Detail Authority, Inc. "Best Auto Detailers" as featured in "Consumer Checkbook" Winter/Spring 2006

Detail Authority has been asked several times in 2003, 2004, 2005, and 2006 to appear on the Goss' Garage T.V. and radio show, hosted by Pat Goss.  During each appearance we have discussed various methods of maintaining paint finish.  We covered some of our new services such as Paint Touch Up and Paintless Dent Repair.

Mobile Auto Detailing, Chantilly; 703-263-2268; www.waxmycar.com Since 1987, Randy Coffey's vans have gone to homes and offices to detail vehicles (wash, wax, polish, vacuum, shampoo, etc.), fix dents, dings, and install mobile phones.  Detailing $40 to $260; dent repair $150 for first panel, then $100 a panel; Phone installation varies by maker.  Discount if you bring your car to him in Chantilly or Herndon.

Q:How do you get a half-gallon of paint off the carpet of your vehicle?
A: It all started when someone in my family, who shall go nameless, transported the gallon of paint in our van.  It should have been in a box, protected and tightly closed. Anyway, a puddle and dribbles of paint were everywhere. I remembered that birds of a feather flock together: If you have one car-repair shop that you trust, the people there must know other reliable shops in their business.

Billy De Camps of C.A.R.S. in Chantilly, who has been in the Queen of Bargain's Hall of Fame for more than a year, has the most honest, trustworthy car repair I have used.  He referred me to Bill at Nu-Look in Chantilly.  Nu-Look specializes in fixing or replacing car upholstery, trim, carpet - you name it.

Bill advised me that the carpet was molded to the contours of my '91 Toyota Previa (224,000 miles and still going strong), replacing it could cost $700 or $800.  He referred me to Randy Coffey at Mobile Auto Detailing in Chantilly (703-978-7800, 14200 Sullyfield Circle).  After less than one day and less $250, my vehicle looks as if the paint caper was a figment of my imagination.

Believe me, there was enough paint in my van to cover several square feet.

Mobile Auto Detailing is this area's automotive "detail" connection.  Phone them at 703-978-7800 and one of their four mobile units will come out to your home or office with water and electricity.  Services are offered in their shop in Chantilly at 14200 Sullyfield Circle.  They offer people who take pride in the appearance of their car a hand wash and wax service that will preserve your car's finish giving that "new car" look once again.

At Mobile Auto Detailing several cleaning options are featured.  The hand wash includes hand washing of the exterior as well as vacuuming and a professional vinyl dressing for the interior.  Their complete interior detail includes shampooing the carpets, steam cleaning the seats and door panels, detailing the dash and treatment for all vinyl as well as cleaning and conditioning leather.  The exterior detail offers a complete hand wash, machine buffing and polishing followed by a hand application of wax, removing road tar, pine sap and other harmful dirt and grime.  Their bumper to bumper treatment includes the complete exterior detail and the total interior detail as well as vacuuming the trunk.

Owners depend on the service of Mobile Auto Detailing because of their "attention to detail!" Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover are accepted.  Visit their Website at www.waxmycar.com

Randy Coffey drives a clean machine.

It's a minivan and the air-brushed shimmer that radiates from the exterior gives a clue to what's inside: a self-contained mobile carwash.

Mobile Auto Detailing brings the clean to the customers, no matter where their cars are. And no matter how dirty.

"I've never had anyone give me a job I couldn't take care of," said Mr. Coffey, the driving detailer

He's found dirty diapers under car seats, been pricked by hypodermic needles stuck in the floor mats and had to take a screwdriver to a wad of candy cemented to car's door handle.

Mobile car detailing isn't a new idea, but it's rare to find a success story in the business, said Ed Holbus, who's been selling carwash equipment for 30 years and is president of the Car Wash Owners and Suppliers Association in Racine, Wis.

"It's not easy to go out and solicited business," Mr. Holbus said. "It's very difficult again to go out with the utilities you transport and do an adequate or more-than-adequate job for the customer."

In addition, mobile detailing is at the mercy of the weather more than a garage-run operation is, Mr. Holbus said.  It is difficult to get into volume business without a huge investment in equipment and staff.

"Once he has a lot of customers he has to go out and hire people," Mr. Holbus said. "I admire anyone that does that if their successful.  It's very, very difficult to make a lot of money."

But Mr. Coffey thinks he's found a niche and an expansion plan.

His latest idea targets golf courses, where he is trying to land accounts to detail cars while their owners play.

"A lot of people don't realize there is a lot more to it than taking a sponge to a car," Mr. Coffey said. "Psychologists say people feel a lot better about themselves when they are driving a clean car.  It's cheaper than going to a shrink and it gives you the same feeling."

Mr. Coffey dreamed of owning a carwash before he was old enough to drive. He was 13 when he designed his first self-serve wash.  When a neighborhood car dealership went out of business in Fairfax City, he saw his chance.  He tried to buy the empty building.

"They wanted $1.2 million, a little bit more than my allowance," Mr. Coffey said. "Nobody would really take me seriously."

But Mr. Coffey, 27, incorporated his business in 1987, about the time he bought his first car.  His friends were his customers. "People started paying me to do their cars and I realized I had something," he said.

He printed business cards, got a pager and kept washing cars while he was making his living bartending, working construction or managing a grocery store.

Mobile Auto Detailing became a part-time operation in the summer of 1994, when Mr. Coffey landed contract with a dealer to wash his cars.

Now the company is a three person operation with $100,000 worth of equipment.

A mobile detailing costs about the same as a drive-in operation with complete service starting around $100.  Additional work, such as cleaning leather upholstery or engine steaming, can add to the cost of the labor-and-equipment intensive job.

Mr. Coffey invested $35,000 in his first van, taking out a bank loan to invest in a huge water tank, power washer, a generator and cleaning supplies.  The water is filtered to prevent spotting. He uses chamois clothes to dry vehicles

"Pretty much all my business has been by word of mouth.  I always had signs on my cars," Mr. Coffey said. "It's probably my best form of advertising.  I wanted to stay away from doing direct-mail coupons and stuff like that.  I thought people seeing me do the work was a lot better reference than picking me out of the phone book.

• Company: Mobile Auto Detailing



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• Business: car washing, detailing



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• Founder: Randy Coffey



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• Location: Fairfax



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• Employees: Three full-timers



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• Initial Investment: $35,000



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• 1995 revenues: $65,000



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• Est. 1996 revenues: $100,000