Taking Over "volume" Business - Possible to Profit on $100 Dealer Jobs?

[Envious Eric]

I think its a misconception that dealers only care about the price...thats like saying all retails customers only care about the price. There are dealers willing to pay a fair price for quality work just like there are retail customers willing to pay for full corrections. Yes, there are dealers that only care about price but the ones that see the value in a good detail are generally more loyal.



Using the numbers you provided it would be a no-brainer for me to take on that work. Think about, you have 2 employees doing the dealer work that covers 90% of your overhead including their wages. That leaves you with the freedom to work on high end work with all the money from those jobs being profit, or you could use your time to go out and get more volume work.



I guess it depends on what your end goal is. Do you want to be a business owner that works "in" the business or "on" the business? I personally enjoy the challenge of growing and developing the business more than I enjoy actually working on cars day in and day out. Figure out what your end goal is and develop a strategy to get you there.

I agree here! Its something that I am about to get into as well! I dont want to always be behind the polisher!



I know of a certain someone who explained it best to me..."I went from 10-12+ hr days behind the polisher to 4 hours days in the office...I'm loving every minute NOT touching cars anymore and making triple"

 

[ahheck01]

Setting aside the discussion of whether I'm one of the detailers doing the dealer cars, or running the rest of the business, I'd like to focus this discussion on a per-car basis.



Right now the current shop that's doing these cars lathers on the Armorall and Carbrite products. Do I need to be willing to use this junk to make this viable, or can I get rid of all that silicone and junk and still be as efficient, still keep dealers happy, and avoid jacking up cost per car?



@ToyotaGuy - I appreciate the fairly specific suggestions, and that's what I'm looking for at this point.



From what I gather this is their process:



1) Wash (power wash, then acid bath to strip everything)

2) Buff any noticeable scratches that aren't too deep (They use a rotary, wool pad, carbrite compound)

3) Add Wax that conceals effectively

4) Carbrite tire shine on tires and trim



5) Vacuum Interior

6) Hot Water Extractor on Interior

7) Armorall all trim/dash/etc (yuck.)

8) Ozone if needed



9) Door Jams

10) Glass inside & out





I suppose the way I would probably do it would be:



1) Wash & Dry (power wash, strip previous LSPs safely) - 15 min

1.5) Should I clay on dealer cars? - 15 min

2) Buff any noticeable scratches (Rotary/Rupes21 + ? Pad + ? Compound (m105/205?) - 20-40 min

3) LSP ? I'm guessing my normal client detail LSP wouldn't be appropriate here? - 10 min

4) Tire and Trim Dressing ? Also need a cost-effective but not crappy suggestion - 5 min



5) Vacuum Interior - 15 min

6) Hot Water Extractor & Steamer (Hill Injection) on Interior - 30-40 min

7) Dress Trim & Dash ? need a cost-effective but not crappy suggestion - 10 min

8) Ozone if needed (Thoughts on this?)



9) Door Jams (Steamer) - 10 min

10) Glass inside & out (need a cost-effective but not crappy suggestion for cleaner) - 20 min



Total Time: 2.5-3hrs not including driving time



I am really open to suggestions.

 

[Envious Eric]

take out the drive time...have them bring you a car every 3 hours, 3 per day. they are getting the deal, why should you be out more money and time by driving your car there, picking one up, and at the end of the day driving your car back...what happens if you crash their car in transit..you are responsible for it, not them. If their guy does it, its on them and your name isnt tarnished.



megs hyper dressing for tires and trim

megs leather cleaner wipedown, no dressing/conditioning

interior gets steamed and wiped with megs interior detailer (slight cleaning will happen as well)

exterior gets pressure washed

speedy prep towel to get most of contamination off

no correction going on...just a medium polish to remove some, cover some

spray wax and call it done!

glass = distilled water and meguiars glass cleaner...total of 11 gallons for 19 bucks RETAIL...insanely cheap! or even IPA/distilled water for non tinted windows, or even tinted windows, just dont spray on tint directly.



the dealership cant expect you to use boutique products on a $100 job and spend 5 man hours on each...no profit, no point!



Keep the business separate from your higher end stuff. Dealership can claim they do it all they want, its not your clientele anyway. It will put more money in your pocket at the end of the month!!!

 

[Barry Theal]

Yes it is profitable depending on your situation and how you run things. You need to not look at it per car, but by total numbers. For example. I do alot of dealer work. I take the good with the bad. I do nasty details for the same as a spiff. This is what works for me. You need to ask yourself this.



What kind of background do you have?

Can you truthfully handle this workload?

Can you run a fast paced enviorment with stress, headaches, and so on?



I could go on and on, but at the end of the day. My business is lucrative and makes money period. If your motivated enough you will to. Who knows maybe one day yopull lock a few dealers in under contract and sell the business. Then you know you did something right!

 

[Scottwax]

3 guys should be able to knock out a car an hour. Use ONR to wash, that means one person can follow that person around using an AIO product with a DA while the third person vacuums and shampoos the interior-no worries about spraying off the car holding the other two back. Once the car is washed, that person assists the other two.



Pay them $10-12 an hour.

 

[Jpostal]

A dealer will never willingly pay a "fair price", not what you think is fair. How many examples can you show us?



Comparing a customer to a stealership is illogical.



I would listen to David since he has first hand experience, but otherwise dealers only look out for themselves. M2C

Thomas, I said some dealers will pay a fair price and I also said some dealers wont. In my local market there are a number of dealers that pay well above $100 for a pre-sale prep. You have obviously had a bad experience working with dealerships but that doesn't mean all dealers are bad to work with.



And no, comparing a customer to a dealer isn't illogical. My point was that some dealers are willing to pay for quality just as some retail customers are willing to pay for quality...not all dealers will and not all retail customers will. Anyway, agree to disagree.



To the OP, if you want to build a business that you can sell someday, or set up to run when your not there you really have to take on this kind of work (work that can be done by employees). If you build a business catering only to high end detail work you may make a decent living, but when you want out of the game its going to be a lot harder to cash out because YOU ARE the business.

 

[Barry Theal]

Thomas, I said some dealers will pay a fair price and I also said some dealers wont. In my local market there are a number of dealers that pay well above $100 for a pre-sale prep. You have obviously had a bad experience working with dealerships but that doesn't mean all dealers are bad to work with.



And no, comparing a customer to a dealer isn't illogical. My point was that some dealers are willing to pay for quality just as some retail customers are willing to pay for quality...not all dealers will and not all retail customers will. Anyway, agree to disagree.



To the OP, if you want to build a business that you can sell someday, or set up to run when your not there you really have to take on this kind of work (work that can be done by employees). If you build a business catering only to high end detail work you may make a decent living, but when you want out of the game its going to be a lot harder to cash out because YOU ARE the business.

So many great points in this post its incredible!!!! I loved it!

 

[Richard Grasa]

Thomas, I said some dealers will pay a fair price and I also said some dealers wont. In my local market there are a number of dealers that pay well above $100 for a pre-sale prep. You have obviously had a bad experience working with dealerships but that doesn't mean all dealers are bad to work with.

This is why I went in and edited out my personal feelings of dealers in my previous post. I had bad a experience and was never able to find one willing to pay for quality, or be loyal to someone who provides it. But that's not to say others will have the same experience. I think it's dependent on alot of things, the area, their competition, they kind of cars they sell, the dealer themselves, etc.