It’s never too early to start saving up for college. For three San Luis Obispo High School freshman, the daunting task is a little more fun when best friends and cars get them closer to their goal.
“We started with window cleaning to get our money, but we realized a lot of people wanted their car cleaned. So, we got a lot of those people onto our schedule,” 14-year-old Tyler Green said. “We did it, sort of end-of-summer, start-of-schoolyear. We got all of our stuff needed for car detailing with that money.”
Green and his two best friends, 14-year-old Merrick Han and 15-year-old Noah Lewis, kicked off their high school careers this year as the founders of SLO Power.
It’s their car detailing business where the teenagers come to clients’ driveways to make their vehicles “clean and bright, done just right!” according to SLO Power’s 81 follower-strong business on Instagram, @sanluisobispopower.
They normally work weekends from 10:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. and during school breaks like the recent Thanksgiving holiday. Sometimes, the SLO Power trio also works after school, but only if they can balance it with their other responsibilities.
“Me and Merrick both do club soccer and school soccer,” Green, a UC Berkeley-hopeful, said. “Then we’re doing AP classes like computer science, and we’re also in different clubs for SLO High.”
Since September, SLO Power has served roughly 20 people. The boys tapped into social media to spread the word, posting diligently on Nextdoor, Instagram, and TikTok @slo.power.
Depending on the size of the car and how dirty it is, SLO Power typically charges $125 for interior detailing and $75 for exterior work. Call (805) 748-0912 or email sanluisobispopower@gmail.com to book their services.
“With most detailers, you have to usually drive in to a shop, but we come straight to your door, so you don’t have to waste any of your time going out of the way to drive 30 minutes to somewhere,” Green said. “I think we’re more affordable than some other car detailers. Other car detailers can charge upward of $500 for very good detailing. Our services are on par with other businesses.”
Not yet old enough to drive, the boys are chaperoned by Han’s dad. He loads SLO Power’s pressure washer, foam cannon, drill brush, vacuum, carpet extractors, and steam cleaners onto his truck before driving the power tools and his son and his two best friends to different clients’ locations.
Green, Han, and Lewis learned how to use the tools by watching YouTube videos and by practicing detailing on their parents’ cars before becoming official. While the extracurricular business is a way for the boys to prepare for the future, the job carries a somewhat relaxing component for them.
“I think that cleaning is sort of therapeutic for me,” Green said.
He splits SLO Power’s revenue equally with Lewis and Han, investing it for college tuition.
“I’ve been putting it into my college funds, and I also put it for spare change just so I know that I have money when I need it,” Han said.
Han, who’s eyeing Berkeley, Stanford, and UCLA as his dream schools, told New Times that working with SLO Power taught him to value clients.
“I’ve learned to treat clients like royalty,” he said. “Even though a client is trying to underpay you or something, if you just treat them kindly and just try your best on their car, a lot of them end up paying you back by tipping or sometimes they even want another detail, which is a win.”
Fast fact
• Low-income seniors and veterans looking to pay medical bills for their sick pets may find help from Care for Senior and Disabled Animals (CSADA). It provides medical care and support, special prescription food, procedures like MRIs and lab work, shelter adoption fees, and prosthetics for pets. Interested participants can have their veterinarian or local shelter contact CSADA at (831) 277-3800 to discuss pets’ medical needs. CSADA will also directly pay the vet clinic. A tax-deductible donation can be made to CSADA, P.O. Box 1024, Pismo Beach, CA 93448 or through its website careforsenioranddisabledanimals.org. ∆
Reach Staff Writer Bulbul Rajagopal at brajagopal@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Dec 11-18, 2025.