats about it, other then current clients, and my own rides.......Im really not picking up any new clients anymore Scott.....Course everytime I say that, i get one......or two.

 

Yea, seriously, right now i'm thinking about just cutting the business and doing these two stables I have full time. Keeps me busy enough. 4 cars in each garage and they've been begging me to start doing weekly.

 

Life is good Scott......

 

Family

 

But, I usually dont charge since I'm still learing all the different paint types and levels of damage. Just when you think you've seen the worst, another comes along "worser" I would rather have to deal with someone I know when I run into these issues rather then a real customer for now...

My sister-in-law who had the white Civic was blown away at what I did, but I wasnt totaly satisified. I dont know what the deal was, but no matter what I did, I just couldnt get the hood of the car to look "perfect". All the verticals, roof and trunk came out great.

Are there any tricks to single stage paints that would be helpful to know? I think the real problem was that I was afraid I was taking off too much paint, when in fact I was probably not taking off enough. That was my first time using SFX-1 and was timid using it...

 

This must be why you took your sig down

 

still there