Valeting costs

[15Cars 16]

Up until a few weeks back, I was using a local lad (full ADHD - totally hyper and incredibly difficult to deal with, but I felt sorry for him) to valet most of my cars. His usual rate (including shampoo/wet vac, machine polish where needed and under bonnet) is £90 and £110 for 4X4/7-seaters. I told him clearly that I planned to put a fair few jobs his way and I wanted a standard price for everything - we agreed on £75, but he was horrendously unreliable and the quality of his work went from good to not much better than the local Kurdish scratch and bodge. A few weeks back, I pulled the plug on him, woke my Dad up out of early retirement and we have started doing it ourselves, saving a lot and the standard is much higher. 

I'm in the South of England and stuff costs a lot here but I'm interested to know what fellow traders are paying for valets?

[Mojo121 229]

Fuck me. £75 a valet. And that kid should’ve stuck with it. £90 a pop and he could’ve been doing better than some dealers 

[Casper 272]

Hi 15 cars

i pay anything from £10 for a mini valet on older stuff and the  better stuff ranges from that to £50 depends on which car wash/ valeter I use 

I use a mobile guy also who does full valet machine polish etc for £85 

I also do some.myself .. depends how I'm feeling how busy I am or if I'm in the mood sometimes I think the car wash places rush to much . 

[AW Motorgroup 18]

6 minutes ago, Mojo121 said:

Fuck me. £75 a valet. And that kid should’ve stuck with it. £90 a pop and he could’ve been doing better than some dealers 

Lol

[15Cars 16]

Thank you for the replies - confirms exactly what I've been thinking.

May I ask your approximate locations FWIW?

 

Cheers

[AW Motorgroup 18]

Hello mate, I have someone who works part time for me and does all the cleaning and valeting. I have had to train him up over last few years but he is defo up to standard now and reliable for me. I have 20-25 cars at my site and it is much better than giving it out to the local kurds/romainian car washes as you will be spending a lot of money on poor quality valeting and more swirl marks than a twister ice cream lol. As for you and your dad if you guys can manage it then good on you! Saving costs initially however after a while though you will start to focus more on the business itself which is that you are a car dealer not a car wash detailer so outsourcing or having your own staff on it would be much more effective. My time is better spent on sourcing more stock, dealing with customers etc Prior to that I had a mobile guy that came to my pitch and charged £10 mini valet or £50 full vallet full interior washed, machine polished and engine was shined up using the trade special can of xxxxxx . It all depends on the stock £500 micra vs £5k Audi A3 and how clean or filthy they are 5 dogs and a chain smoker or a 1 lady owner bible in the glove box only used for sunday church. Once the cars have been done you have to remember they don’t sell straight away and with the weather it’s very unpredictable so overtime you will need to wash them again and again or shine them up before potential viewings etc so that we’re it gets expensive at car washes and will be the test of your time doing it by hand. Retail is detail especially on cars, if it’s perfectly shining when the customer arrives the sale is more likely on = show me the money baby (unless it’s the last price crap then I walk back into my office lol). Anyways I hope this helps. Cheers, A.

Edited August 23, 2019 by AW Motorgroup

[NacMan 67]

I pay £35 for a full valet inc polish im located in Manchester. Mobile valeter

[trade vet 702]

Some of these Eastern European car wash’s are good guys and they can do a lot for £30.Then just finish them off yourself.No need to use one of these new bullshit breed of prima Dona valeters called detailers.They tend to be too expensive,too slow,don’t like doing wet vacs and when you show them how to cut corners,they take the huff.They don’t understand that a lot of the best car dealers started off as valeters.

[Casper 272]

3 minutes ago, trade vet said:

Some of these Eastern European car wash’s are good guys and they can do a lot for £30.Then just finish them off yourself.No need to use one of these new bullshit breed of prima Dona valeters called detailers.They tend to be too expensive,too slow,don’t like doing wet vacs and when you show them how to cut corners,they take the huff.They don’t understand that a lot of the best car dealers started off as valeters.

I used a few different ones there decent guys sometimes they rush a bit but guess they have to and as you say can always finish it off yourself I also have a tyre guy use too he does a good job at fair price ...

[Rory RSC 596]

10 hours ago, trade vet said:

Some of these Eastern European car wash’s are good guys and they can do a lot for £30.Then just finish them off yourself.No need to use one of these new bullshit breed of prima Dona valeters called detailers.They tend to be too expensive,too slow,don’t like doing wet vacs and when you show them how to cut corners,they take the huff.They don’t understand that a lot of the best car dealers started off as valeters.

