Auto Appearance

I finally decided to bite the bullet and the get interior of the Canyonero professionally detailed (see my previous review of «My Car Care Center» for additional tales of the Canyonero). The exterior paint on this minivan is too far gone to bother polishing, but the interior was really filthy after the van had sat neglected in the Eastern Oregon sunshine for over four years, and was in desperate need of a cleaning. The previous owner was far from fastidious, and the inside just had that musty smell of dirt, old cigarettes, and lingering traces of either Old Spice cologne or the nasty red-​colored little tree air freshener. Even though this van is just for Hood to Coast, and we’re gonna get it all dirty again during the race, I really needed to get it freshened up to make it livable for the race.
My parents had used Auto Appearance several times before for my dad’s truck and had always raved about the excellent quality and fair pricing. Even though Aloha is hell and gone from my neck of the woods, I decided to give them a shot.
I met Josh, who I think is the new owner of the shop. He took a look at the inside of the Canyonero and said that he would do his best, but that some of the long-​standing stains in the upholstery and the carpet probably wouldn’t come out. His estimate for the interior-​only detail was $ 99.95.
The detailing was done in a single day. I was eager to see how much cleaner and fresher the van would be after the attention from Josh. When I picked up the van, I was adequately satisfied but hardly blown away. I may have expected too much, to be fair. But there are reasons this process is called «detailing»… as in, it’s all in the DETAILS that the difference is made between so-​so and superb. I noticed a lot of little details that I would have done better or differently if I had been doing the job myself. I think the door jambs should have been cleaned, and some of the plastic panels inside that easily come off where they attach to the carpet should have been removed so that the carpet shampoo could have cleaned the edges better. There is an obvious edge where the machine could not reach but that can be seen with the eye, where the old dirty carpet is slightly visible next to the much-​cleaner shampooed carpet. Little things like that.
I would have also appreciated extended business hours. The shop closes at 5:00pm on weekdays, which makes it really tough for the average Joe with a job to get to the shop and pick up your vehicle before they close. I’m lucky that I have flex time with my job or it would have been really hard for me to pick up the van before the weekend. Closing at 6:00pm would work better for most customers, I’m guessing.
The van is much, much cleaner inside, and it no longer smells of anything other than the vaguely-​lemony cleaners, so I am not really complaining. I would have gladly paid another $ 50, however, to have had an extremely thorough detailing job completed on the interior that would have knocked my socks off instead of just leaving me with a polite smile on my face.
If you live in Beaverton or Hillsboro, give Josh and his crew a shot. I will continue my search to find a really good detail shop here in Portland where I can go for repeat business. Any suggestions from you Unilocalers out there?