Detailing for dealers new/used?

F

Flexin

New member
Is anyone doing any detailing for any dealers? What services do they ask for and what prices do you charge for them? My shop is about about a month an a half to two months from opening and today while doing work on the shop the dealer next door stopped by. He asked when we will be opening. Introduced himself and asked what we would charge to do all of his cars. I know he asked for a wash, interior clean and I can't remember if he said wax. I wasn't ready for him to show up. I went blank. I need to sit down with him and see what he really wants done to these cars. I know he washes his cars and I think cleans them out so if he wants something quick then it wouldn't be worth it to get me to do it when he has been doing it. I want the work because it can help pay the bills. He has 20+ cars right now ranging from cars like a Precedia ($2500) and Intrepid ($2850) to 5 BMW's ($6500-34000) to a 55' Thunderbird ($37500) to a Ferrari Mondail Cabriolet to two H2's($62000-72000). I really want to get my hands on some of these cars. Well all of them really. Even the cheap ones because they look good for what they are but they have bad swirls that I want to remove. He also said he will have a lot more cars in the summer. Damn I'm long winded. :D

Anyway I'm trying to decide what to offer him. I know I need to sit down with him first to see what he really wants me to do with these cars before I can really price anything up. I do know that one of the shops around here offers a 30% discount if they are giving at least 4 cars a month.

So does anyone do this kind of work?

James
 
Hello

I detail for a small town Ford Dealer. The Dealer himself doesnt know jack about detailing. He others the DIS package on all cars (Dealer installed swirls). I started doing cars for him for 10 bucks an hour and now after looking at what i charge customers i saw i was getting ripped off huge. So i went in to talk with him about a possible raise. the most I could get out of him was $12.50 an hour. I know this is still too low. As far as what i do for him:

Usual:

wash
wax
tire dress
window clean
dress trim
polish metals

I have since talked to the dealer and i asked if he wanted me to go more into polishing and interior and he said taht will be fine. So really even though i make 12.50 i work for at least 4 or more hours.

So this is probably different from your dealer but i can get cars to do when i want which is days with no clients and work as much as a i want on them and for how ever long, being a small town i can keep them overnight with no problem. I would say if you can get 20+ an hour you will definatly earn that for the work, plus you will be an ideal for getting that much out of a dealer. lol

I hope this helps

Greg
 
I have a good friend who was a detailer for the local Porsche dealership. He was paid $9 an hour and didn't even get to work with a PC. That is pretty standard in this area. Dealership detailers are not paid very well at all. I applied at a few of them last summer just so I could ask how much they get paid. $9 per hour was the higest paid hourly detailer job in the valley. The rest were all commision based and I was told that if I really busted my ass on detailing, then I might make $12 per hour. I make $40 per hour when I'm detailing on my own, so it just doesn't seem logical to go to a dealer or a shop and make tons less.

My experience with working for dealerships is that most of them don't care if the car is perfect. Most people will take anything because it is probably better than what they are driving now. Some are even lower than low and just fill in all the defects with some oily glaze so you can't see all the buffer burns their hack "detailers" have put in it. They don't want to put a bunch of time and money into getting a car any cleaner than it has to be. That just takes away from their bottom line. Working for dealerships is really sucky work, but you at least gain some experience. If you want to detail Ferarris and Mercedes then you have to pay your dues by detailing Civics and Camrys. For every Mercedes or Porsche that I detail I usually have to detail 10 or 20 "normal" cars as well. I don't know any detailers who are up to their ears in exotics all day long. I've contracted out for a small dealership or two in the past, but I make hardly anything on the cars. I mainly do it for the referals. They let me put my card in the cars I detail and they refer people to me when they buy a car and want it cleaned up. In turn I give them a really good deal and basically break even on the work I do. I wouldn't be able to make a living doing that kind of work though. Its fun because I get to work on lots of different cars, but its just not very profitable.
 
Thanks for the the info. I'm really need to go see this guy on monday to see what he is looking for. Right now they wash their own cars. I have heard that he did have another detailer that did work for him but I'm pretty sure he doesn't use him anymore.

If I can get close to 30/hour I'll be really happy. But I don't know what he wants so I need more info. If its on the low end of what I would do the work for I'll just tell him for that price I need to do the cars on my time. So if he has a list of cars that need to be done and I break in between retail work then I could grab a car or two of his. It would at least keep me busy and put a money in the bank.

And the experience thing is big for me. You were talking about Ferrari's and Mercedes. He has a one Ferrari listed on his website. 6 Mercedes, 5 BMWs, a Jag, a Alfa Romeo and 2 Hummers to name a few of his high end cars. About half are older models. So I think it would be good experience to work on these and his other cars if he will pay me enough to do more then a wash.

And if I'm lucky I'll put up some good retail work from some of his customers. They have no choice but to walk right by my shop to get to his. :)

I'll post up after I talk to him.

