Dealership Detailer hourly rate??

**Hotrod20** · 12-30-2009, 12:21 PM

I came across a Ford Dealer in MI looking to hire a detailer for the used car department.
The service manager stated he's paying $12.00 hr. / 40 hr work week for detailer's.

Otherwise, He said he can get the local detail guy to do it for $80-100 bucks a car? Complete.

Is that the going rate for typical dealer used car shops? I thought maybe more in line with $15-20 hr.
Maybe its the economy and the winter time. Any thoughts?

Thanks Hotrod 20

**DLB** · 12-30-2009, 12:52 PM

At that price - he isn't looking for a detailer. He's just looking for somebody to clean up the cars.

Quite a difference between a complete detail and and a cleaned car with tire dressing.

JMO.

DLB

Mike Phillips · 12-30-2009, 01:17 PM

$12.00 an hour is probably about as good as it gets for a dealership, especially if you got any kind of benefits with it.

The $80.00 to $100.00 a car to have a Detailer do it for him seems very high, most dealerships want to pay more around the $30.00 to $40.00 range for a complete detail.

Working for a dealership detailing their cars is usually the lowest rung on the detailing ladder.

The turnover rate for detailers at dealerships is very high because most the time the detailer figures out he can do better work and make more money doing the work for themselves than for doing it for a dealership.

**David Fermani** · 12-30-2009, 01:34 PM

Originally Posted by Hotrod20

I came across a Ford Dealer in MI looking to hire a detailer for the used car department.
The service manager stated he's paying $12.00 hr. / 40 hr work week for detailer's.

Otherwise, He said he can get the local detail guy to do it for $80-100 bucks a car? Complete.

Is that the going rate for typical dealer used car shops? I thought maybe more in line with $15-20 hr.
Maybe its the economy and the winter time. Any thoughts?

Thanks Hotrod 20

Can you tell me what Ford dealer you're referring to? I've done business with 8 of them in the Metro Detroit area for over 10 years and know their system somewhat well.

**gumball** · 12-30-2009, 01:46 PM

$9.00 an hour is norm here. $30.00 per car if not self employed,using thir eqipment and materials. $80.00 for detail businesses.

**Mirror Detailing** · 12-30-2009, 02:04 PM

I have worked for dealerships in the past. As a detailer, inventory and supervising. The hourly guys where in charge of sold car preps which where paided by the hour, and allowed 30-45 minutes per prep. Average hourly wage I have seen for a 32-40 hour work week was $9.50 starting and around $10.50 after a year of being there. Detailers though, all work on production numbers. Dealers will tell you great numbers but then once your there, the turn over rate is not that they do it independent its the fact they realize they where lied to. Both dealership detail positions I worked for where starting $10-10.50 on a production rate. You had the potential if business was good, and there where few of you, to average around 80-100 flagged hours per week. But judging by him saying $12 an hour and 40 hours a week, your hourly, which mean's your going to soon realize that they want you to bust your ass and brake your back 8 hours a day everyday, for $12 an hour.

Which like someone have said dealerships that do full recondition on production scale is not easy or fun. They are expecting washed, under the hood washed/dressed, clayed, 3 stage buff's, wheel well's, all interior panels/center console/seats to scrubbed and cleaned, and all carpets sprayed scrubbed and cleaned, and I mean everywhere. Windows done inside and out, tire shine applied and moved all in under 5 hours. So you have to be quick to make money.

But on the down side, I had one day I was there for 9 hours, and I was covering all the details and clean ups going to the auction's and any customer car's through the service department. I had one day it was DEAD. I was there for 9 hours, and had 1 car show up which I got paid 1.5 hours for. Sometimes you may work a week where your there for 40 hours but only flag 35. Good thing is, if there's no work, no one can make you do anything since your not hourly, but at the same time if there is no work, your sitting doing nothing. Now when the economy was great every day you would work 10-12 hours a day 5-6 days a week and average around 30-35 hours perday.

Mike Phillips · 12-30-2009, 02:44 PM

Just spoke with my friend Lenny House, who by the way was on his way to a dealership about picking them up as a new account for his detailing business.

I asked him a few questions and he said in New Jersey, the $12.00 an hour rate would be the low end and $18.00 to $22.00 would be high end. Kind of surprising to me but he's been doing this as long as I've known him.

He also said that what dealerships will pay depends upon the dealership but $60.00 would be a low price point and $80.00 to a $100.00 would be a high price point for detailers to do the detailer work for the dealership. Even at the high end prices, he said it's mostly hack work getting done.

I've only done one production detail job for a dealership in my life and it left such a bad taste in my mouth that I never did it again and never looked back.

**Blackfire** · 12-30-2009, 03:08 PM

At those rates, you won't be driving a BMW, or sending your kids to college or owning much of a home.

I'm a professional painter (commercial property) and earn $250 per day. That's why detailing is just a hobby for me.

**David Fermani** · 12-30-2009, 03:50 PM

Originally Posted by Blackfire

At those rates, you won't be driving a BMW, or sending your kids to college or owning much of a home.

I don't mean to sound too arrogant but when I had my shop doing "hack" dealer work, we managed to produce $500K /yr in revenue. My wife drove a new Mercedes, I had a new Vette, my $300K house was paid for and both my kid's guaranteed college funds were pre-paid. Don't discredit dealer work unless you've experienced it full force. It's a very lucrative business in any part of the country. Yeah, you might make only $70-$90 per car, but when you do 20, 30 or 40 cars a day it adds up real fast.

Mike Phillips · 12-30-2009, 04:18 PM

Originally Posted by David Fermani

Don't discredit dealer work unless you've experienced it full force. It's a very lucrative business in any part of the country. Yeah, you might make only $70-$90 per car, but when you do 20, 30 or 40 cars a day it adds up real fast.

Hey David,

Sounds like you have the makings for a great how-to article on making money detailing for dealerships!