Potential client, but ideas/help needed

[Bill1234]

my neighbors bought a 2009 ford escape which was used off the dealer lot. I was recently asked to work on it since they know that I do detail work on my cars and my friends. Here is my main issue. Its going to be the exterior only and I would need to wash, clay with a nanoskin and correct the whole car , then probably do a quick wax job I wouldnt be doing the wheels and tires or something else like the interior as they did not ask for it. This car is heavily swirled out probably from improper washing and probably uneducated previous owners.
A. How would I go about pricing this out. They are good neighbors, but I dont want to earn like 20 bucks for this amount of work. I already know that I will need to put alot of time into this maybe 5 hours? plus?
B. I have m105 and meguiars da microfiber system liquid, shoud I use one or the other or both?

[HD.Detailing]

da system... and you will need more than 5 hours to do it right

[Bill1234]

da system... and you will need more than 5 hours to do it right

thanks for the input. I would usually want to earn 20-25 an hour, but maybe I go for 12 an hour not to be mean to my neighbor? I know about product costs, and other variables, but I am not exactly looking for a total profit here

[HD.Detailing]

good luck and post pics..

[Znig22]

Good neighbors or not why wouldn't you want to charge according to your normal rate to ensure you cover your materials and time. 20-25 a hour seems extremely low to me. I do this full time though, if its just a hobby of yours i guess it could be looked at differently. I guess you could always throw out the "case of beer" deal and let the good times fly.

Good Luck.

[VP Mark]

Do it for $75, the experience, the referrals that will follow, and to be a good neighbor. Ask them to give you an online review afterwards. Even if you spend 5 hours on it will give you a few bucks to reinvest in product.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online

[Bill1234]

Good neighbors or not why wouldn't you want to charge according to your normal rate to ensure you cover your materials and time. 20-25 a hour seems extremely low to me. I do this full time though, if its just a hobby of yours i guess it could be looked at differently. I guess you could always throw out the "case of beer" deal and let the good times fly.

Good Luck.

they definately asked me to have it done, its not like o, let me just ask , and ill fine a time deal-which I am used too (people saying yes, then backing out because they think its too expensive when its a fair price). I do consider this a big hobby of mine, but not nearly enough to say full time job and big paycheck. I am doing alot of work, but it is for a neighbor that my family knows well. Since an average full exterior I would say is 100 and im doing a good 4-5hrs of work for a "friend" I would say that 60 dollars or 12 an hour is fair

[HD.Detailing]

1 step paint correction for 60? Wow.. wash, clay, dry, polish, and seal?

[Bill1234]

1 step paint correction for 60? Wow.. wash, clay, dry, polish, and seal?


Do it for $75, the experience, the referrals that will follow, and to be a good neighbor. Ask them to give you an online review afterwards. Even if you spend 5 hours on it will give you a few bucks to reinvest in product.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using AG Online

I dont have a full business set up. I just do friends, family, and maybe the handful of people who ask. I might do 75 if I need an extra hour or 2. keep in mind Im not doing an interior, wheels, trim fix up. Just a wash, clay, correction and wax

[HD.Detailing]

good luck! I'm not full time either and no way I could do that for that cheap! Post some pics when you are done.

[mgmoore7]

At risk of "questioning", I can't image doing all that work and skipping the wheels and tires. All that work and my eye would be drawn right to the dirty and dull tires. I would at least wash and shine them.

[Bill1234]

At risk of "questioning", I can't image doing all that work and skipping the wheels and tires. All that work and my eye would be drawn right to the dirty and dull tires. I would at least wash and shine them.

I might just scrub them while I foam gun wash

[Tato]

Sorry to say, but any car will look good or properly detailed without wheel cleaning... really sorry.

Interior detailing may be another history, like a 'separated package', additional costs, etc, but you can include the basics since it takes virtually no time.

My detailing partner starts everything by the wheels, and when she (actually a woman) finishes the first wheel, I ALWAYS(!) say, 'We can give back the car to owner now, it already looks 100% better!'.

That's an 'internal joke' we have here, but trust me, just cleaning the wheels will make enormous difference in the whole that is the first thing I notice.

Please, do yourself a favor and clean those wheels!

For the following, I'm not recommending you to do 'bad work' on wheels, but if you believe this will take you much time for peanuts, rinse them well, use a brush to clean the face of the wheels, and (reserve a MF only for that), wipe them with some sort of 'spray wax' while drying to finish out fine.

I also recommend you to do 'simple interior' for overall customer satisfaction. For that, you may wipe door interiors (painted parts) while drying the car. You may use same 'technique' I've told above for wheels, get a clean MF, use some sort of detailing spray or wax and wipe them clean. Makes a huge difference.

Vacuum interior in a general manner would not take longer than 10 minutes, another 8 to 80 difference.

Using more clean MF towel, wipe interior dust off panels. Be careful at instrument panel acrylic since you may swirl it if using dirty towel.

Charge from $0 to $100 for full work, but do it in a manner your customer will be glad to recommend you to anyone. You are in position now not for the money, but for the fame. $5 more or less nowadays will not make you any richer, or poorer.

Let he know he's neighbor is a Detailer, nothing less.

Keep in mind that people spend (generally, not us! lol) more time inside the car than outside appreciating the shine. I've notice from my customers that although they come asking for paint correction, paint protection, they are always blown by interior proper detailed.

So while you create the 'exterior illusion' of partial cleansing, when customer enter vehicle it continues that boring...

Please, don't get me wrong, I'm trying to help you build a reputation. In little time you'll be able to charge properly for what you do, because everyone will notice your attention to details.

Opposite may be true...

Please, ask if you need more quick tips,

Another thing I may add is for you to do some 'glass work'. D300 compound from Meguiar's MF system works great to polish windshield clean.

If you won't do the interior suggested, try the glass at least, together with the wheels it will make your work look worth twice or three times more than charged.

I see your customer complaining after some days that $75 were not well spent... if you cover critical areas cited, he'll feel proud that he paid $75 for a $200 work. Trust me.

Please, I beg not taking my write up literally, or the right or best way to do things. I'm just adding suggestions that you may add to your knowledge and help you out deciding what will work best for YOU.

It'll be harder than you're thinking, but who said that would be easy?

Wish you good luck, and don't forget to plant the good seeds today, to get the good fruits after.

Kind Regards.

[DapperD]

Detailing is a Luxury and for it to be done the right way is important. You don't want to get half way through and think "man I'm losing a lot of money." Thats when you start rushing and thats the worst thing you can do.

Yes you want to give them a deal but you don't want to sell yourself short for quality work. If it takes you longer then so be it and you lose a bit of money. I had a really hard time with bidding at first but now I feel great about my estimates and the quality of work the customer expects.

If I were you, I would charge $200 bid or $30 an hour. Since you have low overhead and are somewhat new to detailing you are still learning and making name for yourself. You can't be making a lot of money right off the bat.

For the work I do, I charge a bit more since I now have a good reputation and a profitable business. You will be there before you know it my friend, but work hard for it.

You have to at least clean the wheels and tires, and dress tires. A corrected car can't look good with dirty wheels and tires.

A ford escape has a good amount of paint so If it were me and I was using your system I would allow 6-8 hrs for the job.

Good luck and have fun!