Mini Paint Touchup System for Under $500

DETAILERS - Want to have your input on the viability for your business of what could be called a "Mini Paint Touchup System" that would allow you to quickly match most paint colors and do a "brush" touchup of small chips, scratches, etc.

The system would cost less than $500 and a person can mix the color from a paint chip in about a minute and touchup an entire car in about 5 to 10 minutes.

You could charge an additional $25 to $35 or throw it in as part of a complete detail.

It would not be perfect repair but if the customer understands it is a quick cosmetic fix.

Appreciate your comments.

Regards

sounds like a great idea, its very hard to stock all colors and expensive to.



john

Found it hard to believe that this would work, but the paint technology is simplified and you can mix the basic colors with a "few drops of this and a few drops of that" and voila, you have a small amount of paint that allows you to brush touchup the small chips and scratches.

Not perfect, but satisfactory enough to satisfy most customers for $25 to $30 a car more. That is all profit on the job ticket.

Regards
Bud Abraham

Ive been reading here for years and been detailing since 1985. I have really never thought to sign up and join the discussions but I saw this one. I have alot of touch up paint but you never have the right color when you need it. I am interested for sure. Let me know when this is availible. I work for a new car dealer and do about six private deatils per week. and touching up the pain chips is part of the deal. so I have to get one for each car if I don't have the color.



thanks john

Will get you information as soon as available

Bud:

I do not understand why you are advocating/suggesting a 25.00 30.00 pricing structure for paint touch up when the industry wholesale pricing averages around 45.00...for this type of service... This is the kind of advise that is bad for our industry...bad for the marketplace especially since consumers have shown a willingness to pay 45.00 and up...why would anyone want to diminish that...This is now 2010 and we need leadership who is forward thinking, who will promote higher pricing for specialized services, skills, and cost of investment .. Even paint touch up sticks at the dealer cost 20.00 and up

Gina

Thank you for your emails and questions. First of all you are "putting words in my mouth."

I am not advocating anything, the original post was querying detailers as to what they thought of the concept of doing a "simple" brush touchup of small chips and nicks in the paint with a system that allowed you to mix a small amount of paint quickly that matched almost perfectly.

The suggestion of $25 to $35 was just that, only a suggestion, not anything set in concrete. But as a consumer, I know I would probably pay someone $25 or $35 to have them touchup the chips and nicks in my paint after a detail. I certainly would not pay $45 for that.

Again, we are not talking here about a professional, micro paint repair with an airbrush or a mini-jet spray gun. We are talking about a "quick and dirty" if you excuse the terminology way to give the customer a reprive from the chips and nicks in the paint.

It is not intended for all customers, but for those who might want it.

The key to the success of this concept is to insure the customer understands what you are selling. You would never want to infer that you are going to make a perfect repair, but a repair that will match the color and eliminate the unsightly chips or nick. And, in the areas of the country where they use salt on the roads a way to prevent the car from rusting.

The majority of detailers do not have the system nor the skill to perform perfect micro-paint repair so this offers an affordable alternative.

Does that clarify what we are asking here.

Regards

The Paint System would include the following:

44 - 1.5 oz bottles of polyurethane basecoat paint from which an infinite number of colors can be mixed.
3 - fine tipped touchup brushes
100 + mixing cups
100 paint color chips for matching
Foam bottle holders to keep paint bottles upright in carrying case
Metal carrying case
Instruction guide

There are 100 color chips. 90% of the time one of the 100 colors will work for touchup puproses. The other 10% of the time you will have to tint the paint for a perfect match. Tinting guide is included.

Paint will last up to 3.5 years or more

80% of the colors are metallic or pearl as are most of the cars on the road today.

Shine - the paints include additives to improve the shine to about 70% of the normal OEM shine, but the difference is not noticeable considering the size of the recommended chip or nick to touchup.

The paint brand is PPG.

Remember this is not a perfect repair system and not for customers who are anal retentive about their vehicle.

It is not for all people, but satisfactory for most.

Regards

No ... I am not putting words...in your mouth ... but when you SPEAK..many people actually listen to your words and take it as gospel...YOUR ECHO REVERBERATES AROUND THE COUNTRY AND believe it or not you have a powerful influence in and on this industry... What I am saying is THIS... the industry "mobile technicians" get an average of 45.00 for cosmetic repairs in dealer lots..wholesale pricing across the country ...the industry is already suffering from sagging sales..’’

why muck up the industry with “quick and dirty” shoddy work … when you can advocate fairly good work which can be promoted and taught… it is this type of suggestions and standards you now seem to want to advocate that is ruining and destroying the industry on a whole... what you will pay is irrelevant... ELEVATE THE PERCEPTION OF THE INDUSTRY BY ADVOCATING REALISTIC PRICING and GOOD STANDARDS.. IT ONLY BENEFITS OUR INDUSTRY and the perception of this industry… that is real leadership

Gina

Thank you for the post and the kind words.

You make a good point that I cannot argue with, but whether you and I agree that brush touchup is not quality work, it irrelevant if the detailer can sell this service to some of their customers as a "no-cost" add on to rise the price of their ticket and provide some added service.

