Complete Autopian Detail Price?

M

mikebires

New member
I'm trying to figure out what the price for a complete wash, clay, correction, polish, protect, type detail would cost. This would include cleaning and dressing the engine, door jambs, wheels, plastic trim, steam clean the interior......the whole 9 yards!!!



I estimated the worst of the worst and came out to about 39 hours of work. What is the average hourly rate and amount of time does it take some of you guys to do this type of a detail. When I broke it down to about $350.00, it worked out to about $8 an hour....which is completely ridiculous.



What do you guys think?
 
"correction" is relative to the amount of work needed for a particular car to be "corrected."



I can generally get all of that work done and a 1 step done in about 7-10 hours depending on the dirtiness and the size of the vehicle.
 
average hourly rate here I believe is about $60/hr...some are 50, some are 70+



If you are spending 40 hours on a car, it will run over 2000 bucks! better get that baby looking pristine!
 
my rate comes b/w 25 and 30 an hour. Its what i feel comfortable charging, and isnt high enough to scare away people. I feel thats a pretty good average on here, about 30-40 an hour.



a 40 hour detail will definitely be in the thousands.
 
It does scare me and turns me off the idea of hiring a professional when i see rates per hours instead of an estimate straight up. I mean how is the customer gonna know if the detailer is actually just kicking back on the couch with a beer in hand and charging for that on the hourly rate? IMHO, i prefer detailers that just give an estimate at first sight. 500 is pretty steep for a detail but i can picture it, but in the thousands is just INSANE!!!!
 
DiPsAuCe said:
It does scare me and turns me off the idea of hiring a professional when i see rates per hours instead of an estimate straight up. I mean how is the customer gonna know if the detailer is actually just kicking back on the couch with a beer in hand and charging for that on the hourly rate? IMHO, i prefer detailers that just give an estimate at first sight. 500 is pretty steep for a detail but i can picture it, but in the thousands is just INSANE!!!!
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500 is only pretty steep if the client doesn't have an idea of the work being done, IMO.
 
TH0001 said:
500 is only pretty steep if the client doesn't have an idea of the work being done, IMO.
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+1. Look at the results Todd, Ryan and others get after maybe 20 - 40 hours of work and it is worth it. Actually $500 is an incredible price CONSIDERING the work it takes!



I'll do a 2 step correction in about 11 - 12 hours non stop. I only break for a quick bite when I'm waiting for LSP to set up. I hope no one here is sitting on the couch sucking beers before the vehicle is finished.
 
All details are different. Some people do not want to spend the money for a full correction. Wash, clay, rinse, buff, in steps. 7 to 10 hours work, depending on damage. Estimate around $55 to $60 and hour. Results will tell you if someone has not done a Great job. Why pay for half *ss work. Detailers know what to look for and what needs to be done. Most can give you a rough idea of they can or can't do. A completely Satisfied customer is the goal!
 
on average:

$250 will get your car looking 75% better

$300 80% better overall

$500 90% better overall

$750 95-99% like new overall



now, it's the bigger cars, the dirtier cars, the SHOW cars that take 20+ hours to get done right and get charged accordingly. If someone tells you 900 bucks for a detail, rest assured its not just a wash and wax with a bunch of fillers covering the defects!



figure it this way, you make $xx per hour, would you work for less? Probably not.



Now for business owners, factor in buying supplies and tools, advertising, being mobile, etc and the hourly rate you want to charge...the high price of a detail makes more sense.
 
ii lurked this forum back before the paul dalton hype and thooo1 reality and most autopian detailers wouldnt charge more then 250 for a detail and bragged about this amount. orosco says he would spend days on a car for 250 so dont feel bad. now even hacks say they charge 50 an hour which gives the real detailers a bad name.



if you are new to detailing charge less because you still suck. just because you read a couple posts and bought a portercable with your allowance doesnt mean your worth 50 per hour. try 1o or 15.



if you have experience and skillz charge more maybe 2o or 3o and be happy. if you are like most of this forum and do really nice work charge 4o or more. charge your worth.
 
What you charge is based on your target clientelle IMO. If you are looking to target people with big bucks that expect the utter best and don't mind paying for it, then charge in excess of $60+ per hour and try to find the work. If you are looking to target the working professional that has the money but not the time and doesnt really care about the process they just want a clean car, then selling them might look more like $20-$40 per hour. And so on and so on.



There are soooo many factors! You should just test out the market and see what price range gets you more work. Adjust prices accordingly. Hope this helps!
 
mikebires said:
I'm trying to figure out what the price for a complete wash, clay, correction, polish, protect, type detail would cost. This would include cleaning and dressing the engine, door jambs, wheels, plastic trim, steam clean the interior......the whole 9 yards!!!



I estimated the worst of the worst and came out to about 39 hours of work. What is the average hourly rate and amount of time does it take some of you guys to do this type of a detail. When I broke it down to about $350.00, it worked out to about $8 an hour....which is completely ridiculous.



