I'm looking to possibly find a different vehicle and trying to cut down on gas consumption. What"s your ride that you use for mobile detailing and what's it getting? Who has the smallest vehicle that they successfully detail out of?
My GMC Savana was getting 10 -11mpg when I sold it. I work mostly out of my shop now but when I go mobile, I take my Jetta. I can easily put everything in the trunk. I don't do mobile work without a suitable venue so I don't need canopies etc. Jetta gets 30mpg.
If you are hauling water tanks, a 20 gallon+ compressor and a canopy maybe something like a Ford Transit? If you aren't carrying that kind of stuff something as small as a Honda Fit could easily work.
911, do you service any new clients and show up in the jetta for first time meeting customer? I'm concerned I would give off wrong impression. Obviously if its a regular client then they could probably care less. Sent from my Ally using Tapatalk
The most professional looking vehicle will be a van or truck/ trailer for sure. The most efficient set up is a van, for us here anyway as some lots are so narrow that a truck/trailer would block two driveways. I will be getting another van as soon as I figure out what I want. Caravans get 15mpg on average so not too bad. The full size vans are terrible, but if you get one a few years old in great shape that you can pay cash for, then the mileage isn't that big a deal. The Transit would be great, but up here they are $30k. It would be smarter to pay cash for a 5 year old van and have the lower fuel economy. All my work is repeat business or referral so the people aren't as concerned with what I drive as they would be if they had called a guy out of the yellow pages for example. I'm learning to be smart about what I carry so I can get into a smaller, more fuel efficient vehicle.
GMC Savanah here and like Ken, I'm getting about 11. I've looked at the transit and coming from the van, it just seems too small. Honestly, I don't know how someone could offer mobile service and not be self contained. I would hate for someone to call me out to an office and not be able to do the work bc i don't have a water tank, or generator. I only do mobile work so maybe its different for others but to advertise as "mobile" but then have to ask for the customer to supply water and electricity just doesn't seem right. if they offer it when i arrive then great, but I wont say I need it when I schedule the apt. Can you cut down on gas in other ways? multiple vehicles at one location only? more efficient scheduling (proximity from one apt to another)... I guess the first question is what does your business consist of? full time? mulitple apts in a day? maintenance washes? only detailing? there's a lot of factors
Right now I'm detailing part time. My ft career is Tues-Sat. What I've been doing a lot of is maintenance washes with usually some type of spray wax. Of course when I'm there I always try to up sell, time permitting. So I've been pushing people to book on Sunday or Monday (my days off) and knock them out one after another. Gas isn't my only concern, I'm also trying to cut down on other variable expenses. Thanks.
