There are several interior repair kits we’ve found on the market. Their price range is pretty enormous, as is what they offer. Time and again, we’ve seen kits for under $1,000 that have everything you need to touch-up pretty much any car you’ll encounter.
If your money doesn’t buy you everything you need, you can always upgrade later. You can get a good kit, for under $1,000, which includes everything but the paint and heat guns. If the kit comes with a paint gun, we’d advise against buying it. Kits that try to be too all-encompassing also try to cut corners in the quality of the inventory as a means of increasing the overall profit margin.
The other important thing to remember when you’re shopping for an interior repair kit is that you want to buy from a company that is efficient when it comes to refills and phone support. Contact them before you buy it, see that the people selling it are human beings who take the time to provide quality email or phone correspondence.
This is important because you don’t want to be left helpless by running out of a kind of paint that only the company you bought from has, and that company isn’t answering the phone.
Practice, Practice, Practice
Take the time to read the training manual. Do it twice. The kit should come with a training DVD, and you should watch that twice, too. Once you’re confident in the theory, learn the muscle movements behind it by practicing on interiors until you feel comfortable.
A great idea is to go get some seats, door panels, and steering wheels from the junkyard, and touch them up. One thing to think about is that you’ll be able to touch up boat interiors with your kit. Touch-up business with boat owners can be very profitable. Find some marine interiors and practice on those, too.
Take it to your customers
Price your service competitively. Do the market research necessary to determine what a competitive price will be. Focus, especially at first, on simpler jobs, such as seat bolster repair. Black redye jobs are usually a cake-walk – it’s good to work on those at the beginning.
At the other end of the spectrum, you can expect to take a little bit of a loss, especially in the beginning, when you’ve got to touch-up something that’s beige, tan, sand, parchment, or a similar mid-range brown. These will take you a little while to match color but are excellent practice.
As you become more skilled in the art of interior reconditioning, you should make your way up to bigger, more complicated jobs, such as multi-colored or tye-die seats. Remember, as with any other detailing work, you should maintain an organized workspace and a sense of urgency while you’re working.
