How to Prep Your Car for Your Detailing Appointment

Making a car detailing appointment is a little like going to the dentist… You know you’re going to leave with a clean, sparkling finish, but what’s expected before your arrival? Just as most dentists prefer that you run a toothbrush over your smile a few minutes prior to your appointment, so too should you spend a little time prepping your car for the cleaning of a lifetime. This will make our job a little bit easier and allow us to focus on getting straight to the deep cleaning work.

• Remove all trash items. We don’t mean you have to search and scour for every lost French fry or grocery receipt, since that’s what we’re here for. However, take a moment to toss out larger trash items (like fast food bags or to-go coffee cups). We take careful pains not to throw away anything that might have personal meaning or value to you, so it’s best if you make those decisions for us ahead of time.
• Remove all personal items. As mentioned above, we won’t throw anything out that’s of personal value to you. This means it’s up to you to do it for us. Ideally, you should remove everything out of your trunk and from the passenger seats (including children’s car seats and seat covers) as well as any item of a sensitive nature in the glove box. We can—and do!—work around these items, but it’s easier on everyone if we have an empty car to work with.
• Make note of aftermarket upgrades. We can usually tell when you’ve added a killer sound system or installed a hands-free phone charging station, but it doesn’t hurt to make a note of the upgrades you’ve added when you make your appointment. We’ll let you know which of these you can leave in place and which ones should be removed before your arrival.
• Let us know about faulty latches and car quirks.Every car has that little something—a key that only works when turned a specific way, a tricky trunk that needs to be slammed to stay shut, or a squeaky antenna. Most of the time, we can work around these issues without any problems, but in some cases, we may actually be able to fix them during the detail.

For the most part, these are the only items you need to worry about. By giving us a car that’s free of sports equipment, children’s toys, electronic charging cords, outdoor lounge chairs, dog barriers, and all the other things we seem to accumulate along the way, we can get right to deep cleaning and making your car look and feel like brand new.