Am I close to asking price detailing a firetruck?

[dixie_boysles]

Alright, my buddy at the local Volunteer fire station wants his two fire trucks detailed. I gave him a price of $400 per truck plus the cost of materials which is about $150 (pads, M105, and Powerballs, various cleaners, etc...I have the rest of the supplies.

Do you guys think that is too much, too little, or about right. The job includes:

1) Wash (pressure wash and some hand washing)
2) Prep paint with DA and M105 & M205
3) Wax with Collinite 845
4) Polish Diamond Plate and wheels
5) Clean and wipedown interior.

Basically Just a wash and polish the paint. I realize its alot of surface area and polishing diamond plate *****, but the powerball usually takes care of that pretty well. I just want to know if im cutting myself

[wifpd4]

Are they removing all the gear and you're doing the whole truck? Even the upper "deck" / "bed" of the truck?

[dixie_boysles]

Im not sure, we will see

[wifpd4]

Just wanted to give you a point of reference, a while back a young man stopped by MOL and was going to do some semi tractors and I think he ended up charging 680 for each.

There are folks on MOL who have done some different details, I hope they speak up and help you out. My initial reaction was it was a bit low, but I'd have to work off a ladder and really have no experience with unique detail jobs. If you're going to use M105, there may be some cleanup or extra preparation work to deal with any possible dusting. Notice I said MAY BE, that may not be the case.

[FIREdawg]

Speaking from experience, you will want to ask them how they wash and dry, or lack thereof in the case of my coworkers.

In the case of my station, the bristle brushes cause more swirls and marks than you can shake a stick at. I told my chief it doesn't make any sense to worry about the marks on a front line rig, especially when my coworkers arent as concerned with proper paint care and will be installing swirls faster than I can buff them out.

Ask the chief how he wants it because he will make the rules the rest have to follow, and could deter potential customers because you added more work for them to do (sounds lazy and rubbish but true, mine are still giving me the cold shoulder for asking them to wipe down after washing).

This will be time consuming. There are numerous nooks and crannies and areas where a DA will not get to. Chrome and diamond plate. The roof is probably the most neglected as in the case of most larger vehicles; with probable etching from water stains.

A wash and wax by myself usually takes 18 - 24 hrs. But that's usually with a call or two in between while on shift.

Any questions feel free to ask.

[ChevyNick]

I don't often do detailing jobs, but I think that your price is low, espeicially since you want to M105 and M205 the paint?? Holy moly I think your going to have days and days in these trucks.

Imo id take D151 to it, that'd probably clean it up nicely. Then top with wax. Like others said tho, consider thier wash process as well as what the chief wants.

Good luck man, its gonna be a work out!

[Meticulous-Detail]

Agree on an hourly rate and charge by the hour. I am charging 350 for an Ford Expedition Limited Extended.

Last thing you want to do is lock in a price and then kill yourself for nothing.

[Michael Stoops]

Agree on an hourly rate and charge by the hour. I am charging 350 for an Ford Expedition Limited Extended.

Last thing you want to do is lock in a price and then kill yourself for nothing.

Great advice.

FIREdawg, if you have a feel for how long it's going to take to do an entire truck (excluding time for that call or two, of course) then determine what your time is worth per hour and do the simple math.

[NZ ECO1]

I have to agree with the hourly rate idea. These trucks are going to be a heck of a lot of work. Some of which may not be apparent until you are on the job. There is nothing worse then realising half way through a job how much MORE work is involved than you initially thought and you aren't going to get a fair price for your efforts. Reasonable customers will not mind paying an hourly rate if they see you working hard and getting good results

[Shawn T.]

I'd hit the whole thing with M20 and call it a day......or several days lol.

But, really, M20 has good durability with a fair amount of cleaners and removes like a breeze which is important considering the amount of paint and chrome you will be wiping.