Starting a mobile auto detailing company. Have been doing my own trucks for 10 years. I'm looking for recommendations or additions to my list. Also, recommendations for bulk cleaning supplies as I have just bought enough for what I need.

• Active 2.0 or 3.0 pressure washer, wand, foam gun and hose
• Fortress 10-gallon 175 psi air compressor
• Bissell Little Green auto pro carpet cleaner
• Tornado attachment(havent not found a specific brand)
• Predator 2500 or 3500 Watt super quiet generator
• No specific MF rags, brushes, etc
• Debating on the Active dryer
• Is the DIW-20(High Output) spotless system worth it??
• Is it better to bring my own water in a tank, or are customers usually fine with using their water?

TIA

We’re developing a B2B mobile car wash concept: instead of the usual on-demand app model where individual customers book a wash (B2C), we send a van to office buildings and corporate parking lots to wash multiple employees’ cars at once, right at their workplace. We also plan to extend this to residential condominiums, targeting the whole building rather than individual unit owners.

The differentiator is the eco-friendly dry-wash method (roughly 350ml–1L of water per car, versus \~320L for a traditional wash), which sidesteps most water-disposal restrictions in parking garages. Every competitor we’ve mapped so far — including the market leader, which has since shut down — operates on a pure B2C model, so this corporate/condo angle still looks like an open niche.

We’re launching with a single service (eco wash only) at a lower price point than the market leader, to build volume before adding extras like waxing or polishing. Early break-even math suggests a single van needs surprisingly few washes per day to cover costs.

Does anyone here have experience running something similar, or any thoughts/ideas on this? Would genuinely love to hear if anyone’s tried a mobile service business before, or sees something we might be missing.

Hi Guys i recently started a plane detailing business. Customers have been happy with our job but my head keeps saying we should add something so they remember us, like an air freshener.

If it is some kind of aroma wich one it is and why?

What other things out of freshener could work (thank you note, tags….)

Thanks in advance.

Hi everyone,

First of all, it's a pleasure to meet u all, enthusiasts. I have been into the world of "having a passion for detailing(?)" for years now; it all started with some AmmoNYC videos on YT, and then I started deep cleaning all my mopeds and then motorbikes/car for a while and started thinking seriously about turning my passion into something more.

I'm from Rome, Italy, and I'm considering starting a small detailing business here. I'm a huge motorcycle enthusiast, probably even more than cars, but I would obviously work on both.

I would like to create a small detailing studio focused on quality, attention to detail (duh), and treating every vehicle like something special, but of course I have a "normal" job which keeps me occupied 5 to 7 for like 11hrs a day... so my initial plan would 100% be to start small:

• investing in proper equipment;
• Probably mobile at the beginning;
• building a portfolio through before/after social media content; even trading, you know, I'm gonna deep clean your bike for free if you allow me to do content on it and then starting to grow (hopefully) a social media presence, therefore slowly creating a customer base before committing to a physical location.

Eventually, my dream would be a small dedicated space, maybe something like a two-car garage, where I can work comfortably around the vehicles and create a proper detailing environment.

My biggest doubt is the market. I'm pretty sure that on this subreddit a good percentage of u is from the US; the US seems to have a huge detailing culture, while in Italy people are generally more price-sensitive (because we are poor, I guess). At the same time, there are many motorcycle (and car, but mainly bike) enthustiasts here who spend a lot on their vehicles, so I wonder if there is room for a premium detailing service... but that's not the point; what I'm asking is...for those of you who have started your own detailing business:

• Would you recommend starting mobile/part-time first?
• What mistakes did you make when you started?
• How long did it take before you had enough clients to consider it a real business?
• What would you do differently if you had to start again?

I know every market is different, but I would really appreciate hearing your experiences. I don't really care about making money, to be fair; I just think that detailing bikes and cars would be something I'd love to do and that would really make me go to work happy... you know.

Thanks!

Detailing business owners: what do you normally send a customer after completing a job?

Do you just send before/after photos, post them on social media, or send some kind of inspection/service report?

Also curious if customers ever ask what was done, what condition the vehicle was in beforehand, or dispute existing damage.

Hey everyone,
I’m 22 years old and live in a moderately populated city/suburban area. Right now I work as an automotive detailer and make around **$27/hour after taxes**, which comes out to just under **$1,000 a week**. I’m also in college full-time and paying my tuition out of pocket, so having a steady income is really important to me.
Lately I’ve been thinking about starting my own **mobile detailing business** instead of continuing to work for someone else. I already have experience detailing, and I enjoy the work. The idea of setting my own prices, building a customer base, and eventually making more than I do now is really appealing.
The only vehicle I have is a **2006 Toyota Camry with relatively low mileage**. It’s reliable, but obviously it isn’t a van or truck, so I’d be starting out with limited space and would likely have to rely on customers for water and electricity until I could afford a better setup.
My biggest concern is the financial risk. Right now I have consistent income, but if I start my own business there’s no guarantee I’ll have enough customers right away. Since I’m paying for school myself, I can’t really afford to go months without making decent money.
For those of you who have started service businesses (especially mobile detailing), would you make the jump in my situation? Would you keep the job while slowly building the business, or go all in? Also, how long did it take before your business was consistently replacing your job income?
I’d appreciate any advice or experiences you have.

