In the early days, when paint and rust-proofing technology was in its infancy, car wax was proffered as a very necessary way of protecting a car – slowing paint fade and staving off the dreaded tin worm. It wasn’t long before this was capitalised on and started forming an additional revenue stream for garages, initially as a post-sale service, and since the late 1970’s, as a pre-sale optional extra.
Nowadays, paint technology is such that cars don’t actually need a layer of wax over them – and rust certainly isn’t as big an issue as it once was. However, people haven’t changed – they still like shiny things – so offering options to get their cars even shinier for longer is still a very profitable enterprise. Waxes were superseded by polymer coatings during the 1980’s and now ceramic coatings are all the rage, offering greater durability and easy-to-clean properties.
However, whereas a wax can be applied by anyone with very limited preparation or skill required, ceramic coatings are a different beast altogether. They require not only meticulous preparation, but also when applied badly, cannot simply be wiped off and re-applied. Furthermore, customers are more demanding – they watch YouTube videos and Instagram posts of top end detailers perfecting paint and expect to get a similar service from their local dealership. This has been causing a ruckus for well over a decade now, with garages garnering a poor reputation for workmanship – images of cars being washed with yard brushes and stories of ‘new car protection’ products being slapped on dirty cars or not at all prevail on the internet.
Traditionally the valeter at a garage sits at the bottom of the pay pile, they’re the photocopier boy of the workshop, judged more on their tea-making skills than their machine polishing. This has been at odds with the prices charged to the customer, often hundreds of pounds in return for cheap products badly applied – it’s been one of the most profitable but problematic services a dealership can offer.
But it’s not all doom and gloom – as service intervals get longer, low maintenance EVs become more popular, new car margins get yet thinner, and finance plans get continually more competitive, it’s harder than ever for a dealership to stay afloat. The options are evolve or die – and you just need to walk into a modern franchised dealership to see how they’re evolving. The ‘customer experience’ is a country mile from the old days – clients are ushered into vast complexes that are pristinely clean, sat on luxury leather sofas, fed boutique biscuits and artisan coffee while being mesmerised by well-dressed, well-mannered, and well-informed sales executives. The service centre is no longer a grease pit of scruffy, foul-mouthed boiler-suited bodgers but a highly organised, almost clinical operation, packed with process-trained technicians issuing detailed video reports via email. But what of the valeting bay?
The biggest changes have actually been more focussed on employee safety, and rightly so, as many of the products used in car preparation can lethal if incorrectly used. But when it comes to the facilities, training, and services offered, we’re starting to see long overdue change too. Dealerships are starting employ rather than contract their valeting staff, they’re starting to send them to places like UK Detailing Academy to build actual skills, and they’re starting to realise that they can make money from detailing as long as it is done right.
For dealerships wanting to stay ahead of the curve, now is the time to start investing in the facilities and skills to offer detailing services to the public – an EV may only need a service every other year, but they still benefit from regular detailing just like any other car.
Automechanika is the perfect place to see the latest offerings and engage with the detailing community at large – come to the NEC Birmingham 6-8th June 2023 to learn more.