How long should it take to properly wash a car?

[Silverhorse84]

Hi Everyone,

I am planning out the launch of the mobile wash and detail business. I am thinking about offering a basic and a slightly better than basic wash in addition to my regular detailing options at different price points. For those that have been doing this for a while, I have a couple how long should it take to wash a far and dry it off. I washed my own car by hand in the past, but wasn't really concerned about time. In a production environment, time equals money.

Two questions:
- How long should it take to wash a car, clean the wheels, and dress tires?
- What kinds of car wash shampoo and wheel cleaners yield the fastest and best results

I don't want to price myself out of the market, but I still want to be able to make a profit. I'm starting to see that supplies and chemicals can add up pretty quickly especially wheel cleaner chemicals.



Thanks,

Silverhorse84

[Niblick]

if you really push it, you can turn a car round in twenty minutes. personally, my most basic valet is 1-2 hours and i charge accordingly. I'm not looking to compete with the guys up the road doing it for less than half what i charge. quality takes time and my clients appreciate that. you also need to take a look at your competition locally and offer something better.

[tigerwash]

if you really push it, you can turn a car round in twenty minutes. personally, my most basic valet is 1-2 hours and i charge accordingly. I'm not looking to compete with the guys up the road doing it for less than half what i charge. quality takes time and my clients appreciate that. you also need to take a look at your competition locally and offer something better.

Great advice. Don't be the low baller who will work for pennies. Show ATTENTION TO DETAIL and PROFESSIONAL SERVICE, and you will attract the kinds of clients you will actually want to work with, not the cheapskates who want you to do everything for nothing. Know what your service is worth, and charge for it.

[brondondolon]

For a basic wash here are some cheap products that work great.
-Wash: Megs Hyper Wash
-Dressing: Chemical Guys New Car Shine
-Wax: Your choice but colinite 845 lasts forever as a little bit goes a long way. But a spray wax like Megs D156 is also a great choice.
-Wheel cleaner: IronX on bad wheels Megs APC on normal wheels

A basic wash should take about 30min to an hour. However, every one is different. Im sure there are guys in here that can whip one out in 15 min and others might say 2 hours. To determine where you stand wash your own car and see how long it takes.

[Silverhorse84]

For a basic wash here are some cheap products that work great.
-Wash: Megs Hyper Wash
-Dressing: Chemical Guys New Car Shine
-Wax: Your choice but colinite 845 lasts forever as a little bit goes a long way. But a spray wax like Megs D156 is also a great choice.
-Wheel cleaner: IronX on bad wheels Megs APC on normal wheels

A basic wash should take about 30min to an hour. However, every one is different. Im sure there are guys in here that can whip one out in 15 min and others might say 2 hours. To determine where you stand wash your own car and see how long it takes.

Thanks, I was thinking 30 to 60 minutes for the basic wash with more of an emphasis on being closer to the lower end of the range considering that I am doing just the exterior only as part of the basic service. The concern that I have is that for the market area that I am planning to go into, it seems that it is saturated with guys that are doing to many services in a basic level wash for dirt cheap prices when the services should be included in the higher level detail packages. Not to mention that they are also driving very far to deliver those basic level services. With fuel prices and poorer fuel economy when pulling a fully loaded trailer, I'm not sure how I'd would be able to follow suit and charge the same prices.

On another note, I actually got some of the Hyper Wash, but haven't used it yet. I bought it because the product description said that it only takes like 1 ounce to a 5 gallon bucket of water. It seems a bit unreal to me, but I bought some to give it a shot. Any truth in those ratios? Sounds awesome and like it could save me a lot of money on my variable expenses for running the business.

[brondondolon]

Thanks, I was thinking 30 to 60 minutes for the basic wash with more of an emphasis on being closer to the lower end of the range considering that I am doing just the exterior only as part of the basic service. The concern that I have is that for the market area that I am planning to go into, it seems that it is saturated with guys that are doing to many services in a basic level wash for dirt cheap prices when the services should be included in the higher level detail packages. Not to mention that they are also driving very far to deliver those basic level services. With fuel prices and poorer fuel economy when pulling a fully loaded trailer, I'm not sure how I'd would be able to follow suit and charge the same prices.

On another note, I actually got some of the Hyper Wash, but haven't used it yet. I bought it because the product description said that it only takes like 1 ounce to a 5 gallon bucket of water. It seems a bit unreal to me, but I bought some to give it a shot. Any truth in those ratios? Sounds awesome and like it could save me a lot of money on my variable expenses for running the business.

I am awful when it comes to measuring lol. I never do it. I will say this though a little bit does go a long way.

Sent from my HTC6435LVW using AG Online

[Dereksdtail]

Just used hyper wash today, best soap I've used yet! The suds are amazing

[KMdef9]

All of my soaps are no more than 1 oz per 5 gallons, unless it's paint cleansing time.

Do you mean 30-60min spent washing? Don't forget about set up and clean time.

Always quality over quanity. Someone who bangs out a car in 15 minutes, is doing it too fast. I can't WW or RW and dress a car that fast. I'd be too worried about micro scratching. Let alone, set/clean up times.

[FOCUS.FREAK]

Clean inside of wheels and face, exterior cleaning with 2 buckets, hose down then dry and spray wax your looking at 45 minutes for me. That's after I completely detailed the outside and water completely sheets off. Haha

45-50 for me

-Jordan

[Chase.Detailing]

Pretend you're in a rush. That's what I did on a 2014 Civic I washed the other day.

Except I actually WAS in a rush, lol!