Car Lot Cleaning

Clean County

New Member
I am going to meet this guy on Saturday who owns 6 car dealerships. 2 of them are Mercedes Benz dealerships and the other ones I'm not to sure about. Anyway I have an opportunity to possibly clean these cars if we can agree to terms and procedures. The problem is that the guy he uses pw's and hand dries these cars for $1.25 each. For whatever reason there having a problem with this guy and his worker being there when they say they will be. I suspect that because that guy is hand drying all these cars that he is realizing that he is not making as much per hour then he thought he would. To much labor for the money being paid out. I don't have a problem with his price per vehicle but that hand drying part with chamies seems to be the stickler. Would using d-ionized water be the answer to this? What I'm asking here is there a better way to accomplish this without hand drying the cars and still getting the same results if not better then the last guy was. If it comes down to where the owner demands that the cars be hand dried at that price then I will walk from this possible gold mind. Any thoughts about this would be much appreciated. Thanks -John-

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J

Jim&Shirley

Guest
We have seen others doing this 1-2.00 per car and hand drying,I would think that you could apply a wax and get around hand drying, and maybe charge alittle more? it seems that this would be faster,if it would work for you, otherwise we would not be interested unless they want to pay extra.

just our thoughts

JIM & SHIRLEY

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Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT COLOR="DarkGreen">John

Go to Mobile detailing bbs,they are several on the board that do that.Your on the right tract with the d-ionized water.Your waxes want work as to leaving spot free,not even the sheeting wax.You will have to get a password,they are setting up new forums as to screen all post.Alot of the guys haven't got their new passwords but ask Ron,he'll tell you what you need to know.Pull his leg alittle and ask for Daddy Ron,he's pretty smart cookie.</FONT c></FONT f>


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When answering Post If It Sounds As tho I'm Holding A Match To Ya "Fear Not" Its Only Lit On One End.I'm No Doctor The Pill I Subscride Is For Me Only.They May Make You Jump Up and Down Or Crawl All Over The Ground.Will Try To Help Sail Your Ship Even Tho Rocket Fuel Is The Tip.
When In Doubt,,,Think It Out.....triplel@bscn.com
 

Craig Knight

New Member
Dan,

Dont make 'em change their name. Look at my name, same amount of characters, and its just my name. Take a look around, there are some that are two liners.

But your right about not knowing who's posting, if they could just sign their name in closing instead of using both, we would know who was speaking.

Craig

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Craig Knight
www.powerwashunlimited.com
 
J

Jim&Shirley

Guest
Sorry for the mix up. Our name used to be pressurewashing but we had to change it when the board didn't want to recognize it due to too many letters. Pressurewashing is still our e-mail address. We do understand that it is a little difficult to tell which one of us is typing especially since Jim has learned to take the caps lock off. You can usually tell who is typing by how it is typed. I guess you could play a little game called Figure out who it is.

So first round Who is typing now.

Usally Jim puts both names if shirley has to help him, usally most of the time.

Jim & Shirley (typed by Shirley)
(edited by Jim)
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[This message has been edited by Jim&Shirley (edited February 07, 2001).]
 

Scott Stone

New Member
Ahh, to be of one mind.
Now about DI water. It removes all of the Cations and anions that are found in water. These are the particles that carry an electrical charge. Pure water does not have an electrical charge. What it does is remove all of the metals, etc., that leave deposits on the surface of the car. It does work realy good, but there are a few things that you need to watch out for if you are doing car lots.
1. The cars need to be detailed or very clean to start with. If they are not there will be road grime on them and the DI Water will not remove this surface dirt.
2. You will need to make sure that there are thoroughly rinsed. The dust accumulation on the cars can be more than you realize when you are washing them and it will look like you rinsed it well, but after the water dries there could very well be spots on them.

Now from what I have seen, and from the few car lots that I have done what you need to do is have one guy rinsing with DI water and two using chamois to dry it off. They do not have to be perfectly dry, just the majority of the water needs to be off of the car. They also need to be sure that the chamois are opened up so that they get maximum absorption. If the driers ball the chamois up, and they will want to, they will increase their work a lot. When they run the chamois across the car they need to start at the front and leave the chanois on the car all the way to the back. The sides are not a major concern. They can hit it real quick and that is all that it will need. The water running off of the car and that is sprayed on during the rinse process will take good care of this part of the process. Then they move on to the next car. I have seen them do around 80 cars an hour this way. They definitely do not let any dust settle between cars. I know that there is a guy here that has 4 trucks that this is all that they do, and they do everyone in the Mesa area. They also are cheap, last I heard they were charging around .75 a car. I would not do it that cheap.
Anyway a good source of DI Water is Culligan, Ionics pure Solutions, or Apollo. Apollo actually specializes in car washes, and their is the previous history of Mobile washers that have screwed them that you might have to overcome, but they have a good product.
Just my thoughts.
Scott Stone


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Any statement that I make about equipment, processes or your hair color is my own personal opinion. I usually base it on personal experience. If you disagree with me you are free to reply on both the BBS and by e-mail. If I am totally off base please explain why on the BBS so that we may all know why;)
Bus. Phone 480-834-3434
Cell Phone 602-509-9741
 

Larry L.

PWN TEAM - Moderator Emeritus
<FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT COLOR="Fuchsia">Dan
SSSssssHHHhhhhhh be queit or you'll get busted all the back to a citizen and you want have no little stars on ya cap bill
laughing.gif
.</FONT c></FONT f>


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When answering Post If It Sounds As tho I'm Holding A Match To Ya "Fear Not" Its Only Lit On One End.I'm No Doctor The Pill I Subscride Is For Me Only.They May Make You Jump Up and Down Or Crawl All Over The Ground.Will Try To Help Sail Your Ship Even Tho Rocket Fuel Is The Tip.
When In Doubt,,,Think It Out.....triplel@bscn.com
 

Craig Knight

New Member
Dan,

Well just so you know, you can call me anything, i bet i have been called worse. Wasn't jumping on you, not in the least. Well, not that time.

Bigboy,

If Dan would get his stars stripped from him, what would happen to me. Guess i would be back to talking on the phone and trial and error. Guess i better straighten up, and quick.

Craig

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Craig Knight
www.powerwashunlimited.com
 

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