Author: Brian Carreiro, BSU student
I had the pleasure to interview the owner and sole proprietor of “Resurrected Detailing”, Douglas Mendes. He is a very passionate business owner and he loves what he does. Many people overlook the idea of detailing their cars, but what Douglas says is, “detailing and maintaining your cars paint is just as important maintenance as a regular oil change.” Resurrected Detailing is a mobile automotive detailer. He travels all around Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and has done many jobs in the South Shore area before.
He caters to the customer by coming to their door to detail their cars, which makes the service more convenient for the customer. This method of “mobile detailing” also benefits his business because it helps reach a larger consumer basis, rather than just his local area.
Douglas Mendes also has a large amount of experience and certifications for detailing cars. His enjoyment for detailing began when he was a kid and has been a part of his life ever since. Not only does he detail cars, but he will detail anything with paint, such as boats, motorcycles, and expensive Snap-On toolboxes. He has detailed a wide variety of cars, from cheaper cars and even up to a $150,000 BMW. He has detailed a truck a part of the Bristol 4th of July parade, and the truck ended up winning “Most Beautiful”. He has transformed so many cars from a nightmare to basically brand new again. He can restore your paintwork and interior. Most of his experience was done at a dealership that he used to work at, and he has had vast amounts of practice to get to the level of expertise he is at today.
Many customers also do not realize how much time and effort Douglas puts into detailing his cars. Some cars will take him up to 10 hours to complete, and that’s because he will treat the car as his own. And just the amount of products that he brings with him for detailing his cars is extremely immense. He has thousands of dollars in equipment and most customers do not realize how much time and money is needed. He has certain products for each certain car part. He’s so precise with his work that he even cleans the door jams and your engine bay. You also need to understand the different types of cars you’re working on because not all cars have the same type of paint. He said “There are different paint thicknesses and you cannot just compound every car. You need to have years of experience to detailing a car, and it is not just as simple as washing your car with soap and water.”
What makes Douglas stand out from the competition is his work will always be quality. Most mobile businesses will brush over your car in 3 hours, but he will do his job more effectively and take up to 10 hours. His prices are a flat rate, regardless of what it is, so customers are not charged hourly. He always guarantees his customers satisfaction. He says “if you’re not happy with his work, then you don’t have to pay the full amount.” He also gives a warranty for some of his jobs. An example is if he restores your headlights and they get faded a year later, then he will come by and redo them free of charge.
A way he brings in new customers is through his work itself. Doug said, “yesterday I finished doing one car, and from me doing that car, 3 other customers contacted me to do theirs too.” Doug explains that that’s the major benefit of being a mobile detailing business because you can reach a larger audience. Resurrected Detailing has been an official business for about three years now, but he has been detailing for much longer than that. And he has worked in different areas of automotive detailing, such as, boat yards and dealerships.
The hardest part for Douglas starting his business was he didn’t have a trailer to carry around all of his products and supplies, but now he does have one which makes it much easier to carry his supplies around.
The biggest challenge for him in 2020 was losing out on some customers because they obviously lost income, but not all of his customers lost their jobs. But the pandemic boosted his business in a way because he completely cleans your car inside and out, and that will make customers feel safer.
Doug does not have any social media, but he is on “Linked In.” He uses this to promote his business, along with word-of-mouth, plus his work speaks for itself to do the promoting.
For the future, Doug would like to eventually pick up a shop, but still keep the mobile aspect of his business. The shop would certainly help him in the winter because the chemicals in the products that he uses needs to be used in a certain temperature. He would also like to eventually hire employees, but Doug would like to still do most of the work because he is proud of his work and he does it a certain way.
Resurrected Detailing is a mobile car-detailing
business. To contact the owner, Douglas Mendes:
Phone: 774-266-7434
Email: vash7785@gmail.com
