Thinking about starting a detailing business

[tim]

I'm unemployed right now. I could get a job in my field but I hate it and I hate working for the man. I'm getting too old to chase the carrot, and I'd rather do something I like doing. I have money saved, and I know alot about car care. Am I nuts? I was thinking a high end hand wash/detailing/paintless dent repair shop.

I'd like to hear some pro's and con's

-tim

[western99]

Remember, you would be getting into a very labour intensive business to do a better than good job, which high end clients come to expect. As an example, I do detailing on high end cars on the side, and to be honest with you, I spend about 7-9hrs on a car depending on the side. You would have to make your margins attractive enough where you could live off of the profits while at the same time make the cost attractive. It could be difficult, but word of mouth is a powerful thing.

Brian

I'm unemployed right now. I could get a job in my field but I hate it and I hate working for the man. I'm getting too old to chase the carrot, and I'd rather do something I like doing. I have money saved, and I know alot about car care. Am I nuts? I was thinking a high end hand wash/detailing/paintless dent repair shop.

I'd like to hear some pro's and con's

-tim

[tim]

I was thinking about a basic self car wash setup, with a garage to offer say three tiers of detailing service ranging from say $50-$300, and specialty work like dealer and restoration by quote. Maybe 3 bays and 5 guys. Also offer basic maintainance items like fluids, air pressure, wiper blades, etc. A concession for detailing equipment, coffee, car accessories. Plus, on the side, I'd like to restore and sell pre-'95 bimmers, and use my own shop. Finally, if I had the space, maybe do some consignment sales by letting a portion of the lot as show space for fsbo'ers

[632 Regal]

I'll print your flyers and workorders and crap!

[winfred]

we have a guy come to do our sale cars, he shows up in a full size van with a good sized water tank in it and a small generator to run vac's and buffers and is pretty much self contained, looks like it could be a decent thing to run, run a flyer to small lots and bring the detailer to them

[632 Regal]

we have a guy come to do our sale cars, he shows up in a full size van with a good sized water tank in it and a small generator to run vac's and buffers and is pretty much self contained, looks like it could be a decent thing to run, run a flyer to small lots and bring the detailer to them

[liquidtiger720]

sounds like a good plan. i want to detail cars over my winter break....but i have a feeling nobody is gonna pay me 75 bucks to do their car. haha.

[632 Regal]

sounds like a good plan. i want to detail cars over my winter break....but i have a feeling nobody is gonna pay me 75 bucks to do their car. haha.

[liquidtiger720]

not really, my driveway works fine.


my usual detail includes these steps.

Detailing procedure
Wash with mothers gold class shampoo
Clay bar with pinnicle poly-clay
Rinse car
Polish with 3m Finesse it 2 (until swirl marks are un-noticeable, usually 2-4 passes)
- if un-removable on dark car, I will use 3m swirl mark remover for dark colors.
Rinse car
Polish with Klasse All-in-one
Rinse car
Apply Klasse sealant (synthetic wax) or Mothers Pure carnauba wax or Pinnicle Paste Glaz (light cars only). your choice


- All polishing will be done using a Porter Cable and Lake Country Polishing Pads.
- Wax, sealant, and others will be applied by hand.
- Window will be cleaned using Stoners Invisible Glass, followed by Rain-x.
- If car has black trim- I will use mothers back to black.
- Tires will be shined using Meguiars High Endurance Gloss or Wolfgang Tire Gel
Vaccum carpets
Dust interior

[tim]

liquidtiger-here in dallas the service you describe has a market value of $200.