Thanks TV I used to run a couple of car washes and do the valeting before starting in this job nice of you to say 

I agree completely though, get the Albanian wash to do the majority of it, get your cars advertised quickly and on with a mini valet and then just give them a quick tidy up back at base. 

[Mark101 536]

10 hours ago, trade vet said:

Some of these Eastern European car wash’s are good guys and they can do a lot for £30.Then just finish them off yourself.No need to use one of these new bullshit breed of prima Dona valeters called detailers.They tend to be too expensive,too slow,don’t like doing wet vacs and when you show them how to cut corners,they take the huff.They don’t understand that a lot of the best car dealers started off as valeters.

OMG - mind reader, word for word.

[Orrell autos 1]

Why don't you just save ya money and valet it yourself. 

I baught a decent hoover, decent carpet cleaner which gets the carpets and seats up nice

Then just some decent dash cleaner which is really good Tesco's own best I've used yet after buying on eBay etc. 

And a clean on outside with some paper mats in. Takes me about a hour just over and they come out fantastic make sure they smell nice too

Save ya money and get your hands dirty! 

 

 

[Earunder 69]

On 8/23/2019 at 8:56 PM, Mojo121 said:

Fuck me. £75 a valet. And that kid should’ve stuck with it. £90 a pop and he could’ve been doing better than some dealers 

Where's my bucket and sponge

[RJEauto 18]

Before we opened the garage, Ryan used to do some trade valeting to bulk up his work load. £40 Full valet and £90 with machine polish to the trade for most sized vehicles - South Wales area

[Screenman 47]

Spend the most time doing what earns you the most per hour, I doubt Mr Finn has ever cleaned a car. 

[David Horgan 564]

1 hour ago, Orrell autos said:

Save ya money and get your hands dirty! 

My thoughts exactly , By the time I've taken the car , complained about the bloody mess they make , took it again , Re done it when it comes back  its quicker to do it once and have done with it . 

Employ a valet guy omg that's hard work , There's only two ways of doing things in my world , MY WAY & the bloody GATEWAY. I always feel sorry for the gateway hinges  They hear me but don't bloody Listen. 

Do it yourself , save money , save sanity , simples 

[Mark101 536]

3 minutes ago, David Horgan said:

My thoughts exactly , By the time I've taken the car , complained about the bloody mess they make , took it again , Re done it when it comes back  its quicker to do it once and have done with it . 

Employ a valet guy omg that's hard work , There's only two ways of doing things in my world , MY WAY & the bloody GATEWAY. I always feel sorry for the gateway hinges  They hear me but don't bloody Listen. 

Do it yourself , save money , save sanity , simples 

I have got through a few valeters since September:

1st one, brilliant but completely unreliable, always off sick type, GF issues etc

2nd ones, again brilliant but became arrogant, turned into detailers refusing trade work as we don't pay enough.

3rd ones, really good hand car wash types, cars brilliant afterwards but had to deliver and collect them and if it rains, need doing again.

Current one, very average, several attempts to get a car clean, doesn't listen or act on what I tell him. His added value is that he is a nice guy, 100% reliable, great with customers, polite, knowledgeable, parks stock with precision, nice to have around as a doer. 

I wish I could have a hybrid on them all but what do I expect for £9/hr?

[Casper 272]

7 minutes ago, David Horgan said:

My thoughts exactly , By the time I've taken the car , complained about the bloody mess they make , took it again , Re done it when it comes back  its quicker to do it once and have done with it . 

Employ a valet guy omg that's hard work , There's only two ways of doing things in my world , MY WAY & the bloody GATEWAY. I always feel sorry for the gateway hinges  They hear me but don't bloody Listen. 

Do it yourself , save money , save sanity , simples 

I even had to replace the gate hinges the other week 

[Lucky13 14]

I clean all mine myself, as said earlier in the thread a few of us where valeters to start with. I stock 25 at my showroom and clean them as they arrive. Much cheaper 

[Screenman 47]

I cannot figure out how you guys have time to do the dirty work, surely buying comes first selling second etc.

 

[Lucky13 14]

1 minute ago, Screenman said:

I cannot figure out how you guys have time to do the dirty work, surely buying comes first selling second etc.

 

I have BCA 2 mins up the road, that occupies 2 mornings a week. Have a lad to do all the running around, I clean inbetween viewings etc