How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

[JRauCDM]

I'm curious. How much money do you full-timers pull in annually? It can be a range, but I'm curious. This is something I've begun to ponder-whether or not I could support my family on car detailing or not.

I'm just very part-time now, but wanting to ramp it up a bit--maybe 2-3 cars per week at first. I have a full time day job, but want to make a little extra dough.

We just had a detailer in town leave the state, so I have a better shot at picking up some customers. Do any of you ask various businesses directly for business? Like say, a mom & pop used car dealer, or perhaps a realty office, funeral home, etc.?

Just curious for some ideas or "how I got started" stories.

Thanks,

JRauCDM in central Iowa

[TH0001]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

You could make six figures easily...

[JRauCDM]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

You could make six figures easily...

That's gotta be a stretch--especially in Iowa. Florida is the land of the rich! Wish I were there, but not yet....

I would be a one man show for a while, with limited overhead (working out of my own garage).


JRau in central Iowa

[Nick Chapman]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

I think 6 figures could be done. It's all about how you apply yourself, how good your work is and how good your advertising is.

[STG]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

As in any sales occupation, the top 10% make 90% of the income. And, don't think for a minute that detailing isn't sales.

No offense, but you could probably train a monkey to do the work. It's getting the business and retaining it that counts. Can you sell yourself? How willing are you to approach strangers and ask them for business? Can you sell the benefits of your service compared to your competitors? Most importantly, how do you handle rejection?

This website is successful because of Mike Phillips. I've spent over $2,000 on Meguiar's products because of Mike Phillips. Meguiar's success has everything to do with their customer service as well as products.

I imagine you could get plenty of detailing jobs if you charge a low enough price. The trick is to make people feel good about spending more money to enjoy the benefits of a quality job.

[TH0001]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

That's gotta be a stretch--especially in Iowa. Florida is the land of the rich! Wish I were there, but not yet....

I would be a one man show for a while, with limited overhead (working out of my own garage).


JRau in central Iowa

Maybe.... maybe not, people in Florida spend more money but I really doubt that they make more money.

My advice to you would be this...

CHARGE ALOT, even at the begining. Sell yourself (learn basic sales techniques such as "this isn't for everybody" ect) and charge top dollar right from the beginning. You client base will build up and you will avoid backing yourself into corner.

[JRauCDM]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Cool. I appreciate the encouragement. So, what would you charge for a full detailing of the following vehicles (lets' assume all still have pretty nice paint on 'em and aren't too dirty): A mid-90's Lincoln Town Car, a late 90's Chrysler Concorde, a mid-90's Chevy Lumina, and oh, how 'bout a 2002 Buick LeSabre...

A full detail includes: engine bay clean and dress, wash/wax/tires/wheelwells, complete interior(vacuum, shampoo carpets, treat leather seats, windows, clean dash, door jambs) and a trunk vacuuming. Some have opted out of an engine detailing.

What would you guys charge?

Thanks a heap!
JRau in central Iowa

[TH0001]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Are you going to buff the paint?

Not buffing should allow you to complete a full sized car with engine/interior/wash/wax, ect in around 3 hours, maybe a little more. With experince you will become profficent at multitasking and reduce the time further...

I charge 45-60/hr...

Since most of the cars I detail require buffing, I first evaluate and test the finish to ensure I can give an accurate quote, since I can guess how much time it would take me to do so...

Also for certain services, instead of charging by the hour, I charge by the job...

Two examples, engine detailing (if its not a showcar), I charge 50 dollars, although the total time spent is generally less then an hour.

And sanding/polishing headlights, (restoring them), I charge 80 dollars, although the time spent is generall less then an hour and half.

My advice would be to set an hourly rate (including material costs) and do each car on an indvidual basis.

[ZoranC]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Some have opted out of an engine detailing.

I wouldn't do engine detailing unless I have insurance.

[Jimmy Buffit]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

We'll gross over $200K this year. Netting $100K is realistic.

But not from the driveway, or the trunk of your car...

Jim

[JRauCDM]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Wow, guys! I'm impressed. Thanks very much for your tips. How can you do a car in 3 hours? You must have more than one person on the job? I take longer than that, believe me. The Lincoln took me the longest, as she had some minor paint issues on the front and rear corners of the bumper--the owner had rubbed against a yellow parking garage cement support pole. I also kinda took my time on this one, but I'm sure I took 6 -7 hours to finish it. The owner was esctatic, and couldn't believe how gorgeous the car was.

