how much to charge???

[79elcamino]

my girlfriends father bought a new/used car and i offered to fully detail it for him wash clay, the works, and his neighbor saw the car and really liked how it came out so he told my gf he wants me to give his caddy a full detail(wash clay correct polish wax) and he said he would pay so how much should i charge??

[AeroCleanse]

Re: how much to charge???

$300 - $400 is what I would charge

[Andy M.]

Re: how much to charge???

Can you estimate your time? How much and what products you will use? What is he looking for maintenance detail, show car detail? Does the car have any specific issues the owner would like addressed?

Thats what I would ask myself anyway. Since I am assuming you don't have your own shop and obviously don't have set prices.

Andy

[havoc0351]

Re: how much to charge???

I usually charge $50 flat rate ONLY for first timers who I know personally in order to get them to come back and spread the word. Depending on the type of vehicle and what they use it for I might even do a high end package for $50. I make sure to let them know its only a one time deal though...

Just so you know, my basic package is $50 and includes:
-wash, wax, interior vacuum, interior wipe down with natural shine, windows of coarse and some hot shine spray or foam for the tires.

My mid level package is $75 and includes all the above plus:
-full claying, headlight restoration and polish

My high end package is $120 and includes all the above plus:
-Endurance gel, interior wipe down with supreme shine, blemish removal with M105/205 and M07 show car glaze
(sorry its not more detailed just typing off the top of my head)

For the last package I add $30 if its an SUV/truck and only $15 to the second one. IMO, thats pretty cheap compared to every other "professional" out there. Now a days people will more than likely will atleast try it once just to save a buck or two.

Here's a funny story, where I live there are atleast 5 or 6 mobile detailing vehicles in my apartment complex. One Saturday morning I got up early because I was going to detail my friends car and one of the mobile guys was detailing a car across the way. As I detailed my friends car I took like two brakes in between steps to see what the mobile detailer was doing and how he was doing it. He had all kinds of hoses, bins, pumps, etc and did an ok job for the price he charged. I think the owner paid $150+ for what looked like a sloppy version of my second package. After I was done with the car I was working on, 7 hours later, the owner of the other car drove by and stopped to look at my work. After explaining my process of detailing and how I took my time with each step to make sure the car would be in prestine condition he asked what the prices were. After I told him he got upset with what the mobile detailer charged him and then just started beating himself up and left, LOL! Two weeks later he swings by to have his 2008, I believe, Corvette fully detailed. To this day he's still a regular and has referred about 4 or 5 people...

[Tuck91]

Re: how much to charge???

Is this car a daily driver or a garage queen that will be driven a couple times a month?

[the_invisible]

Re: how much to charge???

A while ago, I did a BLACK Cadillac DTS for $100.

The process included:
Wash surface with Mr. ***** car wash system
Hand applied Ultimate Compound on RIDS
SwirlX on paint with DA
Sealed with ***** Cleaner Wax applied with DA (Unorthodox way of application)

Vacuum
Cleaned wheels with Meguiar's AWC
Cleaned Windows with ******
Interior with M40
Meguiar's Gold Class Leather Conditioner on leather


The swirls were pretty severe, but the paint was very workable.

[79elcamino]

Re: how much to charge???

It's a daily driver and I don't know what shape the car is in but he wants everything I did to my gf fathers car, it will probably take about 4-6hrs to do everything

[Still Learnin]

Re: how much to charge???

for a wash, clay, paint correction, polish, then wax. i would charge nothing less than 250 for that work. just cause im no pro but i do know what im doing. dont quote him a price till youve seen the vehicle. different cars need more work than others.

factor in products and time. then what you wanna make on top of that for profit. will you be working by hand or machine? paint correction is tough cause you wont know how long it will take you till you do a test spot. if its a daily driver id look into a product like colorX or d151 paint reconditioner it will save you in time since its a cleaner polish and wax all in one....

good luck

[79elcamino]

Re: how much to charge???

thanks

[james0509]

Re: how much to charge???

I had to detail my girlfriend's father's car too! It was quite awkward because I felt pretty bad taking money from him, being his daughter's boyfriend.

I charged 80 bucks and did:

wash, dry, clay, colorX, NXT wax, then vaccum, clean dashboard, leather seats,

(also shined his tires)

I think 80 is probably small change compared to what you guys charge eh?

But then again most of the people I do it for are people I know

[79elcamino]

Re: how much to charge???

i didnt even charge my gf father, i offered it, it was my way of saying congrats

[Cole Ziegler]

Re: how much to charge???

I charged the gf's parents 125. Dont flip

[Still Learnin]

Re: how much to charge???

if you do quality work charge him what you deserve

[Fischer]

Re: how much to charge???

What you want to do is not charge to much that turns away potential customers but not to low to that you dont make money. Normally I charge $125 for everything. And when I finally get more customers I will start charging more.

To me, you cant charge whatever you want because that customer doesnt know what kind of quality your work is. While you may do awesome work, that customer doesnt know that. You need to prove to everyone how good of quality work you do.

[Still Learnin]

Re: how much to charge???

What you want to do is not charge to much that turns away potential customers but not to low to that you dont make money. Normally I charge $125 for everything. And when I finally get more customers I will start charging more.

To me, you cant charge whatever you want because that customer doesnt know what kind of quality your work is. While you may do awesome work, that customer doesnt know that. You need to prove to everyone how good of quality work you do.

The only thing about getting more customers then charging more is when that happens your customer is gonna be like "last time you did that all for $125 and now your charging me $200 for the same job?"

the neighbor has seen his work from his gf fathers car. enough for him to want to get his car done as well.. talk to the guy in a professional manner. explain to him the products n process it will take to get the car to that level that he wants. if he thinks you know what your talking about he will know why you charge what you charge. for all he knows your just grabbing some buckets and soap and washing it. just do a thorough job