It was 112 today, and my A.D.D. kicked in while working...

[Scott Stone]

I was working today, and it was a bit on the warmish side. Sometimes when that happens my A.D.D. will kick in to soothe the pains.
This is what I was thinking about today.

What if a guy was going to go into Detailing big. He wanted to be mobile, and so he has a trailer custom built. Each side slides out the length of the trailer, which would be about 30 feet long, there would be a car lift on the back, similar to the Lifts used by the NASCAR Teams, and you would pull a car into it to do a full detail. It would be lighted exceptionally well. The floor under teh car would be an open grate design, so that any wash water would be captured, and contained for disposal. There would be a full RO setup for the wash water, as well as Air, and Generators, and Air conditioning to make it more comfortable to work in. The goal would be to only do the high end details, preferably, the details of $400 to $500 dollars a whack.

So what do you think, and what would you add?


Scott Stone

 

[Grant]

Are Suburbans an extra $2.00 like my local car wash?
Do you give a discount for MINI Coopers?

Sounds like a lot of work and how many details can you sell at $400+ a pop? I think your ROI would be very long.

 

[thebigjr]

I do that now, just without the fancy trailer and I do it at half your price.

If a person can afford a 400 dollar detail then he probally has more than one car and he a easily leave his car at a Detail shop.

Besides if your charging 400-500 bucks then you have to be doing something better than the next guy (like me) at half your price. If your going to do a better job it takes TIME!!!. Would you rather have 1 detail at 400.00 or 3 details at 150-200 bucks in a day? And there are alot more people willing to pay 150-200 than 400.

If you are thinking about mobile detailing, get in to it quick, competition is coming on strong in detailing. In Miami for example you can get a full in and out detail for about 50-70 dollars at just about any corner gas station.

PS: I would add a big screen tv and a couch to my dream detail rig

 

[booyaa]

There are some who would consider your idea a byproduct of heatstroke instead of ADD, but I think it's pretty cool. I've had ADD and dyslexia all my life. The dyslexia was the hard one to get past, but now I just have trouble mainly with numbers.

There's a guy in your town doing land office business in high end detailing. His basic wash of a standard size car i.e. a Honda Accord is $30.00. His details are broken down by areas of the car i.e. Complete Interior is $129.95, Complete Exterior $159.95 & up.
It's to much to type here but you can opt for the Mini, Standard, or Basic Details. He also offers Acrylic Sealant Protection or Teflon Sealant Finish for of course an added charge. This guy gets $10 & up to clean each wheel thoroughly. His price list and description of services is impressive, and he offers a 100% money back gaurantee on everything they do.

I detail cars, vans, pickups, buses, or 10 wheelers every single day of the week and feel that I'd rather do less for more. Every vehicle that you do is different and I'm not gonna argue with the guys who wash, throw a coat of wax on, wipe down the interior, then call it a detail. To each his own. There's a helluva lot more to detailing a vehicle than that (in my opinion). Also, it can be done pretty quickly if you know what you're doing and have the right chemicals and equipment. Everybody has their own system.

I liked your idea of having an RO System onboard with the floor being grated and waste water going to the bottom. You could replace that horn chain above your head with a control to empty your waste water. Get that baby going 70 mph on a Az Highway on a 112 degree day and pull the cord!! That water would be steam before it ever hit the blacktop.

 

[thebigjr]

Hey Booya,

How long does it take you to do a FULL detail?
What do you charge?
What do you charge for a Big Semi truck?

It takes me(just me) about 3 hours.
Wash
claybar
wax
wheels and wheels wells
full interior including carpet shampooing w/extractor.
For about 175.00

larger SUVs and extreamly dirty cars cost more.