Ever get your car detailed?

[dakcp2001]

How much did you spend? Was it worth it? What exactly did they do/clean? I am going to sell my car and think I need to get it detailed first. Just starting my research, but thinking maybe the dealership does it?

Where do you get it done?

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I absolutely LOVE getting my car detailed. But I haven't been able to justify the cost in a very long time, especially since having a larger car, which of course drives up the cost. They basically recondition every "detail" of your car, using toothbrushes and qtips to get into crevices, shampooing the carpets, hand waxing the outside, maybe even buffing out scratches, etc. It is great when you have kids. Oh, and pets usually add to the cost as well if there's odor or dog hair embedded in carpets, etc. Generally in the spring I'll detail my car myself, or I'll go to a car wash that does a la carte and do a little bit at a time (though frankly, I do a better job myself, lol).

I would clean, but never spend the money to detail a car before selling it, though (unless I was selling it privately). Dealerships employ people solely for this purpose. Besides, they're looking at the bones of your car, not it's condition, which is generally fixable, or at least improvable.

 

[mckryan]

If you are selling it privately, I would totally get a detail done. I did it for an old minivan, paid about $100, and my van sold in one weekend for what we were asking. There's nothing that looks better than a shiny and clean car, inside and out! But, like the PP said, if you are trading it in, don't waste your money on a detail. I'd get it cleaned outside and vacuumed, but that's it.

 

[dakcp2001]

I am trying to do a private sale. I am also going to try carmax to see their offer but most likely will be doing a private sale.

 

[Kimberly]

Typically around 100 dollars to get one of my cars detailed. 80 on the low end to about 120 on the high end for a basic inside and out detail. Popping out dents, and correcting paint flaws is when things start to add up. If you have a car worth doing this for though, it's worth EVERY penny.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

Wow! Around here detailing runs around $200 and up for an SUV, crossover, minivan or wagon.

 

[Witch Mountain]

Last time I detailed my car was about 5 years ago. It was about $100 for a smaller car and they did everything. My car has unusual rims that require a lot of time and they came out looking like they did when I drove the car off the lot.

I'm in Florida, if that helps.

A friend used to do car detailing in the DC area for about ten years (95 to about 05) and he charged about 150 on average, so prices do vary by location and size of vehicle.

 

[bicker]

It depends on where you live. In this area, the best detailers charge $200 for a full detailing, including shampooing the rugs, vacuuming out the vents, etc.

 

[PollyannaMom]

DH got his done once. (A friend had...um..."been ill" in it.) He doesn't remember the price, but it was definitely worth it! They even took apart the window and cleaned down inside the door.

I wouldn't do it to trade in, or if the car needs a lot of mechanical work and you're selling it as a fixer-upper, but if it runs well and you expect to charge quite a bit, I think the detailing would be a great selling-point.

 

[pezheadmeg]

Planning on taking mine in after I get the tax refund in the bank. I had an interior detail done when the car was only a few months old and I was the designated driver on New Year's Eve. It got my car to smelling almost back to new.

My local car wash is about $175 for a full interior/exterior detailing. I drive my cars until they die, so at the 5 year mark it'll be money well spent. I can get obsessive about keeping a clean car.

 

[Kimberly]

Wow! Around here detailing runs around $200 and up for an SUV, crossover, minivan or wagon.

I don't have big cars. Currently drive a Porsche 911. My detailer says the bigger the car, the greater the money... generally.

 

[janets]

My husband has a car detailing business on the side. He charges by the hour, generally starting at $35/hr. For higher end cars, he charges $50/hr. An average car, with minimal correction work, usually takes about 8 hours. It also depends on what the owner's expectations are for the car. If you own a very high end car, your expectations are higher than if you own a minivan that the kids jump in and out of daily.

If the car has a lot of swirls in the paint and it requires a lot of correction time, it could take upwards of 15 hours of time.

A detailing is not a car wash. It's a professional working on your car to bring it back to a showroom shine. With paint correction, paint protection, etc. You can pay $100 for the local car wash guys to do your car, with rags that are dirty and scratch your car up. He doesn't do this kind of job.

He did a Bentley recently and it ended up taking about 16 hours and cost about $800. And the paint on that car was in pretty good shape.

 

[MichelleVW]

I had it done once, cost about $200 for my big truck and it was soo worth it, but I don't have the extra cash to do it now.

 

[shortbun]

I paid $250 two years ago for my minivan. It was a real detailing, not a heavy wash. I had to walk around the car and decide what damage in the paint I wanted repaired. We discussed tires, engine detail, inside surfaces. This was a cheap detail. I could have paid double. If someone quotes you $100, it's a car wash or the person doing it has very low self esteem, lol!

 

[mrodgers]

I've always detailed my own twice a year. Shampoo interior, clean with cotton swabs and brushes every nook and cranny. Outside gets clay bar, paint correction, though by hand as it's a labor of love for my car, polished, and waxed. Engine bay gets degreased and dressed.

If you are paying $100, as someone said, it is not a detail. It is a good wash and wax.

If you are getting a true detail, then your car is going to be better than showroom condition. Every car that leaves the dealer lot brand new needs a true detail. The dealers say they "detail" the car as you wait for your new car, but all they are doing is washing it.

As was said by a previous post, truly detailing a car takes hours. Since I do mine by hand, it can take several days. I wash it multiple times during the detailing because I may spend all day on just the hood and fenders, then need to drive to work. So I detail the exterior by panel while still using the car for work over the course of a week.

 

[dakcp2001]

I was quoted 280 for the entire inside, outside & tires. It includes the claying whatever that is. I just want it to be clean and new looking when people come to see it. I think it will be worth it if it sells faster. I feel like I will prob do better with a private sale instead of a trade in but I am not looking forward to the work a private sale involves. Yuck.