So I just somewhat stumbled into the detailing... I never really planned on it. I was outside washing my car one day... and trust me, she needs a real detail, swirl marks, bad paint all around, but clean, she looks good.. from a distance. Anyways, I was cleaning my car, and my dads gf comes home with her friend... They both thought my car look amazing and wanted me to do theirs... so I did the following weekend.. Dads gf is a 2009 CLK350 and her friends was a 2010 328i.. Neither one of em really had any bad swirling.. I couldnt fix it if I wanted too.. never used a buffer.. but I treated their cars like mine and they came out amazing.. Spotless inside and out, and thats hard when the BMW was full of little dog's hair... blah.

I didnt tell them I was gonna charge them but they both threw 50 bucks my way for 2 hours a car... All I did was...
Wash with Meguirs Gold using a 3 bucket method
Cleaned Rims/Wheels/Wheel wells with Purple Industrial Cleaner
Cleaned Windows/Mirrors (in and out) using Windex streak free
Vaccumed interior and washed floor mats, cleaned door jams
Used Meguires Interior Super Shine and Protectant wipes on about everything.
Meguires Back to Black on trim and tires.

Unfortunately no pictures, I dont own a camera.. but thinking about investing in this oppotunity cause they already been telling all their friends.. and I have a possible 6-10 cars just lined up.. for what I just consider a "good in and out wash"

Like I said, look for some helping with pricing.. cause Im strongly considering picking up a buffer/gear, foam gun, and a hotair car dryer.. hate using mft.

 

Be ready to spend a bare minimum of $500 in chemicals/equipment to start off.

I charge $40 for a wash (Ecosmart complete detail)/interior vacuum and wipe down. Most people will just make it $50 with the tip.

 

500 including a buffer, dryer, chems... seems bout right..

What do you do on the exterior of the Ecosmart detail?

 

I started small, still no buffer yet but my prices reflect what I do. I think I invested around $100 initially and most of that lasts about 6 cars... you will have to buy some stuff here and there I've found out. I start out pricing at $60 for a wash and wax and top out at around $120 to $200 for full exterior detail(this is on bigger vehicles). I break it down by different "packages" because not every client cares to spend that much. I'm new but learning as well. This forum is very helpful for sure

 

what do you include in your full exterior detail.

 

I went to staples and made 100 business cards for 20$ I don't detail I just do headlight restoration by hand materials usually cost me 13$ for 3 cars I charge 50 per car and have had over a dozen customers in less than 30 days all I did was put the business card in the drivers window and a few flyers @ walmart and grocery stores

 

My full exterior at the moment is hand wash, clay bar, polish and top it off with a sealer wax. Wheels and tires and exhaust all get cleaned up as well. Basically if it's visible it gets cleaned

 

Polish and sealer by hand or orbital?

 

vistaprint got 500 for under $10

 

I charge per condition of vehicle and the result the customer is looking to get. If they want their car washed an waxed it's $60. If they want it to polished to look like a mirror it's $35 a panel depending on condition or how many passes I will have to make. Whichever way they choose to go, from top to bottom and inside and out it will be clean. Anything on the side ( engine bay, headlight resto

 

Oops /\. The extras are ala carte. $40-50 additional.

 

how much did you pay for your equipment?

 

I am still paying.... I keep getting more stuff all the time . I have the 7424 with 20 different pads, numerous bottles of polish. A few different waxes, ect. Microfibers out the yin yang. Brushes for wheels, interior and engine. Clay, QD, shampoos, ect. I'm in for around $1200. But I have a really good selection of different products to try on many different vehicles.

 

Ha you sound like me.

 

/\ that's funny, I really stopped counting cause it's driving my wife crazy as to how much stuff I have. She doesn't complain about her truck being clean though. She did buy me three cabinets for all my supplies. It's addicting after awhile. But my stuff is always clean and I get complimented on it often.