Cheap Dealer

bermi23

bermi23

Jesus my Lord and Savior
Hi DC

I need your opinion. I meet an autobody shop owner at the local auto paint store. We get taking and he tells me about this dealer across him that is not happy with the guy that does his cars. He took one of my cards to the Dealer owner. About 45 minutes lates the dealer calls me to find out how much I charge for a full detail for dealers. I have never done dealers so I tell him that on a basic full detail I will charge him $160.00. And I quote "You charge double what I charge right now" So I am thinking that the guy might be confused and what he is really talking about is just getting the cars waxed . So I agree to meet him this morning. I go with my flyer and show him what I do. To my surprice he did want me to do a full detail for $80.00, including the engine detail. He offered me 6-10 cars a month but I told him the lowest I will go is $140.00 coming one day a week and doing 2 cars with my basic full detail. His answer was "I am not sure I want to spend the extra money". He showed me one of the cars the guy did last week for the $80.00 he is spending for a full detail. If I was him i would not complain. How can this guy complain? I just do not understand. After today it just comfirms what you guys have been saying; Dealers SUCK. Hope no more dealers call me. I feel sorry for the guy doing his car.
 
when I first started out I thought that going to dealers was going to be the answer to my prayer and pay me lots of money. I too was surprised to find out that I cannot compete with the local guy that does most of the used car lots that I was approaching. I quoted the guy $100 for a full detail and he replies to me that he currently pays a guy $35 for a full detail and that includes the engine as well. There is no way that I can compete dollar for dollar on that so my reply to him was that I can do it for $65 and the car never leaves the lot. One of the benefits of that is that the car is always on the lot for sale. The current detailer takes it to his shop and it will be there for up to 2 days. So with that said I shy away from dealerships as well. I don't stay away completely but I am not knocking on their doors for the business.
 
what Reallly gets me upset is that they turn around and charge you up to $300.00 dollar for the detail. I know cause I have friends working in dealers. It really sucks.
 
Dealers want cheap. Buy low, sell high. Anything to put more in their posket. They do not care about detailing. Let's not even call it detailing, because we all know it is car cleaning at dealerships.
I know because I recently left a dealership. Very shady practices.
Had an oxidized hood on a dark blue caddy. Older caddy though. Boss came in and asked if I was going to buff it out...I said yes, and he said no. He went and grabbed a rag and a quart of Tranny fluid. Yes, tranny fluid. Proceeded to pour it on the hood and rub it around. then kept rubbing till there were no streaks........ :no:

Dealers can give a rats @ss about anybody, anything, or how you detail. They want it washed and vac'd. Make the paint bead..........

I would detail for a dealer, sure, but they get what they pay for. I would charged $50 for a wash and vac package. I charge $25 for retail on that package. I may even throw in some cheesey spray wax that makes the paint bead.

It's all how you look at it. I would be concerned about my name and Rep. though. SOmething you have to look at.
 
Its the plain truth that dealers just want really cheap details, quality and price wise.

Greg
 
I was told by a local dealership here that is a friend that the car should look good from about 12 feet away and more...they are not in the detail business they are there to sell cars...They want all that done cheap, but in return they have volume...I'll take the higher price and less cars for that matter.
 
Beemerboy said:
I was told by a local dealership here that is a friend that the car should look good from about 12 feet away and more...they are not in the detail business they are there to sell cars...They want all that done cheap, but in return they have volume...I'll take the higher price and less cars for that matter.
Click to expand...

I was told the 30 foot rule by my local dealership lol. I guess yours just has better standards haha.

Greg
 
Dealers are in no way looking to spend the extra cash on paint correction. They want a cheap price and the detail is only for cosmetic reasons therefor the buyer thinks he is purchasing a well maintain car..I guess the detail shop in my area who is no longer in business was getting paid $75.00 on a interior/exter. I seen a minivan he was working on and the interior reeked of a foul odor.
 
