Gen Zers Ride Car Detailing to Big Bucks

Benjamin Scheets was halfway through his junior year in college when he decided to turn his side hustle into a full-time job. It involves rags and a lot of dirty water.

He dropped out of Kent State University in May. The 22-year-old now runs his own business scrubbing every sheet metal curve and interior corner of a vehicle until there isn’t a smudge or crumb left. He runs his car detailing operation out of his parents’ garage, and brings in $5,000 a month in profits.

“There’s a real feeling of satisfaction doing this work,” said Scheets, who started detailing cars for spare cash in high school and now charges $180 on the low end to detail a sedan and as much as $2,000 to add full protective coating. He has booked out two months in advance and is looking to hire an assistant.

On social media, millions of viewers have tuned in to watch detailers power wash and vacuum interiors. There are 1.8 million posts featuring the hashtag #cardetailing on TikTok, and clips in the U.S. including that tag have risen by more than 30% in just the past month, according to data from TikTok.

Part of the appeal is aesthetic: There is a hypnotic pleasure for some people in seeing grime pressure-washed away. Scheets and other young entrepreneurs are also driving the trend by capitalizing on demand for full-service cleans to keep America’s aging fleet of vehicles looking spiffy.

A customer might pay hundreds of dollars to have someone come to their driveway and fully detail their car, giving it a deep clean both inside and out. Additional services, such as paint correction and ceramic coating intended to help protect the car’s finish and give it extra shine, can cost still more.

“We’re seeing an influx of young people,” says Nicholas Vacco, who runs a $1,995, three-day training course in Pittsburgh for car detailers. He said inquiries from students across the country have risen more than 50% in the past four years.

Young people face a challenging job market, but have also shown a penchant for finding creative ways to go it alone. A December Intuit QuickBooks survey showed 43% of Gen Z workers say they are considering starting a business this year, more than any other generation and up from Gen Z’s 27% in the survey the year before.

In Miami, Erick Ortiz, 27, was making $15 an hour working at an Amazon warehouse when he quit in 2021. A year later, after a stint as a food delivery driver, he and his girlfriend started washing cars for $20 apiece, armed with buckets, a hose and soap, before raising their prices and buying more equipment.

They now charge $150 for a small car detailing job and employ six people, with a physical location offering ceramic coating and three vans that provide services in customers’ driveways and two more they are about to add. All told, the business brings in around $18,500 in monthly profit, Ortiz said. He has also started posting about his journey on social media, where he has 946,000 followers.

The attention has allowed him to offer classes and coaching that bring in a n o t h e r $50,000 a month, with 600 students having signed up in the past two years.

Part of the appeal is the low entry barrier. Car detailing doesn’t require credentials, and startup costs are minimal.

If you are just deep-cleaning, “you can pick up a couple hundred dollars’ worth of product, and you can do it out of the back of your car,” said Meghan Poirier, president of the International Detailing Association. Specialized services like ceramic coating can require more upfront investment, and often a physical shop.

The ease of starting up means lots of competition. Every spring, new operators tend to pop up, often charging low rates to try to undercut their peers, said Avery Bustin, a 24 year-old with a detailing business in Montrose, Colo.

Still, the work can be grueling, and many new detailers “filter out and fall off and don’t stick with it,” he said.

Jessica Tran, 31, an auto detailing influencer outside Los Angeles with 1.6 million followers on TikTok, said the industry has its ups and downs. Demand can be seasonal, and when gas prices surged this year, she noticed consumers cutting back.

A self-professed cleaning fanatic, she said she asked for a vacuum as a 16th birthday present and relishes the plush nap of a freshly vacuumed Porsche carpet. She now employs a half dozen people and prides herself on her ability to get deep into any crack or crevice.

“It’s like being the first man on the moon,” she said. “Like, I’m the first one there.”