# Got asked to 'valet' a car, what would you do?



## NissanMan (Aug 24, 2010)

My mechanic mate buys and sells a few motors, he has a people mover he wanted cleaned, chat was by text so trying to explain the differences between detailing properly and a valet was impossible.

I have seen the car and its a mess in and out, he wanted a wash, outside and clean wheels, wet and dry interior and door panels, clean plastics, how much would i want he asks. How much does your regular valeter charge i ask, something like this 40 quid was the reply.

Told him i wouldnt even get my cleaning stuff out for that, said i could do what he wanted, wash it, load a bit of polish on my rotary and do the whole car in 15 mins, show the inside what George looks like then give it back to him, but still not for 40 quid!

I dont do this for a living and dont think i could do a half arsed job, it either gets the works either interior or exterior. What do you pros do? give it a wash and a coat of wax and if they are happy with tar and swirls then so be it?


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

I'd do it for £40
Money is money :thumb:


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## m00k (Mar 22, 2007)

Car dealers just want a bit of shine 

I'd wash and if splattered wi noticeable tar remove that... quick srp by hand and a wax, dress plastics and tyres and give the interior a once over... that should suffice? a good 3-4 hours work maybe for £40 minus some chemicals costs, wudnt be too bad for some tax free funding!!


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## morganste (Jan 6, 2008)

id take that for 40 big ones in my back pocket.

tell him £60 and see what he says ha!, he'll only make it back on the price of the car anyway.


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## ianFRST (Sep 19, 2006)

id do it for £40 too.

id only spend 2, 3 hours max on it. do what he wants. are a pro detailer? is valeting below and under your standards? :lol:

it does make me laugh sometimes this place  :lol:


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## R0B (Aug 27, 2010)

2 hours 20 quid an hour whats to question about this job ?


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## tom-225 (Aug 30, 2009)

Yeah mate, £40 for a quick valet is fine. get it clean thats all he wants. run round it with a mitt and go over it with a QD on the outside and give the inside a tickle with APC and a hoover. 

he aint looking for a detail. id say this will take 2hours tops.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

R0B said:


> 2 hours 20 quid an hour *whats to question about this job *?


plenty, obviously :lol:


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## AAD44H (Apr 12, 2012)

Go for it, can't complain it money!


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## Grizzle (Jul 12, 2006)

£40 is fine and will take you 2-2.5hrs.

wash, clean wheels.

Hoover interior, shampoo upholstery, clean all plastics and vinyl, dress plastics and vinyl, clean glass, clean door checks and door jams, squirt of airfreshner job done.


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2011)

Mate £40.00 what more could you ask wash it use a AIO by hand dress plastics and tyres hoover inside and that job done 3-4 hours easy


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## Zetec-al (Feb 28, 2011)

I'd do it for bloody £20 in this day n age! Work is work and money is money!


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## sean20 (Jan 17, 2011)

iv started doing a few valets on the weekends and and i always ask the customer exactly what do they want and arrange a price if theyr happy with the price they get what they pay for 

i do finde it hard some times doing a valet instead of a detail as i know i can get it to a better level 
iv also had someone wanting a polish on a car that wasnt worth it and i advised them that but they wanted it done and was happy to pay for it so thats what they got.

for £40 id do it


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## Turkleton (Apr 18, 2010)

I'd be happy with £40 for it


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## dcj (Apr 17, 2009)

NissanMan said:


> I dont do this for a living and dont think i could do a half arsed job, it either gets the works either interior or exterior. What do you pros do? give it a wash and a coat of wax and if they are happy with tar and swirls then so be it?


Hes not asking for a half arsed job is he? He hasnt asked you to polish it,no mention of dressing interior plastics or windows. Or havent you put that in as it was a half arsed post?


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## lisaclio (Sep 6, 2008)

£40 for a quick was and polish!! i'll do it!! BUT if somebody said "why would i pay that much for a wash when i can get one for £5 down the road!!" then i would be offended.


