Car Detailing FAQ
Twenty-five questions we actually get asked, answered the way we would answer them standing in your driveway. If yours is not here, send it through the quote form at the bottom and a technician replies — not a call centre.
The four answers most people want first
If you only read one part of this page, read this one. These four come up on nearly every enquiry, and three of them are the reason people choose mobile detailing in the first place.
No, we don't need your hose
The van carries its own water tank and generator. You do not supply water, electricity or anything else — which is why we can work a condo lot or an office park, not just a house with an outside tap.
You don't drive anywhere
We come to the car. Home, work, apartment complex, in-laws' driveway. Leave it unlocked and parked where it will stay put for the length of the appointment.
Most jobs run 1 to 4 hours
Size, condition and the package you pick all move that number. The booking flow shows the time block for the exact service you choose before you confirm it.
You inspect before you pay
We hand the car back and wait while you walk it. Anything short gets corrected before the van leaves, and you have 48 hours after that to call us back.
Getting us to your car
Ready instead of curious? Send the vehicle details and you will get a firm price back.
What areas do you service?
Raleigh and everything around it: Cary, Apex, Wake Forest, Durham, Morrisville, Knightdale, Holly Springs, Garner and the surrounding Triangle towns. Every ZIP code inside a town is billed at the same rate — there is no mileage line and no call-out fee. If you are not sure whether you are inside the area, send your ZIP code and we will tell you straight away rather than quote you and back out later.
Do I have to book an appointment first?
Almost always, yes. Each detail blocks out a real chunk of a technician's day, so the calendar fills ahead rather than on the day. Same-day does happen when a slot opens up, and it costs no more than any other booking, but treat it as luck rather than the plan. Saturday mornings go further in advance than anything else we offer.
How far ahead should I book?
A few days covers most of the week. For a Saturday, or for a car you need ready before a sale, a trip or a handover, give it a week or more. If you have a hard deadline, say so in the booking notes — we would rather put you in a slot we can genuinely hit than squeeze you in and run late.
What do you need from me on the day?
An unlocked vehicle, parked somewhere it can stay for the length of the appointment. That is the whole list. No water, no power, no hose, no outlet, no key handover if you would rather not. You get a text when the technician sets off, so you are not waiting around for a four-hour window.
Can you detail my car at work?
Yes, and a lot of our week is exactly that. A car parked in one place all day is easier for us than a driveway where someone has to leave at noon. Worth checking two things with your building first: whether contractors have to announce themselves at reception, and whether they want a certificate of insurance on file. We will send ours ahead of the appointment if so.
Several of us want it done at the same place. Is that cheaper?
Usually, because we set up once and work through the cars in sequence instead of driving out repeatedly. Put every vehicle into one quote request with a note on each. We can also stagger them across a morning so nobody is without a car at the wrong moment.
What happens if it rains?
Interior work carries on regardless. Exterior work in steady rain is pointless — you cannot assess paint you cannot see dry — so we will call you and move it, at no charge and with no argument about it. A covered space, a garage or a parking deck means we can work through almost any weather, so mention it if you have one.
Pricing, honestly
Want your own number rather than a range? Describe the car and we will price it.
How much does car detailing cost?
Three things set the price: the size of the vehicle, the condition it is in, and the package you choose. A larger vehicle takes longer. A dirtier one takes longer still. And a full interior-and-exterior detail is a different job from an exterior-only visit. Our published figures start at $139 for an Exterior Detail and $239 for a Full Detail, and those are floors based on a coupe in fair shape.
Why is my quote higher than the price on the website?
Because the listed figures assume a small car in reasonable condition, and most vehicles in the Triangle are crossovers and mid-size sedans. Our completed invoices average well above the starting prices for that reason. You see your own number during booking, before you commit, and that is the number we bill — we do not revise it in your driveway. If it is more than you want to spend, the smaller services are genuinely available and we will tell you which one fits.
Which package should I pick?
If it has been a year or more, or the car has carried kids, pets or a commute, start with the Full Detail. If you had a proper detail a couple of months ago and just want it reset, the Mini-Interior Detail is the sensible one. If the inside is fine and the paint is what bothers you, take the Exterior Detail. Not sure? Describe it in the quote form and we will recommend the cheaper option when the cheaper option is genuinely enough.
How does payment work?
Booking online holds your slot with a deposit, and the balance is due once the work is done and you have approved it. That order matters to us: you look the car over first, we settle up second. If anything is short, it gets fixed before money changes hands.
Do you charge extra for weekends or outer ZIP codes?
No, and no. Saturdays and Sundays are billed at the same rate as a Tuesday, and every ZIP code inside a town we serve costs the same. The only genuine upcharges on this page are the two we name outright: biohazard cleanup, and a vehicle so far gone that the work no longer resembles the package you booked — and in that case you hear about it before we start, not afterwards.
How long will it take to detail the inside of my car?
On average one to four hours, driven by the size of the vehicle, the state it is in and the package you chose. A three-row SUV that has carried a family for two years is a different afternoon from a commuter sedan. Sometimes it runs longer and sometimes shorter, and we would rather take the extra half hour than hand back something that is nearly done.
Will my car smell of chemicals afterwards?
No. The only thing it should smell like is a clean car. We work with scent-free products deliberately — a heavy fragrance is usually covering something rather than removing it, and plenty of people are sensitive to it. If there is a genuine odour problem in the car, tell us and we will treat the source instead of masking it.
