What’s the Difference Between an Interior Car Detail and Restoration?
When looking to spruce up your car’s interior, the service you’ll need to get done varies significantly. If your car just rolled off the showroom floor, a quick vacuum and wipedown might be all you need. Most cars fall into the usual dirt category, where it's been 6 months-2 years since its last thorough detailing, the carpets might need a shampoo, and there may be some staining. But, some cars need more than that. Maybe they’ve been sitting unused for years, were involved in a flood, or a major biohazard situation occurred. But where do you draw the line? Here, we’ll go over different situations, and define what needs an interior detail, or an interior restoration.
First, let’s define both terms. An interior detail is anywhere from a quick clean, to a full detailing of a car’s interior. Usually taking between 1-4 hours depending on condition, a full interior detail helps deal with common issues, such as stains, pet hair, and everyday dirt and debris from daily use. Some detailers even go so far as to remove the seats from the vehicle to get underneath them. On the contrary, an interior restoration is a complete overhaul of an interior’s condition. Typically, a restoration service involves removing panels or carpeting from the car, and is exclusively for abnormal conditions and situations. These services can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days, and cost significantly more than an interior detail.
The key difference between the two comes from what needs to be removed from the vehicle. If any panels or carpets need to be removed or replaced, you’re probably looking at getting an interior restoration service. Other things, such as special tools or training being needed, can also indicate a more restorative service.
A few examples of common situations that require a restoration over a detail include heavy flooding of a vehicle, significant damage to interior panels, dangerous amounts of mold, heavily stained carpets/seats, or a large biohazard issue (i.e. blood or vomit). A common situation that teeters the line between restoration and detailing is heavy smoke odor, which requires a specific, smoke odor removal service. Some more minor situations, such as very minor mold, small stains, pet hair, and carpet messes can be handled with a detailing service instead of a restoration service.
In terms of pricing, a standard interior detail runs anywhere from $100-$250, while a restoration service can easily range from $500-$1000. Smoke odor removal services also fall into the $500-$1000 range. Why so expensive? Well, considering the amount of labor hours required, the specialized training and tools needed, and the added risk when handling hazardous situations, it makes sense that a restoration service will be significantly more expensive than a standard detail.
And that’s it! Now that you can identify the difference between an interior car detail and interior car restoration, you can make sure that you don’t get quoted for the wrong service in the future! Hungry for some more information? Check out the rest of our blog, where we discuss everything car detailing that you need to know (plus some industry secrets that you can’t miss!). And, for anyone on the South Shore or Cape Cod in MA, if you need a detail for your personal vehicle, we’d be happy to help, just let us know here and we’ll get you a quote today!
