The DIY Car Wash

17 June 2008 by Jb
Filed under Saving Money + Solutions & Ideas

In anticipation of my road trip this weekend, I went out to clean out my car tonight. This will be the inaugural road trip for my new car, so I’m excited. I thought I’d take advantage of the $2 car wash in my building’s parking garage. It’s one of those insert-your-coin-and-grab-the-wand-and-go type things, which I’m always happy to use. They’re so much fun. (yes, I’m that strange.)

I was excited to see that the washer had some rince/soap and wax options, as I’ve developed an appreciation for waxing the car. Living in Canada, it definitely comes in handy in the winter time, since it keeps the salt and snow from sticking to the car. I know, we’re in spring/almost summer right now, but the wax is good at this time of year to keep off all the bugs.

At any rate, I popped in my toonie, selected Rinse, and off I went. The building management had thoughtfully attached the hose on the ceiling with an arm that would keep it away from the car, and still allow enough slack and spin for you to walk around the whole car. Very nice. The one thing I wasn’t sure about was how long my toonie would last. Would it allow me to rinse, wash with soap, wax and then rinse again? Only time would tell.

I whipped around the car quickly to rinse it all off, and then started again with the Wash & Soap option. I pulled the trigger to use the high-pressure wash too, as I had some gunky mud near the wheel wells. I walked briskly around the car, spraying merrily away. I was having a blast, both literally and figuratively.

I switched it over to the Wax, and whipped around the car again, getting the wax on. And just as I got to the front, the timer ran out, and the water turned off. Nice timing indeed.

The total time was about 7 minutes, and the total cost was $2. Considering the super max car wash at a gas station is almost $10 these days, I thought $2 was a bargoon! I brought the car back to my parking spot and then pulled out my squeegee to clean off the front and back windshields. As I was walking around, I noticed that there was still dust on the side of the car (my car is black, which means it shows all the dirt quite nicely.) There was still dust on the car! And I even used the high-pressure wash trigger too!

*sigh* So the DIY car wash, while fun, wasn’t the best thing in the world. I will still have to wash my car at some point in order to get all the “dirt” off. Of course considering it’s supposed to be rainy & cloudy all week, I am not too upset about only losing $2, but it’s the principal, you know? *sigh and double sigh*

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