Car detailers make $25/hr?!

[RU482]

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: redly1
car detailing would be a sh!t job, especially once you hit your 30s

why?

Originally posted by: Dunbar
Not to mention it's back breaking work.

I dont know enuf of detailing. What's involved besides soaping the car up and rinsing with a hose? plus vacumming the inside?

The part you don't know is the answer to the question.

Doing it to your own car a couple times a year sucks enough, I can't imagine doing it to someone elses car 8+ hours a day

 

[PAB]

Originally posted by: Dunbar

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Dunbar
Not to mention it's back breaking work.

I dont know enuf of detailing. What's involved besides soaping the car up and rinsing with a hose? plus vacumming the inside?

To wash the inside and out and add couple coats of polish/wax takes a lot of time (many hours) and is very physical work. Lots of squatting down, leaning over, repetitive hand movements and elbow grease over several hours. Add in 95 degree heat and you have the makings of a long day. I just did just the outside of my car a few weks back -wash, clay bar and three coats of Zaino. It broke it up over the course of a weekend and afterwards I felt like I had been to boot camp. It would help somewhat if I was in shape.

Bingo.

When you can get an engine compartment to go from this to this in a day, you earn my respect.

Before Steve
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl1/IMG_0250.JPG

After Steve
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl1/IMG_0343.jpg

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: PAB

Originally posted by: Dunbar

Originally posted by: JEDI

Originally posted by: Dunbar
Not to mention it's back breaking work.

I dont know enuf of detailing. What's involved besides soaping the car up and rinsing with a hose? plus vacumming the inside?

To wash the inside and out and add couple coats of polish/wax takes a lot of time (many hours) and is very physical work. Lots of squatting down, leaning over, repetitive hand movements and elbow grease over several hours. Add in 95 degree heat and you have the makings of a long day. I just did just the outside of my car a few weks back -wash, clay bar and three coats of Zaino. It broke it up over the course of a weekend and afterwards I felt like I had been to boot camp. It would help somewhat if I was in shape.

Bingo.

When you can get an engine compartment to go from this to this in a day, you earn my respect.

Before Steve
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl1/IMG_0250.JPG

After Steve
http://pics.apartment808.com/users/dukeofurl1/IMG_0343.jpg

Get your money back, all he used was degreaser and plastic polish, I do not see any protective angents.

 

[Descartes]

A lot of the guys on Autopia make a good income. Like so many things, you have varying degrees of expertise. The average detail monkey you see at the local car wash probably doesn't make much, but a professional detailer that works on high-end cars, dealerships, etc. likely makes a decent income.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: kumanchu
my brother used to work for a detail shop. they would charge ~ 120 for a detail and it would take about 3 hours with 2 people working on it. 25 dollars an hour doesn't sound far off the mark.

Dang...$120 is approaching what I paid for my first car.

I'm guessing he's limited to high-end cars/clients?

 

[Winchester]

$25/hr
-FIT
-OASDI
-MEDICARE
-Self-Employment Insurance
-Self-Employment Tax
-Car Payment
-Gas
-Mileage
_________________

Not that much.

 

[Dunbar]

Originally posted by: b0mbrman

Originally posted by: kumanchu
my brother used to work for a detail shop. they would charge ~ 120 for a detail and it would take about 3 hours with 2 people working on it. 25 dollars an hour doesn't sound far off the mark.

Dang...$120 is approaching what I paid for my first car.

I'm guessing he's limited to high-end cars/clients?

Multiply it by three to four to get the rate a high-end detailer would charge. They would also spend more time, have more skills and use better products. 6 man hours billed at $20/hr. is dirt cheap for labor, running a business ain't cheap.

 

[Apex]

$25 per hour is not bad at all if they're skilled. Most in this area quote much more than that.

 

[RbSX]

Yeah a good detailer is hard to find, and the materials are really expensive.

 

[marincounty]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: marincounty
My buddy details high-end cars, mercedes, ferraris, maybach, porsches etc.
He charges $300, but it takes him all day to detail a car (properly). It is hard work.

Name of his company? Otherwise I call shens, that is not charging enough for that type of work.

I am not going to give you the name of his company so you can bother him. But I can assure you it is a real business. He may charge more than $300 now, I don't have a car worth detailing so I don't know.
If you have a Porsche or Ferrari or BMW you would like detailed I will talk to him.
I have visited his shop many times and have seen Ferraris, a Maybach, Porsche 962, Porsche Turbos, etc....
I don't know what you make, but I don't make $300 a day.

 

[RbSX]

Originally posted by: marincounty

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: marincounty
My buddy details high-end cars, mercedes, ferraris, maybach, porsches etc.
He charges $300, but it takes him all day to detail a car (properly). It is hard work.

Name of his company? Otherwise I call shens, that is not charging enough for that type of work.

