How long does detailing take?
It depends on the service. An Exterior Hand Wash is 60 to 75 minutes. Express Interior & Exterior and Interior Detail are about 2 hours. A Deluxe Detail is around 2 hours 45 minutes, Wash N Wax about 3 hours, and The Ultimate Detail runs 5 hours. Paint correction is roughly 3 hours 30 minutes and a ceramic coating is about 6 hours 30 minutes. Heavy pet hair, sand or stains add time, and I tell you that up front rather than rushing the job.
Do you bring your own water and power?
No — I'm completely self-contained. I tow a trailer with its own water tank and a solar and generator hybrid power system, so I don't need to plug into your house or use your hose. All I need is a parking space and access to the vehicle. That's what makes it work at an office lot or an apartment parking space just as well as a driveway.
What's the difference between Express and Deluxe?
Express is a maintenance clean: foam bath, hand wash, wheels and tires, a basic vacuum and a wipe down of the interior surfaces. Deluxe includes all of that and then goes deeper. You get a pre-wash, deep wheel cleaning, gas cap, trim dressing, a thorough vacuum under the seats, vents and gauges and crevices detailed, leather conditioned and the plastics protected. Express is for a car that's already in good shape. Deluxe is for a car that hasn't had real attention in months.
What's the difference between Wash N Wax and a ceramic coating?
Time and preparation. Wash N Wax decontaminates the paint with an iron remover and clay bar, then lays down a ceramic-infused wax that holds up roughly six months depending on maintenance and sun exposure. A 5-year ceramic coating adds a machine polish and an IPA wipe down first, then bonds a coating rated for five years on the paint plus a one-year coating on the windshield. Wax is seasonal protection at $180 to $200. A coating starts at $850 and is a multi-year decision.
What does a one-step polish actually remove?
Light defects. Wash swirls, the hazing you see in direct sun, light oxidation and dulling from UV. It levels a very small amount of clear coat to even the surface out, which is why gloss and clarity come back. It does not remove defects that go deeper than that light layer.
Will paint correction remove every scratch?
No, and anyone who tells you otherwise is selling. Run your fingernail across the scratch. If it catches, the damage is into or through the clear coat and polishing will not take it out. A one-step correction reduces light swirls, haze and oxidation. Deeper defects need additional correction stages, which I quote separately after I look at the paint, and some damage needs paint, not polish.
How long does a ceramic coating last?
The coating I apply is rated for five years on painted surfaces, with a one-year coating on the windshield. That rating assumes the car is washed properly and kept out of brush car washes. Neglect it or run it through a tunnel wash every week and you will get less. Maintain it and it holds.
How do I maintain a coated car?
Wash it every two weeks or so, touchless or two-bucket hand wash, with a pH-neutral soap. Stay out of brush tunnels, they grind grit across the coating. Rinse off bird droppings, love bug splatter and sprinkler spotting quickly instead of letting them sit and etch. I can handle the maintenance washes for you if you'd rather not.
