I'm terrified of looking unprofessional. I plan to trade up to a minivan eventually, but all I have at the moment is this well-running, but tiny car. Do you think this is going to be an issue?

Mark, you had a two-door car when you first started. Did you ever catch any flak about that?

KleenMan

IF you have the money to get a bigger vehicle and can afford the insurance to put a sign on the side of it that will help with advertizement (I was quated 800 dollars for 6 months for this type of insurance) but if you cant afford it right now your little car will do, cuz most of your customers will not know what type of vehicle you have till you get there and if they say anything just let them know that you do not need a van because you use a low moisture system that will leave there carpets dry in an hour if they still give you flack tell them that you guarantee satisfaction. I use a 1988 handa acord people have told me I should get a bigger vehicle but I have never lost a job because of it

When I was first taking a trial whack at this business I owned a Mustang convertable. I used it for a while until the front seat (where I carried my machine) was starting to show wear & tear from the load. Also, I knew that I looked less than professional. So I purchased a friend's used Bronco II, had it painted bright yellow (including those large rear windows that that vehicle had), had the windows professionally lettered into a sign, and I had thus achieved a "look". I no longer have the Bronco. I have the 1994 Ford Taurus wagon that appears on my website, as well as a Honda Element, which I much prefer to drive.

mark how is the element for storage and such?... any way to get stuff in there and have a usable back seat?...

i like the element (it's grown on me finaly)... also dig the XB so :)...

er that being said i'll be using my neon for starters... the back seat folds down so i'll be able to get the vac and machine in there no prob...

also have a volvo wagon that needs a turbo... if i end up fixing it and not selling her i might turn to the wagon for a biz car... but we'll see

mark

I use my Element with the back seats removed. For just carting around a single Challenger along with miscellaneous other stuff, the space between the rear seats and the rear tailgate is sufficient. But my arsenal includes 2 Challengers; a fairly large Orbitec CX-20; a 24" Cimex; a steam vapor machine; and lots of gallons of this & that. I need the seats out.

kleenman, you'll probably catch some heat about the vehicle but who gives a rats booty! ya gotta start somewhere my friend. my advice is go with whatcha got and when ya can make the trade up without breakin the bank, do it!
back in the '70's when i started, i used a ford granada and a pontiac astre. some of you young folk may not even remember those 2 POS cars, lol but i did what i had to do to get going.

I work out of a Honda Accord. I removed the back seat and carry my Challenger, a large leather bag of miscellaneous stuff, a vapor-steam cleaner that rides with it's attachments on a small welders cart I found at a great price, trays with handles set up as stain cleaning kits, my pads & rags in sturdy boxes, two 5 gallon buckets, 2 smaller buckets, 2 plastic crates made to hold 4 1-gallon bottles to hold my cleaning solutions and a kirby vacuum (which rides on the front passenger side floor); plus another box with jumper cables and car stuff in it. The small car is loaded when I head to a job but it works. A van or Element would be much better but I still work this very part time, having other irons in the fire and a small advertising budget. I've not had any customer complain or even comment about my work vehicle but I've only had a couple dozen customers. I do a great job and they seem content with that.

A variation on the car/truck "either-or" would be a small trailer, preferably covered. This would provide ample flat surface area for a sign, and would keep you from having a car full of "stuff". Landscaping services almost all rely on trailers to cart around all the equipment they need for their work.

a trailer is a very good and cheap option... i may go with one eventualy... i already have the hitch and had no problems towing well 1500-2000 lbs over 1000 miles when i moved from MI back to FL (i don't recomend it but it did a great job... once i reloaded the trailer to be a bit more balanced)... accelleration was a bit slower... and braking a bit weaker then normal but was still better then any pick-up i've ever driven