What does an automotive detailer do?
An automotive detailer typically works at car shops and dealerships, where they primarily focus on the upkeep of a car's interior and exterior. Their responsibilities revolve around understanding the clients' needs and preferences, cleaning the vehicles according to protocols and client requests, scraping off dirt, coordinating with paint technicians and mechanics, operating devices and machinery such as vacuums and buffers, and adhering to timelines and budgets. Moreover, an automotive detailer also monitors the inventory of supplies and handles calls and correspondence.
Automotive detailer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real automotive detailer resumes:
- Cleaned/Wax automobiles and maintain the cleanliness of the showroom
- Detail cars, trucks, RV's, and boats on a daily basis.
- Detail cars, trucks, planes, RV's, boats, air boats, hover crafts and all-terrain vehicles.
- Visit various stores, take inventory, and stock their shelves with Frito-Lay products.
- Provide oversight to several Sacramento-area grocery stores to stock shelves with Frito-Lay merchandise in a neat and organize fashion.
Automotive detailer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 23% of Automotive Detailers are proficient in Work Ethic, Cleanliness, and Customer Vehicles. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Hand-eye coordination, and Listening skills.
We break down the percentage of Automotive Detailers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Work Ethic, 23%
Provided exceptional service to client's vehicles with a high work ethic and motivation to provide the best service.
- Cleanliness, 10%
Communicate with supervision and Co-workers to safely and efficiently provide a professional level of cleanliness of the vehicle
- Customer Vehicles, 9%
Buffed and detailed approximately 8 customer vehicles daily.
- Engine Compartment, 7%
Cleaned interior and exterior of vehicles; shampooing, washing, waxing, tar removal and power washing of engine compartments.
- Air Compressors, 5%
Rinse objects and place them on drying racks or use cloth, squeegees, or air compressors to dry surfaces.
- General Maintenance, 5%
Helped with general maintenance of car wash tunnel.
"work ethic," "cleanliness," and "customer vehicles" are among the most common skills that automotive detailers use at work. You can find even more automotive detailer responsibilities below, including:
Customer-service skills. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for an automotive detailer to have is customer-service skills. Their role and responsibilities require that "hand laborers and material movers who work with the public, such as grocery baggers or carwash attendants, must be pleasant and courteous to customers." Automotive detailers often use customer-service skills in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "greet customers, pull out cars, dry and clean cars, and maintain cleanliness of lot and lobby. "
Hand-eye coordination. Many automotive detailer duties rely on hand-eye coordination. "most hand laborers and material movers use their arms and hands to manipulate objects or move objects into specific positions.," so an automotive detailer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways automotive detailer responsibilities rely on hand-eye coordination: "use manual dexterity and bodily coordination to perform an array of tasks to vehicles. "
Listening skills. This is an important skill for automotive detailers to perform their duties. For an example of how automotive detailer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "hand laborers and material movers follow instructions that a supervisor gives them." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of an automotive detailer: "communicated and provided customer service to clients. ".
Physical strength. A big part of what automotive detailers do relies on "physical strength." You can see how essential it is to automotive detailer responsibilities because "some hand laborers and material movers must be able to lift and carry heavy objects." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical automotive detailer tasks: "worked customer service, ability to engage in physical work for extended periods of time. "
The three companies that hire the most automotive detailers are:
- Enterprise Holdings1,431 automotive detailers jobs
- CarMax283 automotive detailers jobs
- Dent Wizard105 automotive detailers jobs
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Compare different automotive detailers
Automotive detailer vs. Hydroblaster
Car Cleaners are Responsible for cleaning and washing vehicles for their exterior and interior. Their duties include greeting customers, soap application, cleaning dirt and spraying rims and tires, spray windows using cleaning agent, wax application, rinsing away soap, car debris removal, vacuuming to suck debris and dirt, applying upholstery cleaner for stains and dirt removal, rear window cleaning, as well as cleaning console and dash using a soft cloth. Other duties include processing payments, managing the cash register, ensuring vehicle valuables remain undisturbed, delivering receipt, directing the client to the car after service, and handling customer complaints.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, automotive detailer responsibilities require skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "cleanliness," and "customer vehicles." Meanwhile a typical hydroblaster has skills in areas such as "safety procedures," "industrial cleaning," "hydro blasting," and "twic." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Hydroblasters tend to reach similar levels of education than automotive detailers. In fact, hydroblasters are 0.4% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Automotive detailer vs. Car porter
Each career also uses different skills, according to real automotive detailer resumes. While automotive detailer responsibilities can utilize skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "cleanliness," and "engine compartment," car porters use skills like "transport vehicles," "car dealerships," "toyota," and "license plates."
Car porters may earn a lower salary than automotive detailers, but car porters earn the most pay in the automotive industry with an average salary of $28,277. On the other hand, automotive detailers receive higher pay in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $31,614.In general, car porters achieve similar levels of education than automotive detailers. They're 0.4% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Automotive detailer vs. Washer
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from automotive detailer resumes include skills like "work ethic," "strong work ethic," "engine compartment," and "air compressors," whereas a washer is more likely to list skills in "dryers," "glass partitions," "safety equipment," and "safety standards. "
Washers earn the best pay in the transportation industry, where they command an average salary of $33,518. Automotive detailers earn the highest pay from the retail industry, with an average salary of $31,614.When it comes to education, washers tend to earn similar degree levels compared to automotive detailers. In fact, they're 0.4% more likely to earn a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.Automotive detailer vs. Car cleaner
Types of automotive detailer
Updated January 8, 2025
