Fishing Frenzy

There are different levels of auto detailing. The cheapest level may include just cleaning the outside, like a car wash; the next level might be doing the interior and the boot as well and the top degree may include the inside, outside and the engine.

Then there are degrees of cleanliness within these categories as well. for instance, the lowest level might be to merely vacuum the carpets, but the highest degree may include taking them out and actually washing them.

Needless to say the amount of auto detailing you get will (or should) be reflected in the cost. The lowest degree might be $75 and the highest degree $300 for an averagely dirty average car.

Larger and dirtier cars cost more. However, the car will be restored to its pristine condition if that is at all feasible, so a good detailing before selling your car might reap dividends.

It is not too hard to learn how to clean the exterior of a car well, but it is more of a problem to do the inside because you will require specialist tools and small vacuum cleaner heads to get into all the nooks and crannies.

You may also like to wash the rugs without removing them which can become a royal pain, if you do not have that special equipment.

You can certainly buy the waxes, polishes, vinyl and leather cleaners and you can even buy the apparatus, it is only that you may find it expensive to purchase and time-consuming to use.

Cleaning the engine is more or less just a matter of blasting the grease off the engine with a fairly weak pressure gun using degreaser in the (warm) water, so this requires more specialist equipment.

The brushes and sponges are all fairly normal as are the liquids and detergents, polishes and waxes.

Some auto detailing companies will also take care of small repairs like a stitch that has come loose in the upholstery or a slight scratch on the coachwork.

However, I think that all businesses should at least bring these defects to the owner's notice even if repair is not in the price. Repairing a minor scratch on a wing can save that wing from having to be replaced in the future. Likewise with tyres, if an operative spots difficulties and reports it, it could save a blowout.

Waxing is an important topic. I think that there ought to be a wax incorporated in the shampoo, because it will run into all the crevices and create a seal against rainwater. I am all for applying a second coat of wax by hand to the larger areas as well both for protection and appearance.

Do not bother applying a low-cost wax by hand, because it will come off after a few rain showers. If you are going to do the job, do it in the correct manner using a high quality wax that will protect your paintwork from the sun's bleaching rays, from the abrasion of wind-blown dust and from the oxidizing rain.