I haven't buffed any of the cars that I have done within the past 3 months, as I only got my new buffer last week. However, the cars I've done have been "little ol' lady" cars with 30,000 miles or less on their 8-10 year old cars--and their cars are always garaged.

I've done buffing in my past: I worked in New Car Get Ready at a Ford dealership when I was a kid. I got to mess around with a buffer frequently, as the used car department was right in the same area, and I would watch, learn, and work on some of their cars, as well as my own personal car.

I love cleaning cars, and I believe that once people started seeing my work, I would think I could build up a base of people upon which to build on. I just never thought you could make that kinda money doing this. I can't leave my day job yet, so I'll be starting out slow.

Are there any detailing classes in Iowa? I think I could learn alot at one of those.

Thanks, guys.

JRau in central Iowa

[Detaillab]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Cool. I appreciate the encouragement. So, what would you charge for a full detailing of the following vehicles (lets' assume all still have pretty nice paint on 'em and aren't too dirty): A mid-90's Lincoln Town Car, a late 90's Chrysler Concorde, a mid-90's Chevy Lumina, and oh, how 'bout a 2002 Buick LeSabre...

A full detail includes: engine bay clean and dress, wash/wax/tires/wheelwells, complete interior(vacuum, shampoo carpets, treat leather seats, windows, clean dash, door jambs) and a trunk vacuuming. Some have opted out of an engine detailing.

What would you guys charge?

Thanks a heap!
JRau in central Iowa

we would charge $250.00 with out engine bay detailing assuming they are not really dirty

[Mike Phillips]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

Besides the money, make sure detailing cars is your passion or you'll burn-out. If you're going to focus on production work, (nothing wrong with that it's where the stable business is), you should aim for a brick and mortar shop. Try to get the lowest overhead shop you can. There's a lot of costs involved besides just the rent. Some guys are able to convert their garage to their shop and this is a really good way to go if you can swing it and you're neighbors don't mind.

You can start out mobile detailing, but if you're in this for the long run it's nice to have a shop where you can keep all your equipment and stuff and have your customers come to you. This way you avoid all the time driving to and from jobs and over time this is going to add up and it's all non-production time. If you're in a heavy traffic area you can end up spending a lot of time in traffic driving to jobs, Joe aka Superior Shine was telling me about his experience with this factor in the SoCal area.

Again, make sure this is truly your passion and not just a flash-in-the-pan as detailing cars is a lot of hard work. Customer's expectations are usually unrealistic and the key to making top dollar besides doing exceptional work is to educate your customer so they understand the value of choosing you, (the higher price option), over your competitor, (the lower priced option).

Probably the most important factor to your long time success is besides doing exceptional work, (which builds word-of-mouth-advertising, the best kind of advertising), is to set your customers up on maintenance plans where they have their car or cars washed, cleaned and detailed on a regular basis, like once a week, or twice a month, etc. By doing this you can set them up on a monthly billing cycle just like their light bill and you can have a guaranteed income every month.

Best thing about maintenance programs is that after you do a stellar job of detailing their car the first time, all the follow up visits should be a lot easier and faster. Consider going after the Real Estate market for this as Real Estate agents are keen on public perception and making a good first impression.

People judge other people by the car they drive, (I know that sounds extreme but it is true, take inventory of your own thoughts when you're driving around), a clean image represents a professional image, thus a clean shiny car helps professional business people that use their car with clients to project a professional image.

For example, management here have their cars washed once a week and washed and waxed every other week. It's important to have a clean, shiny image in the car care industry.

Just some thoughts off the top of my head... Maybe Joe will chime in...

[supercharged]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

I agree with Mike. Also real estate agents do drive some really nice cars, and and leave a nice tip. But again, don't count on making $100k in the first full time year.

[The Shine Shop]

Re: How much $$ can a full time detailer make?

we started out doing everything that came in the door. now going on seven years later we do not do dealer work ,we do one car a day and as much as possible ,every car tht leaves would do respectable in a show! price wise we charge for the day and do what it takes. no extra charges. this may not be a smart bussiness move but it works