Michael’s Mobile Detailing is a new business in Pawnee. Michael Collins detailing business is a mobile one that will come directly to the destination. He got experience detailing as a kid. “I used to detail cars for my grandpa when I was a kid. Then I went to the service and moved to Texas.”
In Texas he worked in the oil fields and as a carpenter. Michael and his wife Christina moved to Pawnee three years ago because he said, “She wanted to be near her grandkids.”
The thing that made him decide to move from carpentry to mobile detailing was bad service. “I had a bad experience when a girl detailed my wife’s car.”
Charging an exorbitant price, and doing a bad job besides, Michael said, “I decided I could do better.”
Outfitting his trailer that he takes to the site of the detail job, Michael said, “I quit my fulltime job as a carpenter and started doing this fulltime in March of 2023.”
Detail jobs vary greatly depending on the vehicle. “Every car is different,” Michael said.
But the main process remains the same. Creating a foam bath that looks like shaving cream, he cleans the vehicle with the foam, then rinses. “I do this first wash so that when I am scrubbing, I’m not getting grime into the paint.”
After the first wash, he does a hand wash, then rinses and dries. Then comes the wax which can vary. The wax job can either be a dry wax, or a hand wax. Besides this extensive cleaning, Michael cleans the tire rims, windows, wheel walls and door jams. If the headlights need it, and they are fogged over, Michael will restore the headlights.
The inside also gets a through steam cleaning. Sometimes he must even remove the seats to get the car as clean as he deems it should be!
Some customers want ceramic coating applied. “This is just like glass over paint. But” Michael warned, “Whatever defects are in the paint are there.”
To minimize this he said, “I must polish and decontaminate with an alcohol rub before applying.”
Michael is working on a special application to do ceramic coating. This is a very labor-intensive job where he applies one panel at a time. It can really help preserve the integrity of the paint though and this would be especially important for antique cars, trucks, tractors, or other vehicles that the owner spent a lot of money for a special paint job. “This will last from two to ten years,” Michael said.
He works on all types and sizes of vehicles. “I have one customer that has two tow trucks.”
On his Facebook page are pictures of a couple semi-trucks that he had detailed! What makes this whole process so easy is that Michael just drives the trailer, thus mobile, detail to the customer. “I take the trailer to you,” he said about his trailer that is equipped with a 280-gallon water tank, generator and more.
“All the customer has to do is give me the keys,” Michael said.
The average cost of a four-hour detailing job for a vehicle the size of an SUV is about $185.00. “I also have gift certificates,” Michael shared about this service that would make a wonderful Christmas present. With the holiday season coming our way, it is always nice to have an idea for those friends and family members that are hard to buy for. Here is a gift that comes right to your door that almost everyone needs!
The hardest jobs Michael said is probably a mom with kids in a minivan, but he prides himself in giving is customers a perfectly clean vehicle. “I want to make her happy,” he said for this busy client, but he feels the same no matter who the job is for. After all, it was a job that he was dissatisfied with that began this whole career.
Settling into the Pawnee community has made Michael and his wife happy. “I’ve made a lot of good friends. I meet new people every day.”
To find out more about Michael’s Mobile Detailing, check him out on Facebook . “There are a few Michaels’ Mobile Detailing, but mine has a Corvette on it.”
You can also call 217-629-5161 or email flipm1113@gmail.com to schedule a detailing appointment.
The grandchildren that Michael mentioned earlier are twelve-year-old granddaughters, and Michael and Michelle love living in Pawnee, and being near family. Seeing their granddaughters grow up, and doing a job that makes him happy is a wonderful thing!