More quantity, less quality??? help!

[rabbi]

Average dirty car.Tires,wheels,wash,dry, polish, sealant or glaze in 3 hours. If I can complete all this I'm gettin' it. I'm not messing around. If I have to clay then I wouldn't get to the sealant or glaze. By no means am I an expert. I have a lot to learn. For me to do a complete exterior detail it would take me about 8/9 hours.

 

[zesty-man]

if you dont mind me asking, what would you usually charge for all of that?

 

[rabbi]

If you're asking me. I would charge about 125.00/150.00. Keep in mind I've never detailed a car for money. I've washed my neighbor's daughter's car not too long ago and she wanted to pay me. I declined. I used Sonax Gloss Shampoo and this lady couldn't believe how good her ar looked after I dried it. I'm not a professional I'm an ethusiast who is still learning the craft.

 

[zesty-man]

oh............ thanks for the help annyways, and spooky avatar.

 

[rabbi]

My avatar isn't spooky young man it's whalin'

 

[optik]

If I was still in High School and was getting paid $60 to detail my friends cars, I would try to keep it down to as few steps as possible. A good cleaner/wax is probably your answer. One step PwC or AIO. You could always have another level to offer at a higher price that included the SSR2.5 etc. *I'm an enthusiast too.

 

[rabbi]

If I was doing my friends cars in high school I would go the PwC route topped with a good carnuba.

 

[mirrorfinishman]

I've washed my neighbor's daughter's car not too long ago and she wanted to pay me. I declined.

Sounds good!

Since I started my own mobile detailing business in 1986, I still take care of cleaning, polishing and waxing many of my neighbors cars at no charge. I enjoy the work and they certainly appreciate my efforts.

 

[jaybs02]

Zesty,
What are the conditions of your friends cars to start with??? If the paint in good shape a
one-step and wax would be do-able in 2-3 hours.
what are they expecting it to look like when your done?
Are you doing the interior? (i've had friends where it took 2-3 hours just to get the junk out) :scared
I would plan on more of 3-4 hours to get the look that both of you are happy with (thats still 15-20 an hour)

Just my $.02
"J"

 

[nickis]

If you are doing all that for $60, you are already offering lots of work at a very good price, don't go one more step and try to make it incredibly fast too, because then you will just be killing yourself. You will either end up completely burned out, or more likely, doing subpar work. Just explain to people what is involved in doing all of that work, and let them adjust their schedules to make time. They're teenagers, its not like they have full time jobs and kids to worry about (not at private schools at least :lol). If finding time is really an issue, try to make it more convenient for them. If they work a part time job, offer to drive there and take their car back to your house to detail, then return it before their shift is over. Offer to go to their houses and wash them there. Offer to swap cars with them if you really trust them. Make yourself flexible and you will be hard pressed to find someone who really *can't* find the proper time to let you detail their car.

 

[zesty-man]

well, heres my goal..........basically, theyre my friends, and i wanna give them a maybe 50% off....... AND, i can imagine that my friends would probably not pay more than 3 figures to get their car done. as you can imagine, many teens would rather spend their money on clothes, wallets, bags, and stuff for their girlfriend, so i cant charge too much. however, theres also a hidden motive in here. i want to do an extra good job, because i want their parents to see how good a job i can do, so they can turn around and hire me. many of their parents own nice luxary cars.

rabbi: i was thinking the same thing as you. i just purchased some PwC from ranney today, and i have a couple of good pure canuba waxes.

jaybs95: the conditions are gonna be rather scattered. some cars will be clean, but not shiney. other cars will be flat out dirty. but for the most part, i think most of them will be pretty neglected, beceause after all, theyre teens. we love nice cars, but hate the work involved. thats where i come in. i probably should have said that i would start at $60, and charge 20-40ish more depending on the condition of the car. my main goal is to stay under $100, because they are my friends, and they probably wont pay three figures.

nickis: about swapping cars, thats a joke............ i drive a 1985 mazda 626 with dead paint,clearcoat failure, etched rims, and severely waterspotted windows... on the contary, they probably drive late model sport sedans or coupes. unlike them, im not rich .

 

[nickis]

well, heres my goal..........basically, theyre my friends, and i wanna give them a maybe 50% off....... AND, i can imagine that my friends would probably not pay more than 3 figures to get their car done. as you can imagine, many teens would rather spend their money on clothes, wallets, bags, and stuff for their girlfriend, so i cant charge too much. however, theres also a hidden motive in here. i want to do an extra good job, because i want their parents to see how good a job i can do, so they can turn around and hire me. many of their parents own nice luxary cars.

Be careful with that approach. It will be hard to tell their parents they need to fork over $120 to get their car done when they see what a nice job you did on their kid's for $60. People always warned me about that when I was starting out with low rates, but I always figured that once I got my foot in the door I would figure out how to jack up prices later. Now that I'm "in", the truth is it is more difficult than I thought, how do you explain to someone why the same job their friend/relative got will cost them more?

nickis: about swapping cars, thats a joke............ i drive a 1985 mazda 626 with dead paint,clearcoat failure, etched rims, and severely waterspotted windows... on the contary, they probably drive late model sport sedans or coupes. unlike them, im not rich .

I'm sure they could endure your car for a few hours if they needed the transportation, besides, thats just one option. The big picture is, if you provide them with options, they are more likely to find the time you need to do a good job with their car.

 

[zesty-man]

hmmm, i know what you mean......... thats something i should keep in mind. im not sure tho, i think they may understand that i give speical prices to friends, and not friends parents...