Thinking of starting cleaning cars in my spare time...

[Wests Renault]

Looking to start cleaning cars in my spare time. At the moment I haven't got a machine polisher but I get good finishes by hand.

This is my washing procedure, what is the going rate to charge?

Hoover interior
Carpet/seat cleaner
Dust down and clean plastics
Dash shine

Jet wash whole car
Clean wheels
Snowfoam
2 bucket wash
Clay
Snowfoam
2 bucket wash
Dry
Hand polish
Seal
Wax
Polish / wax wheels
Tyre dressing
Polish exhaust trims
Bumper black where necessary

Generally takes a good 5/6 hours.

Thanks

Tom

 

[Yosemite Sam]

£100 probably.

My valeter doesn't clay/snowfoam and only uses one coat of SRP and charges me £58.75. He does do the spare wheel well and the steam cleans engine bay though.

 

[tom172cup]

you going to travel to southampton if you are you can clean my car for a trial run

 

[Wests Renault]

I'd be willing to travel as long as my fuel costs were covered

 

[tom172cup]

oh what are sort of prices are we talking about for the cleaning

 

[The Boosh!]

I charge 120 for paint correction.

 

[Wests Renault]

So around £80 would be fair?

 

[The Boosh!]

Not sure tbh. I don't know why anyone would pay for something they could essentially do on their own with a bottle of SRP and some wax. That's IMO though

 

[Wests Renault]

Yea thats a good point although i know a lot of people simply cannot be bothered to do it.

Have been thinking about a machine polisher for a while now but its not up high on my list of priorities lol

 

[Pinkorstink]

Have been thinking about a machine polisher for a while now but its not up high on my list of priorities lol

Imo it's the people who are proficient with machine polishers that seperates the cleaners from the detailers. I class myself as a reasonable machine polisher but I wouldn't touch someone else's car until I had mastered it. That's why this weekend I handed the 197 over to professionals to do for £300 (and that was only for paint correction).

 

[clayton6]

Wow....I have charged £30 on 3 seperate occasions for all that and felt quite embarrassed each time because I thought it was pretty expensive. Can't see anyone paying that much sorry for which is essentially a glorified wash/wax.

Only thing I can see people paying that for is paint correction because obviously that is a skill in itself and has major results.

 

[yellowbelly]

Imo it's the people who are proficient with machine polishers that seperates the cleaners from the detailers. I class myself as a reasonable machine polisher but I wouldn't touch someone else's car until I had mastered it. That's why this weekend I handed the 197 over to professionals to do for £300 (and that was only for paint correction).

£300, wowey - what on earth did they do and what products did they use?

 

[VIICarCare]

I was offering that for £60 last year. Now I charge £100, but that is a machine polish

 

[Pinkorstink]

£300, wowey - what on earth did they do and what products did they use?

Full paint correction, I think that's the going rate for the pro's. They achieved around 95% so happy with that. No idea what products, all I needed to see was the result. Very good indeed, getting it prepped to sell.

 

[The Boosh!]

Wow....I have charged £30 on 3 seperate occasions for all that and felt quite embarrassed each time because I thought it was pretty expensive. Can't see anyone paying that much sorry for which is essentially a glorified wash/wax.

Only thing I can see people paying that for is paint correction because obviously that is a skill in itself and has major results.

This is exactly why I don't do other peoples cars. People have no idea what a proper detail actually does.

 

[VIICarCare]

^ & how much hard work is actually involved!

 

[The Boosh!]

^ & how much hard work is actually involved!

Exactly. It takes me 2-3 days to do a car PROPERLY. However the car will only need a snow foam down and a wash once every month and it will look the same as the day you detailed it for about a year.

 

[Android]

Seeing as you arent a professional in the trade or business etc, id start with £60. Theres more money in it than people think btw.

Lots of people are willing to pay lots of money for care care, simply because:
A- They dont know how. B- They cant be bothered C- They dont have time

You can really cream alot of people for cash. If you have the talk.


And whos cars exactly are u going to be aiming to clean buddy??
friends family etcc ?

 

[Jamesstone]

Detailing's a strange one, there are a fair amount of people out there that will pay £200-300 for paint correction, problem is that those that know/care about correction would only use an established company due to the risk's involved, Insurance etc

Imagine the cost of repairing a Liquid yellow if paint strike were to occur :dead:

 

[db]

I charge around the £120 mark for a paint correction detail on something the size of a clio... I'm guessing you should be looking at around £30 for what you listed.

 

[Fagan]

I'd say £50 is fair, no more though.

EDIT: But that's coming from someone who enjoys cleaning their car, so joe average might think it's worth more.

 

[kendz]

If you're doing it as a non-professional i would say aim for about £10 per hour. If you're travelling out factor in the cost of your travel expenses.

In my experience the regular wash jobs are the most profitable, most people really arn't interested in the clay poilsh wax etc, most don't know the difference between a polish and wax!

I would recommend getting in touch with people local to you, maybe friends of a friends or family and start from there.

If you can get a few people to agree to a regular wash and vac, say every 2-3 weeks then it is easier to offer a periodic polish/wax on top of the regular clean you are providing.

 

[AKFM1]

£10 an hour sounds about right, but the money you earn would need to buy more products. Cleaning products arent cheap so thats why i dont find it worth it in end :rasp:

 

[Android]

£10 an hour sounds about right, but the money you earn would need to buy more products. Cleaning products arent cheap so thats why i dont find it worth it in end :rasp:

get yourself in with a local rep for autosmart then mate.
get the car preparation guide, look into the product and decide whats best for you top use. good prices come with that also

 

[Wests Renault]

Good advice, thanks guys. Wasnt really sure what my options were. Gives me something to think of