How to Detail an Automobile before Selling

“Cleanliness is next to Godliness”, Ancient Hebrew proverb.

There is nothing worse than live cockroaches scurrying across the dashboard of a automobile you are about to enter. Another huge turn off is body odor smell in a automobile. Whether you are trading in your vehicle or selling it to an individual, it must make a first nice impression.

Steps

1. Wash the exterior of the car. Knock that coat of dust off of ol’ Betsy. In case you have been off road with her, hose off all of the mud. Most full service car washes have under carriage cleaning as well as the regular wash.

If you are a “do it yourself” hands on person, use car soap, not dish soap. The clue should be “dish”. Dish soap has a tendency to leave a residue on the paint and windows.

Use an adjustable spray nozzle head. It helps to be able to knock off the heavy dirt and adjust to rinse off the soap suds. Use a soft cloth, sponge, or soft bristle brush when washing ol’ Betsy. Stiff brushes will scratch her finish.

You may be tempted to wash that dirty engine with that high pressure washer. STOP! Unless you are a professional detail person do not attempt to clean the engine with any type of high pressure hose or regular hose. There are more electronic components under the hood of these cars than ever before. Blasting that engine can short out many vital components and modules. Unless you’re stupid, excessively wealthy, or both, don’t do it! Instead, use a fine brush or wipes for the tough stuff. You can use an air hose for the light stuff. If you insist on pressure washing the engine compartment, ensure that all electronic components are securely wrapped in plastic. Duct tape and a garbage bag should suffice.

Note…Some buyers like that shiny new car look under the hood. You know that look. So much Armorall that you think you’re at a steroid induced beach body contest. Do not over do it. A lot of old timers do not like all that shine. They want to look for imperfections. Mainly fluid leaks around gaskets and seals. With all that foo foo shine, they have a tendency to think something is being covered up.

2. Clean the tires and wheels. Some people like cleaning tires and wheels first, but find that they generally have more dirt and grime than the rest of the car. It is a matter of personal preference. Once again, be careful with the finish on the wheels. Abrasive cleaners and stiff brushes could scratch the surface of those nice soon to be shiny wheels.

There is a difference between wheels and tires. Tires are those black things with tread. Well some of them have tread. Wheels are those things inside the tire. Wheels have those little nuts on them. Tires = black things with tread, and wheels = things with nuts. Careful now, do not take that too far!

3.Dry, dry, dry and this is not about martinis or sense of humor. If you do not have a chamois, buy one. Chamois is French, as in a piece of leather, used for washing windows or cars. In this case, drying them. Letting your car air dry is fine if you do not mind all of the water spots. Do yourself a favor, spend $5 bucks and 15 minutes to dry off your car. Ol’ Betsy will never look better!

4.The next step depends on weather conditions and where you are detailing your car. If it is a cloudy day or you are in a shaded area, apply a thin coat of wax. Wax brings out the shine. It’s also great for beading up the rain drops. You know, that downpour that always occurs fifteen minutes after you finish detailing your car. Yeah, that one. Back to topic. If you are in a shaded area or it's nice and cloudy, put a thin coat of wax on the car and start working on the interior. If you are out in the sun then you might want to find a shaded area or only do a couple of body panels at a time. Baked on wax is a pain to get off. Completely up to you. If you skipped out on your exercise for the past week, by all means go for it. Leave buffer use to professionals unless you have experience. Improper buffer usage will burn the paint and mar the finish.

Try to keep from getting wax on all those nice black plastic areas. Over time, the wax build up turns those nice black plastic areas into white pasty eye sores. If you are into white pasty eyesores, wax your heart out.

5 Begin detailing the interior with the headliner. When the buyer sits down in the driver’s seat, he/she instinctively looks up. It may be to play with the sun visor or vanity mirror. It may be to play with the sunroof/ moonroof if your car has one. Therefore wipe off the headliner. Use a damp cloth and a mild cleaning agent. Do not go overboard. Too much moisture may cause the headliner to separate. Do not use any agents that may stain or bleach the headliner material.

6 Now to the dash and gauge area. A lint free cloth will do fine. Once again, do not use anything abrasive on the gauges or instrument clusters. These are generally soft clear plastics that have the tendency to scratch easily.

If you are one of those Armorall freaks that likes everything real shiny, do not get Armorall on the gauges or instrument clusters. This will create a cloudy area. Also, you can use a q-tip or a small fine brush for the crevices. Canned air that you buy to clean your computer key board does wonders.

