What's Actually Included in a Full Car Detail? (Complete Checklist)

"Full detail" gets used loosely across the industry. Some shops mean a genuinely thorough process. Others mean a wash with a quick interior wipe-down. Here's exactly what's included in ours, so you know precisely what you're paying for before you book.

The complete checklist

Interior

• Doors and door jambs — cleaned and wiped down, an area that gets skipped often
• Full air blow-out, top to bottom — clears dust and debris out of vents, seams, and crevices before wet cleaning starts
• Steam pre-treatment — run ahead of any detergent on most surfaces, see below
• Vacuum throughout — seats, carpets, trunk, under the seats
• Spot-cleaned carpets — targeted treatment on stains, not just a vacuum pass
• Upholstery and leather — steam cleaned and conditioned
• Dash and console — steam agitation first, so less chemical is needed
• Floor mats — machine agitated and steam cleaned, removed and treated properly rather than wiped in place
• Interior glass — streak-free, inside surfaces often missed by a regular wash
• Headliner — frequently skipped entirely elsewhere; we don't skip it

Why we lead with steam

Most of the checklist above happens after one step that's easy to overlook: steam, run across most interior surfaces before any detergent touches them.

Steam gets into cracks, seams, and vents that a pick or a rag can't reach. It also loosens dried spills — soda, crumbs, melted candy, coffee — that have already bonded to a surface, so by the time we're wiping and extracting, most of the hard work is already done.

The practical result is twofold. We use noticeably less chemical overall, since steam is doing a lot of what detergent would otherwise have to do. And the finish is visibly cleaner, because steam reaches places a cloth-and-spray approach simply can't.

Exterior

• Foam bath — loosens surface dirt before contact, reduces the risk of scratching during wash
• Hand wash and dry — not a drive-through brush wash
• Bug and tar removal — softened and lifted rather than scrubbed or pressure-blasted, which can etch clear coat
• Wheel and tire intensive — wheels, wells, and tires get real attention, not a quick rinse
• Streak-free glass — exterior windows and mirrors
• Wax finish — a real protective layer, not just a rinse aid

That's the full complete detail, and every vehicle gets every step regardless of size — the price changes with vehicle size and condition, not with which parts of the checklist get done.

What's commonly skipped elsewhere

Based on what we hear from customers who've used other services, these are the steps that seem to get cut most often when a "detail" runs short:

• Door jambs — easy to skip, visible if you know to look
• Headliner — takes real time and is often left out entirely
• Steam cleaning mats — a quick vacuum instead of actually removing and treating them
• Wheel wells — wheels get washed, the wells behind them don't
• Interior glass — exterior gets done, interior gets missed

None of these are hard to do. They just take time, and time is exactly what gets cut when a service is priced to be fast rather than thorough.

Interior only or exterior only

Not every vehicle needs both sides done at once.

Interior only makes sense when your paint is holding up fine but the cabin has taken a beating — kids, pets, a work vehicle, general life. You get the full interior checklist above without paying for exterior work you don't need.

Exterior only works the other way — a clean interior but paint that's picked up winter grime, oxidation, or just needs a refresh. Full exterior checklist, no interior charge.

What we deliberately don't include

We don't offer ceramic coating or paint correction, and we say so before you book, not after.

What we do instead is thorough machine polishing and a quality wax finish — real, visible results for what most vehicles in this area actually need, without the cost of a ceramic package or the multi-day process of true paint correction. If your vehicle specifically needs one of those services, we'll tell you honestly and point you toward someone local who does it.

Add-ons worth knowing about

Engine bay cleaning isn't part of the standard checklist but can be added — worth it if you're prepping a vehicle for sale or just want everything under the hood looking as good as the paint.

The honest reason this checklist matters

A detail that skips the headliner, wheel wells, and interior glass can still look decent in photos and still get called a "full detail." The difference shows up in the details you notice over the following weeks — the smell that lingers, the film that's still on the interior glass, the wheel wells that still look dingy.

If you're comparing quotes, this checklist is a fair thing to hold any detailer to. Ask what's actually included before you book — a specific answer is a good sign, a vague one usually means some of it gets skipped.

For a quote on your specific vehicle, call and tell us what you're driving. We serve Sandpoint and 18 other towns within 35 miles, and we'll walk through exactly what your vehicle needs before you commit to anything.

Frequently asked questions