So, I was thinking about how much time and effort I put into the detailing on my little car, and sure, a person with a properly set up detailing shop, and 100 X's the experience, could probably do twice the job, in half the hours.....

But half the hours, in my case, would be 10 hours of hard freaking labor ! So what would that be, a $500 detail ? I'm sure a lot of places around here would be glad to take my $500.... but they'd likely do a $150 job

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, lets say a guy was to take his Lamborghini Murcialago in for a detail, and he wanted a 6 step process on his paint... shampood carpets... polished glass.... polished headlights.... reconditioned leather.... etc, etc, etc

....and he insisted on personally inspecting the vehicle, between every step (or having his personal associate inspecting it for him

I guess what I'm asking is, do people actually pay $100 or $150 an hour, for 20... 30... 40 hour details ? And are their places that specialize in this ?

The only detail places I know of around here, might charge you $100 or $150 for a detail that's worth maybe $50.....

Of course I only ask out of curiosity. I know for my poor ****, the only way I'm going to get a decent detailing, is to do the darn thing myself..... and I'm sure I'm not alone here, huh ?

Oh well....
Fish

 

What you are saying is an extreme. 95% of the people who have there car/truck detailed know nothing about it and just expect to pick up there ride looking good. Most people have no idea what goes into a full detail and some dont care. I Know a few car collectors and one of them has 42 muscle cars (and just built a house and garage to house them all) and he knew a little about detailing but just doesnt have the time to learn more. He has a staff that takes care of his cars. For some rich or well off, detailing is an inconvienence and there time is better spent elsewere but for some its relaxing and theroputic (spelling). Also most Exotics are garage kept and dont need a 6 step detail, and thats where you come in as a detailer to know what it needs to look its best with the least amount of steps.

 

go check out the business threads over at autopia.org. a very large portion of your potential customers will be people that just want a wash/wax/vacuum job. it seems that they typically equate such a job to the drive in car wash places that charge $20. Being able to make money detailing depends on how well you can upsell clients on things like clay(which most have never heard of), paint correction, and so on. there are those in the minority that do actually care about their vehicle beyond the basic carwash, but they are definitely the minority. you won't be able to charge $200+ from every Tom, **** and Harry that just wants their car "washed".

 

Yes.

I recall seeing a detail on autopia a while back of a Bugatti Veyron full detail involving some wet sanding and using Zymol Royale as the lsp.

It's safe to say it is a pretty limited clientele that are looking for that level of detail...

 

Hey JMB, only $8,416.00 ? What a freaking bargain ! Now I'm pissed I didn't find out about this stuff before I did my detail LOL

Seriously though, let me aproach this from a different angle;

It just seems to me that a lot of the guys here know more about multi-step detailing, and certainly give WAAAY more time and attention to a detailing, than any of the shops I know of.

If "YOU" were to do a 20 or 30 hour detail for somebody elses vehicle... not a friend, but lets say, somebody who 1) had the money, and 2) saw, and was impressed with your vehicle and detailing skills, what would "you" charge them ?
I'm thinking, $1000 to $1500. $50 an hour seems fair to me. (when garages around here are charging $95 to $125)
And again, the whole point of my original post is, I just don't know of any detail shops around here, that do that kind of work.

Peace,
Fish

 

Right, but there's a reason why not that many shops do that. Because Joe Six Pack with his wife and kids are not looking to spend hundreds or even thousands of dollars on dollars on detailing the family minivan. Look at your target demographic, hell, just observe the cars in your area while traveling down the freeway. 99% of the cars you'll encounter will not warrant such a high level of detail, and of the 1% that you see that do warrant it, they're not daily drivers and as such won't be subject to the abuse that a commuter car will. So you detail John Richguy's Porsche that he drives only on the weekends. It might be a year before the car needs another full detail.

Additionally, there's more to running your own detail business than just picking up a 7424 and some products and hanging out your sign. Things like insurance for example. What if you damage John Richguy's $80K Porsche in the process?

I don't mean to come across as discouraging, just realistic. I've thought about doing the same thing on more than one occasion, but there's A LOT to learn before I'd attempt to start a business as a novice detailer. I think a good approach would to work on friends and families vehicles first (read: people much less likely to sue you if you do screw up), build a reputation and go from there. I know the 7424 is supposed to be "safe", but look what happens when you don't know what your doing and heat a plastic panel too much:



http://www.autopia.org/forum/machine...pc-7424-a.html

here's some info on pricing and what to expect:

http://www.autopia.org/forum/detaili...e-pricing.html

 

Thats where you need to educate your customers. Make sure they know what to expect in the detail they want. Offer a couple of different levels. Your average wash & vacuum job for a certain price for those who want to keep the car clean but do not have the time and a premium detail. Wash, wax, vacuum, complete interior, exterior, inside trunk, under hood, tires and wheels for more money.

