Do you ever detail cars as a gift?

rotts4u

rotts4u

Member
My dad is 76 years old and at this point in his life there is not much in the way of material things that he wants anymore. He likes spending time with me and my wife and that frankly is the hardest thing since we always seem so busy etc.



So for fathers day this year I decided that instead of trying to buy him something that I will detail his car. He always likes to have a clean and neat car and I remember as a boy in the 70s (I am 44 years old now) that he was always washing and waxing his cars back then. Rally wax I think.



Of course at his age he is not as able as he once was to keep his cars the way he wants. So tomorrow he is coming to my place and hang out with me as I detail his car. He has a nearly new S80 Volvo that spends most of its time in the garage. I think it is a 2006 with maybe 5-6000 miles max. So it will be an easy job for sure. I plan to wash, clay, polish and then cover it with a LSP. Maybe wolfgang or collonite. The car is white so that makes it even easier.



So do any of you ever detail family members or other people's cars as a gift?
 
Yes, definitely.



And I think what you're doing for your dad for fathers day is really awesome. He'll probably enjoy the time spent together even more than the detailing, but it's a great excuse to hang out. :)
 
I've done my sister's Scion tC, my mom's BMW X3.



For fathers day, I am going to detail my dad's E90 326xi :)
 
I detail my mom and dads car all the time for free. They usually pay me back in some way or another around birthday Christmas time. Heck, one time they even bought me a new car. Can't beat that. lol
 
A lot of times...My family's car(my wife's family and my family= 6 cars),and some friends cars too...But believe me that it is the less that i can do for those people...
 
Yes, I've done it, and I think that you ought to go for it. I would think that your dad would appreciate the effort, and the finished product. The time you spend on it is more important than anything you could buy him.
 
detailing for mom or dad would be free for me, the list is endless for everything they have ever done for me...
 
I've done new car prep for my mum for Mother's Day and I'm currently restoring my dads 1994 Dodge Caravan back to glossy white since it is currently matte white all around. Throw in a Poor Man's Paint Job and thats a killer gift for him :)
 
yep. Wife's car - obviously. Also her sister's car. Did a full exterior 6 months back and a super maintenance wash last week. No money but she took the wife and I out for dinner.



Also, my first paying customers where follow ons from details that i charged at materials cost price only.



Its a time-loss leader, but in this country it works well. Probably one of the best advertising methods I've found.
 
Yep, I even printed out a made-up gift cert for my mother in law for mothers day this year, which I have yet to make good on.



Only problem is that her car is a black Expedition loaded with swirls. What was I thinking!?!?!?!? :shocked:bawling::(
 
Although not a pro, this is the only way I seem to do other cars. I enjoy detailing, so for me it is therapuetic. I regularly do both my parents, my sister and two of my good friends. Including my own, I have 8 cars on my detailing circuit.
 
Did a 12 hour detail on my mom's CR-V for mothers day. 2 and a half years old and I think that was it's first vacuuming. Also got her windows tinted.
 
One time like 10 years ago I put about 5 hours of detailing (i knew nothing about detailing at the time) into this girl's Blazer to take her from 'friend' status to 'romantic' status.



Didn't work. HA HA HA!!!
 
Well today was the day and dad showed up about 7:45am. I had asked him to come at 9:00 as I am not much of a morning person. So I got started early and the car was really nice to begin with. It is a 2006 with 13,000 miles on it so as you can see it stays in the garage a lot. Interior was almost perfect after a simple vaccum but i went ahead and treated the leather and of course cleaned the windows inside too. Outside I washed, clayed and then hit it once with Klasse AIO. There were basically no swirls or marring so it turned into a real beautiful job and he enjoyed hanging out for the 4 hours it took. He rolled out very happy in a beautiful S80 Volvo that looked new.
 
Guilty.





I've detailed my:

Parents 2 cars - PT Cruiser & Mustang 'vert

Wifey's Jeep Wrangler

Father-in-laws 25 ft Chris Craft boat



it's honest, hard work that the family members tend to appreciate more so than paying customers. :)
 
Yes I have. I have also bartered details for other things and services... such as flight lessons and my PC 7424!
 
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