The Most Commonly Asked Questions About How Often To Get Your Car Detailed Answered
Keeping up with the cleanliness of your car is just another thing you have to add to your to-do list.
But if you live in an area with tough weather conditions, you’re an active family that spends a lot of time in your vehicle, or you simply just want to increase the longevity of your car, staying on top of your car’s detailing is important.
Although running through the car wash might seem like enough, investing in a full detailing service and maintaining those services are worthwhile.
Here we will cover the most commonly asked questions about car detailing and go into detail about the question: “How often should I get my car detailed?”
Table of Contents
What’s Included in a Car Detail?
Many mobile detailing professionals often include packages with different services, such as a deep clean, light clean, or simply an exterior wash.
At Loupe Detailing, we do it all.
Maybe your car is just a little dirty from your daily commute back and forth to work. Maybe you’re a busy mom who hauls her kids around, throwing snacks into the back or watching muddy shoes crawl all over your seats. You might be a family who just came back from a snowy mountain trip or a beach adventure.
Whatever it is, we can help.
Our services include:
- Interior detailing packages
- Exterior detailing packages
- Applying ceramic coating
- Applying paint protection film
- And more
And if you’re just unsure how often you should get your car detailed, we can help answer your questions.
Contact us today to talk and book an appointment.
Why Is It Important To Detail Your Car?
Do you know that fresh new car feeling you experience as you’re driving your new car off the lot? Wouldn’t it be nice to bask in that clean, smell-good feeling all the time?
Keeping up with detailing your car not only helps keep your car smelling good and looking clean, but it also removes potentially damaging substances — like salt, excessive dirt, wet weather, or grime.
Maintaining a regular detailing schedule protects the resale value of your vehicle. Kelley Blue Book, a popular, trusted resource for determining the value of a vehicle, notes that a vehicle’s interior and exterior condition is a primary factor that affects a used car’s price.
Of course, investing in full detailing right before a sale or trade-in could help you get a better price, but maintaining a regular detail schedule on your vehicle can really boost its resale value when the time comes for a new vehicle.
How Often Should You Get Your Car Detailed? That Depends
You might be reading this and thinking that it’s been a while since you last had your car detailed. But how often should you get your car detailed, really?
Well, it depends.
If you’ve been neglecting regular car details, live a busy lifestyle that requires you to spend lots of time in your car, or maybe have a big family, a more frequent deep clean might be necessary.
Once you’re on a regular detail schedule, a monthly touch-up might be all you need.
If you have kids or live in a messy climate, you’ll need more regular detailing services.
If you live in Florida and only use your car on Sundays and park it in your garage year-round, you can probably get away with one detailing once every six months.
If you live in New York and deal with snowy winters, salt on the roads, and wet conditions, you’ll probably require detailing much more often. Why? The salt and sand on the roads can make a mess of both the exterior and interior of your car and cause corrosion to its underbelly.
Do you see where we’re going with this?
Weather Conditions
Depending on where you live, weather can play a big part in how often your car requires a detail.
As we mentioned, elements like snow, sand, salt, and dirt can cause major damage to the exterior of your car.
If your winters are rough and you experience a lot of snow, the salt on the roads can damage your car. Salt causes a chemical reaction with water and air that speed up the oxidation process, which can result in rust. It also eats away at the exposed metals underneath your vehicle, accelerating the corrosion process. The salt and snow can also be tracked inside your car, ruining your seats and floor mats.
If you experience a lot of wet weather, you likely have excessive dirt and mud both inside and outside your vehicle.
Maybe you live nearby the beach and consistently track sand into your car.
The elements you expose your vehicle to will play a big part in how often you should get a detail, so consider where you live when deciding the best time for your next car detail.
What’s the Best Time of Year for a Car Detail?
You can get your car detailed any time of the year, but it’ll probably need to be detailed more often in the winter or spring months. Messier roads and more outside elements (rain, salt, snow, and mud) can affect both the interior and exterior of the vehicle.
For example, a detail might not be needed as often in the summer or fall when the weather is nice. But in the winter and spring, when it can get extra messy outside, a detail once or twice a month might be necessary.
Driving Frequency and Habits
How often you use your car and how you use your car will play a big part in how often to get your car detailed.
People commuting daily, bringing food and drinks in and out, or toting around many boxes or bags are likely going to have dirtier cars than those who only use their cars occasionally. Similarly, cars that occupy more people throughout the day/week/month will probably be dirtier than a car with only one regular occupant.
As far as driving habits go, are you someone who eats in your car and lets the garbage hang around? Do you spill your morning coffee on your commute to work and let your cupholders get nice and sticky? Are your kids eating snacks in their car seats and squishing everything into all the nooks and crannies?
If you’re someone who takes care to regularly clean up the messes in your vehicle, detailing might not be necessary as frequently as someone who lets those messes linger.
Road Conditions
Do you often drive on country roads, kicking up a lot of dirt and mud? Maybe you live in a more rural area, and dragging dirt into your car is an everyday occurrence just from getting in and out.
If you have long winters and drive on snow and salt-covered roads, this will require more frequent detailing.
Are you aware of where you park your car? Maybe you park under trees and that results in pollen or bird droppings covering your vehicle. Maybe you’re in a mud pit or large puddle.
All of these factor into how quickly your exterior (and interior) gets dirty.
How Often Should You Do a Full Car Detail?
As we’ve touched on, how often to get a car detailed — or do a full car detail — depends on many factors, including your:
- Lifestyle
- Driving habits
- Environment
- Weather conditions
But, at Loupe Detailing, we have some recommendations for our clients.
