Cheap Detailers, Real Cheap!

C

CharlesW

The Rainmaker
Recently the subject of detailers came up in a discussion I was sitting in on.
The owner of a used car lot has his cars washed, machine polished, waxed, interior scrubbed, engine cleaned for $70 each. He takes the car to him in whatever condition he receives it. He has no idea what products are used, only that they come back looking good. When I commented that the price seemed awfully low he said he had another guy that would machine polish, wax, clean the interior, but no washing or engine cleaning for $40. He runs those cars through the drive-thru wash before taking them to be done.
How can anyone do it for those prices?
Granted the lot work is steady business, but it seems like you could work your tail off and starve to death. I have no idea how long it takes, but the full detail must take 3 to 4 hours and the quicky would most likely need at least 2. Is this typical of lot work?

Charles
 
We call 'em 'auction cars'. They seldom wash. Typically a 1 step polish & wax with wool pad/rotary. Vac, tires,windows and amorall. Wham, bam, thank you, mam. The cars look fairly good for about 2-3 weeks on the lot. Happens everyday, everywhere.

Well, not in my shop...

Jim
 
Thats all a dealer will pay is $70.00 to $80.00 . A good detail will add a lot of money to the price of a car, and a dealers knows what a detail will do
 
We have a guy here that does the same with all the dealers. The only thing that I can see why, is they get a steady flow of cars all year long.
They also use a one step polish/ wax combo that has fillers up the a$$. The cars look OK but that is a quick fix for the selling process.
The cars that he does that are customers he charges 200 up and really does aboutt he saem level of work
 
:yeah

A long time ago i did some of that type of work and it wasn't meant to last ....most of the dealers I dealt with would not keep a car more than 3-4 weeks before recyling them back to the auction.
Cheap is what they want and cheap is what they get.
A funny story is that a few years ago i was detailing for this guy with 13 cars...he bought his daughter a car from a used car lot and it was real shiny red..two weeks later it was completely dull...needless to say i had to do that car over for a real nice $$$$$:D
 
That's what I do at work. The dealership has no clue what a clean car should really look like and in the two years I've worked there I haven't seen ONE car that is up to my standards of "detailed". I've seen pic here and other forums where people are posting because they haven't seen a car that bad before....I see that everyday. The people who buy the cars don't even know the difference. Clean to those people is no dirt on the car, not free of swirls/scratches etc. I don't do bad work, but they get what they pay for.
 
Some places locally do that type of work and the owner typically hires high school students ... pays them minimum wage ... and lets them do all the grunt work. If you would have a steady flow of business, this might be a good business model and at $70.00 you could be profitable. The bottom line though is do you want quality or quantity. For me ... I want to produce quality. Because when it is all said and done ... I want my reputation to stand for something I can be proud of.
 
If you had a dealership for a customer or say a few of them at 70 bucks a pop. You wouldhave to reun quite a few cars a day to make money. Even paying the help at 10 bucks an hour and it takes them 1.5 hours that's 15 you've paid for the labor. Cost of product 3 bucks. Then there is over head and I'm not usre what that might be.
So bottom line is you need volume to make any cash at dealer prices.

I would rather do few cars and charge more and do the right job.
 
I have a friend who details at a used car lot. He says their first step is to wash the vehicle with AJAX (cleanser like Comet). He likens this to wet sanding.
 
Waz up DC ajax ya hes smoking something i hope nobody'S like that in staten island good form I charge a min ( sub com) car startes at $ 200.00 i dont budge on my price's IM IN THE MIDDLE OF SETTING NEW LEVEL OF DETILAING IN NYC I GIVE WHAT THEY PAY 4 WE R ALL PROFESSIONAL ( AT LEAST I HOPE SO) LET THE PEOPLE GET 70.00 AFTER THEY DO THE JOB ILL GET A CALL AND STILL GET MY TOP DOLLOR 4 MY DETIAL IF THERES ANYBODY IN THE TRI STATE AREA LOOK TO HELP RAISING THE LEVEL GET IN TOUCH WITH ME AS ALL WAYS C-ya
 
AMEN! Quality vs. Quantity. I'd rather work my a$$ off on one car and set a standard for quality then to do 4/5 cars at low ball prices and not be willing to stand behind my work. I want repeat business and my reputation in tact when I sleep at night.
 
Waz up DC!!!! waz up 57chevy i read some of these posts and get pissed that there are so called detailers (wink,wink) ya right low balling a comp. detail ya ok let me c 4-5 hour on a car for 125 on top of it it comes out bad.. take the exrta time and do it right and maybe u will have a rep. that u do have to worry about dealerships well enough yapping TAKE PRIDE IN U WORK AND THEY WILL COME C-YA PS HOW DO I POST PICS??????????
 
amen brothers. im not slammin anybody but for me at this point im really focused on quality and im going to stand my ground on prices, heres the way i see it . you can go to mcdonalds and get some garbage for a couple bucks or you can go to a 5 star restuarant and get steak and lobster . i want to deal with people that appreciate a top quality product and i dont waste my time with people looking for a bargain . detailing is hard work and thats why people dont do it themselves .if they want carwash prices i say let them go to the carwash and get that junk that comes out of the nozzle right before you go thru the dryer. if you stand your ground and do a killer job they will respect you and tell all of their friends and family:badabum :beat :bigscream :doh :angry:beat :jump :jump :jump :jump:beat :jump :beat :jump :beat
 
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