GolfGTIforum.co.uk
General => Detailing => Topic started by: two in the goo on 08 April 2010, 19:52
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just started valeting as a bit of a sideline and was wondering how long it takes a professional to do it ...
what i do
wash
clay bar
wash again
polish including all door jams
two coats of hd wax
polish windows inside and out
hoover inside
leather condition seats
polish dash and all trim
all this is taking me 3.5 - 4 hours can just do two in a day . how does this sound?
clean wheels and tyres
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If your charging £50-60 a car then thats not bad ... i'd do that on my saturdays and sundays if I had a constant supply of 4 cars every weekend!
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depends what the client wants... i can usually do a full in and out in 2 hours
but claying, polishing etc take a bit longer and don't come as standard :wink:
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yeah im charging £50 for this which i thought was quite good
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When you say Polish - what are you actually doing ?
A machine polish with paint correction normally takes me a full day ! :shocked:
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no mate just apply by hand ,maguiars polish and hd wax not doing paint correction until i get insurance. im only doing it for a while as ive just been made redundant :cry:
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if its just bog standard valeting 3 to 4 motors a day, used to do that on a daily basis when i was at volvo having the life sucked out of me by the very fussy boss, mobile valetings different and a pain if you've not got all the motors in one place. 2hrs at a good standard is the norm really, as guy said it also depends on what the customer wants done, and again as guy said claying,polishing,correction work is extra extra read all about it :grin:
valeting for me now is like a warm up compared to a full paint correction and protection :wink:
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if its just bog standard valeting 3 to 4 motors a day, used to do that on a daily basis when i was at volvo having the life sucked out of me by the very fussy boss, mobile valetings different and a pain if you've not got all the motors in one place. 2hrs at a good standard is the norm really, as guy said it also depends on what the customer wants done, and again as guy said claying,polishing,correction work is extra extra read all about it :grin:
valeting for me now is like a warm up compared to a full paint correction and protection :wink:
:grin: :grin:
i also found that putting in that extra work a lot of the time isn't worth it for non-regular 'normal' punters as they don't give a damn and for their regular washes will just use sponge bob supermarket pants so you work will go straight down the drain
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if its just bog standard valeting 3 to 4 motors a day, used to do that on a daily basis when i was at volvo having the life sucked out of me by the very fussy boss, mobile valetings different and a pain if you've not got all the motors in one place. 2hrs at a good standard is the norm really, as guy said it also depends on what the customer wants done, and again as guy said claying,polishing,correction work is extra extra read all about it :grin:
valeting for me now is like a warm up compared to a full paint correction and protection :wink:
:grin: :grin:
i also found that putting in that extra work a lot of the time isn't worth it for non-regular 'normal' punters as they don't give a damn and for their regular washes will just use sponge bob supermarket pants so you work will go straight down the drain
you can figure out who appreciates your graft and the people who are just lazy and like you said will just use the polacks down the supermarket when your not available.
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3 hours used to be my norm. When I was into valeting many moons ago I could do 8 cars with a mate, I'd also go a buy a dull looking 10 year old car, shine it up and usually make about £400. I did eight one year and spent 3 weeks in the carribean enjoying the fruits of my labour. If you into machine polishing and like need mules to work on investing a couple of grand buying the right car from an auction aint a bad idea...
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so how much should i charge if i cut out the clay and wax and just stick to interior and polish outside, as ive got a rangerover sport to do next week .
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do a bit of market research around your area, ring a load of valeters say 4 to 8 different companys and get a quote for the vehicle in question and that will give you an average of what people are charging in your area. prices up and down the country vary quite alot due to location and type of service offered etc etc.
if that was in my area id be charging around £100+ mk due to the size of it and the amount of stuff that will be used on it etc etc but joe bloggs in another area could only be charging say£70/80.
quoting is really difficult when your not seeing the car first, ive had situations where ive quoted then got to the job and found myself right up against it because the car was an absolute shed when the customer said "oh it only needs a quik flick over its not that dirty" and it needed easily 1.5/2 hrs extra spent on it.
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is there anywhere that does coarses in paint correction or do you just learn through experience?
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a coarse would be of very good benefit to anyone whos just starting out and doesnt know the techniques etc once you've done a coarse then its a case of refining what youve learnt, and youll gain experience as you go along.
definatly do a coarse first though dude as messing someones paint up through bad/inexperienced technique will be expensive.
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is there anywhere that does coarses in paint correction or do you just learn through experience?
i am doing one on sunday... i will let you know what it is like
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for me probably about 16 hours but thats on my own car and involves this method
pre-rinse
wash
rinse
semi-wash [before claying]
claying
full wash
dry
tape the car up
polish [ swirl removal ]
wax
wheel cleaning
bumper dressing
cleaning windows extern
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hoover
dash wipes
duster
cleaning windows inside
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for me probably about 16 hours but thats on my own car and involves this method
pre-rinse
wash
rinse
semi-wash [before claying]
claying
full wash
dry
tape the car up
polish [ swirl removal ]
wax
wheel cleaning
bumper dressing
cleaning windows extern
--------
hoover
dash wipes
duster
cleaning windows inside
do a full wash before you clay... you don't want to be picking up more contaminates that you need to, you should only be lifting bonded contaminates with clay
doing a wash after clay shouldn't be too much trouble as the paint will be a lot smoother
i'd bring your wheel clean forward to the first wash stage... what if you got wheel cleaner on your trim/paintwork?
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for me probably about 16 hours but thats on my own car and involves this method
pre-rinse
wash
rinse
semi-wash [before claying]
claying
full wash
dry
tape the car up
polish [ swirl removal ]
wax
wheel cleaning
bumper dressing
cleaning windows extern
--------
hoover
dash wipes
duster
cleaning windows inside
do a full wash before you clay... you don't want to be picking up more contaminates that you need to, you should only be lifting bonded contaminates with clay
doing a wash after clay shouldn't be too much trouble as the paint will be a lot smoother
i'd bring your wheel clean forward to the first wash stage... what if you got wheel cleaner on your trim/paintwork?
Sorry I did mean a full wash before the clay.
Only reason why I usually do wheels later is to fit the polish etc in in 1 day as the original rims on the mk2 take so long to do them properly. I have now resorted to using a toothbrush as no wheel brushes iv used can reach the ends :sad:
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I used to spend less than two hours cleaning my car.
After going on these car forum, its getting longer and longer. I think it will get worst as I am planning to buy a polishing machine. The last time I clean my car over the back holiday weekend, it took me 7 hours! :embarassed:
It's a worrying trend!
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you should be doing one long session every so often... and then 'maintenance' washes inbetween :wink:
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thanks for all the help dan and yes if you could let me know how it goes on the coarse guy that would be great