✦ Free tool · no sign-up
Car detailing price calculator
Work out what to charge for a car detail from your own time and costs, add your margin, then check the price against what customers pay for that size of vehicle.
Example filled in: a full detail on a large sedan by one mobile detailer (worked example 1 below).
More for car detailing businesses: kits, templates and guides
Your cost floor for this vehicle
$142.20
The lowest price to accept. Below this, the job loses money.
Market check
$175 – $250 large sedan or wagon
- Market range
- Your floor
- Your price for this vehicle
HomeGuide (byline Nov 6, 2023): price by vehicle size. National figures; check local competitors.
Other published figures
Your price for this vehicle
$180.00 · $45.00 per labor hour
Your cost floor plus your margin, rounded up to the next $5, plus add-ons, and never below your minimum.
- Profit on the detail (add-ons not counted)$37.80
- Margin on the detail21%
How the numbers are worked out
| Labor: 1 × 4 h × $25/h | $100.00 |
|---|---|
| Chemicals and supplies | $12.00 |
| Travel: 20 mi × $0.76 | $15.20 |
| Overhead share | $15.00 |
| Cost floor | $142.20 |
| ÷ (1 − 20%) before rounding | $177.75 |
| Detail price (rounded up to $5) | $180.00 |
| Add-ons | $0.00 |
| Your price (never below the minimum) | $180.00 |
Copied
The printed quote is for your customer: it shows the price and what is included, never your costs, floor or margin. Add your business and customer details below first.
Customer quote details
How it works
The method, step by step
Market rates tell you the ceiling. Your costs tell you the floor. Every number above is an example: replace it with your own.
Labor
Hours on the vehicle × people on the job × the pay you want per person per hour. Time your details by size and condition: a muddy SUV takes longer than a clean coupe.
Job costs
Add chemicals and supplies, the drive (round-trip miles × cost per mile) and a share of your monthly overhead. That total is your cost floor.
Margin
Price = cost ÷ (1 − margin), rounded up to the next $5. A 20% margin means dividing by 0.80. Add-ons like headlight restoration go on top, and the price never drops below your minimum.
Market check
Compare the detail price with what customers pay for that vehicle size. If you are well above it, check your hours; if you are below it, check local prices before you quote.
Example: replace with your own
These inputs in the calculator and the worked examples have no published source behind them. Use your own numbers.
- Supplies: $12 per vehicle
- Overhead share: $15 per vehicle
- Minimum charge: $100
- Your pay ($25 an hour) and margin (20%) are choices, not market figures
Worked examples
3 jobs, priced with this calculator
Each example is worked out by the calculator above, with the same formula. Open one to see every line, then change it to your own numbers.
-
Example 1
Full detail, large sedan
The example filled in above: one detailer, 4 hours on the car, $12 of supplies, 20 miles round trip at $0.76, a $15 overhead share and a 20% margin. Vehicle size: large sedan or wagon.
- Your cost floor for this vehicle
- $142.20
- Market check
- $175–$250
- Your price for this vehicle
- $180.00$45.00 per labor hour
- Profit on the detail (add-ons not counted)
- $37.80
- Margin on the detail
- 21%
Cost plus a 20% margin, rounded up to the next $5, lands inside the range for a large sedan.
Open example 1 in the calculator -
Example 2
2-row SUV with heavy pet hair
The same detailer on a 2-row SUV covered in pet hair: 6 hours and $18 of supplies.
- Your cost floor for this vehicle
- $198.20
- Market check
- $225–$400
- Your price for this vehicle
- $250.00$41.67 per labor hour
- Profit on the detail (add-ons not counted)
- $51.80
- Margin on the detail
- 21%
The pet hair is priced from the extra time, not a flat fee. Write it on the check-in form so the customer sees why.
Open example 2 in the calculator -
Example 3
Quick exterior wash, small car
A 1.5-hour exterior wash on a small car with $6 of supplies, at the same pay, travel and overhead.
- Your cost floor for this vehicle
- $73.70
- Market check
- $50–$175
- Your price for this vehicle
- $100.00$66.67 per labor hour
- Profit on the detail (add-ons not counted)
- $26.30
- Margin on the detail
- 26%
At your numbers this job comes to $95.00, below your $100 minimum, so the minimum applies.
The cost-based price comes out below the $100 minimum, so the minimum is the price. On the printed quote it shows as a minimum charge adjustment.
