If you have recently taken the time to have your car detailed . It's likely, You may NOT be getting all that you paid to have done. Yes, its true we detailers do fail to perform the professional looking car detail you deserve.

I must admit in the early going, I fractured a sacred detailing law or two. In an effort to make more MONEY I cut a few corners to get done faster.

Now that I have confessed my Sin

I Will attempt to redeem myself, by helping you to spot some commonly overlooked areas that are missed when detailing a car.

So that you, the do it yourself car enthusiast. Even if you chose to let someone else clean your car, can get the best possible look.

Under the hood

Either out of haste or inexperience detailers do not properly clean the

Firewall

This can be easily handled during the engine compartment cleanup. By using a good degreaser, small brush, and a strong burst of water. Making sure all the visible nooks and crannies are clean.

(Always cover any parts that can hinder the smooth running of your car)

If you were to look up, at the inside of the hood you would see painted areas running along the inside of your hood, with a padding in the center.

Always check to see if this area is clean as well. Basically when you drop your dough, or chose to do it yourself this should all be clean.

This can be handled by using the same method as the fire wall, but follow up with a hand mit and soapy water.

(I will assume the engine is dressed afterwards to enhance the final appearance of your now clean engine compartment.)

Door Jams

At first glance all seems well, right? Or is it.

Look at the door real close. Now you see it don't you, Many times the bottom of the door panel is still dirty. If you look at the rubber seal in the door at the top when you pull that up is it clean?

This should be cleaned and a rubber dressing applied to it as well. The whole of the door way should be free of any grease or dirt period.

Trim and Moldings

Are the moldings restored to look fresh, and rejuvenated in relation to the rest of the car? Again these are things that can be and should be addressed in order to justify the price.

Due to the fact that all cars are different in this regards, a simple close look at the trim and moldings, will tell you what you need to do next. (But hopefully you will not have to.)

Trunk

Like under the hood, you want to make sure that all the painted areas on the inside of the lid are clean. Also the rubber is dressed with a protectant. Cleaning this is easy with a wash mit and soapy water. Be sure the groove that outlines the trunk is cleaned also.

Though this is not a comprehensive list of everything that could be missed, in my experience these are the more common ones. If you like more information on how to spot overlooked areas, You can recieve the Free Auto Detailing Tips Newsletter at your request.

K.M.Dodd is a car enthusiast, and an experienced auto detailer with over twelve years in the field of automotive detailing. Auto-detailings.com is a growing compilation of his knowledge and expertise. Written for the Do It Yourself Detailer, at Auto-detailings.com you can read up to date content-rich quality information in an easy to understand style.