R U A LS1

Hey guys im almost done with school. I was going to start washing family friends and neighbor's cars over the summer for some money. I use zaino of course with my car. Now, i was wondering what i should use for "commercial" use. I was thinking zaino becuase its easy to apply and remove, esp with time is money. However, i dont know which products to buy. It's not like my own care where i have time to clay bar, then paint cleaner ZPC, then the Z5 then the Z2...what should i buy in gross, that would remove the swilr marks the best and polish..the Z5??

Thank you. I appreciate any comments. Im trying to figure out the startup costs to see how long it might take to get outof the hole.

R U A LS1

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z28C4maro82z

iTrader: (33)

To tell you the truth, seeing as you are a student like me. What I did was invest in a lot of microfibers, and Eagle soap. I like the way that cleans. Then I use the Mothers claybar system. Like 16 bucks at Advance. Then I have not tried a polish yet, may want advice on that. And I use mcguires everything else

Trojan35

iTrader: (4)

Well, if you're just offering a wash & wax, you can charge about $20 and you might as well just use NXT or something easier/cheaper than Zaino. If you just want to charge $20 to wash it, products and processes don't matter much. In fact, I'd use Armor all's Gel soap and wax due to ease of use.

But I suggest you offer the full detail for $75.
1) Interior vacuum/vinyl/leather + new leather scent.. .don't forget the trunk/ceiling (30min)
2) wash, clay (20min)
3) Meg's fine cut polish (15min)
4) Wheels/Tires .. don't forget the wheel wells (15 min)
5) Z2 (20min)
7) PlastiX polish (10min)
8) Z6 (10 min)

If you just do washes/waxes, you can only charge about $20 and the time you spend trying to find customers isn't worth it. With the full detail, you can sell it as a $150 detail for the price of $75. If you have a Porter-Cable you can charge $150 and it'll take you less time. In that case, I'd go for the Menzerna polish.

And don't skip the Plastix polish. If people don't take care of their headlights it looks amazing. If you're charging $20, it's ok if you finish in an hour. If you charge $75, expect to spend 3 hours working. My 2 hour estimate is aggressive, and if you're charging $75 no one wants to see you finish in 2 hours if you're a student.

Oh yeah, and bring some decent looking clothes with no buttons to scratch cars. After all, in the detail business appearance is everything, right?

Robinator

iTrader: (1)

Do you actually detail cars? I dont know any detailer that car polish a car in 15 min. I dont mean to jump all over you but I wouldnt falsely direct this guy. Claying can also take up to an hour and a half per car depending on the condition. $75 is very cheap for and exterior/interior detail too. Think about how much you are spending in product and time. In the end, he might make $50 for 4 hours of work. Local shops around me wont do a full exterior for anything under $120. They will do the single buff for $60 but they dont wash your car, 9 times out of 10 its hologramed when they are finished, and they dont even wax over their buff. Most places that wash and hand wax a car charge roughly $50 on their specials. Your best bet man is to call around to local detail shops around you and get quotes for similar jobs that you will be performing for different size vehicles and charge what you think is fair. You will have to perform quality work though if you plan on charging high dollar. Just my 2 cents.

94whitez28

I work at a detail shop and we arent that cheap but we do get cars from other detail shops to fix. if you go to a dealership to get their account tell them you'll do the first one for free and do it right so when you bring back to them, let them look over it, I mean the shop I work at, we just charged $225 on a 06 black 4door chevy Z71 but we had to jack it up and take the tires off, I guess somone brought and took it out over the weekend and got it stuck. I mean there was mud everywhere, the truck only had 800miles on it. you can polish a car under 20mins. depends on how good you are. we do bumper to bumper detail. we have a set price for a car/truck and if you gotta stiff or polish or sleek it and how bad it is the price goes up. get a air tank so you can blow water out of cracks and blow dirt out of vents, under the seat. we use car brite i think. and get some dye to dye carpets and crap like that

Trojan35

iTrader: (4)

He's just hitting up friends/family. $20 for 10 people isn't enough for summer cash, and you can't ask friends/family to pay you $150 for a legit detail. The 15 minute polish is good enough to hide a few scratches for his friends/family. I personally spend about 3 hours hand polishing my car, but this isn't what he's after.

I recommended what I thought was the best way for him to provide a service to friends/family. I agree with you if he wants this to be his profession, there's a WHOLE lot more to it, as guys like ZaneO can tell you.

R U A LS1

its going to start with people my dad or i know. After that, is might be a word of mouth type thing. Although, im concerned,
1) Would i have time to clay every new car i do? And for me, claying a whole car takes AT LEAST an hour, and that's pushin' it?? I thought is just use the ZPC get rid of everything on the darn paint, and go use the polish...
2) what is meg's fine car polish?
3) for the one coat im doing, should i definately use Z2? becuase on the web site, Z5 seems more universal for darker colored cars. Or does this not matter...just get the Z2 and finish with the Z6

ws6formula98

iTrader: (12)

I use zaino on "real" customers but on my family member, I do it for dirt cheap and there get the cheap stuff. They dont care, there only want a car wash. It still looks really good but not as good as Zaino.

sercastiK

iTrader: (11)

use automagic, its reasonable pretty good and will suite fine, automagic.com

Gipraw

iTrader: (10)

man. lots of info here .. not sure how much of it I'd bank on ..

not even going to bother with all the incorrect/wrong things .. (15 minutes, .. carpet dyes )

Two ways to make money. (simplified)
1. High volume, decent quality work (possible for about anyone to do)
2. High quality, high dollar work (takes time and lots of practice)

My suggestion to you would be to gather up the correct material to correctly wash a car. A good car shampoo, several quality lambs wool or chenile wash mitts, several buckets, several waffle weave micro fiber towels for drying. high quality wheel and tire brushes. then do some research, and some trial and error on your own car, and come up with a wash process that gives great results, every time. Keep your own ride spotless, all the time, because that is the first impression you will leave with anyone.

If you provide a high quality hand wash and dry, you can charge $25 per wash, and people will pay that. If you do it correctly, they will have you back to do it again. Don't cut corners, and don't ever do anything less than a great job. If you get a car that is a ****pile, don't do it half assed because you think it is too much work, tell them up front, "I have to charge you an extra $5 or $10 bucks, since your car will take twice the normal time".

another way to get business, especially from people you know .. is offer them a money back promise .. tell them, Let me wash it for you, and if you don't think I did a good job, then don't pay me. let your quality sell itself.

when doing just washes, the finishing touches will seal the deal .. a good tire shine, clean wheel wells, shiny wheels and perfect glass will all make it pop.

I am sure I have left some stuff out .. but you get the general idea.

If you are going to polish paint (wax), you had better damn well know what you are doing, becasue screw ups are not cheap. you will end up paying a pro to fix it for you (several hundred $$), or worse, paying for a repaint. (several thousand $$$)

also .. be prepared to have someone watching you the whole time, and asking questions. how you answer them can affect your future business.

as for cost of supplies ..

you should be able to get enough stuff to get going for about $100 .. I would think .. if you are serious .. find a local supplier for your products, and buy them wholesale.