Well, here I am. Just about ready to begin my journey into the realm of professional automobile detailing. Please do not misunderstand, just because I'm not a pornstar doesn't make me a virgin. Bottom line, I am as anal retentive as they come when it comes to car care and have a product line up that will rival (if not surpass) that of most of you full-timers. Okay, maybe a slight exaggeration, but you catch my drift - I do have a couple grand worth of product though. Anyway, my point is, that when it comes to car detailing I am one picky nerd. If I find one single effing swirl on my pretty Benz... Arrgghh, just the thought drastically reduces the diameter of my sphencter! Now, when you have to keep your vehicle that clean, well, it pretty much stays that clean. That said, I need somebody else's ride to satisfy my addiction, and it is truly an addiction - just ask my wife. So, I have the materials, the desire, and the ability to blow peoples mind with my dazzleing finish. So why am I not as revered as Mr. Dalton himself you ask? Well one, I'm not quite that good. Though he is my hero. And two, my whole reason for this post, I am not sure wher to look (or what kind of demand there is) for my style of detailing - I like to think of it as making love to a car. My method is terribly slow and methodical, but mostly terribly slow - I average about 4-5 days and about 15hrs total time. The results speak for themselves, but how many will be patient enough for my results? This is my question to the seasoned vets. In your experience, who and where are these people found? Keep in mind that 1. this is not my primary income - I love doing this and if I can get paid for it here and there then why not, and 2. I am incapable of doing a crappy job just because someone else has lower standards and only wants to pay a few bucks for a quick wash and wax - I was not joking when I said anal rententive! It has to be perfect everytime. How many potential customers out there are willing to go that extra mile for that wee little bit of extra glow?
First off welcome, you're not much worse than any one of us on here...tone you're posts down a bit though haha. It's pretty heaty for a first post.
Hey, what can I say? I am a heaty kind of guy. Well, that and very sarcasatic. In all seriousness though, how few and/or far between are customers who would be willing to pay for such "extended" services?
I think most customers, given that they are the typical customer will want their car back that day or the day after, I would assume only car enthusiasts or people who understand this craft would maybe (strong maybe) wait more than 2 days. However I am making a generalization and I am not a professional detailer so my opinion may be skewed. I understand the attention to perfection though.
My detail started about 8 mths ago and still going. I havent driven it since i started as i keep finding more things to clean
I think it's spelt sphincter, had to look it up as i never heard it before, very unique phrasing and glad to see you're as ocd as the rest of us.
as xfactor said you might want to tone down your posts but welcome to the forum. to maybe answer your question many people who arent like us will not wait more than 2 days. You might get away with 3 days but thats pushing it. 15 hours isnt bad for a full detail but if I were you I would try to spread those hours over a span of 2 days. For example I free up my friday nights and saturday mornings. Personally I work from 6pm-2am friday night then wake up around 8 and finish up around 12. Thats about 15 hours and i have the rest of the weekend to relax, but then again, thats just how I work.
2 grand of turtle wax is still turtle wax. : What are you using for machine/polishes/lighting? Tools alone are expensive.
Well seeing that your a sarcastic type of fellow, maybe I should respond :hmph: Reality Check Time. If you continue to live in Ohio, you can forget doing Exotics exclusivelly. Ohio is nothing but a place to dump Jet Fuel on going from the West Coast to the East Coast :giggle: As far as having 2 Grand tied up in product....:shead: what does this include? Steamer,Extractor,Shampooer, Foam Cannon, Generator, Polishers(you need both rotary and a quality orbital) The things I have listed will cost alot more then 2 grand and thats before you even purchase Compounds/Polishes and Sealants and Pads :deal: As far as Where to get these Hi-End Clientle. I beleive you need to slow your roll and start like Everyone else has had to do > Beaters/Daily Drivers.I would about bet you a Grand that Norcal Bob/Paul Dalton/JayPlay started this same way. :thumb: You ever heard the saying you only get 1 chance to make a 1st impression, well if you do happen to land 1 of these Hi-End cars.(Which I imagine are very far and few between where you are) I would bet you will not be able to handle it.And then if/when you blow it, this guy/gal will tell you to beat it. :bat: There are so many varables that go into doing a "Profesional Detail" What works on 1 car, may not work on the next, even if there the same Make/Model :duh: I can appreciate your enthusiasn, but I wish you would just slow down a bit, hang around here or elsewhere if you prefer. And keep picking up knowledge and get your experience on Soccer Moms Suburbans. :meditation: As far as how long will ppl let you keep there cars, most will want it back yesterday :giggle: But for the most part I would say 5-8hrs and then they start getting ants in there pants :hopmad: :sorry: if any of these has offended you, I Welcome you to Detailing Bliss, and would love to see you grow in your Skills and Clientle. Welcome aboard pimp :headbang:
That's quite the introduction Attention to detail is what separates us detailers from the rest. I mean if we didn't pay attention to detail we wouldn't be very good detailers now would we. Having said that it's good to realize that even though you may want to finish the vehicle flawlessly in some cases you'll have to settle for as close as possible. The reason I say this is because you need to take into consideration how much clear coat your removing and leaving behind, if all you detail is show cars then that's different as show cars have different paint jobs. Before you get caught up on purchasing products, lining up some vehicles to detail, how much money you'll be making..ect..ect..I'd recommend you spend your time on technique. Technique/experience is the difference between a great detailer and an enthusiast. Even an enthusiast can have professional techniques no doubt about it, just as long as your willing to spend the time and practice to develop those skills. Well hope you enjoy the forum.
I can relate to you in many ways ... but I can't afford spending a lot of time detailing cars with a family and a toddler. When I was single, I used to wake up at 5am on Saturdays to get the car and motorcycle ready to cruise around for the weekend. I would spend 10 hrs on my car/bike. I still wake up at 5am 'cause my daughter wants to play ... lol I would like to eventually do some detailing on the side so I can make some extra money, but I need to practice my timing and focus my energy on the items that the customer will really appreciate. I spend too much time on little things that people usually don't pay attention. I don't want to be sloppy, but I don't want to spend 2 days working on a car that's gonna get trashed the minute after I returned it to the customer. I have some "wash & wax" details lined up in the next few weekendsd that I'm planing on timing myself and working on my technique. The buffer training is scheduled for next summer.
I agree with you on this one man. My business deals mainly with classics, and exotics. We generally get cars for more than 2 days no issue, but as above I more often than not will work overnight to get ahead. More room for another booking, your own car, or some golf. Lastly, I really dislike the tone of your thread. You are on a forum dedicated to detailing coming off like you are going to be the master of detailing because your anal. I have OCD, does not make me a good detailer. My 10+ years of restoring cars, doing framework, bodywork, paintwork, and finishing work is what did it. I sure hope you tone it down with your customers mate. Period. Pretty well said here. Dont go bragging about your products to collectors, $2000 in supplies really is nothing if your a counting polishers, vacuums, hoses, PW's and so on. Further no on cares, they want to hear about why, and how your are going to better than finish. Let me tell you know a $500+ put of wax is worthless if you cant finish down paint gram free. Or leave wax residue on the badges, streaks on the windows, or worse off damage paint. Like I had said above I handle mostly classics, I can tell you right now its a whole different world. You will have no idea how much cc there is. A PTG is pretty much worthless in that environment. Further, on mistake can costs you serious money, and wreck your reputation at the next local car show. I dont want to be all holier than thou but no one has ever annoyed me so much by saying hello before. :doh:
The 15 hour mark doesn't sound bad at all... the last car I did took 20 hours, but I did the 20 hours on friday and saturday....
