Did first buff for a dealer - any way to cut price down???

[dnoraker]

I had a dealer call me and say they wanted some cars buffed out. He was offering $50. Funny, after he was telling me about the previous buff jobs with burnt paint and trim, compound in the crevices, etc.

Anyway, I grabbed a car from him yesterday that was literally the worst paint I've every buffed in 150+ cars (I'm part-time) and told him I would get rid of most of the swirls and scratches and wax it for $100. I went to deliver it today and got paid, but found out there was a falling out with his business partner (and brother) about spending that much on the job. $50 was the limit, according to the other guy.

I don't know if I'll ever hear from them again, but if I do, I want to figure out if there is anything else I can do to get closer to their request.

Here was what I did for $100:

- ONR wash and decon with the Speedy Prep Towel using the ONR water (30 minutes on a Saturn)
- D300 Correction Compound for about 90 minutes, or about 4 passes in each section
- D301 Finishing Wax for about 30 minutes

Total time: a little over 2.5 hours
Hourly rate: nearly $40/hr, which is typically my goal

I was quite satisfied that I did professional work and added great value to their car, which looked like heck before and has a great gloss now. The car was dark green and darkened substantially. I think they want near that level of correction for $50, which isn't possible. But, I'm wondering if I can get close for $50-70.

Possibilities:
- cut the D300 time in half, basically doing one heavy pass and one light pass. Just enough to do some substantial swirl removal. This could save 45 minutes and $30
- replace the microfiber system with the rotary and a cleaner/wax to get a bit of cut and spend a little more time working it. The risk is holgorams on the darkest paints.

I think I could pull off a "happy medium" for $70 with either option. My question is- does anyone have a product/pad/machine option that could do a little corrective work and not leave new swirls? I'm sure some very faint holograms would be preferable over car wash scratches and swirls, as long as it had a nice gloss. I don't know if there is a combo on the DA that can cut enough. If they keep sending me shredded paint jobs like what I just worked on, I will need something powerful.

You may be asking "WHY do I want dealer work?" In MN, there is very little detailing work in the winter. I have plenty of other work with my other business, but I wanted a few cars here and there to make a little extra to pay some loans off faster. I'm willing to discount a little to get this done, as even $25-30/hr isn't horrible if I get enough work.

I'm contemplating offering a watered-down version of what I did for about $70 and see if they take it. "Do you want the job done right for $70, or reisk burnt paint again for $50?"

Here is a sample of how bad the car was and what it looked like done after blazing over the paint for 2.5 hours.







Sorry this didn't have better focus:

[Eandras]

Great job. But don't sell your self short. In addition to the materials and time do you need to carry insurance. That is a cost to consider. Are you using your electric your site. If your site what about heat and water cost. You need to,look at all that. If you can do it for 70.00 by all means do it but I think the minimum should be 100.00

[Bamafire]

Good post, I don't have an answer but will follow the thread to see the out come. I thought about offering dealers a quick detail, then coupons to pass out after sale for a free wash to the customers, then try and sell a detail to the new owners. Just a thought I had.

[dnoraker]

yes- I'm insured. I work in my house's garage, which has electric heat. I probably spend about $10/car for insurance if I'm doing one a week. I'm hoping to get more in than that. I've typically had 1-2/mo just off Craigslist and was hoping I would be more like 5-6/mo with this dealer work. They said they buy up a ton of cars around this time and sell a ton in the spring, which is when my phone really starts ringing for retail work.

I think I would need around $15 for materials, insurance and electrical. I thought about closing up shop for the winter because insurance was too expensive for how little I was working in years past. I was hoping to pick up enough work this year to make worth it and just give it one more shot. So, since I'm paying for the insurance anyway when I DON'T have any work, I figured I could grab some volume work as long as the money was "ok".

With all that said, If I could wash, decon, D300 and D301 in 2 hours at my normal rate of $40/hr, $80 would be doable. When I try to get $40/hr, that's including expenses. I probably really make more like $30/hr all said and done, depending on the job. More for the heavy buffing jobs. I figure if I went out to find a PT job to supplement my income, I wouldn't make more than $15/hr, so even $25/hr in my pocket would be worth it.

$70 would be for wash/decon paint-only, D300 for an hour (maybe 3 section passes), D301 for 30 min. I think that would be enough correction to make them happy.

Keep this all in context that I'm part-time in this with annual revenue around $10k and no employees other than the occasional assistant to get a project done a little quicker.

[rustytruck]

What about the interior? That's what sells a used car.

[dnoraker]

One of the owners does it himself. This one wasn't bad. Definitely not a detail job, but it wasn't disgusting or anything.

He specifically had concerns with the darker cars that were heavily scratched or swirled. He felt that customers were sometimes turned off by how hazy they looked. I've always thought these dealers could get more money for the cars if they had a nice gloss to them and looked good in the sun, but what do I know.

[Mfour]

These used car guys seem like the type that will beat you down on the price even if you said $50.00 There goal is to save every dollar they can as it is profit for them. Stick to your guns!

[john b]

wash,clay.1step it for that kinda money

[goodasnew]

most of the time true, an interior detail is what people care the most about when it comes to $2500 cars. but, this sounds so similar to a lot that my shop did work for recently. acted all interested and then we did an amazing job on 2 interiors for him and he didnt want to pay the $50 each, even after telling him that would be the price before i ever picked up the car. i heard from his employees that he pays his detailers less than minimum wage, pays cash, and if they complain, he just fires them. never touching this guys stuff again. but, yes for 2.5 hours of work, and paying $100 you got a good deal. you cant complain about that. some people just dont get it and a lot of cheap used car dealers dont want to spend $100 on a car. my opinion, dont do work for them. find a high dollar dealer that sells benz and lexus. those guys know the value of a dollar and are more willing to pay the extra.

[dnoraker]

wash,clay.1step it for that kinda money

That is the other half of my original post- is there a combo that can achieve a far amount of correction without leaving bad holograms? I can get a nice gloss with an LC light cutting pad and M205, but it leaves some light holograms. I could use D151 with that pad and leave protection in the process. I figure some very light holograms are a lot better than a hazy, highly swirled finish. I could probably do that in 1.25-1.5 hours or less.

If they are stuck on $50, I would have to go the 1-step route with D151. I don't think D301 is strong enough to do much for correction.