If you’re unsure if it’s time for a full detail or if you’re interested in booking an appointment, contact us today.
Interior Clean
Generally, most people require a full interior cleaning once every six months. If you’re good about staying on top of your car’s cleanliness, you could benefit from a lighter interior cleaning every one to two months.
At Loupe Detailing, we offer a Level 2 Interior clean that is a deeper, full interior detailing and covers things like:
- Full vacuum
- Cleaning all windows and mirrors
- Shampooing carpets and upholstery
- Wiping down all hard surfaces and applying protectant
- Leather conditioning/deep cleaning (if applicable)
- Applying air fresheners
- Salt removal
- Stain and pet hair removal
If you just require a maintenance interior cleaning, we offer a Level 1 Interior clean that includes:
- Full vacuum
- Wiping down all hard surfaces and applying protectants
- Cleaning leather (if applicable)
- Cleaning windows and mirrors
- Applying air fresheners
Exterior Clean
Some climates experience elements that can rapidly ruin the exterior of your car, like salt. If you live in a climate like this, you might consider exterior detailing every two weeks.
Loupe Detailing offers two exterior cleaning packages.
A Level 2 Exterior cleaning is a deeper cleaning and includes:
- Power washing the undercarriage
- Deep cleaning tires, rims, and wheel wells
- Bug and iron deposit removal
- Foam cannon soak
- Contact wash
- Blow dry and towel dry
- Cleaning wiper blades
- Applying tire dressing
- Cleaning doors, trunk, and hood jams
- Clay bar treatment on windows
- Applying window sealant
- Ceramic wax or paint sealant application
A lighter Level 1 exterior cleaning includes:
- Power washing the undercarriage
- Deep cleaning tires, rims, and wheel wells
- Bug and iron deposit removal
- Foam cannon soak
- Gentle contact wash
- Blow and towel dry
- Cleaning wiper blades
- Tire dressing application
Wax Application
Our Exterior Level 2 package includes a wax application. For the best results from a wax application, we recommend getting a Level 1 cleaning at least once a month and having the wax coating applied every six months.
The wax application is meant to protect your car’s exterior from outdoor elements, like:
- Snow
- Sun
- Slush
- Dirt
- Grime
The wax application also acts as a clear coat protectant to keep the actual paint on your car from sun fading and light environmental marring.
If You Have Ceramic Coating
If you have a ceramic coating on your vehicle, you’re already doing an extra step in keeping the exterior of your vehicle protected. This clear, semi-permanent protection is made of silicon dioxide and protects your car from things like tree sap, bird droppings, or bug guts. Although it doesn’t prevent chips or scratches, we add a topper — or sacrificial layer — on top of your ceramic coating as an extra layer of protection.
If you have a ceramic coating on your car’s exterior, we recommend an exterior detail every one to three months to keep that coating protected.
If You Have Paint Protection Film
Paint protection film (PPM) is a thin layer of clear wrap or film that is placed over the panels of a car’s body to protect the exterior from …
- Flying rocks
- Road debris
- Hail damage
- Weather damage
- Low-speed scrapes
… or anything else that could potentially damage the exterior.
Loupe Detailing recommends that customers come back within three weeks of PPF installation for a final inspection to ensure the material has cured properly and there are no bubbles or areas that lifted as it dried.
After this, to keep up with detailing, customers should follow the same maintenance detailing schedule of vehicles with ceramic coating — every one to three months.
Does an Automatic Car Wash Count as a Detail?
Taking your vehicle through the car wash is a great way to keep it looking clean, but automatic car washes don’t actually clean all the nooks and crannies in your vehicle.
Not only are you not getting a full and thorough cleaning, but taking your car through an automatic tunnel car wash can cause damage due to the abrasive brushes moving across the paint mixed with acidic soaps that strip away any previous sealants. If you’re going to perform regular car washes, handwashing is always better to prevent damage.
When it comes to tunnel car washes, did you know that:
- 304 million gallons of water are used globally for car washes each day?
- Roughly 38 gallons of water are used every time a single car is washed?
- 8 million cars get washed at car washes every day?
Rather than wasting resources and potentially causing more damage to your vehicle, let the professionals at Loupe Detailing handle your car’s detailing and washing maintenance. Remember, we recommend a full detail every four to six months, with a lighter maintenance detail in between. Contact us today to book an appointment.
Is It Possible To Detail Your Car Too Often?
If you’re working with a trusted car detailer, there really is no such thing as too much — it’s a truly personal preference.
Some people love for their car to look immaculate at all times and will detail it two or three times a month. That’s perfectly fine if you’re using a company you can trust with products that are safe for the finishes of your car.
If this sounds like you, we highly recommend finding a trusted car detailer who pays fine attention to detail with every job.
Loupe Detailing: Buffalo’s Premier Car Detailers Serving You as Often as Needed
Does your family wreak havoc on your vehicle time and time again? Do you feel like it’s never clean?
Maybe you’re a single businessman who just likes to cruise in style — and that means regular maintenance on your vehicle.
Maybe the Buffalo winters are causing exterior damage to your car.
Whatever the reason, Loupe Detailing can take care of all of your detailing needs. Whether it’s complete interior detailing, smaller exterior detailing, or a combination of both, we’ve got you covered.
We even offer mobile detailing services around our Buffalo, NY, area so that you can find time for your car’s maintenance, no matter what your schedule might be.
Setting up an appointment with us is easy.
Simply contact us to get on our schedule, or use this link to see if you’re in the area of our mobile detailing services. We can’t wait to help.