to start a car detail buisiness

[03mach1]

I am thinking of starting a detail buisiness. I showed my friends my prices and they thought they were a little expensive ($30-35)for a car and ($40-45) for a truck. i would like to have sombodys opinion on if the price is right. I know there are many variables to a wash and how hard the labor is.

[kpagel]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

Are those prices for a wash or a "detail"?

[03mach1]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

for a wash and detail

[Mayur]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

They think thats expensive for a detail? Thats a going rate for a carwash! I charge $150 for full exterior details and even then Im running a sweat shop. Most charge $200 plus.

[Spotty]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

What services are you providing your clients with for $30? Is it just a wash, wash and vacume, wash, vacume, wax, etc? Your friends may not be willing to pay $30 for a wash, vac, and tire dressing, but others wouldn't think twice about it. You will need to undertand your target audiance

One of the first things you will want to do before starting into any business, it is to sit down and write out a detailied business plan first. Hit the local library or search the net for tips on writing a business plan. The more detailed the better.

Here in Central Indiana, a major epress car wash gives you unlimited washes a month for $40. So you need to ask yourself why would someone and who would pay a $30 once for a service that they could get everyday of the month for 5 minutes of their time.

You will need to be able discuss with cleints the benfits of having you do it vs. the local wash. You need to know the clients you are targeting for this type of service and what your local demographics will allow you to charge for this.

Chris

[03mach1]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

thanks for all of your contributions! what i will be doing for the clients is a wash, paint cleaner, scratchx,deepcrystal polish, wax optional because the washes i use do not strip the old wax unless it needs wax, tar and bug remover, or istead of wax a NXT spray wax to enhance the old wax, wheels, trim,tires, and vacum, and a leather cleaner if they have leather. do you think that is a $100 for a job well done. i will have to put wax on by hand i don't have a buffer.

[cornflake_81]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

Well, if you use a paint cleaner (DC #1?) and/or scratch-x, you're going to strip the wax off no matter how gentle your wash soap. Plus, I don't think you could pay me enough money to scratch-x an entire car by hand....that makes my arms sore just thinking about it. Your prices, no matter how high or low will always run some people off. Just call around to some of the detail shops where you live and ask them what they charge to get an idea of the going rate in your area. When I divulge my prices, I constantly get people who say "That big carwash down the street will do it for HALF that price!", to which I politely reply, "Well, tell them "Hello" for me."

[Lucky161]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

I've read most every post on here and the shortest time I remember seeing is 2 hours for an exterior only. Take out for your supplies and your shop or your travel expenses and it looks like you'll be doing professional work for less than minimum wage.

[Tillmanator]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

thanks for all of your contributions! what i will be doing for the clients is a wash, paint cleaner, scratchx,deepcrystal polish, wax optional because the washes i use do not strip the old wax unless it needs wax, tar and bug remover, or istead of wax a NXT spray wax to enhance the old wax, wheels, trim,tires, and vacum, and a leather cleaner if they have leather. do you think that is a $100 for a job well done. i will have to put wax on by hand i don't have a buffer.

Holy Moly! Well $100 is certainly better than $30! I'm sure you've got to be aware as to how much time all that is going to take you BY HAND.... even if you do a crummy job..... much less a good job. HOURS!!!! The exterior alone is gonna be at least... at the very least... four hours. Then WITH the interior that's at least another hour... depending on how dirty and how thorough you are.

I'm not even a professional but I would NEVER do all that work for just $100. For that, I would wash, dress and wax. Are you going to tape off the car? That's gonna take extra time too.

If this is going to be your livelihood and not just a hobby and favors for friends, this is what I suggest. Decide how much money you need to make a month to support yourself/family. Then divide that into 4 to get to how much you want per week. How many days a week do you want to work? How many cars can you do in a day? The simple math will tell you how much you're gonna have to charge.

Good luck!

[03mach1]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

I did all those things to my car to see how long it would take and it took me about five hours to do the entire car. the person who thought $45 was expensive has a raised dodge ram 2500 quad cab short bed. just think how long that will take me doing it by hand. now hearing this from you guys I will have some pretty high and firm prices because of labor hours.

[kpagel]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

To be quite frank, if you want to make money detailing you're going to need to learn to use a buffer. First a DA (G100, PC 7424) and then a rotary. You just can't get the same results by hand that you will using those machines.

[03mach1]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

I have a buffer. I need to find it. It is in my dads garage somewhere.

[saleem]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

I think this was mentioned in some other thread but i'll ask


rates relate to your experience. how many years have you been detailing as an amateur?

will this be a full time job? on the weekends? or as a HS student looking to pick up some $$

[03mach1]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

high shcool student looking for some money. many realators in my area will pay a huge amount of cash for a great detail. I have been detailing for a year and been washing my parents cars my whole life with just water and towls. my dad says i can really compeat with the car washes in my area. detail is the number one key for a great looking car.

[Mort Corey]

Re: to start a car detail buisiness

If you're going to do cars at the customers location you're going to need water and power as well. If you're going to be driving the customers car to another location to do the work (even ten feet away) then you'll have "care, custody and control" of their vehicle and will be liable for anything that happens. Your personal auto insurance will not likely cover an accident in that case and the customers may not either.

Just some more cheery things to consider.

Mort