What do you guys charge customers for HEAVY tar removal?

**Kaban** · 05-27-2017, 11:16 AM

How do you address the situation if you get a car in for a typical detail (paint correction and coating), and the vehicle has HEAVY tar contamination?

By "heavy", I don't mean a few specs here and there all over the sides and inside the edges of the wheel wells. I mean, so much tar that it takes 1-2 hours to safely remove, go through several MF towels, and a 32oz bottle of tar chemical.... and some times more. Is it safe to say that should be an additional charge because that is not your average contamination?

I recently did a car that required several hours of tar removal, I probably went through 5 brand new MF towels to remove it off the sides, lower rockers, wheel faces, and maybe 3 inches into the wheel wells (taking wheels off and doing full wheel wells would be MUCH more labor intensive and customer didn't want to pay for it.)

Tar removal is not fun, you have to wear gloves, respirator, etc. in order to not kill yourself. Was wondering what's an appropriate rate to charge. My customer insisted it should be included in the initial quote of the detail and thought additional charge would be unfair.

**KirkH** · 05-27-2017, 11:26 AM

This makes me think that I should add a chemical hazard surcharge to tough jobs like this!

I try to get $75/hr so if it takes me 2 hours, I would charge $150 and tell the customer that it requires a special chemical to remove and charge the customer for the price of the materials. That is essentially what I do when I instruct a customer to order a box of Dr. Colorchip. They pay for the kit plus my time to prep and touch up.

**LP14SS** · 05-27-2017, 02:15 PM

My 2 cents is that if there was that much tar it should indeed have been noticed during your initial evaluation and should have been written up as an additional service, but that's not to say I agree with your customer either though because fact of the matter is weather you quote him for it or not unforseen circumstances come up and things can require more than originally expected. you are running a business after all you can't just let it slide if you ended up blowing a considerable amount of time and resources you need to charge accordingly. I think you should charge accordingly and just resoectfully explain to your customer that you're sorry but it's going to run more than quoted due to the difficult nature of the services it was bound to the paint more than you had expected. And explain to them what you just explained to us. Personally I think it's hard to even suggest what to charge because kirkH charges differently than I do I charge flat fees for individual services and just up charge the service depending on how bad it looks to be basically it's up to you you need to charge what you believe to be fair to the customer and cover you time and labor.

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**Calendyr** · 05-28-2017, 02:15 AM

I would charge my hourly fee of 40$ plus the cost of products used. So going in, I would tell the client that price would depend on both factor and I would give him an estimate of 50-100$ depending on how long it takes. If you have the right product it should not take a ridiculous amount of time. I normally use Tar-x but for something like this you might want to go with something more agressive. I was told by an other detailer last year that gasoline cuts though tar like a hotknife through butter. I have also used WD-40 on heavy tar and it worked really well. Tar-X is really expensive so I don"t think I would want to use a full bottle of the stuff.

**GSKR** · 05-28-2017, 06:48 AM

Originally Posted by Kaban

How do you address the situation if you get a car in for a typical detail (paint correction and coating), and the vehicle has HEAVY tar contamination?

By "heavy", I don't mean a few specs here and there all over the sides and inside the edges of the wheel wells. I mean, so much tar that it takes 1-2 hours to safely remove, go through several MF towels, and a 32oz bottle of tar chemical.... and some times more. Is it safe to say that should be an additional charge because that is not your average contamination?

I recently did a car that required several hours of tar removal, I probably went through 5 brand new MF towels to remove it off the sides, lower rockers, wheel faces, and maybe 3 inches into the wheel wells (taking wheels off and doing full wheel wells would be MUCH more labor intensive and customer didn't want to pay for it.)

Tar removal is not fun, you have to wear gloves, respirator, etc. in order to not kill yourself. Was wondering what's an appropriate rate to charge. My customer insisted it should be included in the initial quote of the detail and thought additional charge would be unfair.

For easy tar removal gasoline eats it up quick.One swipe gone.Here is how I approach this problem on micro towels ,if I do a plane not one of those come home with me .I charge 30.00 extra for 2 packs of new micro towels.I never invest in good quality towels because of your situation is associated with mine all the time.30.00 gets me 20 new micros at hd.

**GSKR** · 05-28-2017, 06:57 AM

Sorry to hear they didn't want to pay extra for tar removal.I will say this politely and lightly but it's your fault.You should always look at a car thoroughly before giving a price.But it's not a total loss because now you know and leson learned.If I got a customer like that I would just coat right over the crap.Your time skill and products are valuable and need to be compensated for it.

**hoyt66** · 05-28-2017, 07:07 AM

Originally Posted by GSKR

Sorry to hear they didn't want to pay extra for tar removal.I will say this politely and lightly but it's your fault.You should always look at a car thoroughly before giving a price.But it's not a total loss because now you know and leson learned.If I got a customer like that I would just coat right over the crap.Your time skill and products are valuable and need to be compensated for it.

Yes this is a bum deal but "coat over that crap"?? I'm thinking do it right for reputation and pride sake and consider it lesson learned. That being said, I am just an enthusiast and

have minimal paid details to my credit.Just my .02

**GSKR** · 05-28-2017, 07:21 AM

Believe me these customers will try anything to try and get over on you.I've never had a situation like that and no I probably wouldn't apply over tar..I would give them the option of paying extra or don't do it at all.A majority of customers think everything is 2 seconds to do.

**GSKR** · 05-28-2017, 07:37 AM

The worst thing you can do is call a customer on the phone and tell them it's added labor.Some will be annoyed and a vast majority will be OK with it.2 types of customers price shoppers or value minded customers. 25 years of doing this I've seen it all.The biggest problem is phone quotes they will try and pull it out of you.So say you gave in at 225.00 over the phone you get there wash the vehicle and it's got paint over spray on it.Now it's a up charge and out of there budget.You really have to be careful dealing with these types of people.Doesn't happen frequently but it does happen.I'm straying from cars to planes different kind of clientele.Yesterday finished up a 2 day polish on a 6 passenger jet.1500.00 for 16 hrs .Have another one this week and I love it.The car thing is to saturated cut throat business to much work for little money.At the end of July I have a 737 to do hired 2 people at 30 hr for 10k job should take a week or more.

**RTexasF** · 05-28-2017, 07:42 AM

I charged $45 per hour for tar removal back in the day. I agree that if you did not bring this issue up initially during the inspection then the fault is on you. Also I never used MF towels, I used cheap terrycloth towels that I could throw away when done. Stoner's Tarminator was my go to product which I bought by the case. I did not charge for the ruined towels nor the product at that time but would do so now.