Getting to Know Auto Detailing: from the Stages of Work to the Costs Incurred
Auto detailing is a technique for maintaining vehicle parts. Not only that, this technique is often used to enhance the appearance of the vehicle, both its interior and exterior.
As a personal vehicle that always accompanies you wherever you go, even out of town for durations that can last for hours, your car has certainly faced various situations. From debris scattered along the road, potholes, to rain that makes the body of the car dirty and potentially scratched.
Well, due to such situations, auto detailing is certainly needed so that the car remains looking beautiful and you won't feel too embarrassed to take it to hangouts.
But, what exactly is auto detailing? Let's dive into the following explanation to get to know this technique better!
What’s the Difference with Coating?
As explained at the beginning, auto detailing includes the process of maintaining and beautifying the vehicle's appearance. So, what’s the difference with car coating? Isn’t coating also a process to beautify the car's appearance?
It is true that coating is a technique to enhance the car's appearance. However, this beautification process is only on the exterior because coating involves applying a special layer to the car's body to make it look shinier.
This is different from auto detailing, which encompasses maintenance processes from the interior to the exterior. So, it can be said that coating is also a part of auto detailing, right?
Better than Car Wash
If asked what the difference is between auto detailing and a car wash, the answer is many. This is because a car wash only performs basic maintenance, such as making the car look shinier. Meanwhile, auto detailing is far more complex than that.
It can be said that it is better to do auto detailing, because your car can be checked even down to the engine for further maintenance.
Stages of Auto Detailing
It has been explained that the process of auto detailing is very complex and thorough. So, what are the stages of the process? Here are 4 stages of auto detailing as basic knowledge so you can understand better and consider when you want to do auto detailing on your personal car.
1. Cleaning Process (Cleaning)
Before performing maintenance and beautifying the car, the main thing to do is to clean the car. The car washing process is the initial stage to remove dust that sticks to the car's body.
You can perform the cleaning process yourself because this activity is a basic task that anyone can do. However, if not done properly, it can damage the car's body, such as ruining the paint or causing scratches.
That’s why the cleaning stage in the auto detailing process is followed by two further efforts, namely claying and paint cleaning. Claying is an effort to remove stubborn dust and dirt, while paint cleaning is the process of cleaning the car's body without damaging the paint surface so that it remains smooth.
2. Preparation Process (Paint Correction)
Compounding, polishing, and glazing are efforts that can be made in the paint correction stage. This effort is made to repair scratches, scuffs, and oxidation affecting the car's body.
This preparation stage is also one of the most important stages so that the results of auto detailing become optimal.
3. Protection Process (Protection)
After going through the damage correction on the car's body, the next stage is to provide protection. This protection is not only for the exterior and interior, but can also be applied to the engine.
For the car's body, at this stage, a layer of wax to coating is applied so that the paint and body of the car are better protected than before. By doing this stage, the car's appearance also becomes more beautiful as it looks much shinier and cleaner than before.
4. Maintenance
The results of auto detailing usually last up to 12 months depending on the products used and how often the car is driven on dusty roads. This duration should not be used as a benchmark for the next auto detailing.
Each stage has its own lifespan, so regular maintenance must be performed. The stage that should be done regularly is, of course, the cleaning process. This stage can be done independently at home using safe tools and the right techniques.
Costs Incurred
The quite complex stages of auto detailing make this technique quite costly. However, this is certainly proportional to the results that you will get.
The cost incurred also depends on the type and size of the car, the products used, and how beautiful you want the results to be for your beloved car's appearance. The better the products used and the larger the size of your car, the more costs will be incurred.
On average, the cost incurred is around 3 million to 3.5 million. However, you can also get a price of only 2 million if the products used are quite cheap.
That’s what you need to know about auto detailing. You can use this as a reference and conduct research from other sources for more accuracy, especially regarding auto detailing information in your city to be more certain, especially about costs as every place is certainly different.
Author: Nisa Maulan Shofa
