Got Into An Accident...

paddyLV · Oct 13, 2003

Mr. 'E'

See if they have a job for a 'Grease Monkey' at the dealership...?

Then all you'd have to ask was, "Would you like a 7/16th or a 3/8th, sir?"

MrElussive · Oct 13, 2003

I think I may do a little "at home" business...maybe I could detail people's cars for them. Pickup their car, clean it up inside and out, wash, wax, detail, and then bring it back to them. I prefer to get a job where I know what I'm doing...I know car maintenance and I know computers....wanna find something relating to that.

MyHarley · Oct 13, 2003

good idea on the detailing...........my second detail job cost $350.00 (individual, think I got robbed).......my third detail job cost $175.00 (dealership)......so in between sounds good.....and it is hard to find someone who does a really good job.......I also am looking for a hand wash for $20.00.....

ooo000HITMAN000ooo · Oct 13, 2003

Nice to know you are going to get your car back soon [burnout]

Kirby · Oct 13, 2003

MyHarley said:

Yowzaa! $350? I just had my company car (Explorer) detailed for $125 and they did a wash/wax outside, including pulling the wheels and polishing them on the inside, and even detailing inside the wheel wells and the brake calipers. Inside was a full carpet & seat shampoo, etc. They then offered to do all our company vehicles for the same price. I guess I got a good deal.

ooo000HITMAN000ooo · Oct 13, 2003

WOW 125 for all that, thats a great deal!!!!!!!

MrElussive · Oct 13, 2003

Yeah, that really is a great deal. I was thinking of charging $100 and doing the following:
-Wash
-Wax
-Detail
-Wheel cleaning (inside and out)
-Undercarriage cleaning
-Interior dash clean
-Interior window clean
-Interior leather clean
-Interior carpet clean
Basically, the works, inside and out.
Also, I could check tire pressures and fluid levels (and even fill up if necessary).
The thing I like about this is that the cleaning supplies cost little, it is just a lot of effort and I feel $100 is a decent price being my own little business. I just need a way to spread the word...........

By the way, the total costs for repairing my car are like this so far:
$2,900 for parts, $1,900 for labor, so I am looking at a total of $4,800 SO FAR. They are also going to test the alignment and make sure all the shocks are okay and everything, and they are going to make sure my tires are okay (they took a beating, I was sliding around for a while).

I would also like to say that none of you were there for what happened so please don't jump to any conclusions about my driving skills or what I could have done or if it was easy to recover or what not, especially since I didn't even really state exactly how I spun out (blamed it on the drain on the side of the road, instead). The only person who can really comment is my friend, who was sitting in the passenger seat for the whole thing.

MyHarley · Oct 13, 2003

should be lining up for $100.00..........that's a lot of cars............

ooo000HITMAN000ooo · Oct 13, 2003

LOL to bad you dont live in austin....

Kirby · Oct 13, 2003

A few years ago someone started a Wash & Roll business (mobile hand & low pressure wash van). He went around to office buildings and got permission to post flyers saying that he would be there one day a week and wash you car while you were at work. Maybe that would work for your business? It would overcome some people's objections to giving the keys to someone they don't know, and might give you that "unique competitive edge" by offering something that no one else does.

MrElussive · Oct 13, 2003

Perhaps, but if I had to do that much effort, then I would just have to charge significantly more (more costs on my part) and it just wouldn't be worth it for me. I think $100 is a flat easy price for people to pay for and if they want, they can even drop their car off at my house if they are not comfortable handing me the keys. It's totally understandable, I would NEVER give the keys to some 19 year old fool who was gonna clean up my car, but at the same time I wanna have a competitive price.

codex57 · Oct 14, 2003

Wow, $100 is a good deal for all that. I mean, if you break it down by hour, it's a lot of money per hour, but doing it yourself is a serious pain in the butt. I'd pay for it if I had more money than time.

Average Jae · Oct 14, 2003

hey elussive, since you might have to drop 900 on your rims, give this a try.

on my old talon the rims got all bent up, so i needed to get a new rim, but the factory ones were like 500.. so i did some asking around and found a place by me that sold reconditioned factory rims for like 25% of the retail price. yea paying around $125 for 16 inch rims are a bit expensive, but that was they only way to keep it stock.

try asking around differetnt tireshops, if they know anyone that does reconditioned rims. figure that's few less polishing jobs right? [:D]

Abdoman · Oct 14, 2003

Yea - I sure the he$$ wouldn't give my keys to a guy that is working to pay for a wreck he just had. Especially when no other car was involved!

[:p]

MrElussive · Oct 14, 2003

Haha, yup. Thanks for the advice, guys I think I am definitely going to do this detail service or whatever. Now, just gotta find a way to spread the word... [:D]

andreyiv · Oct 14, 2003

Wow, I missed out on a lot. I think you (MrElussive) are right about everyone else not beign there so they can't judge you. From what I have understood, you did what came natural to your mind and the only way I see you not having that accident is just avoiding that stupid hole which is sometimes really hard to do. I am very carefull with where I drive (I mean potholes and stuff), I try to avoid even the smallest imperfections in the road mainly because of the stiff suspension and low profile tires that make me feel everthing I hit but about a week ago I hit this really huge hole in the road that even made me stop and check if everything was fine. The reason for me not seeing the hole was because it was kinda hidden and it was the first time I was driving on that road. No one is protected from everything and can't prevent everything so don't be so harsh on you self but still try get something good out of that accident.

Average Jae · Oct 14, 2003

yea, have them come over to your house and while you detail let them hang out. play some vid games, surf the web, have em browse though your pron collection.. erm, maybe not that last one, just clean your ie history before they come over [:D]

have em go through your car mag collection.. (you can even write that off in your taxes, since it's business oriented.)

i dun know how long it takes for you to detail, but at least give your potential customers the option to be able to sit and hang out while you do it.

when i got my rear windows and rear windshield tinted, i wasn't about to drop it off for couple o 20 somethings to take it for a joy ride. so i stuck around and watched some crappy network tv show and just did my japanese homework.

but maybe the fact that you have a nice fast sporty ride might work to your benefit, since most of the cars you'll be detailing will be of less performance, so what fun would it be for you to joy ride it? hopefully that's what they woudl think.. but just in case, if you do take it out for a joy ride, just make sure you dun go down that one stretch of the road [}:)]

good luck, i'd drop it off had i live in ny/nj area, ah well..

Got Into An Accident...

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