Mobile Detailing
in Mukilteo, WA

Mukilteo is the one town I work in that sits right on the water, and the cars here show it. Park within sight of Possession Sound for a winter and the paint picks up a fine salt film. It doesn't rinse off with the rain because it bonds to the clear coat instead of sitting on top of it. You can feel it if you run the back of your hand across the hood after a wash: slightly gritty where it should be smooth. That film is what dulls the paint, and given long enough it starts on the trim clips and brake hardware too.

I'm Mikey. I'm in Mukilteo most weeks, I bring everything I need to your driveway except the water and the power, and I charge the same price here as I do in Snohomish. No travel fee. You don't pay until the car's done and you've walked around it with me.

The ferry is the other thing that shapes cars here. If you ride the Clinton boat regularly, you already know the line backs up the Speedway, and on a choppy crossing the front of the car catches spray on the deck. That salt sits on the paint until the next proper wash. For Whidbey commuters and anyone parked on the bluffs, I lead with a decontamination wash and a sealant on the exterior, because a regular hand wash leaves the bonded stuff behind.

Then there are the gulls. Down by Lighthouse Park and the waterfront there are a lot more of them than there are inland, and bird droppings are acidic. On a warm day they can etch into the clear coat within a few days and leave a dull mark that stays after the dropping is gone. Once it's etched, no wash takes it out. It takes polishing, which is paint correction, and I quote that after I've seen the car, because nobody can honestly price it from a photo. The cheap fix is getting droppings off within a day or two, before they etch at all.

Up the hill it's trees. Japanese Gulch and the ravines through the middle of town keep a lot of big firs and maples close to the houses. Fir needles and maple seeds pack into the cowl, the slot at the base of the windshield, and when the drains under it clog, rainwater backs up and can find its way into the cabin. If you've ever had a damp footwell after a heavy rain, that's the first place to look. Sap is the other one: park under a fir for a summer and the roof and hood end up spotted with it.

Harbour Pointe is a different kind of job. Lots of townhomes and HOA neighborhoods off Harbour Pointe Boulevard and Chennault Beach Road, and a lot of family SUVs that do the Kamiak run twice a day. Two things to sort out before you book: I need an outdoor spigot and an outlet I can reach from where the car is parked, and if your HOA has rules about work in driveways, tell me when you book so I can work to them. If you share a spigot with the building and aren't sure it's allowed, ask me first and we'll figure out the best place for the car.

And because Paine Field is right next door, plenty of Mukilteo runs on Boeing shift hours. That's where mobile earns its keep. You don't have to be home. Leave the keys, tell me where the spigot is, and the car's done when you're back.