escalade pricing?

[gclark26]

I am about to detail a black escalade. I need advice on how to charge for this vehicle.
For sake of argument lets say the detail is the following
Wash/wax
Clean leather seats/condition
Spot clean carpets
Scotchguard
Engine detail
And if I can convince them a AIO and clay
I am thinking of charging $275-$300 not including the AIO.. Is that in the ballpark?
How much should I charge if doing the AIO also?

[wifpd4]

Re: escalade pricing?

This should be an interesting discussion. I've seen the number of $30 per hour bantered around, but that was a while ago. Keep in mind, like you really need a reminder (duh), it's big and black. You may need to work off a ladder and an AIO may be the way to go to save some time.

Do you currently have all the supplies you need? I could see those seats eating a lot of product and your time.

[Michael Stoops]

Re: escalade pricing?

For a wash & wax plus interior cleaning and engine bay, your pricing may be reasonable depending on how dirty the interior is. A wash and wax, if that's all you do on the exterior, shouldn't take much more than 90 minutes at the most. That assumes, of course, that you've got a very efficient process down pat - most who detail for a living do, while those who don't, don't. In fact, we know a lot of highly skilled pros who would laugh at the thought of taking 90 minutes just for a wash and wax - they could likely do the same in under an hour. Take that into consideration when pricing the job.

The interior could be a piece of cake, or a total nightmare. That means it could take you anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours to clean the inside of this truck. You know your skill set better than we do, and you've seen the truck (we hope) so you can better judge how long the process will take. Of course, the clients expectations factor into this as well. As for the engine, that should be the fastest part of the whole process - spray some Super Degreaser in there, let it dwell for a few minutes, hose it off and let dry. When dry (or very close to) then spray it down with a water based dressing and move on to the washing/waxing/interior work. Come back at the end of the job and double check the engine bay for any puddles of dressing or missed spots and you're done.

With a proper assessment of these processes, and with your desired hourly wage in mind, you should be able to price this so it's fair to both you and the client. Estimate your time without the AIO process and multiply by your desired hourly rate. Then estimate how much extra time will be needed for the AIO to determine the upcharge for that process. As mentioned previously, your client's expectations will play a role here so don't overlook that. It's great when you can seriously under promise and over deliver, so bring a couple different AIO options to test on this particular paint.

[gclark26]

I have not yet inspected this vehicle and have NOT quoted a price. I have all the needed products on hand . This be the second vehicle this customer is bringing to me. The only expectations I know for sure is the engine must be spotless the inside clean and shiny on the outside. Oh and wax.
I agree the outside can be cleaned quickly. The inside may be a different story. Seems I always spend more time there.
This customer dosent seem concerned with flawless paint.
What is the best way to educate them on the need to polish and protect the paint.

[Natron]

Re: escalade pricing?

I think you are on the right track by not quoting price without inspection. I've seen black Escalades that were in great shape and some that justified over $700 worth of reconditioning. Seems like you're going to be fine. If you are both realistic, and clear on what's to be done and not done you will both be happy. Don't be afraid to charge for your craft. Nathan

[gclark26]

Here is what we settled on to meet the $250 price cust wants to pay
$165 Deluxe pkg
Wash/ wax
Vac int
Spot clean
$40 Eng detail
$45 steam clean int
N/C condition leather seats
$250 total

Am I over charging?
I told them they could move up to the radiance pkg that included more of what they want plus polishing the paint Its $250.
The paint is badly swirled and would fix it for a total of $350. Its a big vehicle so I upped the price.

[Natron]

Re: escalade pricing?

Sounds reasonable to me. Nathan

[gclark26]

I actually ended up over delivering. The paint was swirled very bad from the tunnle of terror. I was not about to let this go and have ppl think I dont know how to detail.. so I gave it a AIO polishing with D151. Finished up with M21. .
I explained the car wash is causing the swirls and that i use a leaf blower and a 1100gsm towel when drying. He looked suprised about the leaf blower.

Actually this customer has already brought me 5 vehicles and 2 more waiting. Thats 7 vehicles from 1 customer.
The customer has taken his cars to the same detailer for 15yrs. Now I have his cars. He told me I am more expesive but do better work.
In the end I asked him to send me customers and we'll call it even on the extra work I did. I even cleaned the crud off the track for the elec seats.
Lets see how many cars my goodwill, will bring me in return.

[wifpd4]

Re: escalade pricing?

He told me I am more expesive but do better work.

That is the point isn't it. Congratulations on the addition cars.

[roger3380]

Re: escalade pricing?

Price it for what they are getting. I dont price match i just price it for what it will take and over deliver every time and make sure i point what what i did to over deliver. I detailed a SSR one time just a wash and wax, the back cover over the bed had some bad etching on it from a cat throwing up on it. I polished the whole back bed cover removing the etching. When the customer picked it up i explained what i did and told him it was on me. I am know detailing for his whole family.

[Eldorado2k]

Which wax where you originaly planning on using prior to overdelivering? Just the M21 after a wash? How about clay? I assume you didnt include it since you didnt mention it?
How much time did you end up taking to do this Escalade?

[gclark26]

Which wax where you originaly planning on using prior to overdelivering? Just the M21 after a wash? How about clay? I assume you didnt include it since you didnt mention it?
How much time did you end up taking to do this Escalade?

A few months have passed since i detailed the Escaladed and my memory is foggy.
I do beleive i performed a clay bar step prior to polishing. I use a nano sponge when claying. I used M151 to polish followed by M21. The entire process lasted 15-18hrs. Customer got a good deal on price and his vehicle looked much better than before.
As far as pricing goes, tack on 2 hrs to the price if you have established an hourly wage for yourself.
I did a lot of goodwill on this detail. I hope it comes back in the spring.

[Eldorado2k]

Gotcha. Thx for the reply as it always helps to find out how other folks are fairing when it comes to approaching similar situations and not having alot of real deal comparisons..

That being said, reading Mike Stoops' post regarding being time effecient while 'working on a detail' deffinetly raised the bar of expectations, [in a positive way] if 1 were to have that goal in mind... I'm just starting out into detailing other peoples cars for $ and I've been faced with noticing that anything to help with time efficiency would be a major mistake in overlooking. It's funny how some old habits that have been a big part of our passion and extraordinary technique can also hinder us by turning into major time guzzlers when working on someone elses car.. Especially if you wind up working more time than you had planned to charge for.

I'm sure everyone who's ever decided to transition from enthusiast to professional has faced those moments where they know some old habits must be changed up a bit for good business sense. Finding a good balance between being efficient without sacrificing your innital planned standards is where 1 hopes to land. Experience is key. As is Raising ones expectations and challenging yourself, keeping an open mind and learning as much as possible, the list goes on and on... I'm sure alot of you guys know exactly what I'm talking about because you're Meguiars kind of people.

Thx again for the reply. And best of luck!