Method · 3 minute read
What happens during a doorstep car wash
Most people in Kozhikode have had their car washed at a service station, or by the man with a bucket who goes round the apartment car park at seven in the morning. This note covers what happens when we come instead, from the moment you reserve to the moment your Artisan leaves.
· Exquis Motor Co.
Before the visit
When you reserve, tell us where the car will be: the driveway, the second basement, bay 14 next to the lift. If it is in an apartment building or an office, let security know we are coming. A word with the guard on the gate the evening before saves ten minutes of phone calls in the morning.
Every Experience includes the cabin, so we need the car open or the keys. If you will not be there, leave them with security or at reception. You will have your Artisan’s name before the day, so whoever holds the keys knows who to hand them to.
What we bring
Your Artisan arrives with water in our vehicle’s tank and the power to run the equipment. You do not need to find a tap, run a hose down from the first floor or lend an extension lead. They also bring the towels, cloths and products the car needs. All we need from you is the car.
Basements and shared parking
A wash uses water, so where it happens matters. A driveway or an open car park is simple. In basements and shared parking we wash only where the building allows it. Some associations are happy with it, some allow it only in certain bays, and some do not allow it at all. Check with your association or the security office before you reserve, and tell us what they said.
On the day we follow the building’s rules and leave the space tidy. If washing is not allowed where the car is parked, say so when you reserve and we will work out another spot with you.
The wash itself
Your Artisan walks round the car first and photographs any marks already on it, so that you both know where things stood. Then the car is rinsed with water from our tank, to take off loose dust and grit before anything touches the paint. It is washed by hand, one panel at a time from the roof down, rinsed again and dried with soft microfibre towels. The cabin comes next: vacuuming, the mats, the glass and the surfaces your hands touch.
How long it takes depends on the car and the Experience. You see the time for your car when you reserve. At the end your Artisan walks round the car with you, or sends photographs if you are at work.
When detailing is the better choice
A wash cleans what sits on the surface. It will not take out swirl marks, bring back paint that has gone flat after years in the April sun, or shift tar spots and red laterite stains that have set into the lower panels. A cabin that smells of damp after the monsoon, or seats with mould along the seams, needs more time than a wash allows.
For those, a detailing visit is the better choice. Your Artisan will tell you if they see it, and will not start work that cannot give you the result you are paying for. Detailing is quoted after someone has looked at the car, and nothing begins until you agree the price.