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Life is too short to spend weekends washing cars in my opinion so I take it to the local, used to be a petrol station, hand car wash. Cost £10 inside and out. Not a full detailing by any stretch, but £10 worth.
Today, they want to charge £15 because my car is dirty! Surely that's the point of getting it washed.
Yes it's dirty inside (which seems to be the reason for the increase) but it's dried mud in the footwell and mud scuffs on hard plastic door trim. It's a company car and given the nature of the work, this is unavoidable.
It hasn't taken them 50% longer to clean the car, in fact, it's taken no longer than normal.
Is it normal for the listed prices to only apply to clean cars?
I'm too embarrassed to take my van to a car wash.
I just have at it myself a couple of times a year.
clean it yourself then or take it elsewhere maybe??
Ha ha! Knew it wouldn't be long before it got a predictable STW response.
I'd say it's fair enough, the mud needs cleaned off before the rest can get done unless you fancy them just smearing it around the car, if it's stuck right in that's more time.
I’m too embarrassed to take my van to a car wash.
I just have at it myself a couple of times a year.
Get you, I only just removed the spider web that had been living at the bottom of my windscreen for over a year just before Christmas. When mine gets cleaned out I suspect it will involve a can of unleaded and a match.
When I had my rocktastic hair cut off I was told I had to pay more than quoted as I had more cut off than they'd originally thought.
Was having none of that nonsense
I always wash / clean my own × 2 and I enjoy doing so ..as a matter of interest though I asked at an H20 outlet at the Metrocentre ( inside one of the multi storey car parks) how much it would be just for a basic wash and was quoted £20.00..
I think the lad was a little taken aback as I walked away laughing hysterically..
When I had my rocktastic hair cut off I was told I had to pay more than quoted as I had more cut off than they’d originally thought.
Makes note to only get to my weight goal on chubbly clubbly.
I’m too embarrassed to take my van to a car wash.
I just have at it myself a couple of times a year.
I used to not be able to park my van anywhere near the house and the area had a lot of broadleaf trees so through the year it would get covered in sap but I couldn't really practically wash it myself as it was often a street or two away from the house.
One Christmas I decided to treat it to a paid-for wash - by now the dried on sap had picked up dust and dirt and the van was covered in sticky black dots.
Drove it to the car wash and they set about it - foaming / spraying / scrubbing. The guys scowl at the still filthy van and go off to fetch the manager.
He comes over and I wind the window down.
"We can't get this off. We're going to have to use 'the chemical' "
"Whats 'the chemical'? "
"£3 extra"
"Go on then"
So the guys go off and come back with a little grubby unlabelled squirty bottle of stuff and start giving the bonnet a liberal spray
I had the engine running and heating full blast.
I pondered to myself "I wonder what's in the chemiCHRIST MY EYES!" as the intakes sucked up the spray and blew it straight in my face.
It worked though so money well spent
The chemical was probably a generic TFR (Trafic Film Remover (A heavy duty degreaser).. you can buy 5l of it from screwfix for a tenner. No Nonsense heavy duty degreaser is great for cleaning all sorts of stuff.. just dont put it on a dry surface or let it dry before you rinse it off..
Is it normal for the listed prices to only apply to clean cars?
I don't think anythings normal really. Last summer a passing tractor's hydraulics burst and absolutely drenched my car in oil - saw the fan of oil arcing out the back of the trailer as it approached and only just got the window up in time. Drove straight to the nearest hand car wash to get it decontaminated (once I'd got enough oil of the windows to be able to see properly). They gave it the full Winston Wolf and just charged me their basic £4.50
just dont put it on a dry surface or let it dry before you rinse it off..
or squirt it in your face 🙂
so I take it to the local, used to be a petrol station, hand car wash. Cost £10 inside and out.
Next time you go, please consider using this app? Written by a few charities and some government departments. It's helping identify people trafficking and modern slavery.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.kore.safecarwash
Thanks
They gave it the full Winston Wolf
Crushed it?
Maybe if you clean it yourself so a) you’re not out of pocket and b) you’re not supporting modern slavery.
I’ve worked with the police and it’s a nightmare - most of those car wash places pay the workers far below the minimum wage and they live in atrocious conditions. It’s been worked out that unless you are paying at least £8 for the basic wash the workers won’t be getting what the law demands as far as minimum wage goes.
most of those car wash places pay the workers far below the minimum wage and they live in atrocious conditions.
See also nail salons, tanning shops, security companies and burger vans. All a hive of illegal activity - drug production and dealing, human trafficking and forced prostitution as well as the money laundering going on to make their owners seem legit.
Always amazes me how blatent it can be yet nothing ever seems to get done. Almost as if some people are getting paid off to look the other way.
Always amazes me how blatent it can be yet nothing ever seems to get done.
True. Unfortunately it’s almost impossible to catch the ringleaders as their main weapon is fear - if the only people that can provide evidence against them are fearful of doing so then it’s very difficult to get anywhere. When they bring people over to work they basically persuade them that our police and other services with mistreat them/abuse them much like they might in their own countries - like bringing brainwashed. Add in language barriers, lack of anywhere else to go, no money etc etc and you start to see where the problems are in racking the issue.
I’ve seen some great work done by the police and partner agencies but it’s a slow process.
So I should actually be asking for a discount because I'm helping them wash their dirty money?
Daft question but where is the TFR on the Screwfix site? I'm clearly blind as I can't seem to find it.
£10 is cheap as chips, as is £15.
First world whine.
Daft question but where is the TFR on the Screwfix site? I’m clearly blind as I can’t seem to find it.
Dunno about screwfix, but there's loads at places like euro car parts and bigger halfords.
It's basically muck-off.
To be fair, when i used to use my local one in spring hill theyd charge me £10 for a valet, if i went and the car was dirty as yours sounds id give them £15. Wouldnt ask for it, but its 3 guys for 30-40 minutes, £15 is bloody cheap.
Now i have a driveway i do it myself, takes about 4 hours to do it properly and probably costs £15 in materials 🙄
If it helps for clarity, they decided they wanted more part way through the job.
I wash my own car so I can have the pleasure of someone walking past and saying "you can do mine too if you want". Hilarious.
Sorry but it's the usual "I want something for nothing" wine...
£15 is damn cheap for inside and out, either take it more regularly to get it cleaned out for a tenner or pay fifteen less regularly and live with a dirty car for a longer peeiod.
Company car, so charge it to the company...or as you are high enough up the chain to get a company car, then tell a minion to clean it at the office.
Company car? Strictly speaking any muck on it is trade waste and needs to be dealt with at an establishment with proper waste water management systems (interceptors, grease pits etc.).
You should also get an allowance to allow regular cleaning. Mine was around £10 a month, the car was always on the brink of being a health hazard as a result!
Generally avoid those hand car wash places as I don’t fancy a grit laden chamois being dragged across my car, and as I have a black car it usually ends up a smeared mess. Hadn’t really thought about it from a wage perspective, although have wondered how people can afford to live on the prices they charge.
I usually do it myself using the ‘two buckets method’ ie one for dirty one for clean, but it takes a bit of discipline. Occasionally I’ll use the local IMO as it seems to be the safest machine wash...
That Screw Fix de-greaser is excellent - really cleaned up the engine bay (body panels) and is great for chains/cassettes. Use near on oil spills. I also use it very diluted in the kitchen for wiping down the hob and oven. Just lifts grease right off.