[Les]

Hi all,

I don't know if any other valeters have had this issue, but since Te*@o started allowing valeting ??

on their forecourts I get more people being price sensitive about valeting.

Someone rang me the other week to see if I could be of help to him.

Apparently he specialises in the sale of high performance sports cars priced between £20k and £120k  .

I asked him what he did in the past regarding valeting and he said that he originally employed a local valeter but ditched him when the local supermarket valeters rolled into town. They did his cars for a set £50 regardless of condition, which of course made him very happy 

That is until the original crew upped and left for home, to be replaced by another team, who, in his words, are 'Cra!'
Now obviously I was sad for him  NOT! and said I would be pleased to help him......but not at £50 a car. I explained that I had done my own research into the supermarket valeters and the products I use, plus the attention to detail are of a much higher standard.
He is a busy man but had never factored into his £50, the time he spent travelling to and from the supermarket, plus the lack of consistency in the standard of valeting.

I've left him to think about it and have offered to clean a car for him in order to demonstrate what I can do.

Failing that I'll see you all at the supermarket car wash 

Les

[Kwackers]

Not sure i've even seen any valeters on here, although it does interest me

[Les]

oh. right.

I've not been on the site for a while. There used to be several valeters on previously.

Thanks for the info all the same.

Les

[Janey]

Hi,
We also provide a car valeting service, and have done for twenty years.  Everywhere seems to be awash ( pardon the pun  ) with cheap car valeters who will clean a car for about £45.  Our service is high quality and it takes about 4 to 5 hours to valet a car properly, you wont get this at tesco!  We charge around £80 for a full valet, depending on the state of the car.  Our cars are in showroom condition when we have finished.

At the end of the day people will try these cheap services but when they realise they are crap they always come back to us.  Most people love their cars and want the best possible service even if it costs a bit more.  £70 to £100 is a good price range. Try and see the car first before you agree a price or you might get a nasty surprise!

regards

Janey

[Londoner]

I am a London taxi driver and I have used car wash valeters. They are cr4p no ifs no buts, total rubbish. They just spay "shine" over the dirt inside and hold thier hand out for money.
A true car valeter is a craftsman who can turn back the ravages of time and make a car look pristine again. It is an art form but it costs.
Don't confuse these Eastern European cowboys with true valeters.

[Les]

I don't blame the Valeters who work at Tesco's and the like, they're just doing a job for money.

It's the punters who expect me to charge the same price that's annoying 

Still, it was nice on Saturday when I was valeting a car outside a house in our local large town, to have a pretty young lady go past on her bike and say, "that looks imaculate", and then to have a lady pop out from across the road and book her and her husbands cars in for full valets 

I actually thought that I'm going to do more valeting on a saturday because there are more people at home to see you about........

Just got to tell my wife first  

[PHILC]

Unfortunately I think £50 for a valet for traders is the going rate where we are but theres always a bit of movement on the price if the cars a bit of a mess.
But on the other side of that you take the rough with the smooth some cars would come in quite clean so it was an easy £50 so it would even itself out eventually.

When I started out and work was a bit slow I used to give dealers 2 options either a set price per car using my own equipment materials etc or charge them a set rate for a days valeting using their equipment and materials.
Quite a few garages liked the idea of me working for them 2 days a week and it was ideal as it was regular weekly work especially this time of year if you havent got an industrial unit to valet in.
And your using their equipment / materials as well as getting a few useful contacts