Sophomore Santi Herrera does car detailing services and hopes to buy a shop for his business when he’s older
Driving in his 2009 GMC Acadia with Bad Bunny blaring on the radio, sophomore Santi Herrera is on the way to his next customer.
Armed with his pressure washer, vacuum, air compressor, steamer and extractor packed into the makeshift shelves in his car, Herrera’s ready to clean.
First, he starts with the items scattered around the car. Then the pet hair. The crumbs in the seat crevices. The stains on the seat. For the next few hours, Herrera works to turn the dull, messy Yukon Denali shiny gray.
After finishing, he places two paper mats that say, “Thank you,” on the driver’s and passenger’s side floors to keep them clean. Then he snaps a picture of the car’s interior and posts it on his Instagram account, @pristinedetailingKC — just like the before-and-after car interior cleaning YouTube videos he watches in his free time that originally inspired him to start his business several months ago.
“It's just relaxing, seeing a car go from really dirty, and me being the one to clean it all up and make it look nice again,” Herrera said.
From when he started, he’s cleaned at least 20 cars and will continue to expand his business, hoping to eventually hire employees.
Herrera manages his developing business website — in addition to his Instagram account — on his personal computer, which is designated solely to his business.
He plans to eventually post YouTube videos of his customer interactions and car-cleaning process with Meta glasses as well.
As the mom of two young boys, sophomore Rehan Zahid’s mom, Christina, hadn’t had her car cleaned for five years when she hired Herrera.
“I remember [he was] working outside of my driveway in the cold, because he said he would get it done, and he did,” Christina said. “It was very impressive. I didn't expect it to be that clean.”
Use the slider to see before-and-after pictures of Santi's work.
Sophomore Luke Roberts started an auto repair shop a month ago to use his skills to make money
Sophomore Luke Robert’s entire palm was covered in black grease and brake dust.
Positioned underneath the elevated car and holding a wrench in his right hand, he began changing a friend’s car brakes in his garage.
Roberts started his own business, Luke’s Auto Repair Mechanic, a month ago, and now he often finds himself under cars lifted by jacks to do repair jobs.
Car engine’s not running? Roberts will come to you instead of working in his garage. Need an oil change? He can do it for a third of a professional autoshop’s price.
“I've thought about getting my own shop [and] I might in the future,” Roberts said. “For now, I don't know what I want to do with it, but it's a good hustle to have.”
Since he was 12, he and his friends would fix vehicles. First mini bikes. Then motorbikes. Then cars. He went from fixing blown-up engines on his motorbike for himself to replacing CV axles for customers, who were often family friends.
“I was like, ‘Well sh*t, may as well make money doing it,’” Roberts said.
And when he’s not fixing customer cars, he’s practicing on his dad’s 24-year-old car that constantly needs work done. After doing research and watching videos, he fixed the brakes, changed the oil and transmission fluid, drained the brake fluid and did electrical work on the car.
Despite his age, Roberts says he’s as capable as other mechanics when it comes to the basics, and often works with adult customers who find him on Facebook.
“I think older mechanics would definitely have more experience [than] me with certain things,” Roberts said. “But it doesn't mean that I can't do the things that they can do too [and] I'm good at the things that I do.”
Funny enough, I had a similar experience last month and your take explains why it worked.