Have you thought of adding Headlight Repair to your auto detailing business? A new set of sealed beam headlights on a New Jeep Cherokee could run as high as $70, however your team can make money lightly sanding and coating these headlights with the Micro-Glass product in the Micro-Mesh Kit by Micro Surface Corporation. It is important for the detailing companies to constantly review such products, this innovation has propelled our team to come up with the solutions for our fleet customers and help us bundle services to compete against the other large vendors to these fleet companies. One company we compete with out of New Jersey does offer this service, but we do and we are able to use this to our advantage on bidding on fleet detailing work.
This is just one more way you can bundle services to provide a value added service to your customers. We have talked to managers of fleet wash companies and fleet detailing companies in their various markets. Some of these managers have told us they have been looking into doing headlight restoration, because their customers are now asking for the service. Many of the high-end to Auto detailing shops do offer headlight restoration using various methods. Recently with the floods that we’ve had in the United States, we have seen Auto auctions start to offer this service also. Generally the Auto auctions that we’ve seen do not know how to deal with sealed beams, instead they’re much better with none sealed beams, and by removing the lens and wiping down the inside and using glass wax they are able to make the lenses look transparent and therefore the car looks sellable as runs through the auto auctions.
One question that new entrants into the auto detailing, mobile automotive detail or mobile car wash business ask themselves is how do I get the training I need to succeed and please my clientele. Is there a detailing certificate I can get to show my customers? Will they ask me for such a thing to prove my abilities?
Personally having been in the mobile auto detailing and car wash business for some 27 years; I have never heard of anyone asking for proof of training or certification, if a customer did that, they are up to something, probably a competitor. Competitors do a lot of fishing, but are generally mentally inferior, lacking personal character and afraid.
Mobile Detailers are required to prevent water from entering a storm drain while washing and detailing cars. Most professional detailers know this but few understand where these laws came from. Here is the history behind where these laws and rules came from.
It all it all started many years ago when Congress passed the Federal Clean Water Act of 1972. This was in response to major pollution issues involving polluting the nation’s waterways from factories, strip mining and sewage treatment plants or lack thereof. It was actually quite a problem. It was an ecosystem disaster causing disease and death to wildlife and some people. When it was discovered just how bad the problem really was, the Federal Government empowered the states to take care of the issues within their state. The states enacted state laws to help fix the problem. Meanwhile, the Federal Government tightened standards forcing states to tighten their standards or be in violation. With the threat of withholding federal monies to the states, the state continued to make more and more laws. Industry obviously wasn’t happy and even government agencies were unable to comply. So, target dates were enacted to give time for everyone to comply. Overnight environmental consulting firms sprung up along with a whole new industry of environmental equipment and product manufactures, many of whom weren’t in compliance themselves.
Washing Your Car Regularly.. Why?
Aside from the obvious of having a car that looks great, car washing can protect the cars finish. Bird droppings and bug splatter can get to be real relentless at different times. Also air bourne contaminant( some we can’t even see), all wage a consistent and prolonged attack on your cars finish.
Each mobile car wash business needs to have in place BMPs or Best Management Practices, which are consistent with Regional and Local NPDES or National Pollution and Discharge Elimination System Permits. Although this sounds quite scary and impossible it is simple really. One thing I recommend to new entrants into the mobile carwash or auto detailing business is to have a set of BMPs and a manual ready in case an inspector inadvertently decides that you are violating local code or State Environmental Laws.
Below is an outline to assist you in drafting an operations manual for environmental compliance in your mobile carwash or Auto Detailing Business. Please feel free to print this outline and then modify it slightly to fit your regional variations of local environmental laws. Then put pen to paper to write about three or four paragraphs on each number and letter item. This will then become the basis for your operations manual and subsequent BMPs. It is essential that you have an environmental in place to insure you are not fined or cited for inconsistent environmental polices.
Many professional car care appearance specialists and auto detailing entrepreneurs ponder the benefits of a detail shop and the costs as opposed to the inexpensive mobile detailing option. One of the nicest things about setting up a fixed shop as opposed to a mobile one is that we can have more types of products available for special uses to insure the finest possible results in our work.
Fixed detail shops also allow us to set up a shop where we can move towards a more efficient platform and workspace. Much has been written on this subject. However the industry leaders have proven the test of time and continually update and innovate and of course we are the greatest recipients of their conquest to build the best possible and most efficient assembly style techniques. Bud Abrams invented a nifty all in one unit which dispenses all the products you use most, such as tire dressings, cleaners, wax, etc.. You may wish to check this out on his website: www.detailplus.com .
If you own a mobile car wash company or auto detailing firm sometimes the best clientele are companies, which are normally not sought by your competitors due to the stigma of their brand name. But I would advice such mobile cleaning service companies to re-consider such quick judgments and let me tell you why.
With Ugly Duckling and Rent-A-Wreck there is much work in washing and detailing for their car sales lots. As these companies expand we see much potential in the washing for them. For instance Ugly Duckling had our company in San Antonio TX wash all of their cars. They have several more dealerships in Austin TX to sell their used cars as well. Each lot has about 100 cars and takes about an hour to complete. Our team does had done an excellent job keeping them happy. Rent-A-Wreck also has Rent-A-Cars in Florida, California, Arizona and all over Texas in Dallas, Amarillo, Austin, San Antonio, Brownsville and Lubbock. Ugly Duckling has many locations and you can visit their web site to see if they are in your area.
