Our car (compact SUV, actually) will soon be almost six model years old. Of course it may not be six full calendar years old, depending on what month it was actually made, but, unfortunately, it was beginning to show it’s age.
Our gravel (think dusty), rather inclined private road takes its toll on the exterior finish and on brakes – to say nothing about small dents and scratches from “moving” objects in parking lots, toll booths and the garage.
Something had to be done, but what? A new vehicle is out of the question.
Fortunately, there is an auto dealer nearby that specializes in car restoration and offers its expertise in same to the public and other dealers via an auto “detailing” service. And I mean detailing.
For a fee, they will scour and polish every square inch of your chariot, inside and out. The degree to which they scrub and rub is the degree to which you pay.
Because our set of wheels was rather “needy”, we chose the very thorough “Platinum” service. The car was in the shop almost two full days.
But WOW. Check the photo above of our “new” SUV.
The wallet was dented for a bit more than two C-notes, but the vehicle gained at least $1,000 in value!
I fully realize that a car is a depreciating asset, but I manipulated my logic to think that I actually put money in my pocket by spending some. And I maybe did, if I were to have sold it today versus what someone would have paid three days ago. But we’re keeping it. Perhaps for another five years, now.
In fact, I’m thinking about trying to restore some shine to the exterior of our 14-year-old black Explorer which continues to oxidize in our garage, though it's doing so more slowly now that it’s been inside.
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