A drive thru car wash facility can be great for a convenient quick rinse and sure, it only costs a couple of bucks, but it can do more harm than good. Scratches, swirling, or just a plain lousy job are the usual results from automated washing! As with most things, you get what you pay for!
Desert Detailing is quite a bit more than just a car wash. I have 40+ years of experience and know how on how to improve surfaces. Every vehicle and owners expectations are different and we try to address cosmetic and mechanical issues individually.
Our goal is to take the time necessary to make your car look like new!
Basic Wash & Maintenance
A basic detail is essentially the same as a prep your vehicle for sale. It starts with a focus on the interior and is completed with a basic wash. For me it is usually a marathon of how much I can improve the vehicle in 8 hours. My basic charge is $350 and includes this protocol:
Assessment, before photos, and logging info.
Floor Mats are deep cleaned and dried.
Personal items are removed from all storage areas and bagged
Luggage area is cleared, cleaned, and spare tire pressure is checked.
Headliner is assessed and addressed.
Vehicle is vacuumed and air purged. The Toronator tool is used to air purge and spray a special cleaning solution which contains both an enzyme for odor control and a brightener. It is used on all vinyl seats, door cards, dashboard, vents and hard plastics. Surfaces are wiped clean and crevices brushed. Other cleaning agents are used for all touch points (steering wheel, switches, and handles). All bins, center console, cup holders are cleaned.
Leather seats and surfaces are cleaned and conditioned with special PH neutral products
Vacuum Extraction:
The Mytee hot water vacuum extractor can perform small miracles. It can also eat hours and hours of time and hard effort! A large Suburban kid hauler can often take all day just to clean the interior. It can also find hidden spills previously unknown often removing odors in the process. It can transform cloth seats from used to almost new. I like to extract all vehicles but naturally how much time is dedicated depends on the individual vehicle.
Another note about extraction. It is a process. Heavily soiled areas may need multiple passes and wet/dry cycles. Areas previously wet and soiled may leave drying rings and will need further work.
All vinyl and hard plastic surfaces are dressed with Pearl Gloss Dressing,
Interior glass is cleaned
Exterior:
Engine bay is rinsed and underneath the hood is cleaned. Engine is given a basic brush down with a de greaser and given an “honest clean”. Engine bay is air purged and alternator and electronics uncovered.
Door thresholds are power washed and cleaned
Tires are deep cleaned. Wheel wells are rinsed. Rims/wheels are deep cleaned with specialty brushes and chemicals. Aluminum wheels are done with specialty cleaners and can be hand polished. Tires are dressed.
Vehicle is hand washed. A variety of washes are in stock for different applications. (wax, polymer, ceramic refresh, stripping)
Vehicle is dried.
Vehicle is wiped down with spray detailer.
Outside windows are deep cleaned with steel wool to remove any contaminants or water spots. RainX can be applied.
Plastic conditioner applied
After photos taken
Paint Correction
Paint correction involves machine cutting, buffing, and polishing to remove light scratching and bringing the finish to a high shine, gloss, and depth of paint. It can also include deep scratch removal, paint touch up, and dent removal. Paint Correction requires a maintenance wash first. This is usually a multi day procedure.
Clay Bar: Using a fine Japanese clay is the best way to detoxify and level your paint. I like to clay bar surfaces before polishing as it removes any embedded substances off the clear coat or paint. If the vehicle is in good order it may be all that is needed. It will require a protective layer application afterwards.
Protection Products:
Any time a vehicle is polished or the protective layer is stripped it needs to be reapplied.
A protection layer can be many things. Brazilian Carnuba Wax has been and still is the gold standard of shine. However pure carnuba wax has its limitations, especially here in the heat of Arizona. Mainly geared to show cars, it can also be very expensive.
Modern detailing products have come a long way and are ever evolving with hundreds of products on the market. I try to stock tried and true products for a variety of applications.
Cherry Wet Wax is a high carnuba content wax meant for high shine. Great for garage queens!
Collonite Insulator wax has been around for a long time and works fantastic. It is a carnuba polymer blend which gives a great shine and is fairly durable.
STS 3000 Polymer is one of the highest quality most durable polymers on the market. Excellent for high temperature durability. Its drawback is it can be a bit blotchy and may take several wipe downs to even out. Can last a year or more if vehicle is garaged.
Ceramic Coatings: Modern ceramic and graphene ceramic coatings are more than just a top coat. This layer actually changes the hardness of paint from around 6H to up to 10H! It requires meticulous prep work as you seal in any imperfections. It requires several additional steps to get it right and takes several days of work. However if one goes through the effort of cutting and polishing, it is a good choice as your protective layer after a full buff out. It can last for years and will make the vehicle look freshly buffed after every wash. It has incredible reflectiveness, durability, hydrophobic characteristics, and can actually keep scratches away. Its con’s are, it is hard to paint over, it needs to be sanded to be removed, it needs some maintenance, and it is time consuming to do, hence expensive and the material is expensive too. Ceramic is highly recommended for Black or darker colors.
I use Puris Jade Graphene Pro which is a 10H hardness formulation because if your going to go thru the effort of all the prep work, you might as well use the hardest longest lasting coating available. It is of utmost importance who you choose to do the prep and the application. I was trained with Jade and have successfully coated many vehicles.
Pricing on a complete ceramic coating starts at $1200 for a small car and can go into the $2000 – $2500 range for a large truck.
Odor Removal
Odor removal can be tricky and may need several attempts. First is a good cleaning and extraction. Depending on the odor and severity it may need carpet/or other localized replacement of materials. A Chlorine “bomb” treatment can work for organic odors but can leave a CL background smell for days or weeks.
Ozone treatment is another effective way for odor removal and is really the only way to remove tobacco odor.
Additional Services
Dent removal, Paint chip and scratch repair can be scheduled. I also have done many collector cars and do concourse preparation.
Engine Cleaning and Detail
Extensive and careful cleaning of engine compartment, lubricate sensors & metals, dress plastics and hoses.
Headlight Refurbishing
Nothing lets an older car down like yellowed and oxidized lenses! Restoration includes sanding with several grits of sandpaper, final polish and protective polymer or ceramic coating. We can restore yellowed, faded, hazy or oxidized lights to “like-new” condition.
Starting at $50 per headlight, add $20 for Ceramic.
Before and after. Dramatic results that can regain significant headlight effectiveness adding to better safety.
Hygienic Cleanings – consist of steam cleaning all touch surfaces and a full antimicrobial/viral cleaner wipe down. Treatment of headliner material will be done under discretion as not to harm and is typically not included.
After results on this daily use work truck
as well as several other “tried and true” brands.
