Car Detailing

Ha! I had a putrid car detailed recently and it cost over $200. It was nice and clean for a while, and now it's back to putrid. I do a lot of travelling in it.

We have a excellent car wash in town. They do not call it detailing, but to me it is really thorough.

It is $45. Then with a tip.. About $55.- 60.

Only problem is I cannot stand the waiting.. Even if I take a book or iPad.. I get antsy.

My husband details cars for a living.
He has been working at a high end dealership for the past 10 or so years and he details cars/boats/RV's on the side as well.
He has detailed disgustingly gross cars, clean cars and everywhere in between. Yes, the dirtiest are usually the moms on the go.....but also ones that let their pets in the car. The pet hair everywhere is so HARD to get out of the carpet!
He has had people call him up if they are selling their car. And usually the car sells right away since it's so clean and shiny!
But....the majority of what he does is just for your average "Joe" who wants to have a clean car or "Sarah" who has been dragging her kids around with her and the car is a mess.
He charges anywhere between $150-$200. That gets your car washed, waxed, buffed, interior, carpets, dash, tire resin...everything. He then usually offers up a monthly maintenance which is $50 a month. He comes out twice a month and washes the car and vacuums it out. He has quite a few clients that do that.
What he HATES are those drive thru car washes. He says they are always scratching up the paint on cars. He may be a bit biased though! lol
L.

My buddy owns his own detailing shop, of course you can do it just because its gross! That's how he gets most his business! Ha! Not sure about in your area but where I am at its roughly $180-200 for my giant SUV (Suburban) & goes down by car size.

Totally worth the $, IMO!!!

~We travel a lot & I absolutely allow food & drinks, just no red liquids, and I never really scrub it clean by myself...totally the last thing on my to-do list! :)
I would much rather just pay someone & it always looks brand new, love it!

We do a full detail on each of our cars about once a year. It generally runs about $200 for a service at home (unless we find a Groupon; we just purchased one for $75 for a full detail). That includes wash, clay wax, carpets shampooed, leather cleaned/conditioned, interior and engine cleaned. We look at it as regular, yearly maintenance. I would certainly do it before selling either of our vehicles, too.

Mom:

If I was going to sell my car - i would make sure it's as clean as possible so I can get top dollar for it.

I would find a reputable car wash - that offers detailing - and get a price - for my minivan? It was 250 - and it looked and smelled GREAT!! They even did the ceiling!! :)

I take my car in every two weeks for a good cleaning. I love the way they take care of my car. With Leather seats - they do the leather care - it's nice to know they are going to last longer!!

Hope that helps!

I had my car detailed at the dealer about a year ago and it was $150 for a VERY dirty minivan. I plan on doing it once a year to help keep the value up.

I periodically vacuum it all, but it doesn't get it clean enough. I do allow food and drinks in the car, because I don't have many other options when we have days that are so busy there's not many other choices. I figure $150/year works out to about $12/mo, so that's not too bad a tradeoff.

That falls under vanity for me, and I am not vain. I call my van my home on wheels and it lives up to it. Every few years I do try to do a through clean out, but it is not high on my list of priorities.

My one friend is OCD about her vehicle (among other things) so she finds it well worth the money to have hers done at least once a year if not more. We just have different priorities.

I go to a full service wash/ hand dry about once o twice a month for $25 a trip.

About twice a year, I do a special detail with special wax, etc and pay about $100 an hour.

I drive a high end luxury convertible and I keep it in top shape. We also keep our other cars in top shape.

When daughter was younger and I drove a van, I went through a service wash weekly, about $10

We've done it a few times and would do it annually for all our cars if we could. As I recall, for our large SUV it cost about $150. I believe, like any sort of maintenance and upkeep on your home, it not only makes you feel more comfortable while in the car but also helps keep it in good shape.

For me, it's also provides the boost I need to keep it clean. Once it's so sparkling inside & out I hate to leave stuff laying around inside.

If you can, I say go for it.

It can be steep. My husband paid $90 to have a van detailed so he could sell it. They did a good job overall but it was so wet that he had to use th eshp vac to vacuum some of the moisture out of the carpet and leave the door open when ever he was outside. Took 3 days. Luckily it was fall and weather was okay. A friend pays $120 to have her Ford Explorer done and $65 to have her husband's Toyota Corolla cleaned out. But they do a fantastic job

i looked into it once for a fathers day gift idea. NO way i'm playing $200 for something i can't wear every day of my life.

i generally use the shop vac every friday or every friday we don't have plans after work and that has helped alot. it recently broke and hubs replaced it with a bigger vac that will make thing much harder to use for cleaning the car and i'm a bit bitter and still pouting so i haven't usesd it yet.
get a new dust buster or a small shop vac.

i will look into $50 detailing though, where can i find that in oh?

I would and do have my car cleaned every so often. They are so much better at getting the crumbs up, the gummies off and honestly they have the time and energy to do it. It frees up my time and to me it is worth every single penny I pay someone else to clean up my car.

I pay $22, they vacuum, armor all wash inside and out, and make it smell pretty. My boss has someone come to our work to do it for $25 - $30 depending on how much needs done.

Exactly what Patty K said. We have a full service car wash here and for $20 they clean inside and out. Detailing would cost closer to $100. I use it in the spring and in the fall. Do not ever allow food or drinks in the car. All I allow is water.

One of those drive thru car wash places (I can't remember it's name but it's a franchise) offers an external car detailing for $45. They said that they use brushes and go over the outside in person. I'm going to try it.

When I run the car thru the full, not the express wash, they vacuum and dust the interior. That works for me. That does mean I have to pick everything up off the floor for them to do it. I think the wash is around $12. I'm guessing that when they detail the car they send it thru the full wash and then detail it on the lot. I've watched them do it.

It does not have to be detailed. Just go to a full service car wash place where they do inside and out. To prevent from getting gross, have a no food in car rule. Keeps care so much nicer.

I pay $25 and it comes out beautiful!!!

Here a complete interior/exterior hand detail is about $150-200 depending on the filth factor condition, pet hair is an up charge, and the add in services.
I clean my car myself. A combo of drive through washes, hand washes, interior cleaning, vacuuming.
I guess my car doesn't get totally disgusting.
I try to "keep up" with it regularly.
My husband does the same.
If I was going to sell/trade it tomorrow, I wouldn't have it detailed.
It wouldn't "need" it, so I wouldn't pay for it.
I guess it's not on my priority list.

When I am bored I wash and clean it out about once every other weekend. I tend to live in my car: dance clothes, comfy shoes, emergency water, extra eyewear...

I would never regularly have it detailed. Maybe just when I have a special guest coming for weekend and we will use it alot. Too cheap for that...