Looking for advice...

[CarFlipper]

My wife and I are in the process of establishing a used car business (primary sales will be through eBay) and a part of the selling process will obviously include detailing the cars. I am putting together our equipment/chemicals list and I am looking for some recommendations. We will be doing about 8 cars a month to start. Speed and ease will be the key and so far I have chosen the following equipment:

The pressure washer is a Ryobi with a Subaru engine. Normally I would choose a honda-driven washer, but I like the container holders that this unit has.

Oh yeah, and the detailing will take place in my (slightly) oversized 2-car garage:

...so space is at a premium too.

Thoughts on this equipment, other stuff needed, and checmicals would be helpful.

Thanks!

CarFlipper

 

[GregCavi]

Looks like a good lineup of stuff you have there. I would get as many pads for the pc as you can afford as you shouldnt use the share products on the pad during the intial detail. I tend to go towards poorboys products. They are not to expensive and are easy to use. If you wanted to get something locally then meguiars is good if you go with the professional line. #83 and #80 are a good 2 step polishing regimen. I would buy stuff in gallons becuase it will be much much cheaper. You can also check out www.topoftheline.com for there professional products. I dont like the polishes as much as poorboys or meguiars, JMHO. www.chemicalguys.com has a bunch of gallon sized products as well. If you order from our sponsers you can get discounts if they offer them for being part of DC. My last suggestion is to get many high quality MF towels. You can never have enough MF.

Greg

 

[JeffM]

How many hours are you going to allow for each car?

Whats your experience level?

What price range of car are you going to be looking to sell?

BTW, your garage is nicely organized :bigups

 

[CarFlipper]

How many hours are you going to allow for each car?

Whats your experience level?

What price range of car are you going to be looking to sell?

BTW, your garage is nicely organized :bigups

I have basic amerature exper. detailing cars. I have a buffer that I have used several times, but not the quality of the one I am buying.

We are selling cars in the $8K - $15K range (mostly 1998-2001 sport coupes and some SUVs) .

Thanks for the compliment, here's a closeup of my work area that I had previously setup for airbrushing (which has all since been removed to make room for detailing):

...lots of room for cleaners, waxes, etc.

CarFlipper

 

[tubafeak]

One of everything from Poorboy's should be everything you need, read up on other products here in the city to figure out what else you might need.

 

[JeffM]

I would pay special attention to the wheels of the cars you get. Be careful with wheel cleaners, they can mess up certain rims.

If i were you, i would look into Megs #80 and #21 sealent. The 2 together will help cover up quite alot of defects, while still producing an excellent finish....