Locomotion: Leaving the washing bay

When leaving the washing bay, you want to make sure of the following at the very minimum – that your car has been cleaned well, tyres washed and cleaned, paying special attention to alloy wheels to ensure all brake dust has been removed.

Also check to ensure that all debris, clutter and rubbish in your car have been disposed of. 

To get the most out of your washing bay visits, consider the following:

• You may want to minimise the time you spent waiting in line as well as maximise the attention and care you will get from having an attendant focus on your car (without the pressure of a long queue of waiting cars) by carefully selecting the right day of the week, and time of day to go. 

Every outlet has a bad time to go when it’s particularly busy. For some it might be Saturday morning, for others it might be midday on Sunday. What you can also do is to have two or three alternative places so you can manage time effectively. 

 I choose to visit on Sunday afternoons just before noon, when the morning crowd has come and gone and the afternoon folks are yet to troop in. Choose yours well, and avoid unnecessarily long delays. 

• Don’t expect red carpet treatment. As we said, some of them are great with reception facilities; with some others however, you will be lucky to get a shaded place to sit for those 45 minutes or so. 

Take along your own reading material (e.g. a newspaper or magazine), an e-reader or a game on a tablet to keep you occupied. If you love music, you might want to grab a pair of earphones and an mp3 player.

• Empty your car before you get there. Do not go there with valuables either on display or hidden, and especially something you cannot do without. 

I struggle to sympathise with drivers who invite trouble for themselves by leaving these valuables in plain sight – cellphones, expensive watches, CDs and the like.  

The problem is that such people just drop into the washing bay on their way elsewhere, instead of making the trip there from home purposefully. 

Even if you think you are going to be there throughout the cleaning process, a phone call, conversation with a bystander – anything – can distract you for a minute or two, so do not leave your company laptop or other such irreplaceable belongings in your car. 

Just leave these things at home or lock them up in your boot (although there are ways of getting in there through the back seat as well for the desperate and truly determined thief).

• While there, be security and safety conscious. Ensure your car is properly parked out of harm’s way, and that the washing is done by an identified individual, else should something go wrong, you wouldn’t know who or what caused it. 

At the time of your departure, make sure all your interior mats are dried and replaced in the right places. Many drivers have sped off home only to realise that they left some accessory behind at the washing bay. 

By the time you go back there, you can rest assured that they would not have any recollection of what you are talking about, since so many cars come in and go. Do carry out a visual inspection of your car before you drive out of the place. 

• Purely as a precaution against unforeseen situations, perhaps you could learn to wash the car yourself sometimes. Admittedly, time constraints may not always make this possible, and many of us simply do not have the kind of domestic environment where a car can be washed. 

Some also think that one needs a large amount of water to wash one’s car, but that is not always true. I have seen taxi drivers shine full-size saloon cars with barely a gallon of water, a duster and a small plastic cup. Just drive past Opeibea House around the airport and see it for yourself. 

Washing your own car every now and then will keep cash in your pocket and is also a good form of cardiovascular exercise. Moreover, it may help you to identify problem areas on your vehicle while doing it. Think about it. 

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