The answer to this question might seen obvious at first glance as to “Why would I detail my car” But here are a few reasons you might not have thought of.

Reason # 1

Lease Return

Most leases last for 2-4 years. Many folks take their new lease to the car wash. Now, there are 2 types of car washes.

Car wash #1 is the automatic type where your new vehicle is pulled through on a factory style conveyer belt, washed, vacuumed, windows cleaned and sent on your way.

Car wash #2 is the manual car wash where an employee drives your vehicle through and a team of workers work together to wipe down the door panels, glass, vacuum the interior and clean the wheels. This form is more thorough and does a better job than CW #1. This type also costs more like approximately $50-$70 per session.

The second option though they do a bit of a better job, This type of job works great while the vehicle is new, however, if you have a family all it takes is one family vacation in your 3rd row SUV and a car wash will never be be enough to restore your SUV back to normal.

You may or may not know this, but when a vehicle is returned at the end of a lease the lessor looks over the vehicle with a fine tooth comb looking for stains, scratches, candy, and any other defects that may detract from placing the vehicle back onto the market to get the best sale price possible once back on the market. As a matter of fact they will actually charge you to clean-up and detail the vehicle sometime costing you 3-4 times the normal market detail price that you could have paid your self..

Significantly Higher Resale Value

So you’ve had you vehicle now for 4 years, the financing has been paid off and you’re ready to do the infamous trade-in towards a fantastic new vehicle. Before your trip to the new car dealer you plan to do a little research  of your own. The first question is after 4 years how much is your vehicle worth now ?  

While looking, you find that there are multiple values for you trade-in.
1 A price for your vehicle in excellent condition ?
2 A price for your vehicle in good condition ?
3 A price for your vehicle in poor condition ?

After years of use, taking your suv to the car wash each month after years of family vacations and eating in the vehicle you seem to think the vehicle is in great condition. But after going to the dealer and them taking a look they feel it’s only in good condition.
Now, the difference in the book value between good and excellent is $3000-$4,000.00. But wait, what ? Well, those door scratches, coffee stains on the seats and fish smells from weekends at the shore have caused the reduced value !!