When Janis Lasmanis moved to the United States from England in 2017, he couldn’t legally work while waiting for his green card. But he needed to do something. “I'm one of those people who can't sit still, so I literally cleaned my car, my girlfriend's car, and her parents’ cars.”
One day, his then-girlfriend's mom was driving a friend to the airport and the friend asked if she had bought a new car. It looked that good.
Janis enjoyed detailing so much that he began to do research to find out how he could make cars look even better, inside and out. “People were actually making a living out of in-depth detailing and I wanted to be a part of it,” he says. He used his last $250 and went to AutoZone to invest in some quality products. “I also started a Facebook page, did a little marketing research and the rest is
history.”
In 2018, Janis founded Corsair, a car detailing company in Virginia. He then opened a shop in Orlando. In 2020, he moved to Tennessee, where he established his third shop in Franklin. “I knew Tennessee had a big car culture with amazing collectors.”
While many people think of detailing as just deep cleaning, it’s so much more than that at Corsair. “One of the things we offer is vinyl wraps, which is an easy solution to change the color of the vehicle,” he says. “For example, one of our customers bought a black Mini for his daughter as a 16th birthday present and we wrapped it in pink.” These wraps last anywhere from four to six years, and can change any vehicle's appearance without creating permanent damage or changing the original color. “A quality paint job costs around $30,000, but a vinyl wrap costs about $6,000.” These wraps can be professionally removed within three to four hours.
Ceramic coatings, which he calls the next generation of waxing, is another popular offering. With these coatings, instead of waxing your car twice a year, you can go up to seven years. And the ceramic coating makes your car's clear coat three times harder, so it's a lot more durable.
Paint protection films are also a huge request. “These protect the front of the vehicles from rock chips and other debris on the roads. "Let's say you buy a brand-new Cadillac. Within the first 500 miles or so, it’ll probably suffer a small rock chip.” Customers often drive their cars straight from the dealership to one of his shops for this product.
Corsair is also the first company in the Nashville area to offer dry-ice blasting, he says. “Dry-ice blasting is very similar to sandblasting, but we use dry ice pellets which are eco-friendly because there's zero residue. It's frozen CO₂, so it just evaporates after it hits the surface. With this, we can remove dirt and grime from a vehicle’s undercarriage and engine bases. It's completely safe for all electronics.”
The company often uses this same process on airplanes. “We use it to clean inside the box where the tires are located,” says Janis. “Number one, with airplanes, you're not allowed to use any kind of water on them, and number two, there's no run-down water. When you wash an airplane on an airfield, all those oils and spillages can absorb into the tarmac, which could be a big safety issue
for other planes landing nearby.”
Pre-sale detailing is another service to make your car look its best to procure the highest selling price. “On several occasions, after we had completed the detailing, people didn't want to sell their car anymore,” he says. “They forgot how good it could look and they fell in love with it again.”
A few years ago, Janis began working with luxury dealerships such as Jaguar, Land Rover, Tesla, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin, Bentley, Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari and others to supply high-end detailing. “We have legit products that are backed up by us and by a third-party warranty,” he says.
Today Janis has four shops, including one that recently opened in East Nashville. He’s also very involved in the communities in which he does business. “We make cars pretty, but it's not just about pretty cars. We like to give back to our community, and the car community is like a big happy family. We are glad to host all sorts of events and do a lot of drives for charities such as Toys for
Tots. We also support two events every year to raise money for animal shelters.”
CorsairDetail.com/Home-TN
Janis’ Tips for Keeping Your Car Looking Its Best:
- Take your car to a touchless car wash that uses jets, not brushes, to protect paint.
- Get your vehicle professionally detailed at least twice a year – once in the spring and once right before the winter.
- To remove stains from the inside or outside of your car, get advice from a professional detailer. Doing it yourself can end up costing a lot more money in the end.
- Regularly changing your cabin air filter, usually located inside or underneath the glove box, keeps your car smelling fresh.
