How to Make Money on SUV's

[waelwell]

I recently did my first two SUV's. Two Porsche Cayenne's. Ouch. It took me a long time to detail those vehicles and compared to the time I take and what I charge, SUV's look unattractive cars right now. Here's the data.

I'm currently charging the following for a basic (single step) exterior detail:

2 or 4 door car	$300	~3 hours
Midsize SUV or Minivan	$400	~7 hour
Full size (Suburban or similar)	$500	?

Yeah, I know my rates are higher than most of yours. Don't worry about that part. My customers are fine with it and I'm not the most expensive in my area.

Here's my problem. An extra hundred buck buys me an extra 1 - 2 hours to do an SUV over a car. That means I should be doing the SUV's in 5 hours not 7. Raising my prices will put we out of line with my competition. I know I need a Werner platform to work on the top of the SUV's instead of the small step ladder I currently use. But that's not going to trim an hour or more off my time.

What's your take? Are bigger vehicles just lower margin items?

Thanks,

Bill

Oh yeah, you guys seem to like to see pictures so here you go.