First Client need a little input

[1f1fan]

Ok I have my first client that is not a close friend or relative. He lives ~ 20 miles away with a 2007 Silverado Crew Cab 1-ton; never worked on one of these and need a little help. (I'm waiting on the color and if it's garaged or not)

I'm going to do an express detail:
Paint, tires, wheels and wheel wells washed
Tires and wheel wells dressed
Glass cleaned
Exterior and interior vinyl and rubber cleaned and dressed
Carpets, floor mats and cargo area vacuumed and spot cleaned
Seats vacuumed, cleaned and conditioned
One step finish with Optimum PoliSeal via PC

No claying or machine polishing.

I'm thinking around 150-170?? Is this a good figure? I'm estimating around 3 hours for this job - sound right? Thanks guys.

[budman3]

I'm not sure what the going rate is in your area but that seems a little steep for no machine polishing or claying. But I guess that's only $50 / hour and if the customer is willing to pay, then good for you. It'll take atleast an hour to wash, another hour on the inside, and an hour of glass, Poliseal, trim, etc. So 3 hours would be pretty close...

[1f1fan]

Thanks for the reply Budman.

Maybe I'll tell him ~ $130-$140 and 3 hours total labor time. That should work out to be a good hourly price including travel time, gas and supplies.

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

I have quantified how long each process takes me to do based on vehicle size IE

wash
exterior,
clay,
wax/seal
1 step polish
2 step etc
interior vaccuum
etc
etcI then determined an hourly rate based on my geographic market including materials used, mileage etc.

From there it is a simple excel calculation and the guess work if removed from quoting

Hope this helps

[BlueZero]

One thing I think of with a truck like that... Is it a work truck? Might just have it to pull the family boat but if it's a work truck it will be a lot more work. I used to work for a construction company and those truck were bad, even when they were less than a year old.

Good luck and take some pics for us.

[1f1fan]

Jason,

Thanks for the tip. I'm still in the process of quantifying my process per vehicle size and costs of materials. I'll be keeping track of all my details to get more accurate quotes in the future.

BZ - I'm pretty sure his truck is more for recreation and not a work and garaged...but yeah that is something major to consider. I'll grab a camera before I go next week.

Thanks for the input guys.

[Deep Gloss Auto Salon]

Jason,

Thanks for the tip. I'm still in the process of quantifying my process per vehicle size and costs of materials. I'll be keeping track of all my details to get more accurate quotes in the future.

BZ - I'm pretty sure his truck is more for recreation and not a work and garaged...but yeah that is something major to consider. I'll grab a camera before I go next week.

Thanks for the input guys.


No problem and good luck on your first paid job!

[1f1fan]

Truck wasn't too bad. Interior was a snap and the PoliSeal application was very easy. Lost a little time on the wash, need a powerwasher. I took some pics but only a few came out well, finished later in the day and had a lot of shadows.

Total time from setup to cleanup was 4 hours - underbid the job a bit but with a little more hustle on my part I could have knocked it out 1/2 quicker.

Pics to come.