New Hand Carwash In Charlottetown – My Review – AND GIVEAWAY!!

There are certain benefits to being a photographer – certainly you get to meet a lot of amazing people and it’s really exciting to get a great shot that you can’t wait to show off, but another benefit which I just found out Tuesday at the PEI Photo Club’s monthly meeting is that you have a lot of business owners in there, and some of them have some awesome ideas.

Last Tuesday, shortly after the meeting began, two folks stood up and introduces themselves and said “this really has nothing to do with photography, but we wanted to let you know that we’ve opened up Tip Top Hand Car Wash on MacAleer Drive”. They also very graciously gave everyone in the group a free car wash to try it out.

I have to say that I was pretty excited about heading in to get my car washed by hand (I should add that my car wasn’t even that dirty but I didn’t care), and pumped about all the services that they perform on each car – even better though.. it only costs $15!!! For an SUV, Truck, etc., it’s a bit more, but the most that you’re going to pay is $20+ taxes. Like I said, I couldn’t wait to get in there!

So the next day (yesterday) at 4pm I darted out after work to 17A MacAleer Drive which is out by the Airport which you can access it either via Brackley Pt Road or the other end at Mt. Edward Road. I really wasn’t quite sure what to expect.

I arrived and was quickly told to line up at the side of the building (I came from the Mt. Edward Road side so the line up was on the far side of the building which I couldn’t notice) – anyhow at this time it was 4:30PM. There were two cars being washed in the bay, a fairly large extended cab pickup truck waiting directly outside the garage and another SUV in front of me. I knew I was going to have to wait, but wasn’t exactly sure how long, at this point I just grabbed my cell phone and did some surfing and twittering (see right picture). I’m not exactly sure what time I got in to get my car washed, but I can tell you that I was out at 5:10PM. So for you math nuts, it took about 40 minutes, approximately 10 minutes per car. After speaking to the owner, they hope to decrease the turnaround time for a car to about 5 minutes which I have no doubt they will get to as their staff was phenomenal doing their work while I watched.

Services

Here is a list of services that they performed on my car – for the total price of $17.33:

• High pressure power rinse both exterior and wheel wells (hell I don’t even do the wheel wells when I go the pressure washer myself)
• Degrease four wheels
• Hand soap exterior, wheels & tires
• Pressure rinse floor mats (very cool bonus)
• Power rinse exterior
• Vacuum carpets/mats/ashtrays/seats/trunk (you did see the $15 price tag for this right??)
• Clean door jambs
• Wipe down dash & console (See ya Beagle Fur!!)
• Clean all interior windows (HUGE bonus there.. I hate doing the front windshield)
• Chamois dry exterior (they have an old fashioned ringer in there too for drying them – awesome to watch them go)
• Air blow dry around windows & mirrors (this is a detail trick – so that when you start driving away water doesn’t come flying out – smart.. very smart)
• Apply dressing on tires (with a paintbrush!)

My Opinion

So how did I like it? Put it to you this way – I would have paid them $15 just to do what they did to the interior alone! Now I’m not going to lie and say they got every single nook and cranny when they vacuumed out the interior, but that would be next to impossible in 10 minutes. I will say that they did an AMAZING job, I honestly don’t know how they are doing this for just $15 for a car to be honest – but unlike others, I believe they did their business plan properly and know what their margins are. They are smart people, honest, hard working people and I hope they succeed in their unique venture.

A lot of people whom I’ve been enthusiastically telling about this place have asked if they’ll do waxing and other services and at this time they don’t to any extras – but give them time (and support!) and I’m sure they’ll expand if the interest is there. To compare, anyone that goes through the automatic section of Wash World in town has likely gone on a nice hot summer day and waited in line for at least 20 minutes – The prices for their wash start at $8 for the minimum wash and can go to $12 for the higher end – this doesn’t include the interior at all obviously, the dryer is just a few huge dryers which dry the top of your car, and there certainly isn’t any level of detial in the automatic wash. Don’t get me wrong, I like Wash World and I go there anytime I just need to hose down my car using the bays and the pressure washers – but to pay $12 there for an automatic when you can get the whole car done for $15? No brainer.

Conclusion

Yes.. I’m impressed by the “Tip Top Hand Car Wash”. I will definitely be back many times. I was so impressed that I decided to pay for the car wash (plus tip the guys in the bay a few dollars) – and give away my free car wash here on the blog. All you have to do is leave a comment below and you’ll be entered in the draw which I’ll perform in 2 weeks time. Looking forward to hearing your opinions and thoughts on this great new spot!