Pricing for specific vehicles....

[Sonic Pilot]

Do any of you professional detailers up-charge, or charge a different rate for work done on an "exotic" car like a Lambo, Ferrari, or perhaps a "showcar"?

There are certainly detailers that exclusively cater to this market I'm sure. But, I'm asking about the detailer who mostly does daily drivers.

There are 2 ways I suppose one could think about this. One is to say that what should it matter what kind of car you are detailing? The processes are the same right?

Another point of view is to say that these cars are extremely expensive, and a screw-up would also be extremely expensive to correct or repair. So, due to the additional risks, you adjust pricing accordingly. Ideally, there should be no screw-ups. However if one does occur, you could on the hook for some serious expenses. Does your business insurance account for this possibility?

[Eldorado2k]

Do any of you professional detailers up-charge, or charge a different rate for work done on an "exotic" car like a Lambo, Ferrari, or perhaps a "showcar"?

There are certainly detailers that exclusively cater to this market I'm sure. But, I'm asking about the detailer who mostly does daily drivers.

There are 2 ways I suppose one could think about this. One is to say that what should it matter what kind of car you are detailing? The processes are the same right?

Another point of view is to say that these cars are extremely expensive, and a screw-up would also be extremely expensive to correct or repair. So, due to the additional risks, you adjust pricing accordingly. Ideally, there should be no screw-ups. However if one does occur, you could on the hook for some serious expenses. Does your business insurance account for this possibility?

Insurance isn’t going to cover any of your screw ups... As far as charging more for something exotic? Well you can think of it this way.. If a person can afford a 40’ RV that must’ve cost upwards of $100,000 thousand dollars, why should you be the one getting nickel & dimed if he thinks having it detailed or washed & maintained should suddenly be cheap to do? It costs thousands of dollars to properly maintain an RV the same way it does to maintain a Ferrari.

There’s generous rich folks out there, but for every one of them there’s the cheap ones who want to nickel & dime the part of maintaining their vehicles looking perfect. It boggles the mind.

You certainly aren’t out of line if you decide to charge more for basically the same job simply because it’s an exotic vehicle... You have to convince them on the value of your services. That’s the #1 goal and it’s not always as easy as it sounds because some rich people are surprisingly cheap. Don’t be the fall guy..

As far as daily drivers that can make you kind of nervous to maintain? Try a brand new 1 of these. It’s new, it’s big, it’s black, and it can be tedious to maintain because if you slip up and make a mistake oh boy there’s nowhere to hide. You have every right to charge more.



And if anyone ever brings you a Hummer, especially 1 with this ridiculous roof rack you should immediately hit them with a high price because there’s no way to properly detail it unless that stupid roof rack comes off. It took 2 ladders and 3 guys. And once you get it off you have to have the wingspan of Shaquille Oneil to reach the center of the roof! Lol.

[Dan Tran]

I charge more for those kinds of vehicles. The reason is because, in my experience with dealing with these ones, the owners tend to be more pickier of what they are looking for.

There are more intricate areas to look out for also. Even going from Honda’s to Mercedes-Benz, I am more careful on the “leather” door panels etc.

Then jumping into classic cars, you are now taking more time because some parts are more scratch sensitive then modern cars.

So again, yes I charge more due to the time and process I personally use.


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[dcjredline]

Id think an exotic while being "harder or more intricate" would generally already be cleaner than a DD would be. For ME its about the current condition and the time it will take me to get it to the point Im happy. The badge on the front has nothing to do with it. Ive not done anything real exotic yet just for full disclosure.

[sudsmobile]

I don't. I think it's basically unfair to penalize somebody for being successful. Who are you, Robin Hood?

[Calendyr]

To answer your question, I think it's a matter of time and product needed, not a matter of what you are working on. So would I upcharge someone because his car is a Ferrari? No. Would I upcharge him if he wants me to spend twice as long as I usually do doing the work? Absolutelly.

On a daily driver, I aim for about 90-95% perfection for most of the work I do. This allows me to have packages with pre-determined pricing. If I get there and there is a major issue I know will take a lot of time, I have a little wiggle room in my calculated time for each package for 1 issue on each vehicle. So if there is only one, I don't upcharge. If there is more than one, I ask the owner if he wants me to spend more time correcting the issue and cut down on less important aspect of the detail to make up the time, or if he prefers to pay an extra to fix the issue and have the rest done as I normally would.

You should have a clause in your contract that allows you to bill some extra over the estimate in case something you had not expected happens. I allow for 2 hours of extra work in the contract at 40$ per hour. I have not had to use it yet, I pretty much always spot the major issues when I inspect the vehicle and when I do miss something, it's usually quick to fix so I have not felt I needed to overcharge from the estimate price. But it's in there so I am covered if something goes wrong.

[Sonic Pilot]

Some interesting comments so far. Keep 'em coming!

[sudsmobile]

Did you read the question? LOL

[Sonic Pilot]

At the moment, I am of the opinion (and this could change) that one should not be charged more simply because they have an expensive car. Unless that particular car requires some unique or special skill, service or products not typical for most other detailing jobs. Or, if the customer requests some additional or unique services.

[RTexasF]

At the moment, I am of the opinion (and this could change) that one should not be charged more simply because they have an expensive car. Unless that particular car requires some unique or special skill, service or products not typical for most other detailing jobs. Or, if the customer requests some additional or unique services.

True for the most part. I had a Range Rover to deal with one time that had every type of grill guard, light guards, tail light guards, every type of African jungle protection that existed. This thing never even saw a muddy road but those areas were all but impossible to reach. Due to that and the time involved I charged them a Princely sum and they paid it. No guilt here friend, it was bugger to work on.