Rather than you and I debating the point let's ask those here on the forum what they think.

Detailers do you think it is "prostituting" the paint touchup business by offering a lower cost, brush touchup or that such a service would be a beneficial add on to your detail service.

Thanks for your cooperation.

Regards

I agree with both points of view on this subject at this time.

Once the dust settles, and since I am retired after a few decades in the business, will offer up to all some old man's advice on how to sell this sort of service and what makes it possible to do so.

Of course, it will be just my "take on this", but does relate to a couple of other very profitable, non-detailing huge businesses that have been around for century's.

Ketch

No one has replied because I suspect they are looking for us to LEAD...

I try to do my part within the industry by providing good quality service combined with profitable pricing... Since wholesale touch up is in 45.00 range in my area.. I charge 85.00 and up for providing touch up service. Most consumers understand that touch up work is primarily for preventing rusting... they UNDERSTAND IT IS NOT AND CANNOT BE INVISIBLE, IT IS NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR A COMPLETE REPAINT...NOR IS IT INTENDED TO SUBSTITUTE THAT ..BUT ONLY A COSMETIC IMPROVEMENT IN THE OVERALL APPEARANCE OF THE VEHICLE... i would say most consumers are happy because I have painted a realistic picture. I think the charges reflect the cost of having a system, storing materials at hand, computer software, bottles, needles, touch up brushes, yellow page advertisement, signage, rental on space, electricity, gasoline to heat etc. to provide said service, insurance to cover any potential damage to vehicle, technical proficiency and knowledge to provide said touch up, time it takes to sell the service, forms to fill out and document the service and sale, accountant to reconcile the books etc.

Gina you have a paint touchup system but cannot do a perfect repair?

Somewhat confused.

With a paint touchup system where you mix paint via a computer software package from the paint company you have the ability to putting the chip or scratch, sand it down; spray the best and then blend in the clear for a perfect repair which we would charge and get far more than $85.

The system I am asking about does allow you to mix the paint but in a much simplier way and to then use a fine tipped brush to cover the small chips and scratches. If you think one should charge $45 for this I am all for it, but from a value point of view personally I think you can charge anywhere from $25 to $45 depending on how many chips/scratches there might be on the car.

Regards

Gina you have a paint touchup system but cannot do a perfect repair?

Somewhat confused.

With a paint touchup system where you mix paint via a computer software package from the paint company you have the ability to putting the chip or scratch, sand it down; spray the best and then blend in the clear for a perfect repair which we would charge and get far more than $85.

The system I am asking about does allow you to mix the paint but in a much simplier way and to then use a fine tipped brush to cover the small chips and scratches. If you think one should charge $45 for this I am all for it, but from a value point of view personally I think you can charge anywhere from $25 to $45 depending on how many chips/scratches there might be on the car.

Regards

Bud it is obvious we are either talking about two different things or you do NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT paint touch up means... When you "touch up paint" in this industry it means a vehicle has numerous chips, gouges or deep small scratches caused by road stones or debris, someone has opened a door too hard against another surface, someone has pushed or moved something against a vehicles paint surface to cause a deep scratch or gouge, someone reversed into a bumper and scratched... This is what you will touch and NO IT WILL NOT BE INVISIBLE... UNLESS YOU ARE DOING A MICRO REPAIR ... REPAINTING A PANEL, OR BUMPER...FAR MORE TIME CONSUMING WORK AND OBVIOUSLY THE COST WILL BE MORE ... AND NO YOU CANNOT MAKE AN INVISIBLE REPAIR BY TOUCHING UP many chips across the hood and bumper of a vehicle.. NO ONE I KNOW CAN... UNLESS YOU ARE AN EXCEPTIONAL MAGICIAN..

You can only make it look better... there is a 8ft rule.... if you come close to it you are going to see that it is touched up... In the touch up industry you cannot change the laws of science how light reflects thru a broken surface...YOU ARE GOING TO SEE IT ...

Gina there is no need to be insulting, you know very well that I am familiar with paint touchup and how it is down, we have been selling a paint touchup system longer than you have been in the detailing business.

There is no sense in our continuing this personal debate, if you would care to contact me we can discuss by telephone your opinions.

What I really want to know is how many detailers think this system is worth an investment of less than $500 for such a system whether you sell the brush touchup for $25, $35 or $45 dollars that is not visible from 8' away from the car.

Regards

To the original question...yes.

If I didn't already have a touch up kit, I'd buy one for $500.

I paid $1700 for my kit and paid it off in 2.5 months.

Very popular with my customers, but you have to sell it right.

GTR

Thanks for the post. What price do you charge for a fine brush touchup of chips and scratches.

Bud Abraham

Depends on the car.

1 or 2 chips: $25
3-7: $35
7 - 15: $45

15+: $60+

Wholesale is always $35. Dealers want fixed pricing, so I win on some cars and lose on others...just like detailing.

Thank you very much.

Thank you very much.

i agree with some of you

Car Detailing Charlotte
704-464-0163
[www.cardetailingcharlotte.com]
Charlotte, NC 28246



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/2010 03:52AM by Charlotte.