Pricing to detail a Horse Trailer (pic inside)

S

stilez

New member
So the detail I did today is having me come by tomorrow to detail their horse trailer. It needs a very thorough wash and polishing. The owner just wants it "cleaned up and waxed". I was planning on doing:



-NXT Wash

-Meguiar's #66 on the rotary

-Seal with OCW

-Polish/seal chrome and wheels

-Clean and dress tires

-NXT Glass Cleaner on the windows





The trailer is about 20 ft long and I will be doing the entire exterior (incl. the roof). Any ballpark on what I should be charging would be helpful. Thanks in advance!





DSC05557.jpg
 
a good bet would be to get a real god cleaner wax, like the 3m marine stuff (just one made for paint), and hit it using that on the rotary. It wil shine it up and wax it in one quick step which it seems the owner wants. For that and all that you listed, i would charge $300 if not a little more. I figure it will take you about 6-8 hours at most, and that is a good wage for that ammount of time.
 
I'm doing the trailer tomorrow so I don't think I have time for the 3m wax, but thanks for the input. The 66 has a cut of 4 out of 10 so thats pretty signifigant. I was going to seal with OCW since its so easy.



Thanks for the help :).
 
I think $300 would be fair, it will be a really easy job for the most part because everything is flat, there are no compound curves like there are on a car (My family owns a similarly sized trailor) to worry about. It's just a matter of time.
 
Take 350.00 and leave :D

Umm, no interior right? Must be stinky inside if u doing it :D Sean, I dont think u need to spend 6 hr on that carriage, it prettly flat, no contour,no rounded edge,etc.. Good luck.
 
Actually, the interiors are really easy to do on them, and most owners keep it cleaned out.



Ours just has big rubber mats that you can take out, hose off, and be done with. There is also a small changing room with minimum carpet.



It looks like an easy job, go for it Sean.
 
I'm off to do it now!





Pics and writeup later on tonite along with probably the worst paint I've ever dealt with from this morning :).
 
I did the exact same thing as you for my neighbor and I charged $300.00. His is a regular trailer not a horse one and is smaller. It has a painted metal surface. Since yours is larger, I would charge $400.00.



I first washed with bleach and water to kill the mildew. Then I washed it with an oxo SUV brush and car wash soap. I used AIO with a cutting pad to get off the oxidation. I then used Collinite 476s for durability. The roof was a thin, rough textured stainless steel that I simply washed. There was no chrome or diamond plate. The whole hitch mechanism was painted black.



It was easy because of the box shape and flat panels. It took like 3 hours or so. Washing was a piece of cake and took like 30 minutes.



I now wash it every other week as it sits in his driveway. I charge him $50 to wash :D Easy money! I'm using one of those SUV brooms from Costco. No worries about the paint marring.
 
After completing the job I was questioned on the price of $300. The gentlemen is a friend of the family and I don't want to "screw" him. Was my process not intense enough to recieve $300? He mentioned it not being as intense as their Beetle (pretty rough shape) which was his reason for questioning.



I told him I'd work with him if need be on the price...awaiting on an email return. Am I out of line?
 
I dont think you are out of line for it. Do YOU feel like you are screwing him? How much time did you put into it? The only thing I would be concerned with is his only wanting a wash and wax and you doing a polish/wax 1 step and then sealing it. You may have gone beyond what he was wanting and then charging for it.



:nixweiss
 
I don't feel like I am screwing him, nope. I know what my time is worth and I did go through a lot of product. I put about 5 hours into the job. The trailer didn't need claying (gelcoat) but certainly needed some concentrated polishing to remove a lot of staining. I ended up spending almost 1/2 hour just getting the polish and pad down. I went through 5 or so polishes and 3 pads before my final decision. I told him I usually get $15 a foot for washing/polishing/sealing as well as all the odds and ends done.



When he requested the job, he mentioned having it looking along the lines of his other vehicles done. (clayed polished, sealed). The only thing this one was lacking was clay. The rest of everything got equal treatment and I think the results spoke for themselves (hes not saying they don't).



Granted hes getting a total of 4 cars and this trailer done for me, maybe I should've given him a break?
 
Yeah, maybe knock of $30-50. Shows your willing to work with him... everyone always likes to feel they're getting a good deal. In the meantime, you build up goodwill and repeat business. :D



Also, there's the psychological barrier of being just Under $300... everyone knows that $1.98 is a great price but $2.00 is a rip-off. :)
 
GSRstilez said:
mae: Never thought of the psychological barrier...good point, thank you.
Click to expand...



Oh yeah, big time. You'll see junk for "only $19.95!!" all the time for that "As Seen on TV" stuff. Looks better than $20.



Or, you'll hear "All this for under $100!! Simply send 3 monthly payments for $33.00."



Questioning the amount AFTER the job is completed is wrong. I think it's lame if a friend of the family (if he's a close one) is balking at the price. That's tacky.



This trailer is 10 times the size of that Beetle and the only step you left out was clay?? They guy should pay you $300 and tip you for all the INCREDIBLE, GREAT work you've done on all his vehicles.
 
When he requested the job, he mentioned having it looking along the lines of his other vehicles done. (clayed polished, sealed). The only thing this one was lacking was clay. The rest of everything got equal treatment and I think the results spoke for themselves (hes not saying they don't).
Click to expand...



ahhh I was under the impression that he just requested a wash and wax and you ended up polishing ect ect. My bad.

I hope you didnt take my previous comment as an attack. I was confused...which happens alot more than I like to admit :D
 
I've done a similar trailer. The front triangle was a Tack Room.

We did everything. Including some serious deoderizing. Charged $240 (6 hours).



Client brings several other vehicles...



Jim
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top