cardaddy
12-02-2015, 10:12 PM
I have been on this site for a relatively short amount of time compared to most. I have never posted before and I read here a lot. This particular post for some reason stuck out huge to me and is a great idea. At first I had no clue what anyone was talking about around here with acronyms flying all around, sometimes being linked in succession 3 or four at a time looking like alphabet soup. I never imagined things could be so complicated then I started reading about the correction process, which blew my mind even further. Coming from a consumer standpoint like myself, when things get too confusing you get turned off. I would have had my car corrected by now if I was able to wade through the truckloads of marketing nonsense. It is almost impossible to take any scope of work seriously when you see the same advertised services quoted sometimes $800 apart.
First...
:welcome:to AGO :dblthumb2:
I must have lurked around here for 5~6 years! Just didn't get into doing anything beyond my own stuff, or family. Although I've been detailing cars since the 70's! :eek:
The price differential however speaks to a level of professionalism, one that separates the corner swirl and scrub factories, and the dealership "deluxe detail", from a true detailing professional.
There is a HUGE difference between someone that does a quick, down-n-dirty, production type detail and a guy that puts 30, 40 or more hours into a job.
Guess that's what the title of the thread is about.... the level of correction is directly related to the level of OCD of the person doing that correction. ;)
As for pricing differences....
I had a guy just yesterday call me about doing the interior of his full size Ford Explorer.
I was warned about it from the shop that recommended me over the weekend, saying it was naaaaaaasssssstttttteeeeee. :eek:
I saw it on the lift, and the exterior was pretty freaking rough, and I could only imagine what the interior looked like.:eek:
So anyhow... guy calls, said he wants to know what I'd charge him to clean ONLY the interior. Without hesitation I said, "Yes sir, my interior detail starts at $295, and could go up depending on further inspection". I could hear his heart stop over the phone.:D
Never mind the fact that once you start breaking out things like Meguiar's Tannin Stain Remover (D106) @ $48 a gallon, and Protein Stain Remover @ $21 a gallon cleaning interiors starts to get expensive.
He said, "That's the whole thing, inside and out? " To which you know what my reply was. ;)
Of course after I look at it I might price it at that $800 figure! :laughing:
Actually... I told him we'd be glad to do the exterior as well, as a package, which would save him money. Then that exterior packages started at $195 for a thorough cleaning of the wheels, wheel wells, wash, paint decontamination and wax (sealant), and with paint buffing it would be $395 to $995 (or more) depending on what products he wanted (as in a coating).
He decided that he just wanted the interior... go figure. :laughing:
But hey... he COULD have kept it clean to begin with, he just chose not to. He still wants me to quote it though, knowing what others have told him about the quality of my work. Although I still have to go look at it, and tell him if I'll even take the job on. I likely will not, because he'll never be satisfied.)
There are a lot of factors that determine pricing a complete paint correction, mainly what machines, methods, and products you are using. Be that exterior or interior time is money.
For some people their time is worth more money than they'd prefer to spend (the time on) instead choosing to spend the money. ;) Many upper echelon buyers would rather spend their time on the golf course, or at the tennis courts with Muff and Buffy than spend the better part of a long weekend, if not a full week in the garage getting to know every crack and crevice of their $100,000 vehicle. (My brother in law would be one of them! He bought my nephew a Toyota Tundra, then a BMW 335i while he was in college, and that nephew knows how to do *high end* paint correction, but his daddy will NEVER hold a buffer.)
Basically... it's all relative. :D
First...
:welcome:to AGO :dblthumb2:
I must have lurked around here for 5~6 years! Just didn't get into doing anything beyond my own stuff, or family. Although I've been detailing cars since the 70's! :eek:
The price differential however speaks to a level of professionalism, one that separates the corner swirl and scrub factories, and the dealership "deluxe detail", from a true detailing professional.
There is a HUGE difference between someone that does a quick, down-n-dirty, production type detail and a guy that puts 30, 40 or more hours into a job.
Guess that's what the title of the thread is about.... the level of correction is directly related to the level of OCD of the person doing that correction. ;)
As for pricing differences....
I had a guy just yesterday call me about doing the interior of his full size Ford Explorer.
I was warned about it from the shop that recommended me over the weekend, saying it was naaaaaaasssssstttttteeeeee. :eek:
I saw it on the lift, and the exterior was pretty freaking rough, and I could only imagine what the interior looked like.:eek:
So anyhow... guy calls, said he wants to know what I'd charge him to clean ONLY the interior. Without hesitation I said, "Yes sir, my interior detail starts at $295, and could go up depending on further inspection". I could hear his heart stop over the phone.:D
Never mind the fact that once you start breaking out things like Meguiar's Tannin Stain Remover (D106) @ $48 a gallon, and Protein Stain Remover @ $21 a gallon cleaning interiors starts to get expensive.
He said, "That's the whole thing, inside and out? " To which you know what my reply was. ;)
Of course after I look at it I might price it at that $800 figure! :laughing:
Actually... I told him we'd be glad to do the exterior as well, as a package, which would save him money. Then that exterior packages started at $195 for a thorough cleaning of the wheels, wheel wells, wash, paint decontamination and wax (sealant), and with paint buffing it would be $395 to $995 (or more) depending on what products he wanted (as in a coating).
He decided that he just wanted the interior... go figure. :laughing:
But hey... he COULD have kept it clean to begin with, he just chose not to. He still wants me to quote it though, knowing what others have told him about the quality of my work. Although I still have to go look at it, and tell him if I'll even take the job on. I likely will not, because he'll never be satisfied.)
There are a lot of factors that determine pricing a complete paint correction, mainly what machines, methods, and products you are using. Be that exterior or interior time is money.
For some people their time is worth more money than they'd prefer to spend (the time on) instead choosing to spend the money. ;) Many upper echelon buyers would rather spend their time on the golf course, or at the tennis courts with Muff and Buffy than spend the better part of a long weekend, if not a full week in the garage getting to know every crack and crevice of their $100,000 vehicle. (My brother in law would be one of them! He bought my nephew a Toyota Tundra, then a BMW 335i while he was in college, and that nephew knows how to do *high end* paint correction, but his daddy will NEVER hold a buffer.)
Basically... it's all relative. :D