Offer A Free Detail For Best Testimonial
If you run an auto detail business then you need to have a professional website. On this website Testimonials are important as they elevate you to the expert you are and also add credibility for the new customers. Most of your business is word of mouth, but often the new potential customer will look up your website to see if you are legitimate. How do you get the best testimonials?
Posted in General | Also tagged testimonials, website |
Many auto detailers say that the car washes with their quicken version of the complete auto detail; the Express Detail; has cheapened the auto detailing profession and is ruining the artistic value of today’s professional auto detailing experts. I tend to differ completely from this line of reasoning. Having been on both sides of the Industry for some 27-years, I take a more observational and rational view. Let’s discuss business and free market philosophy for a moment.
Saying that fixed site car washes have destroyed the meaning of the word ‘detailing’ may be true to some extent. Yet one must ask, “Did McDonalds destroy the definition of “breakfast” when it introduced the ‘Egg McMuffin’ in Santa Barbara, CA?” Comparing ‘express detailing’ with a complete detailing service is merely another apples and oranges issue. We as professional detailers realize that there is no comparison. Why does this make so many of us angry? Do we see it is as all those years of perfection being thrown out the window? We shouldn’t; do not look at it that way. Look at it as an incredible opportunity. Channel the frustration and anger into energy and perseverance.
The wear and tear of seemingly ordinary, day to day driving can take its toll on even the most cautious of drivers. Nicks, scratches, dents, chips, and the like, can etch the surface of your car like an acid, marring the pristine finish it had when you drove it off the lot. These unwanted (and yet inevitable) scars are the proud automobile owner’s nightmare, but can be easily remedied by way of the talents of a professional auto detailer.
Those long bouts of highway driving we are all subjected to from time to time, can be as frustrating for the drone of the open road as much as they are for the caked layer of insects which inevitably grace the hood, bumpers, windshields, and grills of a once clean car. It’s an annoyance most easily absolved through a thorough automobile detailing. A good auto detailer can polish, buff, and wax your car back into the condition you remember it, and the condition you deserve it to be in. Of course, you might say, professional automotive detailing is not a necessity, I can scrub and polish my own car, thank you very much.” But this can be a dangerous misconception. Using the wrong equipment, or using improper techniques, or unqualified persons to work on your car can actually do more harm than good.
It is recommended that you use a variable rotary buffer/polisher. Four ply buffing pads from Buff and Shine or 3M Company are the easiest to use in corner and angled surfaces. You may also use foam pads if you find those preferable and easier to use for yourself. After the boat has been thoroughly washed, properly tape off with a very high quality masking tape, the striping, the rub strip that runs along the hull of the boat, and any areas you feel may get hit by the polisher and make a blemish or mark. It actually saves time and you’ll be happy that you did it. It takes a few extra minutes but it is the proper way to buff a boat.
To begin the buffing on a cool clean surface, lay down a strip of compound and run buffer at a fairly high rate of speed between (1800 to 2500 rpm) to break the abrasives down and get a brilliant shine. As you finish the section that you are buffing, back off on the pressure as you start to see the compound disappear. You’ll get a higher gloss when you perform this properly. Imagine a grid pattern as you buff the hull, side to side, then top to bottom. This helps to ensure you don’t miss a spot. To get the product to work a little longer you can mist, distilled water only, on the product itself as you’re buffing. It will work a little bit longer and you can actually a little more gloss out of it. It will make the abrasives in it work just a touch longer. You can get some really nice results by doing this.
Posted in General | Also tagged buffing pads, tips |
Many auto detailers will recommend to not use pressure washers in auto detailing or mobile car washing. Recently this issue came up in an online question and answer session with “The Car Wash Guy” when he was asked by a Hawaiian inquirer the following question;
“Some of the people in the Auto Detailing or Mobile Car Washing business say it is unsafe to use a pressure washer and recommend washing by hand because they think pressure washing is to powerful and will eventually strip the paint. Is that true?”
Detailing Under the Hood correctly can bring in extra business for a Detail Shop, which often does wholesale detailing for new car dealerships with trade-ins or used car dealerships with a never-ending stream of hap hazardly detailed cars from the auto auctions. One thing many detailers do not pay enough attention to is the Battery Box, Battery, cables and terminals. When a car buyer looks under the hood and sees the battery is covered with greenish-white residue they are hardly impressed. When the car does not start either it is a little tough to sell. Also a light film of battery acid on the out side of the battery can be enough to cause a 2% negative charge and slowly drain the battery. You can get an extra ten dollars for a battery cleaning.
If you wholesale detail price is hovering around $65.00 you will find that for an extra $10.00 that most dealers are willing to pay for it. When customers come in on a retail level we often get $15.00 for battery and terminal cleaning. You do not need very many supplies to do this. A plastic terminal wire brush cleaner, a metal brush with a wood handle, air hose, safety glasses, one-half inch wrenches, loctite battery protector and sealer, an empty water bottle with a pot sip cap, one gallon container of distilled water, some solid gloves and some baking soda. A tray to lay your equipment on is also a good idea. If you do this on a retail detail advise the customer that they will need to reset everything afterwards. Clocks, etc.
However, if we adopt simple techniques such as cleaning out cars regularly and attending minor repairs immediately, the results can be remarkable.
Some car owners think rainwater is the only enemy to their car, but bird droppings, highway bugs, atmospheric pollution and road salt can also ruin the beauty of your car.
Posted in General | Also tagged automotive, car care |