Exterior Detail Timing Analysis

[waelwell]

I'm new to the business. I know I can do really good work. What I'm unsure of is how fast I am. If I'm slow, I'm leaving money on the table. So read on and share your thoughts.

The car - The car for this example is a Mercedes CLK 63 AMG Black Series. It's silver. The car was well kept but it hadn't been detailed in 3 years. The car has lots of edges, trim, and contours that break the panels into small sections and make it tough to use a 6" buffer.

The service - I did what I consider an entry exterior detail that includes, washing the wheels, washing the car, claybar, and wax (or a one step polish/wax). The price for that service is $290. Yeah, that's quite a bit more than what I've heard others charge for similar services. Don't worry about my price. I have competition that are priced higher than I am and I can pull in customers that don't have an issue with the price if the work is good.

The time - Here's a breakdown of how long it took me to knock out the work:

• Wheels - 55 minutes - This includes brushing the wheel wells and cleaning about 50% of the way to the back of the barrels. 14 minutes per wheel seems long. Remember, this includes filling the buckets, collecting the tools, and cleanup.
• Wash/dry - 45 minutes - this includes washing, wiping down the door edges, door jams, and around the hood and trunk. I've seen videos of guys doing sub 10 minutes washes but it doesn't include drying or wiping the jambs.
• Clay - 60 minutes.
• Wax - 120 minutes - in this case I used a one step with a polish in it. Regardless, I'm looking at a little under an hour to apply the wax and a bit over an hour to wipe it off.
• Wash windows, apply tire dressing, cleanup - 30 minutes

So I've got a little over 5 hours invested.

The customer was very happy.

I've heard that a service like this should take 3 hours. I'll blame 30 - 45 minutes of my time on the complexity of the car.

Is this a reasonable time for the service performed? Or am I slow? If you think I'm slow, hit me with some thoughts about where I'm wasting time. Maybe I'm doing lots of bits of work that folks doing a 3 hour detail don't do?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Bill

[FrankS]

I'm new to the business. I know I can do really good work. What I'm unsure of is how fast I am. If I'm slow, I'm leaving money on the table. So read on and share your thoughts.

The car - The car for this example is a Mercedes CLK 63 AMG Black Series. It's silver. The car was well kept but it hadn't been detailed in 3 years. The car has lots of edges, trim, and contours that break the panels into small sections and make it tough to use a 6" buffer.

The service - I did what I consider an entry exterior detail that includes, washing the wheels, washing the car, claybar, and wax (or a one step polish/wax). The price for that service is $290. Yeah, that's quite a bit more than what I've heard others charge for similar services. Don't worry about my price. I have competition that are priced higher than I am and I can pull in customers that don't have an issue with the price if the work is good.

The time - Here's a breakdown of how long it took me to knock out the work:

• Wheels - 55 minutes - This includes brushing the wheel wells and cleaning about 50% of the way to the back of the barrels. 14 minutes per wheel seems long. Remember, this includes filling the buckets, collecting the tools, and cleanup.
• Wash/dry - 45 minutes - this includes washing, wiping down the door edges, door jams, and around the hood and trunk. I've seen videos of guys doing sub 10 minutes washes but it doesn't include drying or wiping the jambs.
• Clay - 60 minutes.
• Wax - 120 minutes - in this case I used a one step with a polish in it. Regardless, I'm looking at a little under an hour to apply the wax and a bit over an hour to wipe it off.
• Wash windows, apply tire dressing, cleanup - 30 minutes

So I've got a little over 5 hours invested.

The customer was very happy.

I've heard that a service like this should take 3 hours. I'll blame 30 - 45 minutes of my time on the complexity of the car.

Is this a reasonable time for the service performed? Or am I slow? If you think I'm slow, hit me with some thoughts about where I'm wasting time. Maybe I'm doing lots of bits of work that folks doing a 3 hour detail don't do?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and advice.

Bill

It looks like your making a little over $50 per hour which is not too bad.

1. Wheels - I'm in about the same time frame for wheels, tires, wheel wells. I like to get the inner barrels as clean as possible - about 40-60 minutes, depending on the condition. Wheels that are properly maintained will go faster.

2. Wash - 45 minutes is not bad for a traditional wash if you include drying and wiping all the jambs. A rinseless wash may save you some time here.