I am not going to give you the name of his company so you can bother him. But I can assure you it is a real business. He may charge more than $300 now, I don't have a car worth detailing so I don't know.
If you have a Porsche or Ferrari or BMW you would like detailed I will talk to him.
I have visited his shop many times and have seen Ferraris, a Maybach, Porsche 962, Porsche Turbos, etc....
I don't know what you make, but I don't make $300 a day.

My buddy does it for fun, it's 250 and it takes about 6 hours.

If you're going to a business, it'll be 300ish.. atleast.

Most places I go to around 170 for insides/175 outsides basic.

Yeah..

275 CAD for full interior exterior basic.


425 for the full day.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: marincounty

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: marincounty
My buddy details high-end cars, mercedes, ferraris, maybach, porsches etc.
He charges $300, but it takes him all day to detail a car (properly). It is hard work.

Name of his company? Otherwise I call shens, that is not charging enough for that type of work.

I am not going to give you the name of his company so you can bother him. But I can assure you it is a real business. He may charge more than $300 now, I don't have a car worth detailing so I don't know.
If you have a Porsche or Ferrari or BMW you would like detailed I will talk to him.
I have visited his shop many times and have seen Ferraris, a Maybach, Porsche 962, Porsche Turbos, etc....
I don't know what you make, but I don't make $300 a day.

I am a professional detailer (I don't need to call him), I have done packages on Barrett Jackson cars...he is not charging enough...

 

[RichUK]

Hey SVT Cobra, what's the best way to clean the inside of your windscreen? I've tried window cleaner and a cloth but it still leaves smears.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: RichUK
Hey SVT Cobra, what's the best way to clean the inside of your windscreen? I've tried window cleaner and a cloth but it still leaves smears.

Windshield or windscreen type thing on a convertible?

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: RichUK
Hey SVT Cobra, what's the best way to clean the inside of your windscreen? I've tried window cleaner and a cloth but it still leaves smears.

Windshield or windscreen type thing on a convertible?

I have a coupe not a convertible. It's with regards to the front glass windscreen/windshield.

The car has only done 16k miles and over that period there was this grease like substance that built up on the inside of the windshield. I think it might have had something to do with when I used to smoke inside the car. I have already tried cleaning the inside, and I did manage to get rid of the majority of the sh!te. Thing is when it dried you could still see smears which I couldn?t remove.

 

[QueBert]

Originally posted by: MrWizzard
Self Employed $25 an hour is poverty level. Do some research please.

EDIT :To make it more clear, health insurance, business auto insurance, professional liability insurance, supplies, driving time. ETC. Will make that $25 seem like nothing

most detailers unless they do huge business, like where they have people working under them won't have business auto insurance or professional liability insurance. My neighbor does detailing, he typically tries to find big businesses where 2 or 3 or 4 people need their cars done and will do them all in one afternoon. Not sure how much he makes in a year, but he's living in a decent house in a decent neighborhood and has a very nice automobile. Especially if you don't have a wife & kids & a lot of expenses, $25 an hour can be nice.

making $25 an hour and working a decent number of hours will bring you nice income. The dude that cuts out lawn charges us $10 (small lawn) he does about half my block, and he drives a nice new truck, one I couldn't afford

 

[SVT Cobra]

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: RichUK
Hey SVT Cobra, what's the best way to clean the inside of your windscreen? I've tried window cleaner and a cloth but it still leaves smears.

Windshield or windscreen type thing on a convertible?

I have a coupe not a convertible. It's with regards to the front glass windscreen/windshield.

The car has only done 16k miles and over that period there was this grease like substance that built up on the inside of the windshield. I think it might have had something to do with when I used to smoke inside the car. I have already tried cleaning the inside, and I did manage to get rid of the majority of the sh!te. Thing is when it dried you could still see smears which I couldn?t remove.

Ammonia soaked rag. Just keep rotating to different sides of the cloth, there is obviosuly some sort of build up on there. Usually it happens because of stuff on the dash, the sun heats it up, it bakes, leaves a residue on the glass.

 

[RichUK]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: RichUK

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra

Originally posted by: RichUK
Hey SVT Cobra, what's the best way to clean the inside of your windscreen? I've tried window cleaner and a cloth but it still leaves smears.

Windshield or windscreen type thing on a convertible?

I have a coupe not a convertible. It's with regards to the front glass windscreen/windshield.

The car has only done 16k miles and over that period there was this grease like substance that built up on the inside of the windshield. I think it might have had something to do with when I used to smoke inside the car. I have already tried cleaning the inside, and I did manage to get rid of the majority of the sh!te. Thing is when it dried you could still see smears which I couldn?t remove.

Ammonia soaked rag. Just keep rotating to different sides of the cloth, there is obviosuly some sort of build up on there. Usually it happens because of stuff on the dash, the sun heats it up, it bakes, leaves a residue on the glass.

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try.