Left side is what happens after too many "bargain" car washes. Right side is corrected paint after labor intensive polishing by Auto Pros.

You see the signs on the road all the time in Tampa–car wash $5 or $10 detail. Wow- that looks like a really great deal, right? Be careful though, because the old saying “you get what you pay for” is very true when it comes to detailing vehicles.

Automatic Car Washes- What could be easier? Pay $5-10, ride your car through the machine and presto, you have a clean car in minutes! If you use a car wash that has brushes or any other type of material that actually “scrubs” your car then you are doing damage to your cars clear coat and paint. Even though the brushes may feel soft, they are putting microscopic scratches in your paint every time you go through. They also put swirls in your paint which take away from the gloss and over time dulls it. Due to the limitations of the car wash itself, it is also grinding in the dirt that is still left on the car and again, damaging the surface of your paint job.

You might think a touchless car wash is the answer. While the touchless washes will get the surface dirt off without harming your car (in the car wash itself) it is not going to truly clean your car. They simply cannot use enough pressure to remove more than the very visible surface dirt. If they use too much pressure, they could actually physically damage the paint. If there are attendants waiting at the end of the car wash to dry it off, that is where real damage can happen to your finish. Most car washes around use cheap towels to dry off the cars coming out of the car washes and will use the same towels over and over again on car after car. These towels will leave fine scratches on your paint job and since the touchless car wash did not remove all of the dirt, when they “dry” your car, they will grind that dirt into the finish.

What about those $10 hand-wash road side stands? Considering that many, if not most, of the road side stands are unlicensed and uninsured, you are taking a large risk with what is probably one of the bigger investments you own. Most of these road side stands are looking for quantity and care very little about quality. They use low quality chemicals, rags and towels to both wash and dry your car, leaving permanent damage to your paint. If they are only using one bucket to wash your car, that means that all of the dirt they just scrubbed off is now getting put back on since they dunk the rags or brushes (which scratch your finish) over and over again into dirty water. While most of these people running roadside stands are honest and just trying to make a living, some are not, so be prepared to keep an extra close eye on them if you have them detail your interior, especially if you have anything of value inside your vehicle. If the road side stand is unlicensed and uninsured, you will be the one paying if something happens to your car.

While cheap, quick and easy may sound good at the time, you will pay for it in the end. To do a quality detail takes time.  A one man professional detailer doing a simple two bucket hand wash and wax using a commercial grade orbital polisher can take anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour. If you are looking for a full detail, including shampooing the carpets, a good quality detail can take up to four hours for very large vehicles. It’s a pretty good bet that the car wash places that have a multitude of attendants, are not going give your car the personal attention to the small details that really add the “Wow” factor that you can get from a dedicated professional mobile detailer like Auto Pros.

Unfortunately in this “get what you pay for” world you may end up paying for a whole lot more than you bargained for. You might have to get your car polished, which can be very expensive since it is so labor intensive. If it is too far damaged from all of the low quality car wash experiences, you may end up needing a whole new paint job. Avoid all of that by either always properly hand washing and waxing your own vehicle with quality supplies or calling a licensed, insured quality mobile detailer to come do it for you.

Auto Pros Mobile Detailing-Tampa, Brandon, Wesley Chapel, Lutz

Keep your car washed. I know that seems obvious, but so many people will let road grime, bird poop, sap and love bugs stay on their cars for days or weeks! This is killing the paint. Removing grime and contaminants from your car will help maintain that new car shine. But be careful, because not all washing products are the same! You never want to use dish soap on your vehicle, because it can remove the protective waxes and leave a dull residue. Also, stay away from bristle brushes. Even if the brush says it’s made to wash cars, all bristle brushes can put fine scratches and cause swirls in paint. It’s best to use a car wash mitt or micro-fiber towel. Also, a tip you might want to take from a professional detailer- use two buckets! One for clean, soapy water and one to rinse out your dirty mitt.

While waxing is a great way to make your car shine, there is an even better way to keep it shining and help protect your paint. Use a polymer based paint sealant. Even the best wax won’t last as long or protect as well as this type of sealant. Polymer based paint sealants have superior bonding ability to waxes, so they can last longer.

Remember, if you are too busy to wash and seal your car, Auto Pro’s Mobile Detailing can do it for you. With any detail for only $15 extra, we can put on a paint sealant that can add up to 8 months of protection. Let us come to your home or office and do the work, so you don’t have to! Auto Pro’s Mobile Detailing- Tampa and all of Hillsborough County.

You see them on cars all the time…foggy, yellow headlights. Not only do they take away from the look of the vehicle, they also reduce the efficiency of the headlight itself.

At one time headlights were made of glass, so clouding and discoloration were not an issue, but as technology improved, manufacturers chose plastic for the material as it is less expensive. Unfortunately, plastic is open to oxidation. Oxidation is the process that turns a cut apple brown when exposed to oxygen and the chemicals and compounds in the air. While glass is not susceptible to the effects of oxidation, plastic, like the cut apple, will make pristine headlight lens covers discolored and foggy. When your headlights are exposed to road debris, UV lights, pollutants and other elements they become oxidized, which in turn limits their effectiveness and can make for unsafe nighttime driving conditions.

If you want to return headlights to back to like-new condition, you have two options:replace or restore headlights. First, you can replace the headlight lens covers. This however is an expensive option. On many models of cars, a single plastic headlight cover can cost several hundreds of dollars and you will have to replace them again if you keep the car long enough. Your second option is headlight restoration. Several methods exist for restoring headlights. One process requires the use of different grits of sandpaper and a rubbing compound. Others use kits you can buy from an auto-parts store and the use of a high speed electric buffer. Both of these approaches require quite a bit of your time and energy, including prepping the lens with taping it off to protect the surrounding paint.

Of course, instead of doing-it-yourself, you can always hire a pro to do it for you. Auto Pro’s offers excellent and affordable headlight restoration in Tampa. We use the absolute latest in restoration technology, the commercial grade Buffpro. With a special system of compounds and polymer coatings, we use the BuffPro to restore headlights to crystal clarity. What’s more, there is never any risk to the surrounding paint or metal as with methods that involve the use of sandpaper. For far less than you could replace one headlight, Auto Pro’s can restore both headlights. And remember, since we are mobile detailing Tampa based company, we come to you. There is no need for you to sit around at a body repair shop, wasting your time while they take their time in getting to your vehicle. Improve the quality of your nighttime driving and the look of your car by letting Auto Pro’s restore your headlights.