What does a detailer do?
A detailer's general responsibility is to provide automotive cleaning services to clients' specifications. Detailers' duties also include inspection of vehicle condition, conducting primary overhaul for interior and exterior defects, and knowledge of cleaning tools and equipment. A detailer must also have excellent customer service skills. They are responsible for providing client requests, responding to inquiries, and managing complaints. Detailers also monitor inventories and request supplies and equipment to the management as needed.
Detailer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real detailer resumes:
- Operate miscellaneous tools, spray guns, industrial vacuums and cleaners.
- Dimension and annotate HVAC, plumbing, hydronic, and medical gas drawings.
- Receive training in fiberglass boat repair -Responsible for maintaining showroom appearance and detailing customer boats
- General daily responsibilities include cleaning, detailing and performing general maintenance on client boats locate at marinas.
- Detail small compact cars, SUVs, school buses, coach buses, and boats.
- Develop strong work ethic and leadership skills.
- Detail orient with strong communication and leadership skills.
- Take customers to and from bmw and dodge dealership.
- Research and compile information for cad system user manuals.
- Detail cars and SUVs inside and out on a daily.
- Use forklift to relocate RVs for washing and or maintenance work.
- Utilize SolidWorks to create parts, assemblies, and detail drawings.
- Perform specialized fiberglass work on the inside and outside of luxury rentals.
- Buff and wax, detail, fiberglass body work, full body paint job.
- Create equipment plumbing schematics and facilities plumbing layouts for facilities hookup.
Detailer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 17% of Detailers are proficient in Customer Vehicles, Shampoo Carpets, and Work Ethic. They’re also known for soft skills such as Hand-eye coordination, Listening skills, and Customer-service skills.
We break down the percentage of Detailers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Customer Vehicles, 17%
Detailed and prepared customer vehicles for delivery - Coordinated vehicle transfers between dealerships - Managed customer service relations
- Shampoo Carpets, 16%
Detail used and new vehicles, shampoo carpets, buff scratches, fill up new inventory, check in new vehicles.
- Work Ethic, 15%
Developed a strong work ethic from the fasted paced environment of rental car services where tasks needed to be completed quickly.
- Customer Service, 13%
Provided excellent customer service in an efficient and friendly manner to ensure customer satisfaction.
- Cleanliness, 9%
Washed exterior and detailed the interior of vehicles after repair, maintained cleanliness of shop, arranged and parked cars.
- Good Communication, 6%
Demonstrated good communication skills which built excellent relationship within customers.
Common skills that a detailer uses to do their job include "customer vehicles," "shampoo carpets," and "work ethic." You can find details on the most important detailer responsibilities below.
Hand-eye coordination. To carry out their duties, the most important skill for a detailer to have is hand-eye coordination. Their role and responsibilities require that "most hand laborers and material movers use their arms and hands to manipulate objects or move objects into specific positions." Detailers often use hand-eye coordination in their day-to-day job, as shown by this real resume: "used manual dexterity and bodily coordination to perform an array of tasks. "
Listening skills. Many detailer duties rely on listening skills. "hand laborers and material movers follow instructions that a supervisor gives them.," so a detailer will need this skill often in their role. This resume example is just one of many ways detailer responsibilities rely on listening skills: "communicated with other departments such as sales and the body shop to meet the customer's expectations and needs. "
Customer-service skills. Another skill that relates to the job responsibilities of detailers is customer-service skills. This skill is critical to many everyday detailer duties, as "hand laborers and material movers who work with the public, such as grocery baggers or carwash attendants, must be pleasant and courteous to customers." This example from a resume shows how this skill is used: "maintained cleanliness and presentation of vehicles delivered to customers. "
Physical strength. For certain detailer responsibilities to be completed, the job requires competence in "physical strength." The day-to-day duties of a detailer rely on this skill, as "some hand laborers and material movers must be able to lift and carry heavy objects." For example, this snippet was taken directly from a resume about how this skill applies to what detailers do: "worked customer service, ability to engage in physical work for extended periods of time. "
The three companies that hire the most detailers are:
- Frito-Lay225 detailers jobs
- CarMax185 detailers jobs
- Camping World78 detailers jobs
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Compare different detailers
Detailer vs. Car wash attendant
As a car wash attendant, they wash and polish car exteriors and interiors. They often clean tires, dust, drying, applying soap solutions, vacuuming car interiors, scraping loose specks of dirt, cleaning seats, and removing the trash on a car. This type of job requires reliability, communication, physical fitness, and customer service skills. Formal education is not fully required though most of them hold a high school diploma. However, their attention to detail and good customer service may increase their employment opportunities.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, detailer responsibilities require skills like "shampoo carpets," "strong work ethic," "good communication," and "dexterity." Meanwhile a typical car wash attendant has skills in areas such as "visual inspections," "menu options," "competent demeanor," and "cash management." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Car wash attendants tend to make the most money working in the technology industry, where they earn an average salary of $30,136. In contrast, detailers make the biggest average salary, $30,811, in the retail industry.car wash attendants tend to reach similar levels of education than detailers. In fact, car wash attendants are 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.0% less likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Detailer vs. Service porter
Typically working in car dealerships, a service porter is in charge of performing a variety of tasks to maintain smooth operations. They maintain vehicles in good condition by conducting regular maintenance checks and repairs, refilling gas tanks, inspecting tires and batteries, and cleaning the interior and exterior of cars. There are also instances where they perform clerical support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and monitoring the inventory. Moreover, a service porter may also assist potential buyers and keep them company during test drives.
In addition to the difference in salary, there are some other key differences worth noting. For example, detailer responsibilities are more likely to require skills like "shampoo carpets," "good communication," "dexterity," and "manual dexterity." Meanwhile, a service porter has duties that require skills in areas such as "service drive," "general cleanup," "honda," and "tire pressure." These differences highlight just how different the day-to-day in each role looks.
Service porters may earn a lower salary than detailers, but service porters earn the most pay in the real estate industry with an average salary of $28,989. On the other hand, detailers receive higher pay in the retail industry, where they earn an average salary of $30,811.In general, service porters achieve similar levels of education than detailers. They're 0.2% more likely to obtain a Master's Degree while being 0.0% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Detailer vs. Truck washer
The required skills of the two careers differ considerably. For example, detailers are more likely to have skills like "customer vehicles," "shampoo carpets," "work ethic," and "strong work ethic." But a truck washer is more likely to have skills like "minor maintenance," "cdl," "dot," and "safety regulations."
Truck washers earn the highest salary when working in the retail industry, where they receive an average salary of $41,310. Comparatively, detailers have the highest earning potential in the retail industry, with an average salary of $30,811.truck washers typically earn similar educational levels compared to detailers. Specifically, they're 0.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Detailer vs. Hydroblaster
Even though a few skill sets overlap between detailers and hydroblasters, there are some differences that are important to note. For one, a detailer might have more use for skills like "customer vehicles," "shampoo carpets," "work ethic," and "strong work ethic." Meanwhile, some responsibilities of hydroblasters require skills like "safety procedures," "industrial cleaning," "hydro blasting," and "twic. "
The average resume of hydroblasters showed that they earn similar levels of education compared to detailers. So much so that theyacirc;euro;trade;re 0.2% less likely to earn a Master's Degree and less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree by 0.1%.Types of detailer
Updated January 8, 2025
