Valeting, detailing or washing: which does your car need?

The three words, untangled

The trade uses these words loosely, which is how people end up paying detailing money for a valet or expecting valet results from a wash. Here is the honest version. A wash is maintenance: exterior cleaned safely, interior vacuumed and wiped, done in an hour or two, priced for regularity. A valet is restoration of cleanliness: everything a wash does, plus shampooed seats and carpets, every touch point, trim and glass done properly. A detail is improvement of the car itself: decontaminating the paint, machine polishing out swirls and scratches, then sealing the result with wax, sealant or ceramic.

What each includes and costs

The quick self-diagnosis

Run the back of your fingers across the bonnet after a wash. Smooth and glossy: the paint only needs washing. Slightly gritty, like fine sandpaper: bonded contamination, which is a detailing job to remove. Visible cobweb swirls under sunlight: machine polishing. Inside, if a vacuum and wipe would fix it, that is a wash; if the seats and carpets themselves need attention, that is a valet; and if the cabin has years of neglect in it, the deep clean detail is the reset.