Seems like a pretty easy, cheap, and useful gift. Thoughts?

12/7/2024 9:39:23 AM

Washing cars is pointless and wasteful. You can do better.

[Edited on December 7, 2024 at 9:44 AM. Reason : That is, assuming you don't live in the Rust Belt / Salt Belt.]

12/7/2024 9:43:27 AM

OP, are you going to secretly steal someone's car and wash it for them, or are you going to gift them a gift certificate to Sam's Express?

12/7/2024 9:48:42 AM

The conveyor belt car wash subscription I have is offering like buy 3 get 2 free. Got to thinking and honestly like seems like such a good gift. Like super useful and convenient for all parties(gifter and giftee)

[Edited on December 7, 2024 at 9:57 AM. Reason : ^to answer on method, idk if code or cc shaped gift card etc...idk their method]

12/7/2024 9:51:49 AM

Please do not buy this for me, StTexan. Bought my car new in 2017, and I have never washed it. I do drive it at highway speed in the rain sometimes, though.

12/7/2024 10:30:16 AM

If someone gave me a car wash as a gift I would just stare blankly at them until they took it back.

12/7/2024 10:31:35 AM

Quote :

"buy 3 get 2 free"

Buy 3. Keep 2 for yourself. Give one away. Excellent idea.
Be sure to gift your recipient a headlight restoration kit after the conveyor wash sprays yellow wax all over them.

12/7/2024 12:08:20 PM

The coz i can't help but wonder if you washed your car more often would it hold more value during trade in time with having a better paint job

12/9/2024 5:19:57 PM

1. That is what modern clear coat is for.

2. Even if the paint was degraded, with the money and the time I save by not washing the car, I could easily pay for a brand new paint job before sale.

3. I drive cars until they essentially only have scrap value due to both age and mileage. Car washes are not a good investment for me.

12/9/2024 7:41:56 PM

Don't do it if the person is semi-meticulous about their car.

Left: my car after 1.5 yrs of weekly conveyor-belt car washes. It was very clean and beaded water like crazy but looked very terrible when the sun hit it.

Right: Just after a DIY buff job. I never went back to the conveyor belts.

12/10/2024 11:55:20 AM

^

12/10/2024 12:22:58 PM

The Coz understands that vehicles are tools and not investments.

12/10/2024 2:41:14 PM

That's the way that I view them and use them, but I harbor no ill will toward car aficionados even if I don't share their fervor and pride in an immaculately cleaned vehicle. My car lives outside, and I don't want to fight a costly and time-consuming losing battle due to the pressure of social expectation. If you want to do it and it gives you joy, go for it. However, I do think the idea of long-term value preservation being derived from regular washes is pretty misguided. Take the money you'd spend on car washes and invest it over the life of the vehicle and see which method comes out ahead. Not to mention the water it wastes. I make an exception I already mentioned for vehicles in areas with regularly salted winter roads, as that's a true corrosion risk readily observable when you travel north.

12/10/2024 3:06:23 PM

Only if you wear a bikini.

12/10/2024 3:56:53 PM

Quote :

"TRUE CORROSION RISK"

12/10/2024 4:19:35 PM

The coz understands that an undisturbed layer of scale offers superior finish protection that can quickly be removed in the unlikely event of an offer of sale

12/10/2024 5:40:03 PM

I mean i'd think at least quarterly and you are coming out ahead. Perhaps 45 minutes a year and 3 bucks a wash if you do it smart. Don't ruin the clear coat and only spend like $120 over course of 10 years

12/10/2024 7:13:25 PM

I can't tell any difference in the clear coat nearly 8 years after I bought it. I could hardly call it ruined.

I keep the inside clean. That's where I am.

12/10/2024 9:30:18 PM

Fair

12/10/2024 9:34:30 PM

https://www.dailydot.com/news/weekly-car-wash-tip/

LOLOL let's wash our cars once a week since we all live in Minnesota

12/15/2024 8:22:42 AM

^

Quote :

""I mean this repair is gonna be a couple thousand dollars," he says. "And a car wash once a week what costs $10 – $20? Maybe? So it can save you a ton of money.""

Also says the car in question has over 200,000 miles.

So, let's take a heavy use case of 20,000 miles per year. The car is at least 10 years old. Then take the low end of his car wash cost estimate of $10. $10 x 52 weeks x 10 years = $5,200 for something that MIGHT reduce the frequency of a POSSIBLY related service event.

Ironclad logic from Tech Nate. Definitely saving a ton of money by spending more money than the cost of repair.

12/15/2024 8:59:42 AM

I'm gonna cancel my membership based on my financial advisors(the coz) advice. Keeping the one for my work truck that my job pays for

12/15/2024 6:01:23 PM

I'm certainly not trying to take your fun away if you enjoy getting your vehicle washed.

