High end dealership work

[tuscarora dave]

Hi everybody, I am working with some folks who are starting a dealeship of pre-owned Mercedes Benz, BMW, Audi and Porsche cars. His thought on the selling price range per car is between $15,000 and $25,000. There has been no property purchased or leased yet but they have their eye on one. I, up to this point have only done "retail" high end details (full paint corrections) and that is what the business owner wants on these cars. He is a current retail client of mine and knows and appreciates what is involved in the full correction work. I would be doing these cars wholesale I suppose..?

I will be an outside mobile detailing company being hired in to detail these cars for him with the use of one of his bays to work in. As far as I am aware the property they get into will not be a turn key business meaning they will have to set everything up to be a car dealership including the bay. This question was asked of me in an email today.

"I am getting business plan / executive summary ready for final edit this week. Will need to know what you will need company (PSAC) to purchase inventory wise. Also, I will need to know approx. cost per vehicle, figuring (10) full details per month and (40) cleans per month. This should allow for each car on the lot to be cleaned once a week. If you could provide me with your best guestimate (I made that word up), of what you think it will cost PSAC on a monthly basis for you to maintain vehicles and provide full details for (10) incoming cars."

Any suggestions or advice? I am soliciting Ideas here not asking anyone to fill in all the blanks for me. Thanks for any advice or comments you all may have. TD

[Gus-Gus]

Well couple of things to consider.. What do you make per car when you do the cars "retail"? how much do you need to live on? IF he does not get 10 cars in a month will he still pay you? or will you be free to do whatever else you need to do? I guess you can cut him some breaks if he is buying all the chemicals and supplying all of the power and water you need.. but first you need to figure out how much you spend a car "retail" minus the cost of products then work out how much of a hit you can take with 10 cars...

[tuscarora dave]

I am going to suggest that he set up a detail shop there just in case I get hit by a bus or something, but I will be a mobile bizz. supplying all my own products to do these cars and will come and go as I please as a business when not there working on his cars. I guess what I want ideas on is what would you guys as detailers (if you were in my shoes) want the detailing bay to consist of? What equipment? Would you want the dealer to supply the car wash and tire shine, APC Etc. for the maintenance of the cars?

I never worked at a dealership so I don't know what they normally will allow an outside detailer to have use of.

Or maybe it would work out better to be a part time employee there because he wants me to be the exclusive detailer and then he could stock and pay for all of the products.

I am not looking for any speciffic answers in this thread but using it for more of a think tank type thread to allow me to get the best Ideas in a short period of time.

[MDerleth]

You'll want to clarify your employment status...are you a vendor, an independent contractor or a part-time employee. Big difference in your taxes, insurance requirements, liability if the business folds (where you stand in the payment queue), etc.

If you're technically a vendor or IC, you pay your own way and that could include all your chemicals and equipment (which should be built into the price you quote). All they're giving you is the bay and whatever else they feel like they can afford. (and if the business is slow, they may not be able to afford everything they did at start).

Also consider the impact on your existing business and clients...if doing all this is going to limit the time for you to solicit 'other' clients, that's going to set your independent business back, and the cost to your buddy should reflect that.

[JohnHenry]

Sounds like a good opportunity, Dave. Best of luck!

Refurbishing premium cars to like-new condition, I definitely would want a high quality steamer, and a DI water system. Just trying to think of items you may not already have.

[njcarting1]

Originally Posted by tuscarora dave

I am going to suggest that he set up a detail shop there just in case I get hit by a bus or something, but I will be a mobile bizz. supplying all my own products to do these cars and will come and go as I please as a business when not there working on his cars. I guess what I want ideas on is what would you guys as detailers (if you were in my shoes) want the detailing bay to consist of? What equipment? Would you want the dealer to supply the car wash and tire shine, APC Etc. for the maintenance of the cars?

I never worked at a dealership so I don't know what they normally will allow an outside detailer to have use of.

Or maybe it would work out better to be a part time employee there because he wants me to be the exclusive detailer and then he could stock and pay for all of the products.

I am not looking for any speciffic answers in this thread but using it for more of a think tank type thread to allow me to get the best Ideas in a short period of time.

CONTROL? what control will you have over anything other than showing up once you say yes to a part time employee position?

[tuscarora dave]

Originally Posted by njcarting1

CONTROL? what control will you have over anything other than showing up once you say yes to a part time employee position?

Yeah right that was a dumb thought and against everything I have worked so hard to achieve. That's definately not going to happen.

[mrclean81]

Dave after thinking about this for a while...you have an opportunity to do what most of us cant. Design the perfect detail shop on someone elses dime. You could suggest a really good vapor steamer, hot water pressure washer, air compressor (maybee in a storage room where you dont have to hear it run), lights wherever you see the need for a light, floor drains, etc. Im most definatly not suggesting to use the guy or anything like that. If he is serious about doing some major detailing he's gonna need an efficiant shop anyway. Why not be his go to guy for design suggestions?

[tuscarora dave]

That's what I was thinking and is why I posted this thread to generate Ideas like that. Thank you as far as what I'll charge him for the work is not an issue for here so maybe I should have cut that part of the message out.

[tuscarora dave]

Do car dealerships require $1,000,000 in liability to be carried by independant contractors? or is the number less than that? anybody know that?

[mrclean81]

Originally Posted by tuscarora dave

Do car dealerships require $1,000,000 in liability to be carried by independant contractors? or is the number less than that? anybody know that?

I would say that differs between places. Being a high end dealership, you may be looking at a big amount, but Im only required to carry $10,000. In fact one place didnt even ask if i was covered. I know first hand how important good insurance is so I would say if your only required to carry a fairly small amount and you can actually afford more, I would get more. If your going to be leaving personal equipment there, make sure and have at least the big stuff covered also. Im still paying for a Vapor Chief steamer that i dont even have because I didnt have my equipment insured.

[ericmarshall81]

good luck, best wishes, and get info in writing whenever possible. but even that will not guarantee you a single thing. work hard, do your very best, and if you do this you will be doing better than some other folks. hopefully you will be able to sleep well at night, knowing you are not lying, cheating, and stealing.

[Beemerboy]

I work on an occasion with two local higher end dealership, mostly on cars that require heavy paint correction. They have a guy that details for them but he doesn't have the experience in paint work. If you can setup a steady thing with one of these there could be some good money in it.

One thing to remember is just because they are expensive cars, doesn't mean that the dealership is willing to pay a lot for the details....the margins on these cars are fairly low...at least that's what I've learned from the ones that I am working with

[G.T.Subie]

Originally Posted by Beemerboy

One thing to remember is just because they are expensive cars, doesn't mean that the dealership is willing to pay a lot for the details....the margins on these cars are fairly low...at least that's what I've learned from the ones that I am working with

Your not kidding my Audi dealer takes their cars to the Enterprise across the street to get washed.

Dave, good luck with the endeavor it seems like great opportunity.


Do they want the cars detailed after they're sold or prior so they look good sitting on the lot. Why not let them pay/stock all the product and you can just bill the dealer for labor per vehicle.

[Ronkh]

So I don;t go crazy here........

Call me