Detailing a car has been considered a thing of a luxury intended only for the ones with deeper pockets for a long time. Surely, if you want your ride to be treated by licensed craftsmen and its true colors brought back to life, the receipt would be significantly higher than if you washed the car yourself at local, but let’s be honest, the outcome of the professional treatment is incomparable to a simple carwash. Surely, various factors could affect the price, so you should be aware of what you are paying for before making any decisions. Thus, read the following lines and see how much does it cost to have your car professionally detailed and what you could get for the money you want to spend.
Reasonably, there is no simple answer to the question, but we will try to answer as correctly as possible, starting from the basics. Not only does the final price depend on the type of vehicle you want to get in shape, but also on the detailing service that will do the job. Surely, you would not want to entrust your car to anyone claiming they have the skill set you need, but you should always ask for a piece of paper stating the proficiency level of the detailer. You will find info about that and more about the factors influencing the price in the lines below.
What Do You Want with Your Car?
Car detailing is a sophisticated way to restore your vehicle’s looks to its former glory, although the work itself might be far from sophisticated. Namely, it depends on the condition of your car. On the other hand, what you want the detailers to do with your car also influences the price. Although it is different than a simple carwash, car washing is also a part of what car detailers do, only in much more detail and with more delicate equipment. Apart from exterior detailing, you can get your vehicle’s interior restored and ameliorated.
The Car Detailing Services
Back in the day, people did not have much choice about how they would detail their car. Either they had one but generally known detailing service in their town or not even that. Nowadays, things are utterly different and you can see there are many more small detailing companies sharing the market, but that does not necessarily mean that they provide the same level of expertise. As such, they do not charge for their services the same way, but you should not be bewildered by discount prices. What you should do is inspect the market and see which of the supposed professionals are accredited for the business they do. With justification, experienced professionals would charge more than amateurs and for the same reason, you should be provided with more quality service for the money you decide to spend. A professional detailing service should also have a decent website where you can see what it is that they offer, so feel free to check mmautodetailing.com out and see how it should be done.
What Are you Paying for?
As we mentioned earlier, there are two major segments of car detailing. When you opt for complete car detailing you should expect both the interior and the exterior of your car to be treated with maximum care, but what does it actually mean and how much does it cost?
The Exterior
First of all, your car would be washed by hand to carefully remove all the possible filth and impurities accumulated over time and then dried out. After the vehicle is completely dried, the tires and the wheels are disinfected, then treated with cleaning, and afterward waxed, while the door jams and tank area are also covered. What follows is the treatment with a clay bar, which removes all minor impurities, when finished, the hand polish begins. An additional layer of special coating is added, another round of polishing accompanies. Finally, two treatments with sealant are applied by detailers, first by hand and then by spray, the processes which give the vehicle extra protection and a shiny wet look. When everything is done, apart from the looks, your vehicle will be protected not only from bird droppings but also from acid rains and ultraviolet radiation for more than 12 months.
The Interior
When we talk about the inside part of your vehicle, the process does not get less complicated than the exterior treatment. Every single part of the interior is carefully hand wiped and treated with a special mixture of chemicals that destroys the microorganisms and prevents them from populating the surfaces in your car again. Heating extensions are additionally treated for stains and the floor and the trunk are vacuumed. Apart from vacuuming, steam cleaning is applied to the trunk, carpets, and seats. Windows are treated from both sides and dried out carefully in order not to become foggy when conditions for foggy windows occur. Ventilation ducts are treated in the end, so your car receives a full treatment of even the smallest partitions.
This is how the full treatment of your vehicle should look like and if anyone tries to convince you otherwise, feel free to walk away. Now, another segment that should affect the final price of complete professional car detailing is the size of your car. Thus, if you decide to go for the full treatment, you can expect to spend about $230 for a regular size vehicle, while you would have to set aside another 20 if you want to get your small van detailed. As for trucks, vans, and SUVs, the price tag should almost reach a cap of $300, but considering the amount of work necessary for the vehicles of that size, the increase is reasonable.
Considering how much your car will gain from this type of treatment, the prices sound pretty reasonable, especially when you consider the fact that you could increase the core value of your vehicle if you opt for complete professional car detailing. Surely, you would always want to leave the job to the pros, no matter what the amateur detailing services might offer. Yes, it is pricier than a car wash, but, once again, it has almost nothing in common with it.
