The Cost of Professional Detailing

[Mary S]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

I do not understand the replies about it depending on what the original poster wants. If I do a multistage polish your car or if you hire me to only clean and dress the valve stem caps on your wheels my rate still applies.

I think it is common to price services based on what you want for an hourly rate, but not everybody charges strictly by the hour. They figure how long that kind of job will take and they just price the job accordingly. I think customers are more comfortable paying that way than giving your the car and not knowing what the job will cost. They also might want to compare prices with your competitors. Of course, you may be giving them binding estimates, which is sort of the same thing.

The other factor is, maybe you can do a job in 8 hours by wet sanding and using a rotary. Someone else may have to spend 20 hours getting near the same result using just the DA and making 6 passes. So the hourly rate is not so significant to a potential customer who wants a service done as the final cost of the job.

One other thing, Joe, I am sure you have a reputation where people are seeking you out specifically for your skills and past performance. Other less established detailers might not just be able to say "I charge $50 to $80 an hour" when there are other detailers shooting for more like 25 to 40.

[Vinny-Z]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

Its a very broad question that needs to consider the region in which the vehicle resides in regards too weather exposure.

For example....I've yet to see a California car (at the end of say 3-6 months) look anywhere near as EXPOSED to the elements as the same time frame in say...Missouri.

Now, its a given that ANY car can come in clean or near new.....or the same car could come in trashed with a capitol 'T".

So the costs associated might simply be aimed at a perfect Bid analysis first.

If you've done enough bidding correctly and have all of your associated costs and labor man hours accounted for......thats all that really matters.

Well...THAT, and owning the skill set that allows one to be proficient and accurate within your pre-scheduled bid.

A FULL-Detail to one might be a 'CLean-UP' to another and so on.

If a shop skips putting a car up on a scissor lift and removing the wheels in their pre-was stages for example.....chances are they are not capable of a high-end detail ..nor should they charge said prices.

If they don't offer paint chip touch-up or residue free final inspections...chances are they ,blah,blah ..blah.

At any event.....if a technician is speaking of a PROFESSIONAL detail....it should include packages such as this >>>

1)- FULL Deatail=
---Pre-wash including ,de-tar,de-bug,fenerwells,exhaust,lower valances and rockers,suspension,grilles,trim,door-jambs,trunk-jamb,convertible top deep cleaning,Engine hand clean and steam clean followed by a full compressed air drying of all voids etc.

2)-Full Interior =
----Every surface cleaned including deep cleaning of fabrics,carpets,vents,under-dash areas,foot pedals (including small rocks),under and between seats,package trays,consoles,glove-boxes etc.Not to mention perfect glass.

3)-Exterior = Full correction or Light duty only (eg:wax)?

-----Full= Necessary wet-sanding, compounding ,chip touch-up,polishing,sealing/waxing,perfect trim-out from residue/film.

There is actually more yet to list ...but this is what I'd call fundamental.

In the end....price according to skill level, reputation and demographic exposure and salesmanship.

Cheers,Vinny

[DetailFreak517]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

I think it is common to price services based on what you want for an hourly rate, but not everybody charges strictly by the hour. They figure how long that kind of job will take and they just price the job accordingly. I think customers are more comfortable paying that way than giving your the car and not knowing what the job will cost..

Well, I hear your points but I can see where Joe is coming from too. He's got enough experience to know how long jobs should take him, and knows how much his hourly rate is. It doesn't take much to give a customer a pretty close estimate of what a job will cost based on those two factors.

Customers can still price shop if they wish, and another detailer that targets $20-40 an hour but takes twice as long to get the results might actually come out pretty close where money is concerned, but the customer would then have to look at it as "well I'll have to pay $300 for the job but if I go with Joe, he only needs my car for 4 hours when the other guy needs it for 8" or something.

Quoting out jobs at an hourly rate isn't rocket science, especially if you have experience doing the work.

[Mary S]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

At any event.....if a technician is speaking of a PROFESSIONAL detail....it should include packages such as this >>>

1)- FULL Deatail=
---Pre-wash including ,de-tar,de-bug,fenerwells,exhaust,lower valances and rockers,suspension,grilles,trim,door-jambs,trunk-jamb,convertible top deep cleaning,Engine hand clean and steam clean followed by a full compressed air drying of all voids etc.

2)-Full Interior =
----Every surface cleaned including deep cleaning of fabrics,carpets,vents,under-dash areas,foot pedals (including small rocks),under and between seats,package trays,consoles,glove-boxes etc.Not to mention perfect glass.

3)-Exterior = Full correction or Light duty only (eg:wax)?

Thanks for that checklist, Vinny! I am keeping that one for reference!

I can understand where Joe is coming from too. You may not be able to give a truly accurate estimate and therefore price until you see the vehicle. And maybe he doesn't give a firm price until he finishes the detail, and his customers may be okay with that.

Brook initially asked what one might pay hourly for a detail, then later clarified that the question was more like what one might charge hourly for a detail. And Brook is in Utah. So that number may or may not be the same as what Joe charges, but again, Joe has a great reputation that proceeds him, and Brook is not in the business yet. And neither am I.

It has been mentioned here that when you post your prices, you might post a range, at least to give someone an idea of what you do and what their price might be. When a service doesn't post a price at all, many potential customers just won't call.

Let's just put it this way, I tend not to call someone if I have no idea even of what a service might cost, and I am even less likely to have the technician come by and give me an estimate without having some idea of the price we are talking about, especially if it is an elective service like detailing is. So if you are willing to have a web page that posts some idea of price, you have expanded your potential customer base to people like me, and I doubt I am the only one.

And especially since most people have no idea even what detailing is, if the technician told me they would charge $50 per hour to detail my car and that they couldn't tell me the total cost until they were done, well I would say "Thank you, goodbye."

[Mary S]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

I apologize, because I just looked at Joe's web page, and he does give price range estimates on his web page.

[Vinny-Z]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

If regarding general 'over-the-phone' estimates...I concur...that you need to provide a Minimum-Maximum type of approach to allow the customer to understand the variances in the service.

I will point out....it was not uncommon for me to gently let a customer know that the level of work I offered wasn't for everyone....and due to reactions or their need to strip the service down too much...I would suggest another shop more suitable to their tastes/needs.

Lets face it......if they can't SEE the difference,why pay the difference ? Right ? Later ....they'd learn what counted to them and what did not.

I actually had fliers with their map/contact info on hand to make the segway feel more legit and less insulting....if that were the case.

It often allowed them to sample one level of service....and later try mine with happy results and true satisfaction having something to compare from.

[Mary S]

Re: The Cost of Professional Detailing

If regarding general 'over-the-phone' estimates...I concur...that you need to provide a Minimum-Maximum type of approach to allow the customer to understand the variances in the service.

I will point out....it was not uncommon for me to gently let a customer know that the level of work I offered wasn't for everyone....and due to reactions or their need to strip the service down too much...I would suggest another shop more suitable to their tastes/needs.

And there are going to be people who could appreciate the difference but it just isn't in their budget. Like so many other things, you can't necessarily buy everything you like. I might appreciate owning a Mercedes, but it isn't in my budget.

This is why I like to know if I can afford the general price range before I even call someone. It saves the awkwardness of having to say "that sounds great, but it is more than I can afford, or there are other things I would prefer to do with that much money."