mobile car wash
September 10th, 2006
While walking to lunch the other day, I saw a car being washed in an outdoor public parking lot. The washer had a pickup with a big water jug on the back, a soapy bucket, and some rags - he worked for zipcar and was washing rentals. I ground some gears and thought - Wouldn’t it be great if you could order a carwash online, instead of driving to the gas station?
This kind of service is available all over the place, but not quite delivered in the right way. In underground parking around Toronto, there are self washing stations available. Some even have special spots you can park in to have your car washed while you shop for groceries. I’ve seen them, and never used it because it required me to figure something else out while I was rushing around doing errands. The other hurdle for me is trust. I want to know the person washing my car isn’t going to scratch or dent it.
So, wouldn’t it make sense to have a mobile car washer? You can order your wash online, tell the mobilewash employee where your car will be within a certain time window, and presto, you’ve got a clean car.
Getting over the trust issue isn’t so bad either. The truck can have a webcam on it, so you can actually SEE your car being washed (or a prerecorded version of it). The video works twofold, security, and legal for both parties.
I think it would make sense. Whenever I’m driving, I’m late for something, so have little time to deal with gas nevermind a wash. While he’s at it, he can fill up my tank with gas and be done with it. Everyone hates the gas station. Why not bring full service to your doorstep.
The gas delivery already exists for commercial trucking fleets (delivery vans, etc.), so it wouldn’t be a stretch to bring it to the consumer.