Updated at: 03-06-2022 - By: Lucas

Car detailing doesn’t just make your ride look good. In fact, it can help it keep its value.

When you trade in or sell your used car, it can be worth a thousand dollars or more if the inside, outside, and engine bay are in good shape.

Detailing the inside of your car keeps it clean and tidy and stops stains and smells from settling in. Detailing your car’s outside is mostly done to protect the paint job.

And when it’s time to sell your car, a clean engine makes it look better from the outside. (It’s not clear whether this makes your car run better or not.)

So, should you clean your car every few months, as some car fans and experts suggest?

We’ve broken down the cost and benefits of auto detailing, including when and if you should do it yourself.

What You Pay for Car Detailing

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Detailing a car costs wildly different amounts in different places, but one thing stays the same: it’s not cheap.

If you look at the prices of shops and mobile detailers in more than twenty states, you can roughly break them down this way:

Interior Cleaning: $125 to $150 or more

Detailing the outside: $125–$150+

Detailing the inside and outside: $250 and up

Engine Bay Detailing: $50-100+

Truck/SUV Surcharge: $20-$70

Some detailers charge different prices for small SUVs, trucks, and minivans than they do for big ones.

Other facts about prices:

In general, mobile detailers charge less than shops that do detailing.

“Complete detailing packages” usually only include cleaning of the inside and outside (no engine bay).

A lot of basic detailing packages are just fancy car washes.

Tire cleaning and cleaning the underside of the car are often not included in the price of exterior detailing, and each can easily cost $100 or more.

Basically, when looking at auto detailing packages, you should carefully read the list of services that are included.

Finding a detailer with a package that includes the inside, outside, engine bay, tyres, and undercarriage is usually the best way to save money.

What You Get With Car Detailing (What’s Included)

car detailing cost

What you get with an auto detail is also very different from one company to the next, just like the prices. But here are the most common services that most detailing packages include.

Basic Interior

Seats, carpets, floor mats, and the trunk are all vacuumed.

Vents, seat cracks, and other hard-to-reach places are cleaned by blowing air through them.

Clean every hard surface.

Spot cleaning of stains that can be seen

Putting on UV protection

Window and mirror cleaning

Deluxe or Complete Interior

Seats, carpets, floor mats, and the trunk are all vacuumed.

Vents, seat cracks, and other hard-to-reach places are cleaned by blowing air through them.

Clean every hard surface.

Spot cleaning of stains that can be seen

Putting on UV protection

Window and mirror cleaning

Shampoo and steam clean rugs, mats, and furniture.

Clean and care for seats and surfaces made of leather

Wood grains and vinyl should be

Deep clean vents, pockets, door panels, dashboard, pockets, and console

Basic Exterior

Hand wash only

Cleaning the glass

Shining up chrome

Using a clay bar to get rid of dirt

Sealing with wax by hand or by machine

Deluxe or Complete Exterior

Hand wash only

Cleaning the glass

Shining up chrome

Using a clay bar to get rid of dirt

Fixing small dents and stains

Using polish to get rid of scratches

Sealing with wax by hand or by machine

Some exterior detailers clean the wheels and wheel wells as part of their work, but most do not.

Detailing the engine bay and the undercarriage are almost always two separate costs.

Is Car Detailing Worth It?

There are two ways to look at the value of car detailing: from a financial standpoint and from a personal standpoint.

Financial Value of Car Detailing

The financial value of detailing a car depends on two things: how much you pay for detailing and how much of the car’s value you can expect to keep in return.

On average, it costs more than $250 to clean the inside and outside of a car, or more than $300 for trucks, SUVs, and minivans.

A clean, well-maintained car will be worth 10–15 percent more than a dirty, poorly-maintained car.

So, let’s say you plan to keep a car for five years and when you trade it in, it will be worth $12,000 in “fair” condition.

Every six months, you pay $500 to have the inside and outside of that car cleaned. This adds up to $2,500 over the course of five years.

If the value of your old car goes up 15% when you trade it in, that’s an extra $1,800. Detailing has now cost you $700.

When it comes to detailing, your return on investment will be better if your car is expensive and has a high trade-in or resale value.

Personal Value of Car Detailing

Detailing your car can also be judged by whether or not (and how much) it makes your life better. Detailing can help you get a clean car that doesn’t smell bad when a normal car wash and vacuum aren’t enough.

Since you know that detailing can help keep your car’s value, some of the cost of detailing will be recouped when you sell it.

In the example above, detailing costs you $700 over five years, but $140 per year is a pretty fair price to pay for happiness and pride in your car.