Let's talk about dealership work

M

magictouch24

New member
Greetings to all of my fellow professional detailers! After lurking for quite a while, I noticed that some of you in this forum frown upon dealership work. Now, I understand where I think most of you are coming from, since wholesale brings in substantially less profit per car than retail. I myself have 2, sometimes 3 used car dealerships that send me work and while the job isn't as detailed (one step with rotary as opposed to cleaning, polishing and waxing) I still charge them less than private customers. I do this more for the constant business than the money itself, and it doesn't take up too much of my time since the dealerships are small and I don't have to travel to do their cars (I'm a fixed location detailer).



I recently got wind of a Dodge dealership in a nearby town that built a huge, brand new facility and is looking for an in-house detailer to do their cars. I got my start as a detailer working for a private company that was in-house at a Chrysler dealership, so I know what working at a new car dealership is like and the demand it entails. I visited the Sales Manager last week and gave him my card to get the ball rolling on it.



I am wondering if any of you guys have ever had an in-house business at a dealership and could recommend it or dissuade me from pursuing it. I will probably end up having a meeting sometime in May if I decide to pursue it, and I will need to have some idea of what to charge them etc. My goal would be to hire a couple of guys to work there and handle retail customers on my own. Thanks in advance for any feedback whatsoever!
 
I can think of a few pros that did this and got screwed royally by the dealers in the end . What happen in short was the dealer used the detailers to setup shop get things going then booted them and hired the $10 hour people to replace them . Just cover your butt for such a thing . Good luck I hope it works for you .

Regards

Jerry
 
I would never, ever set up in house for a dealership without having my lawyer set up an iron clad contract on paper first. Dealerships are extremely fical and change their minds as often as they change their underwear. They also have absolutely no loyalty to anyone unless they can use you for something. That being said, I know a gentleman that has a deal like this set up and he does very well with it so if you can make it work - go for it.
 
I can not envision a set of circumstances that would allow me to trade my retail biz for Dealer work...



Good Luck...

Jim
 
I would never want to work as a detailer in a dealership because of the half-*** work they like. I don't want to be rushed or forced to do a sub-par job.



The dealership I used to work at had "detailers" that would use a rotary with polishes that contained tons of fillers. First of all, these morons didn't even know how to use the rotary properly, and they left the pads out all the time to collect dust/dirt until they needed to use them again.

And secondly, the fillers would wear out after a few weeks and the swirls would be everywhere.
 
I would agree that dealership work isn't everyones favorite, but for most of us it's a neccesary evil of detailing full time. I myself am just starting detailing as a full time job, and I'm spending most of my time soliciting dealership work, because It pays the bills. I'ts alot easier to get 2-3 dealerships, which would keep me in business by themselves than the 50-100 or more private clients it would take to do the same. I still try to get them though, it just takes time. As far as a deal to do work at a dealership for your own clients, I would be very skeptical, unless they are getting a piece of the action. It could be a really good deal if it was legit, but just be careful. Good luck!
 
The company I worked for at the Chrysler dealership had a small lease with the dealership for 2 garage bays and a wash bay, so maybe that is why he was allowed to do retail as well. One thing I can say, though, is that the dealership was pretty picky about the work and the only person that buffed was the owner. I would make sure that anyone working for me knew how to properly detail. I don't know how picky this Dodge place would be or if they'd let me continue retail, but it's obviously something I'd have to look into. I would never give up all retail in exchange for being in-house.



Thanks for the feedback - legalities and covering myself are good points. Btw, white95max: I'm shiftinfinti from the .org :-)
 
I hope to pick up some dealer work but purely on a contracting basis - i.e. I charge the dealership my regular rates and they charge it out to the client plus their percentage. I see it as relatively easy business to pick up and should also be fairly regular.



There's a Ferrari/Masserati dealership 15 minutes away I've got my eye on:D



Ben
 
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