What a dealership detail contract should contain
A detail agreement is often negotiated on a per-unit price and a handshake. The problems that follow are almost never about price — they're about what nobody wrote down.
After five years of running detail departments inside dealerships, one thing keeps coming back: disputes don't come from the rate. They come from the day a vehicle promised to a customer isn't ready, when a redo gets billed twice, or when nobody knows who answers for a scratch. Here's what an agreement should settle in advance.
1. Scope, by vehicle type
"Detail" means nothing until you've written what a delivery prep, a used-vehicle recon and a courtesy wash each include. Each is a different job, with a different time and a different cost.
2. The quality standard, in writing
What isn't written gets interpreted. A standard states what is checked before a vehicle leaves the bay: adhesive residue, door sills, glass, trunk, interior, wheels. It's also what lets you settle a redo without an argument.
3. Priority rules
Who decides the order of the day, and based on what? Without this clause, the prep tech decides alone between tomorrow's delivery and the used unit that's been waiting three days — and always picks the one whose customer is calling.
4. Coverage
- Days and hours on site
- What happens during an absence or sick day: who replaces, and how fast
- How peaks get absorbed — weekends, month-end, inventory arrivals
5. Who supplies what
Equipment, products, consumables, uniforms, and their upkeep. This is the clause that decides whether your department comes back to cost you money in purchase orders six months later.
6. Redos
Who flags them, within what time, and who pays. A serious agreement puts the redo at the supplier's expense when the vehicle doesn't meet the written standard — otherwise the standard is worth nothing.
7. Damage and insurance
Require before signing
- Proof of insurance covering vehicles while they're in the supplier's care
- The inspection procedure: who inspects, when, with what photos
- How long a claim takes to process
Many commercial policies exclude property in your care. Ask for the policy, not a statement.
8. Billing
Frequency, level of detail, and reconciliation. An invoice that lists the units processed can be checked against your own records; a flat invoice with no detail can't be checked at all.
9. Term and exit
The length of the agreement, and above all what happens if it doesn't work: notice, transition, and what the supplier leaves behind. A clear exit clause is the best sign a supplier is confident.
10. The transition plan
Who does what during the first weeks, and how you avoid a day with no coverage. Without this clause, the transition becomes your problem the day it goes sideways.
A supplier who hesitates over these ten points is telling you something useful before you sign rather than after.
Our proposal covers all ten points
We put the scope, the quality standard, the priority rules, coverage and proof of insurance in writing, before you sign anything.