Charity Car Wash

[Metallman56]

some good friends of mine decided to have a charity car wash for a little boy they know that has 2 different types of cancer. long story short parents had to quit there jobs to keep up with his chemo schedule. the bank repoed there car, now they cant get down to Indy (about 150 miles south of here) for the kids treatment. my friends start the car wash in hopes to raise enough money to buy them a reliable car to get there kid to Indy.

i spent a total of about 8 hours washing cars the past 2 weekends. i probably washed around 40-50 cars. no one really counted. i must say that i did not wash 1 car that had a good layer of wax on it. not one. not even the Lexus' that would come through. just an observation, but damn. is it laziness, or just plan ignorance? personally, i was happy none of them were waxed. made it a lot easier to dry, but come on people, not one car.

so whats my point on this? my point is based on what i've seen the past 2 weeks, there has got to be some serious money in the waxing department. if you can convince the owners how important it is to your cars paint to keep some protection on it, you can really get some business. i'm not thinking about opening a detailing company or anything, but it might be something i would consider on the side.

i hope my info can maybe help some of you earn some extra cash.

[coupe]

You can make some good money being a wash-n-wax jockey.
Its not for me though.

My washnwax's are still kinda pricey but i include claybarring, cleaner wax/AIO and then a pure wax or sealant. I also clean and dress wheel wells, rims, tires and all trim. You might spend more with me but you get more.

[Metallman56]

exactly. but if you wanted to go around and charge like $20 for just a hand wax, you could make millions. lol

[nascarnate326]

Ive got a buddy wax'n Fbodies up here and hes making a killing. Almost makes me want to learn how to do it properly.

[Metallman56]

i'm not talking about a hella major detail. i dont think most people would want that. i'm talking a bottle of Tech Wax, and a 10" buffer.

[notsoaveragej0e]

Thats a good point... washing peoples cars and dressing the tires and throwing some wax on there with a buffer is more than most people want/need, especially in Michigan where it rains and crap all the time... hmm....

[99blackSE]

personally, i was happy none of them were waxed. made it a lot easier to dry, but come on people, not one car.


I have found the opposite, always easier to dry when it IS waxed. Regardless, that is very kind of you guys to do such a thing for those people.

[coupe]

I just couldnt bring myself to do it. I absolutely hate waxing/sealing paint that hasent been claybared first. The wax/sealent always goes on crappy and comes off crappy when there are alot of contamination in the paint and in the end the paint still looks and feels awful. To make matters worse the wax/sealant you use wont last long and your customers will be like "dont go to that guy, his wax dont last more than a week" lol.
If i where to actually offer a wash-n-wax i would at the very least use a strong cleaner wax like megs colorX or megs #66. Then i would try to up-sale them on a pure wax or sealant over top of it. Hell even try to up-sale them on claybaring before doing the work, explain to them what it does and how beneficial it is. Hell even give them a demo on their fender or hood and physicaly show them.

[Metallman56]

I just couldnt bring myself to do it. I absolutely hate waxing/sealing paint that hasent been claybared first. The wax/sealent always goes on crappy and comes off crappy when there are alot of contamination in the paint and in the end the paint still looks and feels awful. To make matters worse the wax/sealant you use wont last long and your customers will be like "dont go to that guy, his wax dont last more than a week" lol.
If i where to actually offer a wash-n-wax i would at the very least use a strong cleaner wax like megs colorX or megs #66. Then i would try to up-sale them on a pure wax or sealant over top of it. Hell even try to up-sale them on claybaring before doing the work, explain to them what it does and how beneficial it is. Hell even give them a demo on their fender or hood and physicaly show them.

yeah, your probably right. never the less, i still think that the ignorance of paint care is something that one could really take advantage of. and i dont mean that in a bad way, i mean that there is a lot of money out there, cause people are ignorant. handle your customers any way you want, and i agree, that if they dont want total pain care, there is really nothing much a layer of wax can do, but explaining why to you might help you build up customer trust.

I have found the opposite, always easier to dry when it IS waxed. Regardless, that is very kind of you guys to do such a thing for those people.

i have found that on a car that isnt waxed, the water doesnt bead up, it just falls off the car. after we were done with the car wash, i washed my car. it took me a hell of a lot longer to try it. mainly cause there was a lot more water on it.

and thanks for the complenment, we were able to raise about $1,000 in 2 weekends. we had people just come up and give money without a car wash. very cool responce from the comunity.

Thats a good point... washing peoples cars and dressing the tires and throwing some wax on there with a buffer is more than most people want/need, especially in Michigan where it rains and crap all the time... hmm....

protecting there paint against the rain, and snow, would be one of my selling points. and i wouldnt dress the tires.

[Bryan]

What you guys did was pretty sweet. I'm glad you guys gotta good turn out along with some generous donations.

If you really show the owner the importance of protection and how much better you can make their paint look you definitely could make a few bucks.

[Nina]

How sweet of you guys. So did they get a car yet?

[notsoaveragej0e]

protecting there paint against the rain, and snow, would be one of my selling points. and i wouldnt dress the tires.

I guess, but I know a lot of people in my area lease expensive cars, and they quite frankly couldn't give a crap about the paint. they just want it to look clean for a week or two until the next car wash.

[Metallman56]

not yet. there calling local dealerships and seeing if anyone is willing to help the family out.

[Metallman56]

i guess how well you could do depends on where you live. around here, from what i've seen, its good pickens.

[coupe]

The trick is finding your target market, in your case it is wash-n-waxes. If there is a need then fill that need. Ive found that it is more important to market yourself rather than market your work. Your work will speak for itself so try and sell yourself to the market.

Always try to upsell though, i would charge a claybarring for $20 extra, dress tires for $10 extra, clean interior glass for $10 extra and so on and so on and so on. You might turn a $20 wash-n-wax into a $150 afternoon.

[nascarnate326]

It could be done, there's a place called Cope's Car Care on 28th st in Grand Rapids that does all kinds of paint/int cleaning/ tint and they stay pretty busy. Upsell, same thing we did at Best Buy, then a 1100 laptop turned into 1600 with printer, cords, ISP, and Geeksquad.

[coupe]

^^^I know that place, i wouldnt let them touch my paint. I can run circles around them but the average person would be happy with their work. An enthuisiast would be pissed.

[notsoaveragej0e]

Upsell, same thing we did at Best Buy, then a 1100 laptop turned into 1600 with printer, cords, ISP, and Geeksquad.

Why do you try to upsell when you're not making commission? If I worked there I would give them their laptop and say "see ya!"