7. Clean the upholstery and carpets. Vacuum the entire interior. In the cracks of the seats, under the seats, and in between the seats. You never know what you may have lost. Sometimes it may be rewarding to find that long lost cherished item and sometimes what may be found is not for strangers to see. So vacuum thoroughly.

Make sure that the seats are free of stains. This is a big turn off for the prospective buyer. There are many brands of upholstery cleaner on the market. Woolite, etc. even soap and water. This is where a wet vac (Shop vac) comes in handy. You want to suck up all the moisture after cleaning the interior. Improper suckification (new word for the day) will cause the car to smell like mildew in a short period of time. If that happens you will be spending countless hours explaining that the car has never been under water and that you didn’t use proper “suckification”. Do it right the first time.

As for the carpets. The same goes. Stains are a distraction. Some stains can be shampooed. Others may need a mild de-greaser to lift them out. Red stains are the worst. In this case, you may need to dye the carpet.

If your floor mats are stained or worn out, buy new ones. You can buy a nice, color keyed set at your local Wal-mart, Target, or Kmart for less than twenty bucks. A brand new set of floor mats does wonders for a car’s interior appearance.

8. Remove all trash and personal effects from consoles, glove boxes, and the trunk area. The same goes for all the storage compartments in the trunk area. You do not want any of your private and personal information to be left in the car.

9. Make sure all windows are clean, including sunroof/ moonroof glass. Inside and outside. Newspaper and Windex will do the job. Be careful with aftermarket tint. Some manufacturers have different recommendations in regards to types of cleaners. As for old tint, if it is peeling, you may want to go ahead and remove it.

10. Be aware of how your automobile smells inside. Positive automobile smells can turn customers off. Try selling a smoker’s automobile to a non-smoker. That is a hard sell. In this case you will need to make use of a combination of an ozone machine & an anti-bacterial spray. A combination of these will neutralize the bacteria that cause the smoke smell. As for all other odors there’s an option. A sliced apple placed under the seats and in the ashtray will help to absorb odors. Another idea would be to make use of Bounce dryer sheets. A combination of the will make the potential buyer salivate while snuggling up to your car’s interior. For body odor, spray some refreeze. It will help with that smell.

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Pressure Washer for Car Cleaning

Pressure washers are multipurpose outdoor cleaning machines, for cleaning cars. In order to keep away from damaging the automobile, you must use low-pressure settings so that the paint is not chipped off. Other precautions must be thought about as well, to preserve the washer's longevity and protect yourself.

The Pressure Washer

A pressure washer utilizes an engine to push high-pressure water from a hose through a nozzle to clean cars, driveways and houses. To use a pressure washer, you must connect a water hose to an outdoor spigot and then to the water pump. Add pressure washer-safe soap by a hose to the pump to thoroughly clean your car. There is a adjuster to adjust the pounds-per-square inch (PSI) to fit your need. The lowest pressure setting is the best for cars.

Pressure

Turn your pressure to around 2500 PSI or lower. Many pressure washers go into 3000 PSI, which is much too high for cleaning cars. If you use that pressure setting, it will rip the paint off of your car and will actually cut toes off.

Soap Mixture

Do not use common household cleaning soaps or car cleaning soaps that are not designed for pressure washers. Both of those cleaning agents will clog the pump, potentially breaking it. Use soaps that are designed for both pressure washers and cars as these are the only cleaning solutions that will work without any problem. Most soaps label whether or not it is pressure washer safe.

Nozzles

Use the wide spray nozzle to spread out the water to cover more area. The other nozzles are better suited for housing, sidewalks and other areas, but not for homes. To use this nozzle, snap it into the front of the spray gun.

Safety

Do not aim the hose at anyone as it will scratch and cut anyone even at lower pressure. Do not rinse your hands and feet under the hose as well for the same reason. Make sure your car is away from the house, so that it does not hit any windows or damage the house's sides.

How to Use the Gun
Stay at least to feet away from the automobile at all times. This will maximize the spray distance. Also, never aim directly at the automobile, but slightly above to keep away from getting scratches from the spray. Do not spray in place, but move your hand back and forth to overlap. This way you effectively cover the automobile in the water and soap material. Start by spraying the engine area, then work your way around the automobile. Be positive to spray the automobile down with water one time the automobile is soaped up.

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