winter detailing

[B53x11]

with the cold weather season upon us, so has there been a slowdown in detailing. i have been considering applying for a detailer position with a local Mercedes/BMW dealer. i am looking for some opinions/feedback from others in the field on their experiences that may have gone this route before. i am not really a volume detailer but need to pay the bills. i'm also not interested in sacrificing good techniques to hurry through a job. what do you think? thanks.

Brett

[Vegas Transplant]

Take the job.
Tow the line.
Don't make waves.
Collect your check.
For everything there is a season.

[hernandez.art13]

I'd like to hear others peoples opinions as well. If given the choice between working at a dealership vs a body shop. I'd go with a body shop. IMO you get to work on more advanced techniques then a Dealership. Plus I am always helping out the painter and trying to learn as much as possible from him.

Where else can you be wet sanding repaints and buffing them out daily. 9-5 Mon-Fri. I find it fun to be working and wet sanding, Rotary's, buffing etc...

I also am running a home based business, so I get the best of both worlds, because I can spend hours and hours working on a car. As opposed to the body shop were they need the car out as soon as possible, because there is still 3 more cars that need to be done by the end of the day

At body shops there are Detailers and there are Buffers. Buffers are the ones who wet sand. Buff, remove dirts, run ons etc... Then they hand it over to the Detailer who gets the car ready for the customer to pick up. I started as a Detailer then moved up to Buffer. I then discovered AGO and MOL and discovered that at that level. They are one in the same.

In the end my goal is to just keep learning as much as possible. By attending Meguiar's and also learning new things at the body shop.

[Pureshine]

I work at a dealer for 3 days and then quite. With that said if you need the money and want to still do detailing in the winter then there is no reason not to do it. Just remember the work will be totally different than what your use to and they don't care about quality just numbers.

[VP Mark]

Just remember if you work at a dealership that your number one priority will be putting metal on the lot to be sold quickly, not quality, customer service, or using good process.

If you can live with that, go for it. Bills have to be paid somehow.

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[hernandez.art13]

^ wasn't there a thread where an AGO member got a job at a detail job. Then he got quizzed by the manager and after the quiz he got a pay raise because he knew so much?

That could also be a possibility. That is one of the reasons I want to attend Meguiar's advanced class, to learn new techniques and also get the certificate to add to my Detailing portfolio. People are actually impressed when I tell them that I go to Meguiar's classes.

[jgibson2980]

Ive worked at car lots, paint shops ,and carwashes. All these places care about is quantity over quality.

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[Real Riders]

Are you going to be a detailer or a washer? Some Mercedes dealers wash every service customer car that comes to the dealership. The Mercedes dealer in my town has 5 wash bays and they wash 50 or more cars a day. They wash all the customers cars, they wash and prep all new cars that are sold, and they prep all used cars / trade-ins for the detailers. The detailers never wash any cars. The detail bays are dry and the cars are cleaned and prepped by the washers before the detailer receives the car. If I worked at a dealer I would rather do the wash/prep than detail but that is just my choice. Either position would be good for the winter.

[jgibson2980]

I Worked for Mercedes and volvo. We had guy that washed services vehicles and then a guy setup to just wash and detail certain makes and model's. There was a Mercedes and volvo dealership. Jag, land rover,and a Porsche on. That had not been finished when I was there .

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[B53x11]

Thanks for all the feedback. I haven't applied yet, just considering it. I wanted to see if others had tried this route and what their experience has been.

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