My last client washed wis cars with water.

[Blackthorn One]

JUST water. No soap, for I'm guessing 5 years. This I did not know when I accepted the Job to wash and wax his Lincoln Town Car for $100. I don't get many jobs, and I was extremely pleased that someone was willing to offer me $100 from the start with no haggling over price. He is in his 70's.

The car didn't look that bad before I washed it, but washing the horizontal panels almost felt like washing concrete. I rinsed, foamed, then used the boars hair brush, then rinsed, then foamed, then used a microfiber mitt and rubbed hard, really hard, and the roughness on the horizontal panels was barely being reduced. After washing the whole car twice, I washed the horizontal a third time with the mitt. A small improvement. It took me 2 hours or so for the wash. When I clayed, the clay got filthy after only doing 5 square inches and I had to flip it. It took at least 6 hours to clay. This brown grime got on the clay quite quickly and I had to change my clay once, so I used at least 3X as much clay as usual.

I then waxed with Collinite 915, then applied some 303 to the rubber while the wax cured. Surprisingly, the Collinite wasn't as hard to remove as I thought.

I took some pics, but the befores were taken in the morning while it was overcast.

I spent about 11 hours on the car. I started at 7 am and finished at 6 pm.
I first tried Griots Wheel Cleaner on the wheels, but it wasn't strong enough, so I tried Griots Heavy Duty Wheel Cleaner for the first time. It worked a lot better, and got them 90% clean in the nooks and crannies.
The wheels are chrome plated aluminum, and they could have come out better, so I later offered to try to use another wheel cleaner on them and see how it went and then put some wheel sealant on them for $20. He said ok, so I used my Sonax Full Effect because I couldn't find my Poorboys Spray and Rinse. Ugh. The Sonax worked really well, but I use 9 ounces or so. I got the wheels to 98% that way, and sealed with PB Wheel sealant.

I could not believe that anyone would not use car wash soap. If I had any idea how bad it was , I would have had to have asked for more like $165. There was the beginning of clear coat failure on the hood as well, and a dozen areas of really scuffed paint that looked like they had been wetsanded.

I initially told him he might get 4-6 months out of the Collinite 915, but then I realized that the wax would not survive his straight water method, so I told him maybe 2 months that way, but that I wasn't sure, so he then agreed to use a car wash soap his grandson bought.

Maybe I will post pics later.

[ForceField]

The biggest mistake new detailers make is too low an asking price. Also you should take a look at the car and go over what you think it needs with the client before setting a price. Price depends on vehicle and what the client wants done. For example you should charge more for an SUV or truck because it is more work. Even if it's brand new.

So no interior work? If someone neglects the outside of the car that much I wonder how bad the interior is?

[wgilles]

Haha, looking forward to seeing the pictures. See if you can get him back in for a full paint correction!!

[CrayBrown]

Ohh man cant wait to see pictures. That sounds like a rough day. Do you normally assess the condition of the vehicle you are going to detail?
If not this may happen again.

[ForceField]

I initially told him he might get 4-6 months out of the Collinite 915, but then I realized that the wax would not survive his straight water method, so I told him maybe 2 months that way, but that I wasn't sure, so he then agreed to use a car wash soap his grandson bought.

Maybe I will post pics later.

If you think the LSP won't last with just water rinsing, I have some bad news for you. It will last half as long if he uses soap. Sounds like someone who would use a dirty terry cloth towel, an old rag or t-shirt to wash his car, rub it in with all his might and use 1 bucket with no grit guard.

If he's never washed a car before, he's going to need instruction on how to do it right. Did you provide that? A few suggestions on your website on how to properly wash a car and a link to it might be helpful if he wants the wax to last.

[Blackthorn One]

The biggest mistake new detailers make is too low an asking price. Also you should take a look at the car and go over what you think it needs with the client before setting a price. Price depends on vehicle and what the client wants done. For example you should charge more for an SUV or truck because it is more work. Even if it's brand new.

So no interior work? If someone neglects the outside of the car that much I wonder how bad the interior is?

No interior work. The interior is creme leather, and is really dry and starting to crack. I tried to educate him on the importance of leather care with Leatherique, but he said it would just come off on his clothes. He seemed very firm in his view, even after my trying to gently counter it, so I decided to let it be.

He offered me $100 just to wax it. I realized that that meant washing and I said I would wash and clay and then wax it. I knew it was neglected and would require claying. I suppose I could have waxed over the embedded grime, but it wouldn't have been right, and it wouldn't have impressed any prospective clients.

[Blackthorn One]

Ohh man cant wait to see pictures. That sounds like a rough day. Do you normally assess the condition of the vehicle you are going to detail?
If not this may happen again.

The car is fairly new and actually looked pretty shiny over all. He did not want polishing, so the severity of the swirls was a non issue. Ironically I thought I could get away with just washing it once, instead of my usual twice, lol. I would have had to have cleaned a test spot on the cars hood to really judge its condition.

If you think the LSP won't last with just water rinsing, I have some bad news for you. It will last half as long if he uses soap. Sounds like someone who would use a dirty terry cloth towel, an old rag or t-shirt to wash his car, rub it in with all his might and use 1 bucket with no grit guard.

If he's never washed a car before, he's going to need instruction on how to do it right. Did you provide that? A few suggestions on your website on how to properly wash a car and a link to it might be helpful if he wants the wax to last.

Yes, that's pretty much his method. I'm guessing he uses an old towel to wash with. His grandson is enlightened enough to use soap, but did not heed my advice NOT to wash his car at 2 pm in the hot sun to avoid water spots. I told him to wash in the morning before 11 or after 4:30-5:00 pm. He said that 2 was the only time he had basically that day. I told him it would be better to wait a couple days if need be, to wash his solid black car, to avoid spots. Sigh...

[embolism]

kudos to you for the effort but you do realize that you essentially got nothing from that job except maybe a sore back?

Next time, even though it means more product cost, consider something like iron x, trix or an elastrofoam block. It probably would have saved you several hours of claying at the very least.

[Blackthorn One]

kudos to you for the effort but you do realize that you essentially got nothing from that job except maybe a sore back?

Next time, even though it means more product cost, consider something like iron x, trix or an elastrofoam block. It probably would have saved you several hours of claying at the very least.

I actually have some iron X liquid. I have never used it. Would it have made shorter work of the paint cleaning?

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

As has been suggested, always inspect the vehicle prior to quote.

If pre-detail inspection is not a viable option, give a wide range quote to cya.

One more tip, when dealing with a car that is riddled with swirls and a customer that is not bothered by them, skip all the foaming steps...

Sounds like a good Value Gaurd ABC wash would have saved you a ton of time as well.

11 hours to wash, clay and wax a normal sized vehicle is crazy!