When I was last shopping for a used vehicle I was appalled by the lack of detailing by even the higher end dealerships. Tell tale signs would include dirty door grab handles and steering wheels, pop drips down the sides of the seats, dirty leather seats/arm rests.....three year old cars looked like sh_t boxes!!!
The 3 yr old vehicle I purchased was flawless!! The dealership has a separate detailing/recon shop next door and these guys were at the top of their game.
The undercarrage was detailed....You could eat off it! These guys were as annal as I can be in my dreams. The moonroof opening was spotless. The gas door area was spotless. I ran out of areas to try to catch'em on.
I judge vette shows and these guys could clean the clocks on 98%+ of the cars I've judged.
It was a fresh trade the week before and I was on site to look at it a day or so after it came out of detail so it had not seen weather yet.

Later,
JU
 
"After today is just comfirm what you guys have been saying Dealers SUCK. Hope no more dealers call me".


I understand your frustration. But don't lump all the dealers in one group, there ARE some good dealers out there. Just like not all detailers are good. Most dealers are shortsighted and look at the bottom line only; but it is possible to explain to them, how you can make more money for them, by providing a superior detail and therefore the dealer can charge more money on the sale. We even have two dealers/wholesalers that give us carte blanche in terms of 'do what it takes to make this vehicle the best it possibly can'. By doing business with dealers, relationships will develop and can lead to future business. For example, we are starting an interior repair service and since I have an ongoing relationship with these dealers, I have commitments from them to switch to my service. It helps that we can bundle packages together and kill two birds with one stone so too speak. Not only that, we get referrals from dealers and their sales team for retail work. Dealers typically are not geared for odor removal, wetsanding or even swirl removal --- so they send them to us. Dealers provide another benefit in that they provide consistent work, which we count on up here in Maine during the winters.
 
I am a dealer and I am cheap.

But remember, I am scum!

If you dont want to do the detail for $115, which is what I pay, dont sell yourself short! You wont be happy! I know the job is junk I get for $115 but it lasts as long as the car is on my lot.

I would tell the dealers to jump in a lake if I were a detailer that was proud of my work. If you are good, they will find you and pay your price. I was pating $75 per car before I found the current guy I use. He is a better detailer and salesperson than the $75 guy. I'm happy to pay. Most dealers are scum, dont forget it.

My dad has owned a new car dealership for 36 years. I worked there for 9 years, I know the people in this business.
 
dealerships are like any other business, to make money is their oal. i will admit they do not always put an empashise on detailing but hey are not all scum or scammers. i have worked in the dealership business for 12 years and love it. if you are a detail shop you will not get rich off dealers, they are more for steady income. it has to be looked at from both sides.
 
When I had my used car lot we used to wet sand,hard compound and a complete detail 90% of my cars.As bussiness grew I would farm out alot of my cars. I had about 2-3 detail shops doing the work and all they would do is a buff wax,degrease engine, spot shampoo the interior and dip it in Black Magic tire dressing for about $80-120 per detail and the cars would bring the same money on retail or auction.So if you are willing to do that kind of work there is plenty out there.
 
Dealer talk it is... I started a fixed location 3 years ago. business is going well.
I Clean alot of cars for this one dealer in town and my pricing is:

starts @ 70.00
debug, degrease engine, wheels , tires, door jams, wash,
Vac, blow out, steam clean, extract, carpets headLiner if needed
Apc, dress plastic,, clean windows, this means mostly everything but wax, buff polish

Buffing, polishing, waxing Starts @ 50.00 extra

Also remove tint 5 windows starts @ 60.00
Pinstriping removal starts @ 20.00
Undercote Wheel wells usually 20-40
Paint hubcaps 20-40.00
remove windown vent visors 15-20.00
Remove bug deflector 10-15
Recon headLights 20.00
We did 56 cars for this lot in the last 10 days.

a new car lot we charge 150 for trucks, 130 for cars, thats a complete detail!
a different lot who sends 2-3 a month we charge 85-110 for a detail minus buff

I do very lilttle walk in or retail. when I do i charge 150-175 for a car, 175-200 for a truck 200-250 for a suv
 
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