Professional car detailing typically costs $100 to $350 for a sedan, depending on how deep the service goes. A basic wash-and-vacuum runs $75 to $150 at most shops, a full interior and exterior detail lands between $250 and $400, and premium work involving paint correction can reach $500 or more. Because pricing varies so much shop to shop, the honest answer to “how much does car detailing cost” starts with publishing our own numbers, so that is what this post does.

Our actual prices, not a range

We publish every price on our services page, so here is exactly what detailing costs at our shop in Wexford, sedan pricing shown (SUVs and trucks run a bit more):

Package	Sedan price
Express Wash & Vac	$100
Exterior Detail	$160
Interior Detail	$185
Signature Full Detail	$290
Showroom Premium Detail	$520

The Signature Full Detail is the one most people mean when they say “get my car detailed”: complete interior, complete exterior, engine bay wipe down. At $290 for a sedan, it sits right in the middle of what shops in the Pittsburgh area typically charge for comparable work.

Why car detailing costs what it does

Detailing is priced almost entirely on labor. A full detail is four to six hours of one person’s focused work, plus professional extractors, steamers, machine polishers, and chemicals that cost real money. When you divide the price by the hours, most good detailers are earning a fair skilled-trade wage, not a windfall.

That is also why quotes vary. Three things move the number more than anything else:

Vehicle size. Our Signature Full Detail is $290 for a sedan, $320 for an SUV, and $360 for a truck or van. More surface area, more seats, more time.
Condition. A well-kept commuter and a kid-hauler with two years of spills are not the same job. Heavy pet hair, stains, or embedded grime add hours, so shops price them as add-ons or adjust at inspection.
What is included. A $150 “full detail” and a $300 full detail are usually not the same service. One of them is skipping the shampoo, the clay bar, or the hours.

Add-on pricing

Add-ons cover condition problems that only some cars have, which keeps base prices honest for everyone else. Ours run:

Carpet and upholstery shampoo: $65
Pet hair removal: $45
Odor and ozone treatment: $50
Stain and spot removal: $45
Leather clean and condition: $45
Clay bar treatment: $65
Headlight restoration: $85 per pair
Engine bay cleaning: $70

If a shop quotes you a low base price and then stacks four mandatory add-ons, that is really just a higher base price. Ask what the package includes before comparing numbers.

Paint correction and coatings are a different budget

Once you move from cleaning to paint work, pricing steps up because the labor steps up. At our shop, one step paint correction starts at $285, two step correction starts at $605, and ceramic coatings start at $520 for a 3 year coating. These are “from” prices confirmed at inspection because paint condition varies wildly. Whether that spend makes sense depends on how long you plan to keep the car and how much you care about the paint; a good shop will tell you when the answer is no.

Where you can safely spend less

We would rather tell you this than have you overspend: not every car needs the big package. If your vehicle gets regular care, an Express Wash & Vac at $100 keeps it maintained between deeper details. A lease you are returning in six months probably does not need paint correction. And if you only care about the inside, book the Interior Detail alone at $185 instead of paying for exterior work you do not value.

The reverse is also true. If the car has gone years without attention, a cheap wash will not touch the real problems, and you will have spent money without solving anything. Match the service to the car’s actual condition. Our post on how often you should detail your car covers how to keep costs down over the long run with the right cadence.