Car Detailing Frequently Asked Questions

Wanting to have you Car or SUV detailed seems to be such a simple thing to do. Like having your home carpet cleaned, simply call up Mr. carpet or whomever cleans carpeting. Give them your name and address and they show up, Right ? Well having your car detailed can be a little more difficult than that. I’m the President of Shore Mobile Detailing located in Tuckerton, NJ.  We’ve been in business for more than 5 years now and I can tell you now. 

Typically when a customer calls, I usually have more questions than they do. So, I wrote this FAQ to show you just how easy it should be to have your vehicle detailed.

Here are the TOP 10 Best Car Detail questionsI hear from customers wanting a Detail

Questions

Do you come to my home or business to detail my car ?
Yes, that’s what we do – There’s no dropping your vehicle off, begging for a ride from friends. Leaving it for days until you receive a call. You vehicle NEVER leaves your property, or your sight. The Transformation happens right before your eyes all with your approval.

How much does a Car Detail cost ?
The cost of a detail varies with Time it takes, combined with the techniques and products needed to accomplish those results.
So typically we develop convenient packages:

A Level 1 package would be a  basic package containing interior and exterior including whats needed to restore the vehicle to a good condition. But does NOT include stain removal, lots of Pet hair or heavy shampoo. That would be in the Level 2 package.  Then, the Level 2 package would NOT include polishing which significantly improves the brilliance of the paint shine & color, That would be contained in the Level 3 package. Then we have the stand alones which can be added to any of the 3 base packages. 
Such as Headlight restoration or Engine bay detail

Example:
Level 1 compact SUV with free mobile service starts at $150.00 US
Level 1 Full sized SUV with free mobile service starts at $275.00
Of course you can do Interior ONLY or Exterior ONLY detail on any vehicle.

What’s included in my Detail ?
A basic “Level 1” which includes Interior & Exterior includes: In Summary
Interior All cup holders, All plastic door panels, the center console & dash cleaned/shined & UV protected. All carpets vacuumed
Exterior includes All wheels cleaned shined, tires cleaned shined UV protected.Hand wash and wax (Sealant applied)
It does NOT include a polish, engine bay, carpet shampoo, excess pet har removed or Headlight restoration. Those are included in a level 2 package or bought stand alone.

How long will it take to detail my SUV ?
Depending on:
The cosmetic condition of the vehicle,
the techniques used to detail it
The Detail package you select all
determine how long it takes to complete the detail,
Small/compact SUV 2 hours on average
Medium sized SUV about 3 hours on average
Large, or full sized SUV 3 1/2-4  hours

Why detail a Car/SUV that I am Selling ?
Detailing a used vehicle in average to good shape can actually add thousands of dollars to the value of the vehicle. By removing all minor scratches, polishing the paint, detailing the engine compartment adds substantial curb appeal to the vehicle, subsequentially adding to the cash value. A really good detail is such a small investment to such a large gain.

How often should I detail my vehicle ?
Most customers stick to 1 of 3 detail cycles depending on the type of vehicle and vehicle owner. For someone with a garage kept seldom driven vehicle once a year would be perfect if it’s basically a Sunday driver.  For a soccer mom or daily driven suv containing children – every 3 months is typical.  A nice daily driver should be 3 times a year to keep it waxed and protected from the sun and bad weather.

Can I get more money by detailing my used car ?
Absolutely, like a house CURB appeal means everything. As a prospective buyer drives past your “for Sale” sign, and they see both the shining wheels & Tires, they open the door to see a perfectlydetailed interior and all the reasons to knock down the price just disappear. Once they open the hood and see how clean it also is they know they have a winner.

Does it make sense to detail my lease vehicle return ?
Returning a dirty leased vehicle can, and will cost you a good buck. Most people may think it’s no big deal until they receive a bill from the lease company for cleaning and detailing. Forget it if they find scratches on the paint and have to remove those, now the amount has escalated.  So, if you’ve never leased a vehicle before make sure you get this part right. Allocate $200-$300 or so dollars to having that leased vehicle detailed before returning it, I know it doesnt seem to make sense to spend money on a vehicle you’re giving back, but remember, you only rented this vehicle, it actually belongs to someone else and that someone is going to charge you to bring it back to the condition you got it in.

Will you detail my interior ONLY ?
Yes, we will detail either, the interior ONLY or the EXTERIOR only it’s up to you. Maybe some scratches just showed up out of nowhere and you need them removed. Maybe you just accidentally spilled and entire smoothie between your seats. Either way Shore Mobile Detailing  will fix it for you.

How long does a Detail Last ?

Once we’ve detailed a vehicle the first thing our customers say during the inspection is “I don’t even want to sit in it” and they wonder how long it’s going to last. So to answer this question lets unpack them separately.
An exterior detail consists of a thorugh and expert hand wash.

This includes everything from the removal of bugs on the front to cleaning and shining the chrome  tailpipes.
Once washed, the exterior paint is sealed. This means we use a fantastic synthetic sealant that locks out the water & makes the paint very silky smooth and slippery. This typically lasts 3-4 months, but can last as long as 6 months depending the products you use to wash it. 

This makes it very resistant to dirt, bird poop and tree debris from sticking to it. So after a rain you should be able to use a garden hose to spray it down and return it to looking great again. (NEVER use dish detergent to wash your vehicle, it will strip any and all protection from the paint, with a few exceptions.

On The interior the very best thing to do is to invest in a good set of Weather Tech matts, there are cheaper but very similar type matts on the market. These matts contain a great majority of the dirt, snad and crap that comes in with shoes. 
Purchase a small package of microfiber kitchen towels, slightly dampen then and do a quick wipe down of all the surfaces in your vehicle every other weekend, that should restore the shine left by use during the full detail. This alone should easily get you to your 3 month full detail or you Bi-monthly mini detail.

What is the difference Beween Wax and Polish ?
This us is a very common question. If you own a vehicle that is older than, say 2018, NOT garage kept and you want it to look it’s very best, a polish is needed. Polishing is sometimes referred to as buffing. It removes years of cloudiness, contamination from acid rain, road grime, tree debris and other contaminents. It is very labor intense, but restores you paint to incredible condition.

Wax is what is applied to the paint AFTER it has been polished. Wax completely protects the vehicle from all of those contaminents removed during the polish. Wax creates an invisble layer of protection so that the rain BEADS up in nice fat droplets.

What is needed once we arrive at your Home  ?
We ONLY need 3 things to do what we do best.
1     All loose & large items already removed from your vehicle
2     A hose hook-up for water (we have our own hose)
3     An outlet to plug in our extension cord

What is Ceramic Coating ?
This is also a widely asked question. A ceramic coating is a SUPER Strong WAX. We apply the coating as a liquid. It takes typically 24-48 hours to totally cure. Once it cures its like a plastic layer between your vehicles paint and the elements. It protects against  bird poop, acid rain, chemicals and lots of other foreign matter. It keeps your vehicle absolutely looking great !! Many have 2-4-5-9 year warranty against failure. Of course the only downside is price. The vehicle will must be polished and prepared to eliminate as many of it’s imperfections as possible before ecapsulating the vehicle in it’s protective coating. Ask about additional details.