I'm sure NEVER washing your car isn't optimal for the lifetime of the paint job, but my previous vehicle was similarly-treated and still had a lot of good paint at 23 years and close to 300,000 miles. Unless it's a particularly desirable or collectible model, the car is completely devalued almost regardless of condition, so maintenance of value falls flat for me as a persuasive financial argument. However, there are ample reasons to do things which may not always be financially optimal.

This was all assuming you being were serious about soliciting the thoughts of others. And I'm just one opinion. You'd get a whole different tenor of replies from hardcore car geeks. I'm sure they'd be mortified.

12/15/2024 6:22:25 PM

There are a few reasons why I will cancel. One of them being your financial wisdom.

My last car was 22 years old and about 250k miles, part of me feels like this one could last that long(I do a lot of my own maintenance too), except I drive so little now I kind of want to sell it. I have like 5 grocery stores(Tom Thumb, Costco, Marketstreet, Kroger, Walmart, Sprouts, Trader Joes, Zion Market, Target) that I could bike to, all within 3 miles, plus could coordinate trips with work vehicle as well.

Laundry would be a bit of a challenge seeing that I don't have a washer/dryer and don't like the machines my apartment offers. In fact I wondered if renting a car from enterprise once every 3 weeks would be economically feasible. I doubt an uber would want me to pack 3 weeks of laundry in their vehicle. About $280/month insurance/car payment. Minus ~90/month for Enterprise and the cost of the freedom to be able to go wherever i want whenever I want is about 190/month. Perhaps that amount is justifiable. Thats what I've been debating the past year. That and whether I will stick with the job that provides a vehicle, which makes being carless even realistically possible in the first place.

12/15/2024 7:15:23 PM

But how else will you have fun adventures like this?

12/15/2024 9:25:45 PM

The non-car people car comments in here are horrendous, lol (minus tchenku, he knows whats up).


And regardless of whether you care about your car or not, spending 90 minutes twice a year (for a good wax covering) to protect one's paint, is pretty low effort. Considering a quality repaint costs well over $3000.

(also note I don't use wax, nor do most car people. But its better than nothing. As to "modern clear coat" oh dear. Modern paint (mostly for environmental reasons) is far worse than it was decades ago.)

12/17/2024 3:39:44 PM

So if they are not waxing but it is better than nothing, what are they doing?

12/17/2024 7:21:13 PM

^^My paint is just fine.

But here's the real secret: I don't give a shit about the exterior appearance of my car. I want it to be safe, reliable, and clean on the inside. The rest is a complete waste of time FOR ME. Maintaining an immaculate exterior is not going to give me an ounce of pleasure. It's a bottom-of-the line vehicle with superior fuel economy because that's what I car about.

StTexan, it sounds like TKE-Teg would appreciate one of those car wash gift certificates. So they're out there!

^He's saying that waxing is better than nothing, but not on par with whatever high end shit he uses.

12/17/2024 8:06:13 PM

Quote :

"spending 90 minutes twice a year (for a good wax covering) to protect one's paint, is pretty low effort"

Are you using an orbital buffer to wax your vehicle, or are you using microfiber towels to wax on/wax off by hand? What type of wax do you use?

I pay for a service like the $135 exterior detail below, usually once a year per vehicle.

https://jpdetailworx.com/services

12/17/2024 10:09:58 PM

^^^They're doing nothing. Probably not even cleaning acidic bird shit off it either.

^^Thanks I will gladly regift it, hahaha. It's not really about caring. It's about preventing unnecessary damage to your vehicle. If you keep a vehicle until it's sent to the crusher, then I agree with you. But if you're selling vehicles periodically then you're losing money.

^I don't use wax. Both my cars are ceramic coated.

12/18/2024 11:28:24 AM

So metro

12/18/2024 11:45:37 AM

Quote :

"If you keep a vehicle until it's sent to the crusher, then I agree with you."

Haha! That's me! But I do occasionally spot clean bird shit, tree sap, larger bits of tar, bug guts, and mud. And by spot clean, I mean squirt water on it, rub it with a used paper towel to be sure to scratch up the finish, and then squirt it with water again.

12/18/2024 2:05:09 PM

lol

well done sir.

12/19/2024 4:37:49 PM

Quote :

"But if you're selling vehicles periodically then you're losing money"

Yes you are, but it has nothing to do with washing a car or not. It's because you're buying depreciating assets.

12/19/2024 5:20:07 PM

I went to cancel the other day and they offered 2 months at half price so I went with that. $20/month to have a clean car. It would be $12 minimum if I manually washed it once a week. Gonna keep canceling and hope they keep offering that

12/21/2024 10:04:34 AM

That's still an improvement, so good job.

Use this a frame of reference for the real long-term cost of any "regular, but unnecessary expenditures" (in which I would personally include car washing):

https://www.financialmentor.com/calculator/latte-factor-calculator

12/21/2024 10:23:37 AM