Do you remove the seats?
No. Modern seats carry airbag wiring and sensors, and pulling them is risk with very little reward. Crevice tools, extractor wands and compressed air reach under and between them, which is where the mess actually is.
How long until my seats are dry after a shampoo?
We extract after shampooing, which pulls most of the moisture straight back out and leaves them around three-quarters dry when we hand the car over. The rest is weather. A warm, sunny day with the windows cracked gets you to fully dry in one to two hours. A cold, overcast one takes two to three. Avoid booking an interior shampoo an hour before you need to drive somewhere in your good clothes.
Do you remove pet hair?
Yes, on both interior packages. If it is a serious amount, or if there is a musty dog smell as well as hair, take the fuller interior service rather than the mini — hair that has worked itself into carpet and cloth needs the extra passes, and the odour needs the shampoo. Say it is a dog car when you book so we allow the time.
Do you clean up bodily fluids?
We do, and there is an upcharge for it because biohazard work needs different products, different protective kit and proper disposal. Tell us before the appointment rather than leaving the technician to find it, so the right person arrives with the right equipment.
Do I need to empty the car first?
Take out anything valuable and anything you would be upset to see moved — paperwork, chargers, sunglasses, the contents of the glovebox. General clutter you can leave; clearing it is part of the job. Child seats are worth a mention in the booking notes: we will lift them to clean underneath, but we will not reinstall them, because an incorrectly refitted child seat is not a risk we are willing to hand back to you.
Should I take my car to an automatic car wash instead?
We would not. Automatic tunnels run the same brushes over hundreds of cars a day, and whatever came off the truck ahead of you is still in those bristles when they reach your paint. That is how swirl marks and fine scratches get there. Hand work with clean media costs more and takes longer, and it is the whole reason the finish looks different afterwards.
How long does the wax last?
Depends almost entirely on where the car lives. Parked outside and driven daily, expect one to two months of real protection. Garage-kept and not your daily driver, up to six months. Sun, rain, tree sap and how often it gets cleaned in between all pull that number around.
Will wax remove scratches from my paint?
No. Wax fills and hides rather than removes — the gloss it adds makes light scratches much harder to pick out, but they are still there underneath and they come back into view as the wax wears. Anyone telling you a wax removes scratches is selling you something.
Do you do paint correction or ceramic coatings?
Neither, and we would rather say so plainly than take the booking and improvise. Paint correction is machine work that permanently removes a layer of your clear coat, and coatings are a multi-hour chemical application with a long warranty attached. Both deserve a specialist who does nothing else. What we do is clean, decontaminate and protect paint to a standard we will stand behind.
What does paint decontamination mean?
It is the step that removes what a normal clean leaves behind: rail dust, industrial fallout, bird and bee droppings, tar and tree sap, all of it bonded to the paint rather than sitting on it. We take it off chemically with an iron remover and a tar remover, then physically with a clay bar. Skip this and any wax or sealant goes on over the contamination and seals it in.
What happens if I don't clean my car regularly?
Bird droppings and sap etch into clear coat, brake dust pits wheel finishes, and road salt and grit find their way into seams and start the rust you cannot see yet. None of it is urgent on any single day, which is exactly why it gets left. The repair always costs more than the upkeep would have.
Will detailing help with road salt?
Yes, and winter is the one time of year it is genuinely worth being proactive. A sealed surface gives salt less to cling to and makes the next clean easier, and getting the undercarriage and wheel wells flushed matters more than the shine on the doors. If the car has been through a salted few weeks, mention it so we start underneath.
My car is thirty years old. Will you be careful with it?
Yes, and we have the mileage to back that up — a 1988 Mustang GT among plenty of others. Older finishes are thinner and may have been resprayed, older plastics go brittle, and trim clips snap rather than flex. In practice that means hand washing, lower pressure, no aggressive compounds, and stopping short of a panel rather than risking it. Mention the age when you book so the right technician comes out.
What about a Tesla or another EV?
No problem, and we do a steady number of them. There is no engine bay to degrease and no exhaust tip to polish, so those hours move to the front storage compartment, the glass and the cabin. Large centre screens get cleaned dry, by hand, with a screen-safe product — never anything containing ammonia.
The Spotless Promise
More than 1,500 Triangle drivers have inspected the car before paying us a cent. You will be the next one.
Walk the vehicle before you pay
We hand the car back and wait while you look. Any shortfall is corrected before the van moves.48-hour callback
Two days to find something we missed, and the second trip costs you nothing at all.In-house technicians only
Uniformed, insured Oak City staff. We have never sent a subcontractor to a customer's address.
Still have a question?
Send it with the vehicle details and you will get a real answer from someone who details cars, not a brochure. Be frank about the interior while you are there — pet hair, child seats that have not moved in a year and spilled drinks all add genuine time, and a quote that ignores them is a number we would only have to revise in your driveway.
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Prices, packages and your town
If the questions are answered and you want numbers, the package pages carry the starting prices and what is included. If you would rather read about detailing where you actually live, every town below has its own page.
Packages: Full detailing · Interior detailing · Exterior detailing
Towns we detail in
- Raleigh
- Cary
- Apex
- Wake Forest
- Durham
- Morrisville
- Holly Springs
- Garner