3. Clay - You can save time here by claying the car after you wash and rinse while it's still wet. Spray some clay lube on the wet car and clay. Using a clay towel or mitt will save you more time than a clay bar, IMO.

4. Wax - 120 minutes (2 hours) is pretty quick for polishing out a car. I usually take longer and charge more for using my polisher.

5. Wash windows, apply tire dressing, cleanup - 30 minutes is pretty good.

Polishing a car properly is time consuming and most people don't notice the swirls they just want a clean shiny car.

If you wanted to skip the polishing step and save yourself some time, you could:

1. Use Opti-Seal or a good quality spray wax as a drying aid.

2. Use Wolfgang Deep Gloss Paint Sealant, Pinnacle Liquid Souveran or similar - spread it with a buffer quickly, not really polishing here, just spreading it, and then wipe off.

[GSKR]

Lots of variables on the timing, I would say 2 hrs and 20 minutes for the service you performed.To much time for drying and cleaning the wheels.claying you can do in 30 minutes.waxing the car you can cut time also.But this timing is done out of a van with a pw and everything I need.If I take something out I put it back so clean up time is maybe 10 minutes.It bothers me to see bottles laying around all over the driveway and etc.If your full time into this,it gets easier and you can shave mega time.

[Jomax]

Lots of variables on the timing, I would say 2 hrs and 20 minutes for the service you performed.To much time for drying and cleaning the wheels.claying you can do in 30 minutes.waxing the car you can cut time also.But this timing is done out of a van with a pw and everything I need.If I take something out I put it back so clean up time is maybe 10 minutes.It bothers me to see bottles laying around all over the driveway and etc.If your full time into this,it gets easier and you can shave mega time.

2hrs 20min?! You're moving!

[2black1s]

My opinion...

When how long a job takes becomes a priority, then the real priorities, i.e., attention-to-detail and overall quality, are compromised.

[GSKR]

Back in the day at Mercedes I had 9 cars to do by myself.mabe 2 full porche details then the rest pdi work.you can really hussle once you have a good technique down,and products that work.

[waelwell]

2hrs 20min?! You're moving!

I was going to say the same thing... That's fast... but it's not the first time I've heard numbers like that and that's why I'm writing this. Let's look at the claybar - I took 60 minutes and GSKR says it can be done in 30 minutes. Yeah, a simpler car could take 10 minutes or so off the time but not cut it in half. That means I'm either moving at a snail's pace (I'm not) or I'm hitting a lot of surfaces with the clay that GSKR isn't. How far down the rocker panels do you guys use the clay? Do you clay the windows? Do you clay the trim pieces if they're body color? Clay the bumper covers?

Bill

[shadwell]

Of course there wil be some savings time wise to be had, but its very hard to comment / compare as the vehicles are going to be coming in at a different level.. so IF (its a big if) you are getting them to the same end condition then of course the time will vary.. claying a whole car can take 30 mins if there is next to nothing on it and it lifts very easily... up to a number of hours if its never seem clay of polish let alone wax in 5 plus years etc..

You have a few options; standardise what you put in and charge a standard price... but with variable outcomes..
OR commit to an end condition following a vehicle inspection and budget / charge accordingly..
manganing expectations depending on which line you follow will be very important..

We can all work faster and harder but its not a long term solution... you'll be in an early grave..

[GSKR]

Let's take,this car you posted.first attack are the wheels with a pw 20 minutes tops with the barrels clean with some wheel acid.7 minutes to foam,10 minutes to lather.30 minutes to clay with a nanoskin refoam and rinse..15 minutes to dry everything.dress tires 12 min,apply wax and remove 35 min.all glass 12 pieces of glass inside and out 20 min.I will give you 10 min to,clean up and 10"min to speak to customer,then another 30 minutes to spiff up interior.If I'm not mistaken that's close to 2 hrs of sufficent time to do that car.you have to be organized in your van,ther is no time for fumbling around looking for stuff.you will get there.

[GSKR]

My friend Kevin hill and myself on a good day we use to do 16 cars and trucks for Mercedes .He would tackle the inside,and I would do the exterior ,cars ranging from eclass s class and the ml line up and a lot of sl.you would be amazed how much you can do.