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Price to charge for car detail?

S

Slickone

Diamond Member
For any of you that detail cars, how much would you charge? I'm just talking about doing one every now and then at your home. No major operation. How about a regular rate and a 'friend' rate.

Being: wash incl. quick tire scrub, dry, wipe door jambs, dress tires, clean dash (no dressing crap on interior), vacuum.

And extra for shampoo/scrub floors, and even more for seats.

Also considering whether you wax or not. And would you charge more for using an orbital buffer vs. simply wiping on by hand (no buffing motion)?

 
Originally posted by: Slickone

Being: wash incl. quick tire scrub, dry, wipe door jambs, dress tires, clean dash (no dressing crap on interior), vacuum.
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Half the oil change places out there will do that for free, so if that's all you're going to do, not very much.

If you are REALLY going to detail a car, and absolutely clean the interior and exterior so it looks like new, then you could probly charge $70-$100.

 
Good Lord, how much are you oil changes? I've never seen an oil change place do all that, and I've worked at one. Only thing we did for a very short time was vacuum, but had to stop since so many people lie and accuse you of stealing something they never had.
 
Detailer at a client's site charges about $40 for ongoing work.

They wanted between $75-$125 to do an initial first class job.
 
That's not detailing, that's cleaning. Which is why I'll never pay someone to detail my car, because who knows what they'll actually do.
 
I get a hand wash and dry for $5, they do a half-assed job but it's a hand wash! It's $12 for wash, dry, Vacumn and Tires.

I'd Charge
$20 for wash/dry, Vacumn, and Tires. Pretty much that more than what a Car-wash charges, except they have Mexicans who don;t speak english working at them. With you I would expect my wheels to be detailed, and nothing stolen. Plus high quality soaps, mitts, towles, and tire dressing to be used. Also, a good vacumn, nothing half assed!



 
Originally posted by: QuitBanningMe
$75-$100 but that isn't for a half ass job like you are talking about.
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Please tell what your full ass job entails.


And change the orbital buffer to a Porter Cable high speed, which I've been wanting to buy for a long time.
 
If I were going to do top notch job and get every little spec I would probably charge $150 but that includes a primo wash and wax job. If I were just going to make it look pretty for a day I would probably do it for $50.

A primo job would be

clean the rims and tires with simple green
coat the tires with tire dressing (Meguiars or Eagle One)
vacuum the interior
Wipe off all the dust from the dash and other vinyl or leather surfaces
go over the dash and vinyl interior with vinylex
Clean the inside of the windshileld and windows
Clean and Condition Leather seats (or spot clean cloth seats)
Wash and scrub the floor mats
Spot clean the interior carpet
clean out all the door jambs and trunk area
spot clean the engine bay with degreaser

wash with dawn
Dry with a sheepskin chamois
Remove paint contaminants with a claybar
rewash with a good car shampoo to remove any reisude from the claybar
Dry again with a sheepskin chamois
wipe the water off the wheels to prevent water spots
blow out all the cracks and crevisis with an air compressor
mask off any rubber trim that shouldn't be waxed
apply a layer of zaino z5 swirl remover
apply a coat of Z6 ultra gloss enhancer
apply a layer of Z2 w/ ZFX car polish
apply another coat of Z6 ultra gloss enhancer
apply another coat of Z5 Swirl Remover
Apply another coat of Z6 ultra gloss enhancer
and apply one last coat of Z2 w/ ZFX car polish
go over the exterior with a detail brush and get rid of any wax missed
go over the car one last time with a microfiber cloth to get rid of any wax dust
 
i had a friend that would do pretty much what you're talking about... he'd do a wash, wax, and clean the interior pretty well, he usually charged around 60 bux i believe, more for bigger vehicles
 
I did a full detail of my car last weekend. It took almost 6 hours and my back is still killing. Dude what you described is not detailing, it's call a wash. $30 tops!
 
Originally posted by: Slickone
Good Lord, how much are you oil changes? I've never seen an oil change place do all that, and I've worked at one. Only thing we did for a very short time was vacuum, but had to stop since so many people lie and accuse you of stealing something they never had.
Click to expand...

$30. They change the oil, vacuum the interior, wash the exterior and dress the tires.
 
Originally posted by: mrchan
Originally posted by: Slickone
Good Lord, how much are you oil changes? I've never seen an oil change place do all that, and I've worked at one. Only thing we did for a very short time was vacuum, but had to stop since so many people lie and accuse you of stealing something they never had.
Click to expand...

$30. They change the oil, vacuum the interior, wash the exterior and dress the tires.
Click to expand...
Hmm. That's a good deal. I think it's about $30 here now for just an oil change/check fluids.
But I was talking about doing a little more than that, and since not so quickly, a better job of it.


HiTek21, what your talking about I've seen people pay several hundred dollars for. That's an all day job, and I doubt I'd waist my day, and get completely worn out in the process, for $150. You would really do all that for $150? Think if it was mechanic work - here they charge about $80/hr. But thanks for your input.
BTW, personally I would use Klasse before Zaino. 😉

 
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