Exterior Detailing · Johannesburg
Exterior Detailing Johannesburg.
A proper contact wash, full decontamination and paint sealant for luxury and performance cars — done by hand, without the swirl marks of an automatic wash. Preserved and enhanced rather than masked.
What a proper exterior detail actually is
An exterior detail is a controlled, staged wash designed to remove contamination without introducing new defects. A luxury car's clear coat is a finite resource — every automatic-brush wash cycles fine grit across the surface and creates the swirl-mark pattern that shows up as a haze under direct sun. Our process reverses that. The car is pre-rinsed to knock off loose grit, foamed with a pH-neutral pre-wash to dwell on and lift bonded contamination, iron-removed and tar-removed panel by panel, contact-washed with plush mitts on the two-bucket method, then clay-bar decontaminated to pull embedded fallout out of the clear coat. Only then does it get dried on soft microfibre and sealed.
In Johannesburg, three things do most of the damage between details: iron fallout from brake dust, tree sap and pollen from the jacarandas along Rivonia and Oxford Roads, and bird lime baked in by the afternoon sun. Left in place, all three etch permanent marks into the clear coat that only paint correction can remove. Regular exterior detailing keeps them off the paint long enough that correction stops being an annual expense.
How this fits with coating, PPF and full luxury detail
An exterior detail is the maintenance service that keeps a coated or PPF-wrapped car looking the way it did the day you collected it — no automatic wash, no jet-wash-only service, no swirls. For a car without long-term protection yet, this is also the pre-work that tells us whether the finish is a good candidate for a ceramic coating or whether a paint correction needs to happen first. For a car that needs interior work at the same time, book it alongside our interior detail or upgrade to a full luxury car detail.
Pricing tier
From R2,500 – R3,000
Priced by vehicle size and contamination level. Best value as a scheduled maintenance detail every 6–8 weeks for coated cars.
What's included
- Foam pre-wash and pre-rinse
- Two-bucket safe contact wash
- Iron & tar removal
- Clay-bar decontamination
- Wheel faces, arches and tyres detailed
- Trim and tyre dressing
- Paint sealant for a hydrophobic finish
Our exterior process
01
Pre-rinse
High-pressure rinse to knock loose grit off the paint before anything touches it.
02
Foam & decontaminate
Snow-foam dwell, iron and tar remover, and clay-bar pass to lift bonded contamination.
03
Contact wash
Two-bucket method with plush mitts, pH-neutral shampoo, panel by panel.
04
Dry
Soft microfibre and low-pressure air-dry — no towels dragged across dirty panels.
05
Seal & dress
Paint sealant, tyre and trim dressing, glass cleaned, ready for release.
Why D2 Customs
- Two-bucket, contact-wash method — no automatic brushes
- pH-neutral shampoos, coating-safe
- Iron, tar and clay decontamination on every visit
- Single-vehicle bays — no cross-contamination
- Paint sealant included
- Ideal maintenance wash for coated & PPF cars
Service area
Serving Johannesburg & Gauteng
Exterior detailing clients across Johannesburg & Gauteng — Sandton, Hyde Park, Bryanston, Rosebank, Midrand — book directly at our Kempton Park studio.
Google Reviews
What Johannesburg clients say
Every D2 Customs client is invited to leave an honest review of their detail on our Google Business Profile. Read what owners across Sandton, Hyde Park, Bryanston, Rosebank, Fourways, Midrand, Linbro Park, Bedfordview and Edenvale have to say about our work.
Read our Google reviews →Frequently asked questions
- How is your exterior detail different to a car wash?
- A petrol-station or automatic wash is the fastest way to swirl a luxury car — the brushes carry grit from the previous vehicle and drag it across your clear coat. Our exterior detail is a two-bucket contact wash with pH-neutral shampoo, plush mitts, iron and tar removal and clay-bar decontamination, all by hand at our Kempton Park studio.
- How often should I book an exterior detail?
- For a daily-driven luxury car in Sandton, Bryanston or Midrand we suggest every 6–8 weeks in summer and every 8–10 weeks in winter. Cars with a [ceramic coating](/services/ceramic-coating-johannesburg) can safely stretch to 10–12 weeks because contamination doesn't bond.
- Do you remove bird lime, tree sap and water spots?
- Yes. The Highveld summer bakes bird lime and jacaranda sap into the clear coat within hours — we remove them with dedicated solvents before the wash, and any residual etching is polished out or flagged for a [paint correction](/services/paint-correction-johannesburg) booking.
- Do you seal the paint after the wash?
- Every exterior detail finishes with a paint sealant that adds a few months of hydrophobics and a proper deep gloss. For long-term protection we recommend upgrading to a [ceramic coating](/services/ceramic-coating-johannesburg).
- How much does exterior detailing cost in Johannesburg?
- Exterior detailing is priced from R2,500 to R3,000 for most luxury cars. Larger SUVs, exotic bodywork, and cars needing heavy decontamination are quoted on inspection.
Ready to book?
Reserve your appointment at our Terenure, Kempton Park studio — or book mobile detailing at your address.
Book a Detail