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## m00k (Mar 22, 2007)

most of his potential customers wont know difference in a valet and a detail and i doubt there'll be too many taking it home to caress with snow foam, 2 buckets, sheeting, drying towels and the likes... dont get too attached to doing the ultimate job everytime...

give him £40 worth 

Used to do mobile valets for people and charged £40 to come and do it and it was defo a tidy wee earner, this was back about 4-5 years ago when fuel was reasonable and i had a cheap passat tdi to run about in

if i got offer from a dealer for £40 a car now i'd snap at it for a fw hours work each vehicle


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## Bkjames (Sep 13, 2006)

I would do it for £40 3 hours work tops easy money don't even have to use your best expensive products either easy £40 i reckon 

Brian


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## greenwagon (Dec 31, 2008)

Would do it for £40 too 
Nice little earner for something I would enjoy doing


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## Lloydy (Jan 13, 2009)

Wash
dry
SRP
wax
trims
Hoover
Make it smell good

spend £40 on beer


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## rallyman1978 (Aug 8, 2007)

I did a 20 hour correction on the dragon-in-laws car for a crate of Guinness once 
I'd happily take 40 sheets for a couple of hours work - would be like making 70 quid in the real (read tax and NI paying) world


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## nick.s (Dec 21, 2009)

Do it!

Getting any form of recompense for doing something you enjoy is win win if you ask me!


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## mjh760 (Dec 6, 2011)

No brainer for me to I'm afraid, £40 is £40 in this day and age, easy dollar for 3hrs work. I did a range rover at the weekend for a mate and that was £70, he just wanted it "Valeting" so that's what he got, I think that a lot of people don't get the difference between detailing & Valeting and for me in IMHO am finding it difficult to get across to people that detailing is the longer fix to making there ride pop, put if they want a valet that's what they get. I do find it difficult not to do other things that I am seeing when working on a vehicle but they not paying for it so it's not getting done!! 

Anyway take they £40 and spruce it up!!!


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## srod (Dec 31, 2010)

Take the £40 and wheel the car down to a £5 hand-wash station! 



rallyman1978 said:


> I did a 20 hour correction on the dragon-in-laws car ...


:lol:


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## [email protected] (Apr 28, 2011)

rallyman1978 said:


> I did a 20 hour correction on the dragon-in-laws car for a crate of Guinness once
> I'd happily take 40 sheets for a couple of hours work - would be like making 70 quid in the real (read tax and NI paying) world


yeah i got my mother in laws insinga to do when i get my new house with the garage lol


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## dekerf1996 (Sep 9, 2008)

Be careful here, just allocate time carefully and stick to it.

Hoover and clean interior

Wash and dress outside

Clean all the windows too

No polish or wax, unless he asks and pays for

Should be good enough for a quick sale of the car, customers won't be too fussy like us lot!!! 

Never know, could lead to regular work....


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## Ronnie (Nov 15, 2006)

Do you do detailing for a living/serious hobby? if so I could see your problem as it would be taking up a slot where you could be making more money. But I have to admit even at that as said money is money. I did a £40 valet on a customers car last week and to be honest would never thing that sort of work is below me. I started by buffing dodgy second hand motors for a back street trader nearly 20 years ago.. I do laugh at a few detailers over here. Some will not touch interiors and farm them out to other people then just finish the work themselves. I also know of one who wont touch wheels if they are dirty! Nice if you can get the work but TBH the £40 jobs are far and away more profitable than the 80 hour mammoth correction jobs we do.

If you think its beneath you and wont put 100% effort into it then I would not bother as there is nothing worse than a half baked job. But f you like detailing and want to improve your techniques then take the £40 and if it takes 8 hours to do and you learn something then its a bonus. Thats how I personally look at it.


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## Adrian Convery (May 27, 2010)

It will take you no more than 2 and a half hours I would imagine, there are products designed for quick jobs like this, you can easily get a wash, de tar, dry and quick protection like tough coat done in an hour, then the rest spent on interior and exterior glass and plastics. 

