Of rags, cars and care - Exppress Car Wash

We buy cars with a lot of passion. Unfortunately, we do not often look after them with the same passion. It is quite common to see the local security guard/press wallah and the sweeper doubling up as a car cleaner. It seems just wiping the car with a dirty rag is sufficient to clean a car worth lakhs of rupees. At best, people send their cars to local service points for a wash.

However, these age-old practices of cleaning and washing a car are now likely to be replaced by a more sophisticated system that is also eco-friendly and saves time. Now a car can be washed with just 70 liters of water as opposed to the 300 liters that are used in the traditional method of car washing.

This new method has come courtesy Exppress Car Wash, where cars are cleaned by the latest equipments, including high pressure cleaning machines, spray extraction machines, high powered vacuum cleaners and chemicals, most of them imported from Germany. Anil Sethi, MD, Manmachine Works, says, “We offer a state-of-the-art semi-automatic car washing system to professionally clean with the best in world car cleaning equipment/ detergents and waxes. We clean the under-body of a car without lifting; the engine is cleaned with hot water followed by a steam wash, and once the dirt is cleaned off a polishing coat is used as per the European standards. We at Exppress Car Wash take extra care of your car.”

Their rates vary according to the size of the car, and not its brand. A Santro and a BMW Mini Cooper command the same rate because they consume the same amount of chemicals and labour. The company offers three different packages, namely Exppress 1, Exppress 2 and Exppress 3, and the vehicles are divided in categories like hatchback, sedan, luxury/MUV/SUV and high-end luxury. The hatchbacks are charged the least and the high-end luxury cars the most, for they have more electronics and need extra precaution. The services start at Rs. 450 and go up to Rs. 3000. The company offers a 10 per cent discount on cars driven in by female drivers.

It has seven outlets in NCR, including two in New Delhi situated at petrol pumps in Defence Colony and Vinay Marg, Chanakyapuri. They plan to open 15 outlets in Delhi by next year end.

S.M.AAMIR (The Hindu)