What do you guys think?
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Yea, thats a tough one... It really all depends on YOU. What your time and supplies are worth, as others have said. It took me a while before I gauged myself to know how long it took me to finish washes, wash'n'waxes, multi-steps and so on, on a professional level... With experience you'll start picking up what it will take to get the job done right off the bat; then with that, you factor in supply cost + labor. You can also "feel" the customer out, if they have 3 Lambo's, then you can say money is no problem with them as opposed to a soccer mom who wants to "just make it look good". I find myself getting on average $30/hr per job. Sometimes its $25. Sometimes its $40-45
 
Thanks to everyone who replied. I earn about $35 in my current profession, in which I work 3 / 12.5 hour days. This gives me 4 days off. I owned and operated a mobile detail service about 9 years ago and nowadays, I only take care of my two black cars (which as you all know, is a full time job in itself when your an anal retentive, autopian level, detailer).



The reason why I posted this question is because I wouldn't mind getting back into the business, but only for high dollar, high quality work. Since I already have great income, I don't need to bust my *** doing washes, wash and wax, etc (I say that with the utmost respect for you detailers in which this is your primary job). I have had so many requests from co-workers, neighbors and friends to do their cars, which has got my interest up.



It is kind of nice being in the position I'm in because I can tell the person who wants "Cadillac service for Pinto price" to "f off." I don't have to have soccer mom give me the look like she just took a bite out of a poop sandwich when I tell her the price to fix what she destroyed. I LOVE IT.



Although I have the luxury of telling people, "Yeah, I can make your car pretty much perfect and better than when it rolled off the lot, but it's going to cost you $700," I also don't want to offend too many people!



My sales pitch has been lately (which has worked real well) is ....."Have you ever had your favorite restaurant's food which you can't get anywhere else?" then I ask, "Have you ever had your car detailed?" When they say yes, I tell them the reason their speaking with me is because they haven't been satisfied. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!



Thanks for everyones reply!
 
toyotaguy said:
on average:

$250 will get your car looking 75% better
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That's my tipical customer right there.



However, that percentage is based on the Autopian perspective. To the average customer, it is 100%.



For me, it is really rare that anyone feels the need for the 90%+ (Autopian) detail. Most customers can't decern or don't care enough to be able to tell the difference between 75% and 100%. So, they can't justify the extra $$$.
 
I say teach your self something and do the work for 8$/hr................it will likely be the last car you work on for that price but you will be better able to explain to future clients the value of your work.



Happy New Year,

GREG
 
DiPsAuCe said:
It does scare me and turns me off the idea of hiring a professional when i see rates per hours instead of an estimate straight up. I mean how is the customer gonna know if the detailer is actually just kicking back on the couch with a beer in hand and charging for that on the hourly rate? IMHO, i prefer detailers that just give an estimate at first sight. 500 is pretty steep for a detail but i can picture it, but in the thousands is just INSANE!!!!
Click to expand...



I charge by the hour, and here's how I do it. I talk to the client, look at the car, and get a feel for what their expectations are. Some just want shiney, and some want better than showroom perfect. I then formulate a plan of attack, and thoroughly discuss said plan with the client.



Next, I will then tell the client what my hourly rate is, and how many hours I anticipate working. If I think a job will take 10 hours, I tell them 12. When I actually do the work, if it takes less than 12, I charge for the actual hours. If I end up working 13 hours, I only charge them for 12, as that was my original quote. I can tell you that it is rare that I take more hours than I quote, but when it has happened, the client has ALWAYS ended up insisting upon paying me for the extra time.



Regarding your comment about a detailer "just kicking back on the couch with a beer in hand and charging for that", that's kind of ridiculous. As a consumer, you need to educate yourself any time you are having any automotive work done to make sure you are getting what you are paying for. If anyone trying to provide a service to you is vague in the way they charge, or what they are going to do, RUN away. Additionally, I know if I were going to hire someone to detail my car, I'd want references. I am mobile, so I work at the client's residence. Even if the client is not out in their garage while I am working, I work under the assumption that they are watching me. I don't goof off, and bust my a$$ to get the job done. 90% of the time, I get 8 hours into the detail, and realize I haven't even stopped to eat anything (which is bad, and I'm trying to make myself stop and eat). Hustling this way, I can sometimes do extra things within the original quoted time, and really blow the client away when they see the final result.



Lastly, let me help you understand why a detail may go into the thousands of dollars. Imagine an exotic car owner, that has scratching on a large portion of a body panel (or panels). The scratches may be deep, but not too deep to be safely removed via wetsanding and 3 step compounding and polishing. The client may have been to a body shop and been quoted over $1000 to respray the areas. Well, if that exotic has paintwork done to it, it will depreciate by thousands of dollars just because of that. Suddenly, paying me $1600 to repair it seems like a bargain huh?
 
funny u said "the whole nine yards" Do u know where that saying came from? Someone told me and I wonder if anyone else knows.
 
David703 said:
funny u said "the whole nine yards" Do u know where that saying came from? Someone told me and I wonder if anyone else knows.
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Well, I have heard several sources for that expression. I once heard an old guy say that in WWII, the aircraft gunners bullets were in 27 foot lengths (or 9 yards). Once they ran all 27 foot of bullets through the gun, they had unloaded "the whole 9 yards".
 
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