James
 
hey guys, i hope i can help. i work for a dealer here in canada and this is what i see. alot of detail shops will charge a dealer around 60.00-80.00 for a interior detail,engine detail,wax job,outside detail.this is usually three hours of work. difficult buff jobs are charged more for and so is anything out of the ordinary. the rate of charge isn't huge, but you get volume. a dealer won't pay retail prices.alot of dealer do in house cleans, because while they may not be the greatest job, it is a body to have around for other jobs. it doesn't pay well,but there is plus and minus to both situations. i am the highest paid detailer at dealers in my area and i make $14.00,plus bonus for undercoating and p.d.r.,remember these prices are canadian also. while that isn't alot i have alot of freedom and control, but without having to pay the bills myself. most dealers will pay more for your services if the work is great,quick and convenient to them.once gliches or slip ups appear they are quick to jump. so my advice is make sure it is a tight ship and you should enjoy many years of volume work. also try to get a contract signed.say a three month trial, and then if they are happy go for a year. this will show them you are professional and willing to commit to them.they like stability. if you want,email me, i have a sample contract i can email you. good luck.
 
Here in Hawaii at one of the Honda dealers they pay $75 for a full detail and they split all the business fairly between 3 nearby shops. Don't make the mistake of thinking this dealer can pay all of your bills. Even w/some high end cars he'll spend the minimum.

I would say you'll get some good business by the people that see your shop when they're purchasing a vehicle. Good Luck with your shop. it must be exciting times for you..Aloha
 
maximv1 said:
hey guys, i hope i can help. i work for a dealer here in canada and this is what i see. alot of detail shops will charge a dealer around 60.00-80.00 for a interior detail,engine detail,wax job,outside detail.this is usually three hours of work. difficult buff jobs are charged more for and so is anything out of the ordinary. the rate of charge isn't huge, but you get volume. a dealer won't pay retail prices.alot of dealer do in house cleans, because while they may not be the greatest job, it is a body to have around for other jobs. it doesn't pay well,but there is plus and minus to both situations. i am the highest paid detailer at dealers in my area and i make $14.00,plus bonus for undercoating and p.d.r.,remember these prices are canadian also. while that isn't alot i have alot of freedom and control, but without having to pay the bills myself. most dealers will pay more for your services if the work is great,quick and convenient to them.once gliches or slip ups appear they are quick to jump. so my advice is make sure it is a tight ship and you should enjoy many years of volume work. also try to get a contract signed.say a three month trial, and then if they are happy go for a year. this will show them you are professional and willing to commit to them.they like stability. if you want,email me, i have a sample contract i can email you. good luck.
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That contract would be great. Thanks for the help. So you make 14/hour? Do you charge all the jobs by the hour?

James
 
Hawaiianelement said:
Here in Hawaii at one of the Honda dealers they pay $75 for a full detail and they split all the business fairly between 3 nearby shops. Don't make the mistake of thinking this dealer can pay all of your bills. Even w/some high end cars he'll spend the minimum.

I would say you'll get some good business by the people that see your shop when they're purchasing a vehicle. Good Luck with your shop. it must be exciting times for you..Aloha
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Thanks. It is getting exciting. I wanted to do this for a long time but I just didn't have the balls to leave the money I was making at my other job. But being happy is more important them money to me at this point. I can't wait to start. I spent 9 hours at the shop last night laying tile. I didn't leave til just after 5am this morning. :bigscream My knees and hands are cut up bad. But I want to get the shop finished so I can get to the fun stuff. :)

James
 
maximv1 said:
hey guys, i hope i can help. i work for a dealer here in canada and this is what i see. alot of detail shops will charge a dealer around 60.00-80.00 for a interior detail,engine detail,wax job,outside detail.this is usually three hours of work. difficult buff jobs are charged more for and so is anything out of the ordinary. the rate of charge isn't huge, but you get volume. a dealer won't pay retail prices.alot of dealer do in house cleans, because while they may not be the greatest job, it is a body to have around for other jobs. it doesn't pay well,but there is plus and minus to both situations. i am the highest paid detailer at dealers in my area and i make $14.00,plus bonus for undercoating and p.d.r.,remember these prices are canadian also. while that isn't alot i have alot of freedom and control, but without having to pay the bills myself. most dealers will pay more for your services if the work is great,quick and convenient to them.once gliches or slip ups appear they are quick to jump. so my advice is make sure it is a tight ship and you should enjoy many years of volume work. also try to get a contract signed.say a three month trial, and then if they are happy go for a year. this will show them you are professional and willing to commit to them.they like stability. if you want,email me, i have a sample contract i can email you. good luck.
Click to expand...

i'd like to take a look at the contract if possible. I'll email you. thanks
 
Flexin said:
Thanks. It is getting exciting. I wanted to do this for a long time but I just didn't have the balls to leave the money I was making at my other job. But being happy is more important them money to me at this point. I can't wait to start. I spent 9 hours at the shop last night laying tile. I didn't leave til just after 5am this morning. :bigscream My knees and hands are cut up bad. But I want to get the shop finished so I can get to the fun stuff. :)

James
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Aloha James , sound slike fun . Wish I lived a little closer , I'd come by and help :)
 
I worked for a used car dealer here in STL they paid $85 a car.My job with them was to keep the cars clean after detailing And other misc. stuff.I could have detailed for them but the products they had available were crappy Off the shelf stuff that didn't work to MY satisfaction.They also wanted me doing it outside in cold weather(ie 40's with wind chill in 30's) instead of providing me with a bay.I'm much happier on my own.
 
I have never wanted to do any work for dealers because I know they would want you to work for slave wages. However, I do wash six Snap-On trucks (outside only) on a monthly basis for $45 each and it takes me approximately forty-five minutes for each on average. It takes me 5 hours to wash all of them so I'm still averageing about $45 per hour.
 
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