Washing your car is a bit like washing dishes – you have to do it over and over again, and while it’s important, essential even, it can quickly get annoying, because no matter how many times you wash up, you have to do it all over again the next day, or the next week. Outsourcing your car wash can seem like a viable solution. It only costs a few bucks, and is saves you the trouble of doing it yourself.
But if you’re going to pay for something you could do on your own, you have to justify the expense. You need a way to be sure they’ll do a better job than you would. Some of the factors you might consider are time, convenience, and resources. Let’s look at each of these in turn, to see why Adelaide’s custom car wash and polish packages are a good idea. We’ll begin with cash value. There’s a wide range of car washers, both hand and automatic.
Prices range from $20 to $200, but you can ask questions to see what each package entails. You could ask them what kind of soap they use, for example. Harsh detergents can spoil your car’s paint work, leaving it dull and washed out, and pushing you to the extra expense of repainting your vehicle. You could also ask them what cleaning tools they use. Does their water hose have enough pressure? Will their brushes and abrasives scratch your car?
Seeing is believing
Whenever possible, inspect their set-up to see the exact detergent brands and brush types they’re using. You should also look at the cars they’ve cleaned, to see the quality of their work. Find out if they do interior washes – most commercial car cleaners don’t. If they do clean interiors, ask what their specific policies are. Will you have to leave your car with them? For how long? Is there any chance they can pick your car and drop it off clean?
How do they handle items forgotten in the car? Do they have a lost-and-found box, or some kind of safety deposit storage unit? Are their cleaners vetted and/or insured? What are their operating hours? Do they work weekends or holidays? A question few people think to ask is their polishing process. If you want a good wax, your car needs to be completely dry before any polish is applied. Do they use fans or rags to dry the car, or is it dried in open air?
It can be difficult to confirm all these details over the phone, because they can tell you anything. You’d have to go to the car wash venue in person, which eats into your time. And if you get there and you don’t like what you see, you’ll feel awkward going back home with a dirty car, so you’re likely to settle for subpar service. It’s smarter to hire a mobile detailer, because they’ll drive to you. They sometimes forfeit the call-out charge, so it costs you nothing to bring them over, and they have access to all of Adelaide.
Drive-thru vs drive-in
You don’t need to take your car anywhere, and you don’t have to watch it slip into a bath of sprays and brushes. Instead, a mobile detailing service will bring their own cleaning van right into your driveway. Because the service is mobile, they’re more flexible. They can come wash your car at home, but they’re just as willing to drive to your place of work, your local pub, or the sports field car park while you cheer on the kids.
These packages are designed to be fully portable, so they don’t rely on access to utilities at the venue. The cleaning van has its own power source, vacuum hoses, and even a portable water tank. They follow local water restriction standards (which is really important, because Australia is the second-driest region in the world, receiving 300mm to 600mm of rain per year). They won’t need a refill from your tank, they have everything they need. And to ensure your polish is done right, they dry the car by hand using chamois.
This hand-drying gets rid of all water marks, so your wax job will be smoother, last longer, and it won’t inadvertently scratch the paint by grinding specks of dirt onto the car while they wax it. Custom cleaning and polishing focuses more on the outside of the car, but it’s a thorough listing that covers chrome wheels and plastic mud guards. It also includes windows and rubbers. The interior does get some loving attention though – it will be vacuumed and deodorised, but it won’t be shampooed. The whole wash takes about an hour, and you don’t have to lift a finger, so it’s a good deal all round.
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