What should I do??

[DoctorWho05]

Hey all, first time posting in the forums. I was just wondering how someone like me, a college kid can work on detailing cars on the weekends when he has not much to start with and nowhere to work but his house. I'm trying to find budget equipment so i could maybe start somewhere. I also sent an email to a VW dealer near my school to see if they would like some help. So anyway I like many other college students is practically broke and i can't get a heck of a lot of money from my dad. I also can't find many jobs locally that are worthwhile. Any help would be so awesome. thanks

[mirrorfinishman]

Re: What should I do??

Benjamin,

Thanks for taking the time to post your story. When you really stop and think about it, everyone, including myself started out with nothing. Yes, no supplies, no products no real basic information about what it takes to work on detailing other peoples cars. Sure, as time went on we accumulated a little knowledge and various items along the way that helped us to clean, polish and wax our own cars, however, we all basically start out with very little.

As far as your situation, I would highly recommend that you begin to offer a basic cleanup service first. Something that would include a wash, vacuum, interior protectant and window cleaning. Doing something like that first will help you earn some income which can then be used to buy more detailing supplies, such as the polishes and waxes needed to complete a full detail.

The key for you is to take things step by step. Go out there and talk to people and offer to cleanup their car. Think about it, you can surely do what the local car wash does and you can in most cases charge a lot more than they do while you are at it.

At this point in time, I would worry about buying equipment. Of course, you will need to buy more detailing supplies and products as you take on more work, but again, that should be done on a step by step basis. For now, just line up some general cleanup work and then use that money to move forward. And please keep us posted, we are all here to help. Again, thanks for posting.

Best regards,

[DoctorWho05]

Re: What should I do??

Hey thanks for the timely reply. So far the only "equipment" I have is an Armor-All car care set. Now if I start a car-cleaning "service" where should I do it if I can't really work at my school? Also any advice on what i should get for a portable vacuum for interior cleaning? I was thinking one of those small carpet spot cleaners for 30 bucks. I hope to soon detail the **** out of my own car, a 2000 VW Jetta (silver). I have plenty of scratches here and there as well as some stubborn grease marks. The car has been through the car wash ONCE since I've had it so I decided it's time for an all-out detail. I plan on picking up a cheap buffer like the Coleman or something soon to start this thing off. I'm trying to save up money to start modifying my car. Again, thanks for your help!

[MaxImage]

Re: What should I do??

First of all, welcome to the forums. Secondly, like mirrorfinishman said, we've all started from scratch. Some of us have been doing this for months, others for decades, and the majority lay somewhere in between. With the limited capital you have on hand, invest in:
a quality car wash (i.e. Meguiars Gold Class wash)
2 mitts (one for the body of the car, the other for the wheels)
a paint cleaner (i.e. 83 DACP if you can get your hands on some, or Step 1 of the Deep Crystal system)
a good wax (i.e. NXT Tech Wax 2.0)
polish applicators
a bundle of microfiber towels (i.e. Supreme Shine)
a brush to scrub the tires with
Smooth Surface Clay Kit
Tire dressing applicator
Tire dressing

These are just the basics. If you have a dollar store nearby, you can usually find a cheap brush there. Once you have these items, learn the proper techniques of detailing before offering your services to others. The importance of honing your skills and practicing on your own car will allow you to gain the knowledge of what works the best for you. Additionally, when performing your services on others' cars, you want your work to standout. Contacting a local dealership is a step in the right direction, however, in my experiences, not everyone in a dealership's detailing shop know the "proper" methods to detail. Check out this thread for more links regarding the proper car care. Also, the How-To of the forum has a lot of valuable information.

Since you can't work at your school, you would need to determine a location that you would be able to work at. As a disclaimer, the correct way of detailing would be to reclaim your water and dispose of it accordingly instead of letting it run off into storm drains. For a portable vaccum, Sears, Home Depot, Lowes and other hardware stores offer a great selection of wet/dry vacs that are relatively inexpensive. Picking up a cheap buffer now will only mean that you would need to get a more expensive one later. With the introduction of the new G110 from Meguiars, I would splurge the first time and get a quality DA machine, whether it be the aforementioned G110, or the previous G100/7424/7336, etc. Read the forums throughly as there is a wealth of information here to keep you busy for hours. The key is to get the basics, and practice until you have the hang of it. It may take you awhile, but patience is the key. Good luck!


Some other threads to read are:

http://meguiarsonline.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12019

[MaxImage]

Re: What should I do??

Just found the links that I was looking for last night when writing the above message.

Meguiar's 5-Step Paint Care Cycle
Step 1 Wash
Step 2 Clean
Step 3 Polish
Step 4 Protect
Step 5 Maintain

Suggested Products for Taking Care of a New Car

What it Means to Remove a Scratch

How To Remove Swirls By Hand

How to remove a defect by hand with ScratchX

Rotary vs. PC vs. Regular Orbital Buffer

Recommended Products - G100a Dual Action Polisher

Using the G-100 to remove swirls with the Professional Line

1986 Ford Bronco II - Extreme Makeover

Each one, teach one... Ferrari Fiorano 355 F1 Spider

[wiseguys]

Re: What should I do??

Good read ups. Get rid of the Armour-All kit on eBay and buy some REAL supplies.
As others have said, start small. Offer simple wash and vac services and work your way up as your able to afford a bit of supplies.

[EAT HEMI]

Re: What should I do??

Picking up a cheap buffer now will only mean that you would need to get a more expensive one later. With the introduction of the new G110 from Meguiars, I would splurge the first time and get a quality DA machine, whether it be the aforementioned G110, or the previous G100/7424/7336, etc. Read the forums throughly as there is a wealth of information here to keep you busy for hours. The key is to get the basics, and practice until you have the hang of it. It may take you awhile, but patience is the key.

You may be able to by an old G100 off ebay now that the G110's are out.

[AeroCleanse]

Re: What should I do??

Hey thanks for the timely reply. So far the only "equipment" I have is an Armor-All car care set. Now if I start a car-cleaning "service" where should I do it if I can't really work at my school? Also any advice on what i should get for a portable vacuum for interior cleaning? I was thinking one of those small carpet spot cleaners for 30 bucks. I hope to soon detail the **** out of my own car, a 2000 VW Jetta (silver). I have plenty of scratches here and there as well as some stubborn grease marks. The car has been through the car wash ONCE since I've had it so I decided it's time for an all-out detail. I plan on picking up a cheap buffer like the Coleman or something soon to start this thing off. I'm trying to save up money to start modifying my car. Again, thanks for your help!

I would go to sears or other major hardware stores and look for a wet/dry vac. The ones are sears are pretty cheap. I would also detail your own car first, so you can show off your skills if anyone asks.

I would also buy some Meg's APC and 2 spray bottles, have it cut 1:10 in one bottle for light cleaning, and cut 4:1 for heavy cleaning the other bottle.

If your really starting out on a near zero budget, I would skip offering paint correction for now, just do a good wash job (don't forget to clean the door jambs, and wheel arches). Then you should probably just offer a wax, which you may choose something like X-Press wax. Offer wash and wax and interior cleaning. That will get you off the ground. Then what you have made some money, you want to invest in a dual action polisher.

Living near several college campuses I know that most college kids cars look like **** on the inside. So if you focus on getting the inside detailed, that would probably be a good niche for you starting out.