How to choose a detailer or valeter in Birmingham East and Smethwick

Fixed sites and mobile detailers

Birmingham East and Smethwick's 29 listed businesses split roughly two-to-one toward mobile: 17 mobile valeters and detailers who come to your home or workplace, and 12 fixed premises you drop the car off at. Coverage by area is uneven: Small Heath & Sparkhill has nine confirmed businesses, the most of any area here, Yardley & Sheldon has five and Castle Bromwich & Chelmsley Wood three, while Bordesley Green & Saltley has two and Quinton & Bartley Green has only one, Clean Shine, a mobile valeter based in Bartley Green. If you're in one of the thinner areas, it's worth asking a mobile operator based in a neighbouring area, such as Great Barr or Castle Bromwich, whether they also cover you.

• Fixed premises: Kwik Valet Solutions on Adderley Road in Saltley, Top Wrapz Ltd's studio in Nechells, Smart MOT & Service Centre on Adams Street in Nechells, M A H Top Valeting on Green Lane in Bordesley Green, SAS Valeting Service on Oldbury Road in Smethwick, and a run of Small Heath and Sparkhill addresses (First Auto Detail, Isteam Valet, Classic Car Valeting, Executive Valeting Services, Southside Valeting Services and Euro Hand Car Wash Valeting Centre) with no independent website to check further.
• Mobile detailers and valeters: AB Mobile Valeting & Detailing and Carl Larman Valeting Ltd (also trading as Cal Mobile Valet Service) in Great Barr, Lewis's Valets & Detailing Ltd, Get Leathered and Castle Valeting in Castle Bromwich, Prominence Detailing and PJ's Valeting & Detailing in Oldbury, Clean Shine in Bartley Green, and a number of one-person operators across Small Heath, Sparkbrook, Aston and Yardley.

What the facts found here point to

Eight of the 29 businesses here show a Google rating, each linked to the business's own Google Maps listing with at least three reviews; for the other 21, no Google Maps, Trustpilot, Fresha, Booksy or Yelp link turned up, so no star rating is shown for them. A handful of other facts are worth weighing instead. Top Wrapz Ltd in Nechells runs its own training academy alongside client work and focuses on paint protection film, vehicle wraps and signwriting rather than a general valet. Carl Larman Valeting Ltd has traded from Great Barr for over 20 years as a self-contained mobile unit carrying its own water and power. Lewis's Valets & Detailing Ltd is a registered company, and its phone number here comes from a Google Places check rather than its own site, which publishes none.

Questions worth asking before you book

• Fixed premises or mobile - and if mobile, does the detailer bring their own water and power, or do they need yours?
• Is the quote for a wash and valet, or does it include machine polishing, ceramic coating or paint protection film? These take longer and cost more than a standard valet.
• Nineteen of the 29 listings in this town rest on general directory results rather than the business's own website - anything marked with a note to confirm by phone in this directory. Ring first to check the business is still trading and current before assuming the listing is accurate.
• If you're in Bordesley Green & Saltley or Quinton & Bartley Green, where coverage is thinnest, ask a mobile operator based in a neighbouring area whether they reach your postcode.