If the car is already in bad condition then does the owner really care about swirls, you could skip steps like snow foam and just do a rinse and 2BM which would likely make no brave difference to the swirls, you could spray a pre cleaner on the lower dirty panels if you are going to be protecting after anyway.

You also said he is a mate, and a mechanic, my sisters boyfriend is a mechanic, I do detailing work for him and teach him a few things and in return he is good to me when I need mechanical advice or to go look at a car etc. The £40 would be a bonus for you if he scratches your back when you need anything done?


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## pee (Apr 6, 2009)

Ive done this before and would do it again. I just wish more people would ask me to do their car lol


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## trv8 (Dec 30, 2007)

srod said:


> Take the £40 and wheel the car down to a £5 hand-wash station!


Wouldn't get much repeat work though .


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## alan_mcc (Oct 28, 2008)

If you don't take the job I will. You have the products already anyway. :thumb:


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## cubed (Feb 25, 2012)

for £40 i'd do a snow foam, turtle wax wash, and dry. thats it. no wax/polish.


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## OvlovMike (Jul 19, 2011)

Jesus, the number of people who get a bucket and a washmitt for Christmas and then believe this entitles them to £250 a car...

I washed, vacced, shampooed, dressed, de-tarred and AIO'd an Insignia estate for 20 tins of Carling. I'd have taken £40 without even blinking. There are people on here who corrected cars for a ton to get their name out there...


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## President Swirl (Oct 23, 2011)

If he's a mate then go for it. If the job turns out to be a pain in the ****, then he may give you a drink from the profits. Yes, for all that work it's low money, but i did a 2 stage correction on my friend's Passat for sweet f.a . You may get more work from it for an amount that makes it worth your while.


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## Sirmally2 (Feb 28, 2011)

£40... Awesome. Ive done enhancements with full interior for that. £40 would be a quick quids in!


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## Andrew125 (Apr 2, 2012)

£40 is £40, its not your profession so it's all a bit of bunce and will pay for a nice meal out. I think it would be fair to make sure that the car dealer knows what he is going to get for his £40 and that he doesn't have huge expectations or expect a finish that may take a professional detailer 1-2 or even 3 days. Just cover the bases and make sure you are both singing from the same Hymn sheet.

If once you have done a few for him and he is happy, then maybe talk about upping the anti but include a more thorough service..however the more that you charge the more professional you will need to be and you would be expected to correct any or all paint defects and any damage or dreaded strike throughs that come about due to machine polishing. Every pro will I imagine hold liability insurance to cover every eventuality..so the more you charge the more the customer will expect.

Good luck.


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## woodym3 (Aug 30, 2009)

Go for it mate, if you dont, somebody else will.


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## Turbo Tony (Mar 20, 2012)

I'd do it in a heartbeat. If it leads to repeat business - £40 for 3hrs or so detailing? Easy money.


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## georgeandpeppa (May 25, 2009)

I done my mates TT for that!! And only cause he forced the money in my pocket, two stage correction, finished with BOS, the experence gained, priceless lol


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## walker1967 (Sep 12, 2010)

If its a people carrier take at least 50 bangers they things can take 3+ hours once he sees the finished result he will see the money was well spent and you might get more work from him


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## georgeandpeppa (May 25, 2009)

Turbo Tony said:


> I'd do it in a heartbeat. If it leads to repeat business - £40 for 3hrs or so detailing? Easy money.


We should team up and clean out everyone at work out:lol: This time next year will be millionaires!!


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## alfajim (May 4, 2011)

find out exactly what he expects of you for 40 quid.
some people are over the moon with a clean car, regardless of how long you've spent on it. a bit of qd with make it shine like a new penny.


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## jay_bmw (Jan 28, 2010)

cubed said:


> for £40 i'd do a snow foam, turtle wax wash, and dry. thats it. no wax/polish.


Well them polish car wash places best watch out for you, seriously gonna be stealing their buisness with that attitude.

OP - £40 is beltin, i've done mates cars full on DA'ed & nearly a full detail for as much as some lunch and a beer, it gets me practice, some good banter & i think if you do favours for others , they'll be retuned to you in some way or another :wave:


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## vtaylor78 (Feb 21, 2012)

georgeandpeppa said:


> We should team up and clean out everyone at work out:lol: This time next year will be millionaires!!


