What would you guys charge as a DIYer for someone?

[Grifftech]

Got a friend who wants me to do do a complete exterior detail on his 2013 Magma FJ Cruiser.

I am going to be doing clay bar, paint correction, Glasscoat, rims and tires.

He got the Simoniz Glasscoat from the dealer when he got there car, I would prefer to do Cquartz or something for him but this is what we wants.

So I am trying to get a rough idea of what you might charge someone.

He told me the dealership was going to charge him $600 to do the Glasscoat which is ASININE.

I was thinking for a very thorough exterior detail $200?

Honest input please.

Thanks,
griff

[parttimer]

Sounds reasonable to me, I charge 180 for an exterior 1 step on something like that.

[CarbonCrew]

Just an idea.... if you think that the $200 will cover your time, why not overshoot a little (~$300-400) to give you some wiggle room or to add some extra touches? Then if you come under you can charge him for the actual time spent.

[trekkeruss]

He told me the dealership was going to charge him $600 to do the Glasscoat which is ASININE.

It's a lot when you know the dealer would do very little prep before applying the product.


I was thinking for a very thorough exterior detail $200?

For me it would depend on how much time it would take to correct the paint. If it is in really good condition to start, then $200 sounds okay. But it needs a lot of correction, it would not be early enough. Not for what could be more than a day's worth of work on a large vehicle like the FJ.

[Grifftech]

It's a lot when you know the dealer would do very little prep before applying the product.



For me it would depend on how much time it would take to correct the paint. If it is in really good condition to start, then $200 sounds okay. But it needs a lot of correction, it would not be early enough. Not for what could be more than a day's worth of work on a large vehicle like the FJ.

Looks to be in decent shape, so the $200 looks good.

He had it vinyl wrapped and I can see some what I think might be adhesive or something from the wrap still on the vehicle.

Any tips on removing that?

[swanicyouth]

If it was me (and it's not) - I'd do it for free or wouldn't do it all. There are a few reasons:

1. I won't get involved with exchanging money with friends. If I do anything for them I do it for free. I've found people are eager to return a favor for that.

2. The Simonize product is something you/we aren't really familiar with. Who knows what the application is like. If something goes wrong or the coating doesn't last for whatever reason, resentments may be had because your friend paid you to install it.

3. Working for money will usually mean working under a time constraint - which usually means some pressure/stress. I'd be inclined to tell the friend your more than happy to do it for NOTHING, but you will need the car for several days. That way you can take your time, enjoy the process, and really learn how to apply this coating optimally.

[TurboToys]

free if they are really a friend, it's just your time, and i'd be damned if someone was going to try to pay me to help them work on their car if they had a problem and they were a friend.

[Mike Phillips]

I am going to be doing

clay bar,
paint correction,
Glasscoat,
rims and tires.




If you include washing and drying the car to get you started, that's about 5-6 hours of work and that's assuming your work fast, short breaks to hydrate and the correction step you mentioned is real basic or simple. We in the forum world all know that just because a car is "brand new" that doesn't mean it's also not filled full of swirls, scratches and water spots.

If you have to do just ONE machine polishing step to this Toyota FJ Cruiser, for example after claying run a Porter Cable 7424XP with a fine cut polish on a foam pad, this step alone will take you a minimum of 4 ours if you're good at this. And the reason why is because you CANNOT move the polisher over the paint quickly and do any real correction work. You must move the polisher slowly over the paint and only work small sections at a time.

This is what I try to teach people all the time about the "time" required to buff out a car. It's the first step that is the time thief if you're doing the job right the first time.


So for price?

I'd decide how much money it will take you to feel good about spending your entire day making someone else's vehicle look good. If $200.00 will make you feel good at the end of the job then go for it. If being out in the garage for an entire day, or say 6 hours, mean you want $400.00 or $600.00 then set that as your price.

I can already tell you will do much higher quality work than the dealership as all we ever hear and see from dealerships are horror stories.

Maybe figure out what you want per hour and estimate the hours like this,

$60.00 per hour for 6 hours = $360.00 if you do it faster or slower there's room for adjustment.


I'd also share the link to this thread with your friend and if they decide to let the dealership do the work and the car comes back all hacked up with with something slimy on the tires, you can always take comfort in that you offered to do it right the first time. If there is a second time... charge more to undo the other guy's damage.


