What each service is published at
Figures from two published 2026 pricing guides, read on 22 September 2026, with their dates in the sources below. Where the two disagree the wider band is shown, because the honest answer to what a full detail costs is a range and not a number.
| Service | Published range (USD) | What it normally includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic exterior wash | $25 to $80 | Hand wash, wheels, tyres dressed, dried. No decontamination, no polish. |
| Interior vacuum and wipe down | $50 to $70 | Vacuum, dash and console wiped, interior glass, mats. |
| Interior detail | $100 to $300 | The above plus shampoo or hot water extraction of carpets and cloth seats, leather cleaned and conditioned. |
| Exterior detail | $100 to $250 | Decontamination wash, clay, wheel faces and barrels, sealant or wax. |
| Full detail | $150 to $500 and up | Interior and exterior together. The widest range on this table, because it is the vaguest name. |
| Engine bay clean | $50 to $100 | Usually quoted as an add-on. |
| Headlight restoration | $40 to $80 | Sanding and polishing hazed lenses, per pair. |
By vehicle size, one guide publishes a full detail at $150 to $250 for a sedan, $200 to $350 for an SUV, $200 to $500 for a truck and $250 to $500 and up for a van.
How to compare two detailing quotes
Ask both shops for the task list, not the package name. A written list of what happens to the car is the only thing that makes two prices comparable, and any shop that details properly already has one.
Three questions separate the tiers quickly. Is the paint decontaminated and clayed, or only washed? Is the interior extracted, or vacuumed and wiped? And is there any machine polishing at all, or is the shine coming from a sealant over the defects that are already there?
That last one is the fault line between detailing and correction. Removing swirl marks is a separate job with its own published prices on paint correction cost, and the difference is explained in swirl marks and remove swirl marks.
What actually drives a detailing price
Detailing is sold by the package and costed by the hour. Published hourly rates in the trade run roughly 50 to 100 US dollars, and a shop's formula is labour hours times rate, plus materials and overhead.
So the honest predictors of your quote are how big the car is, how bad it is, and how long the work takes. A three-year-old family car with sand in the carpets and a dog in its history is genuinely more hours than a commuter sedan of the same size, and a shop that quotes without seeing it is either padding or about to be disappointed.
- Size. More panels, more glass, more carpet. Every published guide steps the price by vehicle class.
- Condition. Pet hair, spilled drinks, smoke and heavy tar all add hours and sometimes materials.
- Frequency. A car detailed every quarter is a faster job each time, which is why maintenance plans are usually cheaper per visit. The term is maintenance plan.
- Location. A mobile detailer working at your house carries water, power and time between jobs; a fixed shop carries rent. Neither is reliably cheaper.
Two things that are not detailing
Paint correction is machine polishing that permanently removes defects from the clear coat. It is measured in stages, it is priced in hundreds to thousands, and it is not what a full detail includes unless the quote says so.
A ceramic coating is a durable protective layer applied after correction, with its own published tiers on ceramic coating cost. A detail that finishes with a spray sealant is not a coating, whatever the booking page calls it.
None of this makes a full detail poor value. It makes it a different purchase, and knowing which one you are buying is the whole point of asking for the task list.
Sources & notes
Facts checked
- 1.Service-by-service prices, vehicle-size bands and the $50 to $100 hourly rate: published 16 April 2026, read 22 September 2026. getjobber.com
- 2.The interior $50 to $350, exterior $100 to $350 and full detail $150 to $500 bands, and the national medians quoted for wash and wax, exterior and full detail: published 2026 detailing cost guide, read 22 September 2026. housecallpro.com
These are published ranges from pricing guides written for detailers, read on one day. They are not quotes and not Service VIN's prices. Your local market may sit outside them in either direction.
Questions people ask
How much does a full car detail cost?
Published 2026 guides put a full interior and exterior detail at $150 to $500 or more, stepping up with vehicle size: roughly $150 to $250 for a sedan and $200 to $500 for a truck.
Why is one shop's full detail twice another's?
Because the name is not standardised. One may be a wash, wax and vacuum; the other a decontamination wash, clay, extraction and a machine polish. Ask both for the task list and the prices usually stop looking odd.
Is mobile detailing cheaper than a shop?
Not reliably. A mobile detailer saves shop rent but carries water, power and travel time. Published rates overlap heavily; what changes is convenience and what can be done on your driveway.
Does a detail remove scratches?
A detail hides them; paint correction removes them. If a quote does not mention machine polishing stages, assume the swirls will still be there afterwards, looking better under fresh sealant.