Sorry to hijack the thread, but do you think we'll stay up mate.?
Cmon u Superhoops, 
Vince Northampton.


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## NissanMan (Aug 24, 2010)

Ronnie said:


> Do you do detailing for a living/serious hobby? if so I could see your problem as it would be taking up a slot where you could be making more money. But I have to admit even at that as said money is money. I did a £40 valet on a customers car last week and to be honest would never thing that sort of work is below me. I started by buffing dodgy second hand motors for a back street trader nearly 20 years ago.. I do laugh at a few detailers over here. Some will not touch interiors and farm them out to other people then just finish the work themselves. I also know of one who wont touch wheels if they are dirty! Nice if you can get the work but TBH the £40 jobs are far and away more profitable than the 80 hour mammoth correction jobs we do.
> 
> If you think its beneath you and wont put 100% effort into it then I would not bother as there is nothing worse than a half baked job. But f you like detailing and want to improve your techniques then take the £40 and if it takes 8 hours to do and you learn something then its a bonus. Thats how I personally look at it.


If i said 'beneath me' then that was a poor choice of words. I could give it a quick once over like the majority here say to do, and say it could lead on to more work. Im a self employed carpenter and my prices have been hit hard too, but the said 40 sheets is not worth getting out of bed for, i can stay at work an hour longer to earn that, or go in on saturday and earn 4x that.

Now if it was his car as he will probably be part of the family shortly, then i would give it the works fo fook all. Im sure i could use it to improve my technique but have been correcting boats and cars for quite a few years now, and for the average detailer can achieve a full correction on all the paint and gel coat i have come across.

It just would feel odd to polish something that is in no state to polish, a bit like how i used to be back in the 80's as i knew no better 

Those that reckon it can be done in 2 hours are welcome to it, the interior has been used by the mechanics and lets say there is a bit of oil on just about every surface, i know even on a regular car that has a few stains to wet and dry a 7 seater wont be done in an hour, even a stain free one with dog hair and a regular dry vac will take a good hour, wheels are alloy and badly pitted as they have never been washes, paintwork is going flat as its never washed, or gets to see a car wash, same goes for the glass, its the type that you wipe a mf over and get a load of nicotine on your clean cloth

Im just saying there is a wash and a wash, i couldn't fit a kitchen for someone and just slap it in because they want a cheap job, i either do it properly or not at all:thumb: I guess the fact i don't need the work was the reason for the post, more a case of what the pros feel like when waxing a car while all the time feeling the gritty contamination on the surface and swirls smiling back at them while knowing this is all the customer wants, i would have the urge to crack the machine out all the time and think bugger it :buffer:


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## georgeandpeppa (May 25, 2009)

vtaylor78 said:


> Sorry to hijack the thread, but do you think we'll stay up mate.?
> Cmon u Superhoops,
> Vince Northampton.


No lol!!!!! Bad bad run in, fingers and toes crossed though!!!!!
Sorry op:thumb:


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## james_death (Aug 9, 2010)

Ive spent 7 hours on a car before for £45 for wifes friend, happy to do it enjoyed it, didnt expect payment and she keeps the interior so much better now i only spend about 20 mins inside it now when i do it every 8 months or so...:lol:

She insisted paying so goes to more products....:thumb:

Was tempted to buy her some cheap rubber matts....:lol:

Then again that was a friends personal motor and not anyone dealing that would be another matter.


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## Scott_VXR (May 22, 2011)

Do it :thumb: 
Me and my mate did a machine polish, glaze wax...bla bla bla 
We got 50 quid between us....learned a fair bit on the way though  :thumb:


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## carrera2s (Jun 28, 2009)

Valeter where I do work does the staff cars every 2 weeks. All small newish cars and each one is washed and dryed, vacumed out and glass cleaned. Does each one in 30mins and gets £15 per car
Watched him and he is quick and does a descent job!!


