On Oct. 14 2020, in Ocean City, Car Caress was named Best Auto or Boat Detailer for this years Best of The Press contest.

When you buy a new car, it has that crisp, clean smell of wax, leather and upholstery. But over time, that fresh scent can be overtaken by cigarettes, fast food, spilled coffee and pet odors.

If the thought of cleaning your car seems overwhelming, take it to Car Caress Custom Auto Detailing, which earned Best of the Press in the Automotive/Transportation category.

Owner Brian Coggins is honored by the accolade and owes his success to his employees.

Customer services is No. 1, and that makes all the difference. I have a good group of people working for me, he says. I cant do everything myself. They do a great job.

With three locations Ocean City, Marmora and Somers Point Car Caress restores vehicles with services that shine, buff, polish and freshen your car or boat, inside and out.

Services include detailing; ceramic coating, a longer-lasting way to protect the paint than wax alone; ozone treatment, which disinfects and destroys bacteria in your car and the ventilation system; and automatic car washing.

Car detailing along with these other services requires a desire for perfection.

You have to be picky to do this kind of work, says Coggins. Youre not there just to make it look OK. You want to get the car or boat looking perfect. So you have to get into all the cracks and crevices.

It also takes skill, particularly buffing the car or boat.

Buffing isnt using a rag to shine something, Coggins explains. Theres a high-speed rotary buffer that runs at 1,500 rpms to 2,000 rpms. Using this machinery requires real craftsmanship, says Coggins, because if you dont know what youre doing, you can scratch the car and do damage.

For these reasons, Coggins is grateful most of his 15 employees stayed with him, even while his business was closed during quarantine.

Although COVID-19 sidelined Car Caress, it has created a silver lining for the family-owned business, namely sanitizing vehicles. Coggins explains the difference between cleaning and sanitizing.

With sanitizing, youre killing the germs and bacteria that are on the surfaces of whatever youre cleaning. When youre cleaning with a regular soap, youre not necessarily killing all the germs, he says.

Thats where ozone cleaning comes in, a service thats becoming increasingly more popular now that COVID-19 is a way of life. Ozone is a gas that removes odors, as well as disinfects and destroys viruses and bacteria. Unlike a liquid disinfectant, ozone gets into the places you cant clean, including the ventilation and AC systems, carpet fibers and upholstery.

Customers are requesting this service more, as well as used car dealerships, and those in the private transportation business, such as Uber drivers.

Although coping with COVID-19 was difficult during quarantine, Coggins biggest challenge still is operating a seasonal business.

Summers are super busy here, he Coggins. We hire summer workers, and it takes a while for them to learn. Just when they start getting good at this, they go home and leave.

Thats why Coggins is grateful to his employees, who take the sting out of summer workers departures.

The guys I have are really good, and most came back after quarantine, which was nice. I owe this (Best of The Press) to them, he says.

Originally posted here:
Who are this year's Best of the Press? - Press of Atlantic City