What Should a Full Car Detail Include?
No matter where you decide to go for a full car detail – whether you are in the Dallas-Fort Worth area or elsewhere in the United States – the car detail you choose should leave you with a car that looks and feels clean and gives you more confidence driving from point A to point B.
In this article, we explain everything included in a full car detail at Fort Worth Auto Detail, what additional add-ons can be included, and even some things to consider if you are getting a full car detail in North Texas, specifically.
What Is Included in a Full Car Detail?
A full car detail is both an interior and exterior car detail. At Fort Worth Auto Detail, we take the two plans and merge them into a plan that will give a full detail and cleaning to our clients’ vehicles. Additionally, there are some add-on services that can help improve specific areas of your car, if needed.
As you can imagine, there are many auto detailers in North Texas for you to choose from, and many more detailing plans to choose from after that, but there are a few important questions to ask yourself as you look for a full car detailing plan that’s best for you:
- How Do You Use Your Vehicle Now?
- Work Commutes
- Family Vacations
- Ride Sharing
- How Do You Plan to Use Your Vehicle in the Future?
- Longer or lesser work commutes
- More or less family vacations
- More or less ride-sharing opportunities
- How Much Did You Spend on Your Vehicle and What Does that Mean to You?
- Not much. I’d like it to look like I spent more than I did.
- A good amount. I’d like to maintain and maybe even improve the value of the vehicle over time.
- A lot. It was a major investment. I want to manage that investment well by taking good care of it.
- Which Areas of Your Vehicle Would You Like to See Improved?
- I meet a lot of clients and other businessmen or businesswomen; I’d like my vehicle to look great inside and out to help me make a good first impression.
- We drive in the car with our family frequently. We have dealt with a lot of spills over the years and we need help getting them cleaned up.
Full car details are great for a number of individuals and families – whether you’ve recently purchased a vehicle or are looking to maintain the one you’ve had for years – a full car detail should leave the inside and outside of your vehicle looking more improved no matter which auto detailer or plan you choose.
What Is Included in the Interior Car Detail?
Let’s start on the inside of the car. We believe interior car details should include:
- Vacuuming the inside of the car
- Steam cleaning all interior surfaces
- Shampooing all upholstery
- Extracting upholstery, if necessary (see video below for more details)
- Cleaning and conditioning all leather surfaces, if applicable
- Adding protective coating on interior trim of the vehicle
- Cleaning all windows
Not only will the inside of your vehicle look great but with our interior auto detail we are able to eliminate 99.9% of bacteria and viruses, which is great for work commuters’ and families’ overall health but also anyone who transports lots of people in their vehicle each day.
What Does It Mean to Extract Upholstery?
Check out this video by Wilson Auto Detailing on what it means to extract upholstery when conducting an interior auto detail.
What Is Included in the Exterior Car Detail?
An exterior car detail can do so much for the overall appearance of your vehicle. When people think about getting an auto detail, they usually think primarily about the inside of their car. For the outside, the assumption is that a car wash can clean up your car just fine.
Our goal is to help educate our readers and clients on why this isn’t the case and how beneficial an exterior detail is to the longevity and value of your car vs. just running it through a car wash once a week.
If you were able to read our car wash article (linked above), you now know some of the dangers of car washes and, in turn, the many benefits of getting an exterior car detail.
For our exterior car details:
- We clean tires and rims
- We treat the exterior of the vehicle with a foam wash
- We hand wash the vehicle
- We chemically decontaminate the paint and rims
- We hand and air dry the vehicle
- We mechanically decontaminate the vehicle
- We apply IPA mix to paint
- We apply 1 coat of ceramic spray wax to the paint, windows, & rims, providing 6-12 months of protection
- We dress the tires and trim
This will give the exterior of your vehicle a thorough cleaning that will not damage – only improve – your vehicle and can last months to years to come, depending on the specific plan and coating you choose.
Additional Add-Ons to Full Detail Plan
We know every client who comes to us has different needs for their vehicle. That’s why the services listed below are available to add to the detailing plan you choose so you can get everything you need taken care of at one time.
Some detailers may include these options to their standard plans and increase the price to accommodate while others will include these as add-on services like we do to let each client choose which would be best for their specific car.
Our standard exterior detailing plans come with a coating that will last for 6 – 12 months – much longer protection than you’ll be able to find at a local car wash.
However, if you’d like to further this protection, we have additional materials and services that can do just that. Our 3-5 Year Ceramic Coating or 5-7 Year Graphene Coating can offer longer protection to your vehicle, if desired. These coatings are particularly helpful for North Texas individuals and families given our Texas heat and seasonal rainstorms.
3-5 Year Ceramic Coating
- Protection from UV damage
- Hydrophobic
- Repels dirt and debris
- Ease of maintenance
- Enhanced gloss and slickness
- Longevity of protection
- Cost-effective
5-7 Year Graphene Coating
- Less prone to water spotting
- Reduction in heat absorption
- Longer durability
- Greater water contact angle
- Protection from UV damage
- Hydrophobic
- Repels dirt and debris
- Ease of maintenance
- Enhanced gloss and slickness
- Cost-effective
In addition to the coating protection options we offer, we can also help restore foggy headlights, dirty engines, plastic trim discoloration, and more. Below is a full list of some of these additive services for the exterior of your car:
- Headlight Restoration
- Engine Detail
- Plastic Trim Restoration
- Windshield Coating
- Rim Coating
It’s not just the outside of your vehicle that can have extra protection. While we do a thorough job of cleaning the inside of your car, there are a few services we can add on to our standard interior detailing plan like leather and/or fabric coatings depending on the materials found in your vehicle, and even odor removal.
Have animals that ride in your vehicle often? Our odor removal can help remove some of the smells that have seeped into the surfaces of your car.
Leather Coating
- Resists dye transfer
- Stain resistant
- Chemical resistant
- Protection from UV damage
- Hydrophobic
- Preserves color
- Resists fading and cracking
- Up to 2 years of protection
Fabric Coating
- Prevents stains
- Prevents soaking, swelling, or rotting of fabric
- Does not alter color or feel of fabric
- Hydrophobic
- Fluorocarbon free
- Up to 2 years of protection
Odor Removal
Learn more about our Additional Car Detailing Services.
How Are Full Car Details Specific to Texas Vehicles?
While any full car detail would be helpful to Texas drivers, consider checking out additional add-on services for your detailing plan specific to Texas living – whether you choose a plan with us or have another auto detailer nearby!
Some of the popular add-on services for Texas drivers include:
- Ceramic or Graphene Coatings to protect against Texas heat and rain
- Odor removal treatment after long work commutes across the state (eating in the car), family trips with the pets, horseback riding lessons for the kids, etc.
Whatever the state of your vehicle, there is a full auto detail plan available for you.
