How much to charge for mobile car valeting
Valeting and detailing are sold to the same customer in the same driveway and are completely different businesses. Knowing which one you are in is the whole of pricing.
Quick answer
A full mobile valet in the UK typically costs 90 to 140 pounds depending on vehicle size, with the broader market running from about 75 to 150. That covers a thorough exterior wash, interior vacuum and wipe down, glass and basic trim dressing. Detailing is a separate ladder that starts around 100 pounds and runs past 500 for machine polishing, paint correction and ceramic coating. London and the South East sit at the higher end, and larger vehicles cost more because they genuinely take longer. The commercial decision is where you stop valeting and start detailing, because the second is where the hourly rate actually is.
UK mobile valeting and detailing, 2026
| Service | Typical price | Roughly how long |
|---|---|---|
| Exterior wash and tidy | 30 to 50 | Under an hour |
| Full valet, small car | 75 to 110 | 2 to 3 hours |
| Full valet, SUV or estate | 110 to 150 | 3 to 4 hours |
| Machine polish or paint correction | From 100, often far more | Half day to days |
| Ceramic coating | Several hundred plus | Multi-day |
Step-by-step
- 1
Price by vehicle size, and say so up front
A seven-seater isn't a supermini with more paint. It's an extra hour of interior work and materially more product. Publish a size-banded price list, not a single figure, so the difference is settled before you arrive rather than negotiated on a driveway with the customer watching.
- 2
Work out your real hourly rate per package
A 110 pound valet taking three and a half hours is about 31 an hour before product, travel and water. A 250 pound machine polish taking five is 50. Running that calculation across your packages usually reveals that the cheap end of the menu is subsidising the top end, which is a reason to trim the menu rather than to work faster.
- 3
Decide where valeting stops and detailing starts
Customers use the words interchangeably and will ask for a valet while describing paint correction. Define it plainly: valeting is cleaning, detailing is correcting and protecting. Mixing them on one price list is how you end up spending a detailing day for a valeting fee.
- 4
Charge properly for genuinely unpleasant jobs
Pet hair, spilled milk, smoke, mould and end-of-lease returns take several times the labour of an ordinary interior and need consumables you will not reuse. These should be quoted on sight or priced as named add-ons, never absorbed into a standard valet because the customer downplayed it on the phone.
- 5
Sell maintenance plans, not one-off cleans
A monthly maintenance valet at a modest price beats an occasional deep clean, because it fills your diary predictably and the car never gets bad enough to need four hours. Offer it to every customer at the end of a full valet, when the car looks its best and the argument makes itself.
- 6
Solve water and power before you scale
Mobile work lives or dies on whether you can operate without relying on the customer's outside tap and socket. A tank and a leisure battery widen the jobs you can take, particularly flats, offices and fleet work, and fleet contracts are where mobile valeting stops being weather-dependent.
Tips & best practices
- Publish size bands. Almost every pricing dispute in valeting is really a disagreement about what counts as a large car.
- Photograph before and after, every time. It's most of the marketing this trade needs, and it costs nothing.
- The money is in detailing and in repeat maintenance, not in one-off full valets. Price the menu so it pushes customers toward both.
Common questions
How much should I charge for a full valet?
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Typically 90 to 140 pounds in the UK depending on vehicle size, with the wider market spanning about 75 to 150. London and the South East sit at the higher end.
What is the difference between valeting and detailing?
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Valeting is cleaning: wash, vacuum, wipe down, glass and trim. Detailing is correction and protection, including machine polishing, paint correction and ceramic coatings, and it starts around 100 pounds and climbs well past 500.
Should I charge more for larger vehicles?
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Yes, and it should be on your published price list. An SUV or seven-seater takes meaningfully longer and uses more product, and size-banded pricing settles the question before you arrive.
How do I price pet hair or heavy soiling?
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As a named add-on or quoted on sight. These jobs take several times the labour of a normal interior, and customers routinely understate them when booking by phone.
Is mobile valeting profitable?
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It can be, but the margin sits in detailing work and recurring maintenance, not one-off full valets. Work out your hourly rate for each package before deciding which to promote.