I worked for my friend for a while who owns an auto body repair shop. "Detailing" an automobile is "detail" cleaning your vehicle. It's much more than a wash, wax and vacuum job. When a vehicle is detailed, the owner should expect their car to look as though it just rolled off the showroom floor. Every nook and cranny will be touched.
The vehicle will start off with a thorough vacuum on the inside, including the trunk. Then, the technitian will power vac and blow the air vents and the hard to reach areas with a special vacuum cleaner made for this type of vehicle detailing. They use special cleaning agents to strip and remove dirt from all non-fabric/leather areas without damage to the surface or fabrics. Once thoroughly cleaned, they apply a commercial grade Armore all type product that will coat; keeping dirt from seeping into the surface itself. This helps the owner to simply wipe down the areas easily for quite some time so the dirt does not build up on the surface, but on the coating. (Think of a wood floor and how it might look/feel and clean easily, once the old wax has been stripped, the floor thoroughly cleaned, waxed and then coated for protection).
The carpet (including trunk area) and seats are then shampooed. Leather seats are thoroughly cleaned and treated to hydrate cracks, or potential areas for cracks.
Then the undercarriage (under the car) and the engine is power washed and coated. Most people do not see the value in this step (especially the undercarriage), but why would you not protect something just because you don't see it? Think of how much wear is put on this area; rain, mud, salt in winter, etc.
The vehicle is then hand washed, tires are scrubbed and wheels are cleaned. Once the outside has been thoroughly cleaned, the tech will hand wax the vehicle and (commercial grade) coat the tires and wheels.
The last thing done will be to apply a special coating to the newly waxed area. This protects the paint and seals the wax; giving (literally) a glass shine to your vehicle like you have never seen before.
The body shop I worked for would have the vehicle for a full day to complete a "detail" job. Most places probably do not provide the service I am speaking of, but this body shop owner says that his name (which is also his company name)is his reputation and he does not ever want to be in a position to have to defend it. He has gained "detail" customers who have seen his work from body repair customers that decided to spend the extra for a detail job after the repair.
The cost can be quite high, but you can also pick and choose the areas you want detailed. If you ever had your car TOTALLY detailed, you would find it's the only way to go.
This is a long answer to your question, but detailing a vehicle (the right way) deserves the attention to the "details". Treat yourself and your car; get it detailed.
Last edited by Daymond; 09/28/08 09:26 AM.