Open example 3 in the calculator
Market rates
What customers pay for car detailing in 2026
National estimates from cost guides and quote data, not audited statistics. HomeGuide’s size table carries a 2023 byline. Check what two or three local detailers charge.
| What | Range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Small car or coupe | $50–$175 | HomeGuide |
| Large sedan or wagon | $175–$250 | HomeGuide |
| Small truck, 2-row SUV or van | $225–$400 | HomeGuide |
| Large truck or 3-row SUV | $500–$650+ | HomeGuide |
| Typical auto detail, any size | $176 (low $100, high $270) | Yelp |
| Full-service package, basic | $120–$350 | HomeGuide |
| Full-service package, deluxe | $300–$500 | HomeGuide |
| Headlight restoration | $50–$125+ | HomeGuide |
| Engine cleaning | $50–$150 | HomeGuide |
| Paint correction | $250–$750+ | HomeGuide |
| Odor removal | about $75 | Yelp |
| Ceramic coating, professional | roughly $1,000 (2024 article) | Cars.com |
| Vehicle cleaners’ median wage | $17.23 an hour (May 2025) | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics |
Sources
- HomeGuide: Car Detailing Cost (page dated Nov 6, 2023; byline date; the title says 2026. Read through a text reader; read Nov 8, 2026)
- Yelp: Auto Detailing Cost (no fixed date (the title says “Last Updated November 2026”); figures from the page’s quote widget, based on 3,132,979 quotes; read Nov 8, 2026)
- Cars.com: What Is Ceramic Coating? (page dated Jun 9, 2024; read Nov 8, 2026)
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025: cleaners of vehicles and equipment (53-7061), median $17.23 an hour (May 2025 estimates, released May 15, 2026; median read through the BLS public data API; read Nov 8, 2026)
- IRS: Standard mileage rates (76 cents a mile for business use from July 1, 2026; read Nov 8, 2026)
Cost guides publish estimates from their own marketplace or listing data, not audited statistics. US figures only.
Related
More help on OwnerKits
- TemplateCar Detailing Forms, Waivers & Contract Templates PackWaivers and a vehicle condition check-in form: record pet hair and damage before you start.
- TemplateGift Certificate Templates & Holiday Marketing KitGift certificate templates, including car detailing designs.
- Free guideHow to Sell Gift Certificates for Your Service Business (2026 Holiday Plan)A holiday plan for selling gift certificates, car detailing included.
✦ The full version
Car Detailing Business Starter Kit
This calculator prices one job. The kit’s Excel workbooks price your whole service list, and the business app turns a price into a quote with your logo, then into a job and an invoice.
Questions
Pricing questions
How much should I charge for a full detail?
Yelp’s quote data puts a typical auto detail at about $176, with most between $100 and $270. HomeGuide lists full-service packages from $120–$350 (basic) to $300–$500 (deluxe). Price from your time, supplies and travel first, then check the range for the vehicle size.
Should SUVs and trucks cost more?
Yes, because they take longer. HomeGuide’s ranges climb from $50–$175 for small cars to $225–$400 for 2-row SUVs and $500–$650+ for large trucks and 3-row SUVs. Enter the real hours for each size and the price follows.
How long does a full detail take?
HomeGuide says a small, well-kept car takes 2 to 4 hours; large or very dirty vehicles take much longer. Time your own details for each size and condition, then use your averages here.
How should I price pet hair and odor removal?
From the extra time and product, as an add-on or a condition surcharge. Yelp lists odor removal at about $75. Note heavy pet hair on the vehicle check-in form before you start, so the customer sees why the price changed.
How much is ceramic coating or paint correction?
These are specialist services. HomeGuide lists paint correction at $250–$750+, and Cars.com puts a professional ceramic coating at roughly $1,000. Offer them once you are trained, and price them separately from the detail.
Should mobile detailers charge a travel fee?
Many add one beyond a set radius. The drive costs fuel, wear and time, so either build it into the price, as this calculator does with round-trip miles × cost per mile, or list it as a separate travel fee.
More free tools
Other pricing calculators
- Pressure Washing Price CalculatorPrice driveways, house siding, decks, fences and roofs from your hourly target, production rates and margin.
- Freelance Hourly Rate CalculatorTurn your take-home goal, expenses, time off and 2026 self-employment tax into the hourly rate you need.
- House Cleaning Price CalculatorPrice a standard, deep or move-out clean from your time and costs, with recurring discounts, add-ons and 2026 rates.
- Lawn Mowing Price CalculatorBuild your hourly rate from your pay, equipment, fuel and overhead, then price each cut and check it against 2026 rates.