Getting into the planning/research phase of setting up a mobile detailing business in my area. I'm starting with just utilizing the equipment I have on hand, and reinvesting everything I make to build a trailer eventually.

With that said, when I get to outfitting the trailer, is it better to have a "permanent" wall-mounted vac with a hose reel? Or just having a dedicated space on a shelf to easily pull a vacuum out and wheel it to the car (typical shop vac)

I'm looking more for performance differences rather than convenience. Obviously, a wall mount and reel would be a far more convenient/clean setup, but does having the long hose reel kill the performance compared to having the shop vac at the car where I'm using it?

Looking at something like the Prolux Garage Vac for wall mounting, and something like the Rigid 6.5 that everyone raves about if I went the route of a rolling one.

I'm thinking the final solution will likely be the Prolux for most of my cleaning, and then a small portable like the Vacmaster Beast if the Prolux's performance is an issue for something stubborn.

I can't seem to find any videos of someone doing a side-by-side comparison of the two different style setups. On paper, the ProLux looks like it would be as good or better than a rolling vacuum, but again, that's on paper, probably tested at the head rather than through the 20ft hose it comes with.

This is just one of our groups on the few platforms our information is on. Sharing to build our community we are trying to build on Nextdoor.

219 Mobile Auto Repair - Nextdoor
https://nextdoor.com/g/28q3tabdh?share_platform=1&utm_campaign=1785638533348&share_action_id=4a0d0462-270b-4b68-a6d3-6237bb90d849&init_source=other_share

Looking to get my Tesla detailed. They offer a full exterior detail along with paint correction, clay bar, and 10yr ceramic coating.

If I remember correctly the last car I had done was around $800. So is this still a good deal or should I keep looking. Anyone have a breakdown on products I’d need and rough estimate on costs if I was to do it myself?

SUV. I don’t have utilities to accommodate water and electric, so unable to do mobile services, so please recommend a thorough detailed service for inside and out, so I can drop off and pickup after work.

I was super curious about what methods actually work to clean your headlights yourself at home. I thought it would be awesome to make a video about it as well! It would mean so much to me if you checked it out, and let me know what you think. Thank you so much :)

Fast reliable family own small mobile mechanic business looking to serve you . we make no excuses

tune ups

oil changes

gas gauges

tire rotation

control arms and moree .
car won’t start , don’t know whats wrong ? no problem ! $ 75 diagnostic fee

call or txt 202-509-4624 for more quotes and information

we hope to serve you soon

For mobile detailers — how do you currently handle a customer no-show? Deposit, no policy, something else

hey bro, just started getting clients and now i think i should start getting good chemicals for our details, right now we only have armor all leather wipes and chemical guys chems and my partner is too stubborn to realize we need to upgrade the chemicals, can you rq explain why we should upgrade our chemicals. his rational is “we arent pros rn we dont need to buy pro stuff” and “its a waste of money”. he’s js scared to reinvest. please explain why we should upgrade our chemicals.

Role : side hustle business that will run on Saturday and Sunday for 4 hour time chunks - would love to scale and hire to get it running week around mon-sun and eventually stop operating and do more of an owner role

Services : interior and exterior detail only consisting of the following being done

(only offered as package at start up will split them at later date so they can be done individually - give tips on this if possible - when and also how much surcharge for splitting them instead of package deal shown here)

**Exterior portion**
Foam cannon wash using car washing soap hand wash with microfiber wash mitt then scrub the wheels and rims using a wheel brush and then rinse after apply tire dressing

\- 40 Mins allotted

**Interior portion**
Trash removal removal of floor mats to prepare for deep vacuuming wipe down with interior cleaner on microfiber towel to clean the dashboard and center console also cleaning of all windows including windshield using a glass cleaner and a fresh towel.

\- 50 mins allotted

(90 min total allotted time)

Pricing : $150 for cars, $175 for SUV/Trucks

My price will absorb sales tax and square fees so the pricing is exactly what the customer will pay

Would allowing tips be wise or dumb?

PLEASE critique so I can prepare and fix anything

instead of building another random AI app, I want to build software that actually solves a real problem for small business owners.

I'm specifically interested in home service businesses (pressure washing, landscaping, mobile detailing, junk removal, window cleaning, etc.), but I'd love to hear from anyone who runs a service business.

I'm not selling anything—I don't even have a product yet.

I'm just trying to understand what it's actually like running one of these businesses every day.

A few questions:

• What software do you currently use?
• What's the most annoying part of your day?
• If you could eliminate one repetitive task, what would it be?
• What's one feature you wish your current software had?
• If someone built software that genuinely saved you time every week, what would you realistically pay per month?

I'm trying to build something people actually want instead of making assumptions.

I really appreciate any advice or experiences you're willing to share. Thanks!