That way every body knows what to expect and what they will not get for X amount of money.

 

Hey Big Slick I think you have misunderstood my intent of this thread.... That 20 hour detail I did on my car "kicked my ****" ! I would not even consider doing that for a living ! It just kind of opened my eyes as to how much was involved, and got me to wondering what some people actually charge / pay for super-duper details on high dollar vehicles.

Peace,
Fish

 

I do this myself for people I work with. I do my work by hand and with a ROB. I charge 65 total for a complete wash, multi step extrior detail including claying for small vehicles. Is that low, yeah pretty damn low. I was told by someone that want's me to do his Maxima in the fall that I should charge around atleast 100. Here's what I see with this. People don't want to pay for this stuff. They don't get the work involved so I take advantage of that and charge lower. I'm only 18, so my age works against me so I stick with people I know. I think a solid detail should be 400-500. I mean like an amazing detail. You have to remember that you can get more people for a lower price so I take a hit and charge less, but more people are interested. Eventaully I want a DA to make life easier and have more paint correction abilities.

 

Yea, most people don't know what's involved, or just don't want to pay the price.

You've got the people who don't want to pay the 45-55 to detail their cars. And then, you have people in expensive cars going to "pro detailers" around here. There's this one guy that details some cars that show up at Car's and Coffee. My friend asked him what he uses, and he said he just uses Intensive Polish on an orange pad, with a PC. I've seen some of the cars he's "detailed", and they're far from swirl-free.

I can't imagine going somewhere to pay 500+ dollars for a detail, or ever even charging that much. Chit, I'd feel bad charging someone more than 100, since it still seems like a lot of money to me.

 

Labor intensive jobs are hard to sell. People just do not understand what /how much hard labor goes into something like that.
I feel you have to come up with what YOUR time is worth first. Then get some figure for products & materials and add that.

A guy around here charges $130.00 for a wash/inside & outside detailing. Add wax it adds $80.00. I would not do it for that...but I do it for free to my own truck. People have to believe it is worth their money. This is where you might have to give a little more for a little less...maybe.

In the gun business people have no clue as to the WORK it takes to polish a gun out of all tool marks. At $70.00/hour labor depending on the gun...it can be 2-3 hours. Thats polishing ONLY...no finish or custom work. They almost have a cow. All they know is it looks great!

 

Yeah. I love how it's cash, so it goes right to me

 

Most good detailers are about $25 an hour, and $40 or more if they have to wetsand. When I do weekend details I try to stay in the $20-$25 an hour range, because for the cost of materials and for the toll it takes on you it just isn't worth any less.

 

Really good detailers who's names are out there and are established have been known to charge $65 or more an hour. Some people don't charge hourly though either. Some base it off of a thorough walk around of the car with the owner where everything about the vehicle is discussed in detail. This is where you will determine how many correction steps there will be, what type of wax they're looking for, and just how much in detail they want to get, ie wheel barrels, engine bay, interiors, etc. I see where some people have spent 30 plus hours on a vehicle and I can't for the life of me see why. Especially when others ver experienced, very good detailers are putting out phenomenal work on cars that were brought to them completely trashed in a days work.

FYI, if you think Zymol Royale is expensive, which by the way has free lifetime refills, you should check out Zymol Solaris. It goes for something in the $30,000 range. That's unjustifyable(?) but Royale can actually be justified, sort of. If you live in a place where with the right type of clients, purchasing a wax that expensive with free refills is a good business move. It gives the owners of these elite luxury/sports cars the feeling that they're getting something special that the regular joe schmoe just can't have. You can charge more for it than other waxes and you never have to buy any more. It easily pays for itself. However, from what I understand, there are hidden costs when sending the pot back for a refill that are pretty steep and I believe Zymol says you aren't allowed to make a profit/charge from their free refillable waxes or you'll void your free refills. Again, from what I understand, a lot of people don't find this out until they ship their first pot back.

 

299 for a full detail, a little more if buffing is involved and thats pretty much everything you can do to make a care perfect maybe a little more for a truck