Car valeting and detailing FAQs

Yes. Once we've seen photos and confirmed the work, the written quote is what you pay. If we arrive and find something significantly different from the photos, we stop and talk to you before doing anything extra - never after.

Everything on the outside: the safe wash, full decontamination with clay bar, a Stage 1 machine polish and the coating itself. Prices are complete packages - from £350 for the 2-year, £475 for the 5-year and £550 for the 7-year 10H. An interior valet or deep clean is a separate service, priced separately so you can see exactly what you're paying for.

No, there is no call-out or mobile fee at any distance. What we do have past 12 miles is a minimum job value - 12-15 miles £175, 15-18 miles £195, 18-25 miles £225, beyond 25 miles £300 - worked out from your postcode and shown before you pay, never added afterwards.

There is never a travel fee, at any distance. What we have instead, past 12 miles from us in Wolverhampton, is a minimum job value - because a longer drive costs time rather than money, and an hour in traffic is an hour not detailing. Inside 12 miles there is no minimum at all: Wolverhampton, Dudley, Walsall, Cannock, Stourbridge, West Bromwich, Halesowen, Kingswinford, Bridgnorth, Shifnal and the villages around them. Beyond that it is £175 from 12 miles, £195 from 15, £225 from 18 and £300 beyond 25. Birmingham is £175 and Telford £195. The booking page works your distance out from your postcode and shows you the figure before you reach the payment step, so nothing is a surprise. If your car needs less than that, call 01902 288198 - a second car at the same address usually covers it.

Yes - two or more cars at the same address on the same day works out cheaper per car, since there's only one setup. The same applies to small fleets and traders; get in touch for a rate.

We carry our own deionised water, so we won't need your tap - and it gives a spot-free rinse that ordinary tap water can't. We do need mains electricity, so an outside socket we can plug into, plus enough space to work around the car with the doors open.

A mini valet is around an hour. A full valet is typically half a day. Single-stage correction with a coating is usually a full day, and two-stage work on a larger vehicle can run over two days. We give a realistic time when we quote rather than rushing the job.

Washing and interior work, yes. Coating application needs a dry, sheltered environment and stable temperature - if you have a garage or carport we can usually work around the weather. Otherwise we'll move the booking rather than compromise the result.

Often yes - but the honest answer depends on the paint. If the clear coat is failing or the car is due for bodywork, a coating locks in problems rather than solving them. We'll tell you if correction and a good sealant makes more sense than a five-year coating.

Yes. Vans, 4x4s and 7-seaters are all fine - pricing scales with size and condition, which is why every quote is based on your specific vehicle rather than a fixed menu price.

Typically between two and five hours, depending on size and condition. A tidy hatchback is at the short end; a seven-seater with pet hair and stains is at the long end. We give you a time with the quote, and you don't need to be there.

No. We don't drench the interior - the extractor pulls the water back out. Fabrics are around 80-85% dry on handover and fully dry within about an hour in warm weather, a little longer in winter. Air movers speed it along.

No - we clean, condition and protect, but we don't offer upholstery repairs. If a headliner is sagging or leather is split, we'll still clean around it carefully and can point you to a trimmer.

Yes, and there is no charge for it. Child seats are hoovered out and dusted off as part of the job while we are there.

No, and we'd rather say so up front. The Make Over is a gloss-enhancing polish that lifts around 25-35% of swirl marks - enough to transform how the paint looks, but not a full correction. If a scratch catches your fingernail it's through the clear coat and polishing won't remove it safely.

Heavier work is quoted after we've seen the car. Some paint is worth going further on, some genuinely isn't - if the clear coat is thin or failing, more polishing causes problems rather than solving them. We'll give you a straight answer either way.

The polishing is permanent - those defects are gone. How long it keeps looking that way depends on how the car is washed afterwards. Protected with the Fusso wax and washed properly, a good while. Back through an automatic car wash, weeks.

They do different jobs. The Make Over improves how the paint looks now and protects it for about a year. A ceramic coating locks that in for two to seven years and makes the car far easier to keep clean. Every coating package already includes a Stage 1 machine polish, so plenty of people go straight to a coating.

Yes - it's a mobile service and we bring our own deionised water and lighting. We do need to plug into an outside socket for power. It's a long day on site, so we also need space to work around the car and somewhere reasonably sheltered if the weather turns.

Within the first two or three weeks is ideal - before the first proper wash. At that age the car doesn't need a deep clean, only a light preparation, and there's nothing for the coating to lock in except the factory finish.

Almost always, yes. Transporter washes and showroom valets leave light marring you can't see until the paint's under proper lighting. A Stage 1 polish removes it in an hour or two; sealing it under a coating for five years is the mistake.

No. A ceramic coating is a surface protection layer, like a wax, and doesn't alter the paint. It isn't a mechanical or bodywork modification.

Because a maintenance visit is 45 minutes to an hour of upkeep, not a rescue job. If the car arrives with bonded contamination, stained carpets and neglected wheels, a maintenance wash cannot fix that and you would be paying plan prices for a job that needs five hours. The deep clean resets it; the plan keeps it there.

A term is four months, counted as four weeks per month, so 16 weeks in total. That means 16 visits on a weekly plan, 8 on a fortnightly plan and 4 on a monthly plan. The number of visits is confirmed in writing before you commit to anything.

It rolls over automatically on the same terms. Each rollover is a natural point to change frequency, switch between exterior-only and full interior, pause for a while, or stop altogether. Nothing is locked in beyond the term you agreed.

Yes. Give reasonable notice and the visit moves rather than disappears. Plans are meant to be convenient, not a tax on going on holiday.

They are ideal for it. Coated cars still need washing properly, and every plan visit maintains and enhances the coating rather than degrading it. It is the cheapest way to keep a coating performing across its full life.

Rates shown are for a standard car. Larger vehicles and vans take longer, so they are priced up accordingly, confirmed in writing before you commit to anything.

Months to years, depending on the product and how the car is washed afterwards - a proper restorer bonds to the plastic rather than sitting on it. Avoid strong traffic-film removers and automatic car washes and it lasts far longer.

Yes, that's the whole point - grey, chalky bumpers, arches and mirror caps come back to a deep, even black. Textured and smooth plastics both restore; painted plastic is a paint job, not trim restoration.

No. Tyre and trim dressings are temporary silicones. A restorer is a coating that puts colour back into the plastic and seals it. Dressings wash off; a restorer doesn't.

Three vehicles is the minimum for a fleet visit - the Fleet Full Valet starts from £79 a vehicle, and the per-vehicle price drops as the fleet grows because the setup is shared. One or two cars at the same address are better booked as normal valets. Regular schedules for larger fleets are priced on request.

Yes - company cars, pool cars and directors' vehicles can be done on the same visit, and can have the full detailing services applied if wanted.

Wolverhampton, Walsall, Dudley, Telford, Cannock, Birmingham and anywhere within about 30 miles. For a large fleet further out, get in touch - it's usually workable.