The (Detail) Docs are in

For many, medical school is a full-time job, leaving little room for other pursuits.

For one OUWB medical student, however, medical school and a lifelong passion for cars have become intertwined.

That’s because as Mahmoud Teran has been working towards becoming a physician, he has also been running Detail Docs, a mobile car detailing business he co-founded with his longtime friend Karim Olabi (a third-year medical student at Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine).

What began as weekend work on their own cars has grown into a thriving, profitable side business serving clients throughout Oakland County.

Teran’s interest in medicine came from his father, a retired psychiatrist, but his passion for cars has always been there.

“Ever since I was a kid I've always had this sort of thing, an attraction to cars... for me it was more about the mechanics of it really and I quite like to draw that parallel with medicine as well,” he says. “It's the same as the body really, you've got to understand the mechanics of the body.”

‘Experts in detailing cars’

Born in the U.S., Teran spent his early childhood (ages 1-9) in Syria, then three years in Saudi Arabia before the family moved back to Michigan in 2013 while he was in middle school.

In Syria, he remembers seeing a nicely modified car or a motorcycle on the street, while in Saudi Arabia he experienced a complete immersion in car culture. His passion truly accelerated when he returned to Detroit, attending the Detroit Auto Show and watching movies like Ford v Ferrari and the Fast & Furious series.

"Those movies really... they tell a story too,” he says. “There's like history behind it. It's part of our culture."

While completing his undergraduate degree at Wayne State University, Teran enhanced his practical knowledge by working at a full collision body shop in Detroit.

“I was able to learn not just the mechanics of the car but how to take a car apart and put it back together again,” says Teran. “That really inspired me to open up my detailing business."

After graduating early from undergrad in 2023 at age 22, he took a gap year to work and grow the business. Detail Docs grew organically from his friendship with Olabi. They met more than 15 years ago in a Saturday youth group at their mosque. Both pursued pre-med at Wayne State, and their shared interest truly took off when Olabi bought a 2013 Camaro SS and Mahmoud got a Mustang GT.

"After an exam he'd come to my house and we'd detail my car and his car,” says Teran. “Then our neighbors started asking if we would do their cars.”

“It started as a bit of a joke and then we were actually going out and doing one client's car. It was just word of mouth really. We went from one to five and then we thought we could actually do this as a side hustle and make some money."

They named the company Detail Docs.

“We knew that was what we wanted to do—we wanted to be in med school and become doctors in the end—and thought it would be a nice little pun,” he says. “A doctor is an expert in something, so we're experts at detailing cars.”

The Detail Doc is in

Detail Docs is a fully mobile business, operating primarily in the Oakland County communities of Bloomfield, Farmington, Farmington Hills, Novi, and Rochester. The co-founders generally limit their driving to a 30- to 45-minute radius, unless a client has multiple vehicles.

Olabi (left) and Teran with a recently detailed car.

The detail process is extremely thorough and methodical. Prior to even taking on a job they will talk to the client about the state of the car, its detailing history, what they want specifically and whether they have any pets or children in the house (as pet hair and sticky stuff are a massive amount of work).

When they get to the house they use a range of specialist equipment including vacuums, commercial steamers and a 'tornado,' which is a compressed air tool that you use to blow the dust and debris out of the very tightest of spaces.

Interior work is by far the most labor-intensive, typically taking 2 to 2.5 hours, compared with under an hour for the exterior. Prices vary but are generally in the range of $200 to $250 for the "ultimate package."

“We steam every surface of the car, every seat, every bit of the dashboard, the steering wheel, the armrests, the seatbelts,” says Teran. “We move the seat to get to where the seat actually sits, even the cracks.”

Detail Docs' Instagram is full of high-end cars (a McLaren Artura, a couple of Porsche 911s, a Tesla Plaid and a $200,000 custom six-wheeled Ram TRX conversion just to name a few), but they do all types of vehicles.

The whole point of having the luxury cars on social media is a deliberate brand strategy.

“If someone sees us working on a $200K-plus vehicle, then they're definitely going to trust you with their Audi or their BMW," he says.

Via word-of-mouth Detail Docs has built up substantial network professionals as clients, including physicians. That has unexpectedly given Teran useful career mentorship.

“I've met loads of people and like a lot of the doctors who will go out of their way to show you their set up,” says Teran. “One of them actually took me into his house and showed me his home office, how he works from home and all that sort of thing. They'll tell you all about their lifestyle. It's a really good feeling to go into someone's house and be of some benefit to them.”

Teran is still very much an open book as to where he ultimately wants to go in terms of specialty as an M2 at OUWB. He is certain he wants to go down the route of super-specializing in a surgical or interventional field.

"I like working with my hands a lot actually, and I think the mechanical part of it is something I found myself quite enjoying."

His interest in mental health is also very much down to the way his dad would interact with patients.

Despite the business being a very profitable one in terms of margins (retaining pretty much 60-75% of the revenue after you've reinvested in the premium soaps, the tire shine, the interior cleaners and the gear), academics are his priority. For example, he deliberately didn't go to the Woodward Dream Cruise this year due to the midterms coming up.

"Me going to the Dream Cruise would probably get the Detail Docs name out there... but school is paramount,” he says. “This is a side passion. You have to keep your priorities in check."

Neither Teran nor Olabi intends to sell or walk away from Detail Docs as they go into residency.

"This is your baby really... it's something you've created," says Teran. "Karim and I came up with the name and the logo, all the details... the more it grows and the more we can develop it, the better it will be."