Help w/ Possible Fleet Contract

ok so a good friend of mine's father works for a company semi-locally and is apparently pretty hight up. the company produces industrial oil pumps or something along those lines, and has a fleet of about 26 cars. my friend came to me and told me how his father was telling him that they had a "detailer" on contract that was taking care of the fleet vehicles on the weekends only, no set hours, and all he had to do was wash, wax, and quick interior clean up including windows and vac. the amount he was getting paid per month is pretty good actually. a lot more than i would have thought. well seems this guy got arrested and has obviously been fired. my friend matt tells me he told his dad about me and how i might be interested in taking on the work. now they want to talk to me about it.

i would be able to work this on the weekends only, and at my own hours. basically, as long as i would get the fleet cleaned up every month, it doesnt matter how many hours/weekends it takes. i know there are some guys on this forums that have this kind of side work, and im looking for their advice. the guy from the company wants to meet with me to discuss the details early this week, and its promising that i would get the contract if i want it since my friends father is my "in" at the company. just to throw it out there, this would basically double my monthly income right now. im not yet sure whether i would have to use my own supplies etc, but im assuming that i would. with this in mind, and me being me and always planning ahead, i was mentally putting together a little supply list of decent quality products i could get in quantity for cheap. i dont even know how much supply i would be going through per month tho working on 26 vehicles. i mean basics would be car soap, APC, glass cleaner, and some kind of so-so wax. i was thinking liquid wax would be best just for ease of use, being able to get larger quantities, and price. im lost on estimating quantities of supplies on this kind of work.

is this something im maybe crazy for considering? if i take this on, its going to be quite an endeavor at first i think. i mean this kind of work is totally out of my element, but this could be pretty lucrative. im basically going to be washing, the cars, waxing them real quick, vac'ing the interiors, quick interior wipedown, and clean the windows. i could probably do this in an hour and a half per car. two MAX. this comes out to about 52 hours a month, 13 hours a week, and like 6.5 hours a day since im working weekends only. what do you guys think? sorry for the rant on this, but its all whirling around in my head right now, and i need to prepare for this interview type deal for early this week, so i want to walk in there with an idea/plan on what i would like to be able to accomplish, what i would need, etc etc.

thoughts? suggestions? HELP!

 

Dude..that is fricking great!! What an opportunity for you...take it and run with it. I would suggest the following:
APC: Home Depot's Zep Citrus or purple degreaser..available by the gallon, works VERY well and cheap..much better than the price would suggest
Glass: again, Zep makes a green glass cleaner (their professional line) that can be cut 32:1 (you wont find a better value than that) and it is GREAT!
Wax: Here, I would buy DG 105 by the gallon and use that. You can get their car soap in a 5 gallon pail (that's what I did) and the shipping for the 6 gallons of product would be just $5. The 105 will last better than a wax which will save you money by not having to reapply it. IF you;re using a good wash too, it won't strip it off.
That will do the trick for you; I'm excited for this opportunity for you. Let us know how it turns out!

 

thanks for the advice ricky. i didnt even think to check out any industrial type cleaners like that. i guess ive been so wound up in my "high end boutique" product world that i forgot stuff like that existed lol. i was thinking about maybe using simple green as an APC too. that stuff works pretty good and can be diluted down a lot. cheap too. thanks for the advice on the DG stuff too. ill have to look into that. i was thinking about going sealant instead of wax anyways for obvious reasons.

 

seems DG has their own "fleet" supplies. check this out:

Duragloss #430, Duragloss HD Truck & Equipment Wash

thoughts?

 

A pressure washer and foam cannon is going to speed up this kind of work in a HUGE way...

 

I've never used it so I can't comment on it. I'm on my 3rd gallon of Zep citrus. I use it for a ton of things like: tires, wheel wells, an addition to foam cannon when stripping LSP, for soaking mf's and pads, and on and on. The stuff is great. The purple is even stronger from what I've been told. It's under $10 a gallon in Canada, which is cheap here. The nice thing is it's local so restocking is easy and a no-brainer. If you try the Truck wash, pls let me know what you think of it, thnks.

 

This is cool Billy. I actually have someone checking into a fleet of vehicles for me also. Probably the same type of deal, but I think more vehicles than you though.

Good luck and you know how to contact me!

 

It sounds like a pretty nice gig to get some more money. When you go talk to them about this contract ask to see a few of the cars. If all you will be doing is a wax/wax for the outside then you know apx how long that will take. The interior will be the variable in this as in you dont know how dirty the average car will be and the time needed. Make sure you understand all that he wants as in does he want the interior clean as can be or just vac and dust.

