# Car valeting advice



## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

Morning

I need some advice from you experts. Its been a dream for a long time to start a valeting business. The business will be on site and not mobile (just yet) and it will be just me to begin with.

The dilemma I have is location. Would I be better going for a city centre location where people can leave their cars and go to work. This is the more expensive option. Or, rent somewhere out of town where people can drop them off and arrange their own transport? Im just not sure a lot of people would be willing to drop it off out of town. Eventually I will employ a couple more and provide a pick up and collection service. 

Any thoughts?

Thanks a lot


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2011)

glo said:


> Morning
> 
> I need some advice from you experts. Its been a dream for a long time to start a valeting business. The business will be on site and not mobile (just yet) and it will be just me to begin with.
> 
> ...


Hope this helps
http://www.detailingworld.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=9987&highlight=how+to+start+a+mobile+valeter


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## chillihound (Oct 17, 2009)

I think it would be fairly difficult to get people to drop the car off and then use public transport for example to go where they are going just for what most general public would deem a car wash.

Good Luck with the venture.


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## MirfieldMat (Mar 13, 2011)

if you get a suitable traders insurance, they can come to you, you can drive them to work, take the car back to yours, detail, take the car back to them and they can drop you back off at yours and settle the bill. i do that everynow and then when i have an all day job and would rather do it on my site (home) than in a carpark.


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## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

@MirfieldMat thats a good point actually I didnt consider that. Another issue is (and Im sure everyone here can appreciate this) is that I will be tempted to detail instead of valet on a £60 valet service. I need some way of blocking out my attention to detail. I think I will have to add extra options like paint correction and clay barring etc. 

I think I would feel guilty handing a car back with swirl marks despite the fact the customer is paying for a valet and not detailing...

I could try and convince them to leave the car with me to do a full correction job...:buffer:


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## Laurie.J.M (Jun 23, 2011)

glo said:


> @MirfieldMat thats a good point actually I didnt consider that. Another issue is (and Im sure everyone here can appreciate this) is that I will be tempted to detail instead of valet on a £60 valet service. I need some way of blocking out my attention to detail. I think I will have to add extra options like paint correction and clay barring etc.
> 
> I think I would feel guilty handing a car back with swirl marks despite the fact the customer is paying for a valet and not detailing...
> 
> I could try and convince them to leave the car with me to do a full correction job...:buffer:


I suffer from the same 'OCDish' urges and sometimes do more than i'm being paid to do and spend way too long on a job but that's just me. A full valet done to a really good standard can be classified as a basic detail so I just think of it like that. Blocking out the attention to detail thing is really difficult, when I do a full valet I basically clean the car to the best standard I can in the time allocated, by all means do things like claying and apply iron x to the wheels as it makes such a difference. I then polish using an all in one type product such as SRP (this can hide and reduce some of the marks so you don't notice them as much and feel compelled to remove them) and then add a coat of really good wax. If you stick to what your being paid to do and maybe go a little beyond what your being paid for occasionally and consistently work to a very high standard the money and customers will start to roll in and you'll gain more experience and before you know you'll be ready to take it to the next level and move into detailing and paint correction.


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Just remember - if you're gonna set up a valeting business where you carry out a simple wash & vac routine, although it's easy for people like us OCDer's to clean tooooo much, and apply wax etc., you need to keep asking if the cost of the valet is covering the extras you are buying, such as tyre gel and wax.

Just a thought :thumb:


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

there is also an element of building his name up so whilst customers numbers are low you could do that little bit more to get your name out there, 

good luck either way hard business to crack into it appears


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

glo said:


> @MirfieldMat thats a good point actually I didnt consider that. Another issue is (and Im sure everyone here can appreciate this) is that I will be tempted to detail instead of valet on a £60 valet service. I need some way of blocking out my attention to detail. I think I will have to add extra options like paint correction and clay barring etc.
> 
> I think I would feel guilty handing a car back with swirl marks despite the fact the customer is paying for a valet and not detailing...
> 
> *I could try and convince them to leave the car with me to do a full correction job*...:buffer:


Good luck with that.

If a customer pays for a valet then they should receive a valet. If you want to go a little bit extra then do so. I sometimes correct a small surface scratch or add a wax layer for free but no way woul I spend hours correcting a car when it is a valet.

Also, detailing is a market where a lot of people don't even know or understand what a swirl is and are not bothered.

A very hard market which is crowded and very hard to get into.

Good luck anyway


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

justina3 said:


> there is also an element of building his name up so whilst customers numbers are low you could do that little bit more to get your name out there,
> 
> good luck either way hard business to crack into it appears


Very true, but personally I feel that 'general Joe Public' couldn't really tell if the car had been polished after or washed in a decent shampoo and dried.

Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.....I think it could swing either way, and would settle for us both being right :wave:


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## justina3 (Jan 11, 2008)

Kriminal said:


> Very true, but personally I feel that 'general Joe Public' couldn't really tell if the car had been polished after or washed in a decent shampoo and dried.
> 
> Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong.....I think it could swing either way, and would settle for us both being right :wave:


nope i think your spot on i was thinking more along the lines of a maybe a wet vac to get the seats blinged up something that they would notice or similar. 
:wave:


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## Leemack (Mar 6, 2009)

I have had this before where a client had a £65 valet on an A4 Audi and said it looked better than when it left the showroom. 
Now I know full well that the car was still dirty because it felt like 1200 grit paper.

Whilst the customer was there I invited him to do the plastic bag test and he wanted to know how to make the paint smooth again and asked if I did resprays lol.
I showed him what clay did and he signed up for a stage 1 enahnacement detail and is now a regular top up contract.

Some people need to be shown as opposed to told


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## Kriminal (Jan 11, 2007)

Showshine said:


> I have had this before where a client had a £65 valet on an A4 Audi and said it looked better than when it left the showroom.
> Now I know full well that the car was still dirty because it felt like 1200 grit paper.
> 
> Whilst the customer was there I invited him to do the plastic bag test and he wanted to know how to make the paint smooth again and asked if I did resprays lol.
> ...


^ bloomin' top advice which'll rake in the money....I like it :thumb:


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## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks a lot guys, you are right though. Most people wouldnt know what a swirl mark was and if they actually saw one they would assume it was a brush stroke from the paint job.:lol:

Good point though Showshine. At least that way it'll open clients up to a whole new world of clean. I guess I could sell the extras as an option and until enquired about I will stick to valets.

Thanks for all the advice, quality stuff.


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## wish wash (Aug 25, 2011)

Valetings a hard thing to get into, especially with all these polak £5 wash n wax opening everywhere. I always see it as you get what you pay for. Still find it amusing when you see ferraris at the cheap hand wash's, just think to myself oh dearrrrr!!!!!!


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## David (Apr 6, 2006)

i used to go out my way a bit but 9 times out of 10 it was a quick "oh thanks" and nothing more, i just got fed up of essentially working for free - so now as showshine says - do only what the customer wants - but do it better than the rest

people might feel awkward if they've asked for a valet and come back to a full detail, they may feel you are expecting paid extra even if you say you don't want extra


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## glo (Feb 8, 2011)

Thanks guys, some good advice there. David youre right actually they wont even know what detailing is... thanks again all


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