Pricing Variables
Because every car is not created equal, that means dirt, stains, spills, etc... are also not created equal. Excessive dirt build up will absolutely affect the price of the detail. A car that has not been cleaned in 6 months versus one that has not been cleaned in 6 years will require very different things in order to get the job done correctly, and therefore will not be quoted at the same rate. There is a difference between what I call "excessive dirt" and "surface dirt." Surface dirt is exactly what it sounds like, it is the simple dust and dirt that has not been allowed to sit for extremely long periods of time that is relatively easy to clean and therefore detail. Excessive dirt is of course the other end of that, dirt that has been allowed to sit and more or less become part of the car. Cars with excessive dirt build up tend to be the cars that I call the "family haulers." For the most part these are mini vans, expeditions, and sedans that are used to cart the kids around. They tend to have excessive crumbs, dirt, staining, etc... Cars with kids, as a rule, are always dirtier, there's really just no way to get around it, it is what it is. It is also important to understand that one person's clean is another person's dirty, so although I take all of my new customers through some pretty extensive questioning over the phone before I ever show up, it is impossible to give an exact quote through the phone because I am not standing in front of the car. With that being said, I always give a ranged quote, for example I would say something like: "From what I am hearing you say it sounds like I am going to need to charge you anywhere from $105 - $125 in order to get the job you want done, does that sound like something that will work for you?"