As many others have said by things by the gallon, try to find a local detailing store or auto store that you can get products by the gallon to help lower shipping cost. You can even get some by the 5 gallon if needed it could be cheaper and more economical.

Good luck with the meeting.

 

Just remember when figuring your time that what you consider a "quick" interior is probably how much time you think it would take to do "your" interior. People destroy the inside of their cars and if that's not bad enough imagine what they do to the inside of a car that they aren't paying for. I'd take a look at what the interiors look like before figuring my time. If you are working about 6 - 8 hours a day on these you still will not see the same car for at least two weeks and folks can destroy an interior in two weeks. I guess because I hate doing interiors so bad is why I'm harping on this because to me a nasty interior is such a time killer. Just something to consider.

 

I agree with Richy about the DG products. Good quality and even better value. Maybe use the the DG 105 the first month and DG Aquawax after that. Just top up the 105 every 3 or 4 months. And as JL said, when you meet this guy, ask him to show you a few of the cars you'll be working on and what is his expectation. Showroom new or just a basic wash and vac. Do you have to be nit picky and wipe out cup holders , map pockets etc or just quickly vac and wipe everything down.

 

thanks for the input. definitely going to check out the zep stuff if this all goes through. and if i end up trying out thr DG fleet/truck wash i will let you know how it is.

 

thats awesome roger. hope it goes well for you! half of me is thinking "do i really want to bring my style of work down to a lower level for this fleet work", but the other half of me is thinking realistically and thinking about the ease of the work and the money lol.

 

thanks for your input. i was planning on asking to see if i can check out a few of the vehicles just to get an idea of what im getting myself into.

 

haha trust me i hate doing interiors too. i work full time now at a bmw/lexus/toyotas detail center and i've got it down there now where i can bang out a decent to moderately dirty interior in no more than two hours. so im thinking with the level of work these people will be requiring i could easily bang out an interior in an hour on these fleet cars. i dont think they're looking for them to be perfect by any means. from what i understand thus far, they want clean windows, vaccumed carpets, and dashs and door cards wiped down. maybe seats depending on if they're cloth or leather or whatever.

 

thanks for your input ken. as far as cleaners and soap and whatnot, im looking to go the cheapest and most economical route for obvious reasons. whats the deal with the DG105 by the way? what exactly is it? i was reading about it on DGs site last night and it seems it like a light polish and maybe a sealant in one? is it like some kind of cleaner wax type deal (ew i hate those) or what? i have no experience with DG products, and this is why im kind of leaning more towards the Aquawax since i can guy it in bulk, and its a sealant with supposedly good durability and looks.


PS (i got my gloss it gloss enhancer from gloss it on friday, just waiting on the big boy from you now . cant wait!)

 

so apparently Zep has their own line of detailing supplies. including waxes, sealants, clays etc. lol. oh well, im looking into it now...

 

For the type of work you are doing with theses cars I would definitely look for bulk purchasing. The DG soap is awesome and I believe available in gallons. As far as APCs go, I recently tried the Majestic Solutiuons (thanks Cooter and Xfactor for the samples) and I would hunt down some of it if you can. The DG 105 is a cleaner/wax but it works sooooooo well and is dead easy. Put it on and wipe it off. Done. Would I be selling it if it was crap? Check with DG regarding durability of the Aquawax. Its dead easy as well. Glad you got that from Rich already. Mine should be there this week.:thumb:

 

Don't worry about the descriptions. DG 105 is a sealant that offers incredible protection. It also is supposed to have mild cleaning ability, although it's almost non-existent. DG 501 is a different animal that does have cleaning ability as well as being a sealant, but I don't think that's what you want. Buy it by the gallon to be cost effective and Bob's your uncle. The AW will keep up a level of protection too but if you're trying to keep your costs down, forgo that step.

 

im glad you have good things to say about the majestic solutions stuff. i was pondering the possibility of using their APC. so far here's what i've got together as far as supplies for the contract work if i get it:

DG or Majestic Solutions Soap
Zep or Majestic Solutions APC (whichever is most cost-effective)
LSP: probably going to go with DG105 (per your recommendation)
Wheel Cleaner: not sure yet.....suggestions on a cost effective wheel cleaner? chemical guys has gallons of their premium blue wheel and rim cleaner for like $17....but shipping from them is killer.

 

thanks for the advice. i'll probably go with the DG105 if i snag this contract.