Oh, and there is a little secret I've been working on...

All images are on my website - here


Process:

Wash
Clay
Prima Cut (in areas that needed extra attention)
Prima Swirl
Prima Amigo
Prima Epic
Black Wow on all trim
Degrease and Dress engine (pictures came out wierd on it, it is gloss black on all black areas, I don't know why it photographed as grey everywhere but on top)
Prima Clarity on windows

 

Again

How many times you got to do this? Is this never ending

 

He's just practicing, chowsie. I'm gonna fly him out to SD to do mine, and I need him to have perfected his..........services.

 

Hehe Well I'm a lot closer to him

Yo Jeremy, how much for the whole nine yards?

 

This is only the 2nd time I've done my MINI, the last time was March 19th, 4 months and 2 days ago . The Epic was still holding strong, but some swirls were coming through so I figured, why not, lets strip it and start over .

Its actually on the site...

Premium In-and-Out Package - $125

• Hand Wash
• Degrease Engine Compartment
• Clay
• Polish-out Clear-Coat Scratches
• Polish to Add Gloss and Depth
• Wax
• Dress Exterior Trim
• Vacuum Interior
• Dress Interior Trim
• Remove Stains from Floors, Floor Mats, and Seats.

Or, if you only want the exterior done,

Premium Exterior Package - $100

• Hand Wash
• Degrease Engine Compartment
• Clay
• Polish-out Clear-Coat Scratches
• Polish to Add Gloss and Depth
• Wax
• Dress Exterior Trim

 

I really AM going to have to fly you out here. Detail packages out here range from $279 - $400.

 

It sucks being on the RIGHT coast. The detailing market gets much less revenue. I hope to be able to increase my prices a bit, but since I'm just getting my feet wet in the market, I don't want to over price myself.

 

I know what you mean. Maybe it's because owners know that it'll probably rain in the next few days, spoiling a lot of the results. Since I moved temporarily to Central California three weeks ago, it's only rained once, and I've been able to keep up with my car's finish just by quick-detailing it on the weekends, which is a far cry from the last 14 years I've spent on the East coast.

 

Actually, that would be a tremendous deal since it would probably take about 10 hours to just do that one part If you could figure out how to get to it

 

jeremy- you need to get a better camera or work on your lighting or
something. your paint appears like it is still hazed.

are you breaking down the products all the way until it is almost dry?

 

I think the site you made is great. I've started to detail a few cars other then my own (real estate agents mostly), and it was nice to see what you're offering for the $. Its a great deal! Is it your own gig? Very cool. I'm charging $75 for clay/wax and full interior, but no polishing or anything like that (clients dont care for it). You are also a lot more skilled than I am!

I hope to be getting a PC in the spring, which should help!

 

jeremy- btw, not trying to offend you or anything.

im not going to sit here and tell you it looks awesome unless it really does to me.

 

Constructive criticism is always good. No point in telling someone its perfect if it isn't...looks great to me, but I'm still a detailing newb, so my 'eye' is developing. I recently swirled by hand and didn't get the results I would have liked due to the fact that I didn't break down the compounds all the way (hence there was a haze). Thats why I want a PC!

Note: I just looked at the pics again and I do see some sort of haze in a few spots. For all I know it might be a cloud from the reflection!

 

The paint really is haze free, I'll try to get out and take some more pictures today, if the clouds float away.

 

I think you're right- they're definitely clouds.

 

Great Job Jeremy !
Any plans for August 18th/19th ?

 

Actually, the 19th I'll be in Philly..still not CT, but closer if you want to drive down

 

If you just did this a little over 4 months ago I'm confused as to why you would need to use Prima Cut and Prima Swirl again? Shouldn't you have been able to skip those two and used Prima Finish instead? Granted, I'm new to the polishing aspect but those steps seem to me like they would be excessive now since they were just done 4 months ago??

 

oh, that would have almost worked out
19th is the NEMINI Summer Splash in Norwalk, CT.
I thought you might wanna come up for a job on the 18th, my SAAB needs lots of TLC and the MINI a wash. And on Sunday join the Splash

 

He may have used some 'softer' foam pads or something. Maybe it ran through a local carwash and got swirled?

 

The picture on your site of the red RX-8 reflected in the side of the MINI is a very good example of the amount of "orange peel" that's present even in a good-condition factory paint job.

Great results, Jeremy, although I agree that you need to try something different with the lighting for your pictures. Bright, direct sunlight is rarely a photographer's friend, especially when it comes to shooting glossy/shiny surfaces. Taking the pictures indoors, using some inexpensive studio lights with diffusers would probably make all the difference in the world.

Or, if you're mainly interested in some images for the main page of your site, you could spring for a professional product photographer to shoot one really nice set. We did that with some of my wife's glass artwork before I got my studio strobes, because art glass is notoriously hard to photograph well.

 

I can understand that, but I would think that any swirls should be light swirls and you shouldn't have to use the moderate and high abrassive compounds to remove them, it just seems like overkill. But then that could just be my inexperience with compounds.

 

I only used cut in certian areas, where I had some icky scratches on the door/front bumper. The reason I Swirled still is because although its only been four months, I have put about 6500 miles on my car in those 4 months. Thats quite a bit of road dirt on the paint causing swirls in the long run. And because of all the dirt put on, I found myself washing atleast once a week, if not twice. So the paint surely has seen some action between details. The Swirls wern't very too bad (as you can see in the before images), but for my OCD, it was bad enough

 

I think you prices are way too low, in my honest opinion. $125 for a full polish, and detail? After gas and supplies cost are figured in, you are going to end up making $10-$15/hr. If you are going to cut yourself that short, might as well just get a job behind a cashier that pays about the same (except not in the blistering heat).

I mean, I do not mean to sound harsh, but if you really want to be successful, I would try to set your prices to profit you about $30-$50/hour. If you start them out too low, you are going to get burnt out very quick.

Best of luck to you! I was in the same position you are in now about a year and a half ago, starting my detailing business www.windsorautodetail.com . It is a fun thing to do for people like us, who are looking for a fun job to make some decent money. I have lots of respect for people like Octane Guy who are able to do this for living, and are actually successful! I remember reading Octane Guy's posts a few years ago where he was like me, a MINI and a MINIature trailer, and now to see that he has his own shop, ect. ect. - VERY cool. Unfortunately, I doubt I will ever make it to that level. However, I found myself getting burnt out very quickly, especially in this Texas heat. I actually have my business up for sale now because I am relocating to Boston in August for college.


And one more thing, if you are looking for a fairly cheap advertising method, try the one I discussed on Autopia (very direct limited monthly mailings - with a personal touch). Also, try Google Adwords. I pay about $70 a month for Google AdWords, but have already profited well over a $1000 this month from this advertising method. For example, if you goto Google and type "Austin auto detail" report back and tell me what company is advertised at the top. You should see mine somewhere near the top.


Best of luck to you! Let me know if I can help you get off your feet in any way.

 

I don't plan on keeping my prices where they are very long, only a couple of months, so I can get my name out there, then slowly bump them up until I am in competition with the 'big boys' in the area. Probably keep the prices where they are for returning customers on their 2nd detail, but from there on, they will also have the increased rate.

Richard is most definatly in a leauge of his own. Good luck on the sale and relocation to the East Coast .

I actually already began the process of the advertising method you suggested over on autopia, I have the list, now just have to make my way to the post office. AdWords eh', that might be a possibility. BTW, you were sponsored link #2 in my search .

Thanks a bunch! When things start rolling (if they do, I'm hoping atleast) I'll probably be PMing you a bunch