This is what dealerships do,

DISO = The Dealership Installed Swirl Option (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/hot-topics-frequently-asked-questions/28401-diso-dealership-installed-swirl-option.html)


And the reason they do this to cars is because,


They don't hire qualified people.
They don't train people to do the work correctly.
They don't use good tools, pads or products.
They don't give their detailers the time to do it right - See my comment about moving the polisher slowly over the paint and only working small sections at a time.


Good luck with this project, looking forward to your follow-up posts no matter how it goes....


:xyxthumbs:

[Mike Phillips]

If it was me (and it's not) - I'd do it for free or wouldn't do it all. There are a few reasons:

1. I won't get involved with exchanging money with friends. If I do anything for them I do it for free. I've found people are eager to return a favor for that.


2. The Simonize product is something you/we aren't really familiar with. Who knows what the application is like. If something goes wrong or the coating doesn't last for whatever reason, resentments may be had because your friend paid you to install it.


3. Working for money will usually mean working under a time constraint - which usually means some pressure/stress. I'd be inclined to tell the friend your more than happy to do it for NOTHING, but you will need the car for several days. That way you can take your time, enjoy the process, and really learn how to apply this coating optimally.






free if they are really a friend, it's just your time, and i'd be damned if someone was going to try to pay me to help them work on their car if they had a problem and they were a friend.




I second all of the above... especially the bold parts....


Also just to note... when I work on someone's car it's because I know they'll take care of it after the job. If I don't think they will take care of it, and I mean NOT take it to an automatic car wash and such, then it's really all for nothing...

Clearcoats scratch easily. Because clearcoats are hard, at least harder than traditional lacquers and enamels, it's both difficult and time-consuming to remove swirls and scratches. So EVERYTHING that touches the paint after you detail the car needs to be of the highest quality you can obtain and good technique must be used when touching the paint.

Something to think about...

The first thing I teach guys that attend my detailing boot camp class is to START by evaluating the customer, then evaluate the car. Even have an article on this topic here,


Evaluate the customer first! (http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/80231-evaluate-customer-first.html)



:dblthumb2:

[Mike Phillips]

I just checked for any new posts to the above article I wrote and found this on-topic reply....

http://www.autogeekonline.net/forum/ask-expert-featuring-mike-phillips/80231-evaluate-customer-first-3.html#post1098968


:dblthumb2:

[Optntdr13]

My response would be..."I will either do it for free or not at all because the price would be so high you couldn't afford me." I bill out hourly to my clients in my profession at roughly 250/hr so that's the perspective I would be coming from if someone wanted to pay me. Friend = Free. Non-Friend = not going to happen.

[BillE]

Have to pretty much go with the majority.

A friend, and I mean A FRIEND, he get's a freebe. You can get him (or her) involved into how to possible do it themselves in the future. Also, they will understand that 'a detail' is much more involved (and labor intensive) than they ever realized.

One more thing...they buy the beer and burgers!

Bill

[Mike Phillips]

One more thing...they buy the beer and burgers!

Bill


There you go....


:cheers:

[TWEEDERTWEEK]

Don't feel bad for charging a friend money. You should do pre inspection first with the friend and have them sign off on any damage found. A true friend will understand, at least that's been my experience. I won't charge a friend for a simple wash and interior cleaning, but if it's going to eat up a better part of my weekend and product, I do charge. All of that is assuming that I do all the work myself and they either aren't around or don't help at all (if they don't know what they are doing, you don't want their help.) If they just want help and are willing to buy the product and beer I will not charge obviously.

If I had a friend that was an electrician, I wouldn't ask him to come over, run wiring for an additional room I added on and expect him to cover the product cost and not pay him for his time that he could have spent with his family.

I'm a husband, homeowner, father and a manager. Most of my week is eaten up by work and the daily routines that come with a 2 year old. My weekends are very precious to me, so if I'm doing work for someone else they go into it knowing the quality will be there and they can stay at home and end up with an amazing vehicle for a very reasonable price.

[TWEEDERTWEEK]

Sorry, to chime in on your original question, $200 is a reasonable price for what you mentioned in my eyes for a friend.