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## Garybmw320d (Mar 22, 2012)

It sounds like job worth more than 40 sheets, but I suppose it's what you value your services to be worth... All those that do friends cars for peanuts would you do it for a business that you know is out to make money?


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## BellUK (Mar 12, 2012)

£40.00 is fairly cheap considering the prices people are willing to spend nowadays, for that price I would do the following no less no more;

Wash 'N' Wax
Glass and Door Shuts
Glass and Mirrors Buffed
Dress Tyres
Vacuum upholstery
Ashtrays, door bins emptied and cleaned, remove any rubbish
Dress plastics and trims as appropriate
Interior fresh
Buff bodywork

Personally that's what you would get off me for that price. :thumb:


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## mike13098 (Jan 21, 2012)

£50 would be ideal to be honest.

wash, wheels, dry, SRP/high filler PDI polish
interior shampoo will take 2 hours, 1 hour to hoover and dress plastics, 1 hour to shampoo


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## Turbo Tony (Mar 20, 2012)

georgeandpeppa said:


> We should team up and clean out everyone at work out:lol: This time next year will be millionaires!!


Get real, nobody at work earns £40!


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## mk2jon (Mar 10, 2009)

What would i do? Take the job for £40 and be happy that ive helped a mate out and then spend the pennys :thumb:


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## audigex (Apr 2, 2012)

If you need 40 quid, take it. Simple.

I wouldn't want to do a half arsed job either, but to me detailing is a hobby for my own car (for now) and if someone wants a wash and wax for 40 quid i'd take it.

2 worth each of citrus power, wheel cleaner, shampoo, fabric shampoo and extra gloss protection or similar. wash and dry in 45 mins, apply egp and do half an hour on the inside while icurries. 30 quid after product for 2 hours work. Don't be cavalier about swirls, but you don't have to be as hyper paranoid as with your own car, just do your best to avoid them.


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## feeler (Mar 16, 2010)

money is money. do a good job at a good price and work will come your way if you want it. i did this and i do 2 to 3 cars a week now cash in hand. has paid for power washers, wet vac's and a garage to work from.


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## csi031 (May 22, 2011)

I called a valetor to clean interior of a new people carrier I bought. He gruffly told me - "I'm not spending hours on it mate! I'll vacuum, clean seats at carpets only. No plastics or exterior. £60". I paid him and would never use him again.

If he had been positive and polite, I would he recommended him to two friends who run body shops.


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## csi031 (May 22, 2011)

I think positive helpful attitude opens the doors to new client's. Manage customer expectations. The average joe public doesn't know what a "swirl" is. They compare detailers to valetors.


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## -Kev- (Oct 30, 2007)

how can someone compare a detailer to a valeter if they don't what a detailer does or what detailing is....


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## csi031 (May 22, 2011)

My point exactly. How can an average joe know if they are dealing with a valetor or detailer. 

To be honest, I wouldn't know.


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## dcj (Apr 17, 2009)

csi031 said:


> I called a valetor to clean interior of a new people carrier I bought. He gruffly told me - "I'm not spending hours on it mate! I'll vacuum, clean seats at carpets only. No plastics or exterior. £60". I paid him and would never use him again.
> 
> If he had been positive and polite, I would he recommended him to two friends who run body shops.


Did he tell you this before or after the job? If he told you before why did you use him and if after why did you pay him? Not sure of the point of your post.


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## gerz1873 (May 15, 2010)

I did a similar job a few weeks ago quick Hoover and dress plastics on interior 
The quick wash and decontamination on wheels and paint work then a wee application of aqua wax job done £40


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## Rob_Quads (Jul 17, 2006)

I don't think its far off - a single wash, inside hover, quick dress up of the plastics with cheap and nasty shine, tires shined. Will look 'nice and shiny' and for most car dealers all they are looking for.

Wouldn't bother with any waxes or polishes at that money


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## alexj (Apr 12, 2012)

I bet you wish you'd never asked ! 

Did you do it for £40, have you got photos ?

:detailer:


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