It's 7am on a Saturday. You back your car out of the garage. In the trunk: a $90 electric pressure washer, a $120 15-gallon water tank, a Shop-Vac, a duffle of microfibers, and a milk crate of chemicals.
Total gear value in the trunk: about $700.
That's what mobile car detailing actually costs to start. Not the $20,000 wrapped trailer with a generator. That trailer is year three. Year one is what's in your trunk on a Saturday morning.
By 2pm, two cars done, you're home with $370 gross. The chemical cost for both jobs combined was about $14.
The one thing the Instagram detailing content never shows you: setup at every stop is 15 minutes of unbillable time. It's the hidden tax on every mobile job. The way to offset it is back-to-back bookings in the same neighborhood, not driving across the city between clients.
The water tank is the gear that unlocks apartment complex work. Most apartments don't have accessible outdoor spigots — without your own water supply you can't quote those jobs. A 15 to 30 gallon tank from Tractor Supply ($80 to $150) opens up an entirely different customer base: apartment residents who can't access a hose and will pay a premium for someone who brings their own setup.
Don't offer ceramic coatings until you've done 50 details. Customers who want coatings want a controlled shop environment and a professional process — not a mobile newbie. Selling coatings before you're ready damages your reviews and doesn't pay enough to offset doing them wrong.
The full plan — exact gear list at brand level, the apartment-complex booking script, pricing tables by city, and the four car types to turn down — is in the full plan:
See the full mobile car detailing plan →
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