With time, the structures and features of a car depreciate. New cars have a clear coat that fades away over time due to exposure to the elements. To prevent your car from losing its visual appeal, it’s prudent to have it detailed frequently.
Car detailing involves cleaning procedures that keep your vehicle in the best possible condition to extend its value and improve its performance. Different car detailing packages are available at different prices depending on the servicing company or the size and model of the vehicle. Regular car detailing is an ingenious way to save money. If your car is regularly detailed, you may not need to repair it as often and you’ll keep its value high.
Below are six types of car detailing services available in the market:
Type #1: Waterless Mobile Car Wash
Most mobile car-washing companies offer basic mobile carwash services as an entry package, and the services offered vary with the provider. For instance, they may not wash the rims, or they may vacuum the interior without first doing a light wipe-down, or they might not do the tire dressing in a bid to compete on low prices or to upsell their existing customers. The services provided are affected by factors such as traffic or the costs of the supplies needed.
A high-quality mobile car-cleaning service offers a complete car wash, which includes an interior vacuum and wipe-down, rims and window cleaning, exterior wash and dry, and tire dressing. This kind of service keeps customers happy and coming back time and time again.
Type #2: Complete Car Interior Detailing
The complete car interior detailing process is a type of car detailing that involves cleaning the interior of your car thoroughly and spotlessly. There are different techniques for doing this, such as steam-cleaning and vacuuming. A dirty interior can result in bad odour or the spread of allergens. For these reasons, you should care just as much about the interiors of your car as you do the exteriors.
This is because the interiors get dirty pretty quickly. Standard interior detailing involves vacuuming, brushing and steam cleaning, leather trimming, glass cleaning, re-vacuuming and wiping, and perfuming.
A full interior detailing involves all the standard procedures. It’s often also followed by leather seat conditioning, a thorough wipe-down, shampooing seats and floor mats, dress plastic, and mould removal. Driving a vehicle after getting a full interior detailing feels like driving a new car.
Type #3: Full Car Exterior Detailing
This process involves restoring, vacuuming, and surpassing the initial condition of the exterior parts of a car. These include windows, wheels, and tires. If you want the outside of your car to look new again, this service is all you need. There are two ways to do this: one is by using a pressure washer and detergents, which is great for a black vehicle.
You can also choose a waterless, complete car exterior detailing, which uses products such as polishes and degreasers. This is quite efficient since you don’t have to dry the bodywork to continue the process.
The next step is polishing to restore the car’s shine before finishing off by waxing. The wax protects, seals the polish, and adds a glossy shine to your car. However, using a clay bar treatment before waxing removes all the contaminants from the car and restores its condition, making this service better than plain waxing.
Type #4: Full Car Detailing
This is a combination of exterior and interior detailing. However, it may vary between different providers. In most cases, the package includes clay bar treatment and wax on the exterior, leather car seat conditioning, shampooing, stain removal, and the regular wash.
In other cases, there are extra add-ons such as engine cleaning, bumper repair, trim repainting, and glass chip repair. It may also include headlight restoration, water spots removal, pet hair cleaning, and a touch-up of paint. Some customers ignore these add-ons and instead go for a basic full car detailing, which still leaves the car with a sparkling clean interior and a shiny exterior.
Type #5: Full Car Restoration
Some car detailers specialize in high-end car restoration, which can cost up to $3000 for fancy cars. They do full car detailing first, followed by window tinting and paint correction before applying a paint sealant to protect the vehicle for years.
When done well, this service leaves the vehicle looking better than it did when new. Full car restoration can take up to five full days depending on the vehicle’s condition. The demand for this service isn’t high since it’s expensive.
Type #6: Show-Car Detailing
This is a rare form of detailing done on limited high-end show cars that gather more mileage inside a truck than they do while on the road. These can be classic or relatively new cars. Once they get detailed, most of these cars are paraded at a show, encased inside a museum, or stored as collectors’ items.