What should I charge??

I

imported_BadSL65AMG

New member
I've never done detailing for anybody besides myself, and my girlfriend, but today a acquaintance of mine complimented me on my car and asked who I have detail it. I told him I do everything myself, so he went on to ask me how much I would charge him to do his 1998 4 Runner SR5. I told him I'm not sure, I don't have a whole lot of time to detail other cars, but I would do it for him. I don't need the money or anything so I was thinking just do it for $100, does this sound like too little/much?



Edit: Just thought I would toss in some details. First his 4 Runner is black, and has never really seen a detail or wax, it's badly swirled (might be due to him using a damp bath towel to wipe off heavy dirt, and basically wash the car?? HAHA!)
 
well depends on what is intailed....like for instance id charge for a full= wax + shampoo =$140.oo plus extra $$ if in bad condition.
 
I've done a few friends cars and charged $100. We spent the afternoon together, drank a few beers, they helped when they could, they learned alot. They didn't mind paying at all after seeing what was involved, not to mention equipment and products needed.
 
RBW111 said:
I've done a few friends cars and charged $100. We spent the afternoon together, drank a few beers, they helped when they could, they learned alot. They didn't mind paying at all after seeing what was involved, not to mention equipment and products needed.
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I wish my friends were like that. Every one that I've detailed for has been cheap about it, and expected me to do it for next to nothing. I usually do, just to be nice. But it's kind of insulting when someone offers you $20 after 7-8 hrs of work. :(
 
I charge $150 for interior/exterior on a mid size car or smaller (WRX sized). This usually includes clay, DACP and a sealant. That'll get about 80-85% of swirls out.



Anything black or bigger, they are told that if it's gonna cost more.



I won't touch a SUV (which I rarely get) for less than $200 due to the extra surface area to work on.



I can get a WRX done in roughly 4 hours, so it's about 35-40 $ / hr.



I try not to paymyself less than $25 an hour, and that's for a friend!



That's just me though.



Of course, there are special instances to that as well. . .
 
I started on the 4 Runner today, and it's turning out to be more than I bargained for. It took 6 passes with IP, and then 2 passes with FPII just to get it looking decent. I was also getting some black staining on the pads, but maybe it's just a Toyota paint thing. The same happened back when I had my Celica Alltrac, I used to end up with red paint on my pads and towels. Could also be the half *** repaint he had done. So far it's been 5 hours and I've finished only one side, and I'm not looking forward to finishing it! He's getting one hell of a deal for $100, since this is the kind of job a profession shop would have charged at least $400 for, considering the paint was so badly neglected. This is the last favor I do for any of my friends!! :furious:
 
Finished it at 4:30am, and had to be up for work at 6:30am. How fun is that?? If I ever see him wiping dirt off with a damp bath towel ever again, I'm going to kill him! :furious: It's like sandpaper on the clear, I had to take the clear down pretty far just to get a reflective finish.
 
The process consisted of:



Paint:

-6 passes IP

-2 passes FPII

-Klasse AIO

-Klasse SG

-Pinnacle Souveran



Trim, Running boards, Dash:

-Megs Natural Shine Vinyl and Rubber



Interior (Seats)

-Zaino "Leather in a bottle"
 
Feel for you bro, but live and let learn.



I did a 04 accord for a friend and only charged him $70. It was the first car I ever did for money and I stilll put too many hours into the car.
 
BadSL65AMG said:
Finished it at 4:30am, and had to be up for work at 6:30am.
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What?!?! Screw that! I would have stopped before midnight and continued the next day!

I hope your friend appreciates all the work you put into his truck.
 
I'm officially done with favors! I called him today to ask what he thought about it, he says "ohh... it's ok". I wanted to snap and say listen you ungrateful.... so on.... :furious: I no longer consider him a "friend".



The product I used was worth more than he gave me, like I said it's not about the money, but just some gratitude would be nice!
 
BadSL65AMG said:
I'm officially done with favors! I called him today to ask what he thought about it, he says "ohh... it's ok". I wanted to snap and say listen you ungrateful.... so on.... :furious: I no longer consider him a "friend".



The product I used was worth more than he gave me, like I said it's not about the money, but just some gratitude would be nice!
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Welcome to the ungrateful modern day world. I used to try to be nice, offer to do stuff for people for free/way cheap, but meh... You could spend a week worth of 12 hour days working on most people's cars and give it to them and at the very most they might say it looks nice. A simple "It looks fantastic, thank you for spending your time on it" would be fine, even if it was fake.



Take it as a lesson, and from now on, charge what it takes to make the job worth it to you, from a profit stand point. :)
 
I've done a few cars recently that were a complete disaster. One had been run through a car wash 2-3 times a week for 4 years. I set the clients expectations pretty low from the start in those situations. Sometimes it is just going to be okay and there's nothing more I can do about it.
 
GSRstilez said:
Lemme get this straight. You drive a $200,000 Mercedes and you care about a stupid $100 detail?
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Do me a favor and read my first post in this thread, I specifically stated it wasn't for the money, I was doing it as a favor for a "friend". In recent posts by me, I was aggravated not about the money, but the time and effort I put into it, and he was just ungrateful.
 
BadSL65AMG said:
Do me a favor and read my first post in this thread, I specifically stated it wasn't for the money, I was doing it as a favor for a "friend". In recent posts by me, I was aggravated not about the money, but the time and effort I put into it, and he was just ungrateful.
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So why is the title, "What should I charge"?
 
Your right GSR, I was $120 short on my $1718 car payment *sarcasm*, so I was forced to detail his car :rolleyes: .. and I was really pissed I only made $80. His car is the first I've detailed, other than my own. Was I expected to do it free?? I sure as hell didn't come here to argue. Enough said, now drop it.





1-1-06: Happy new year!!



So he wants me to detail his car again.. not happening. :lol
 
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