A car wash is still the most common service an auto business can deliver. Before jumping in with everyone else to have your car cleaned, check out the different wash shops to know how much does a car wash cost?
The Average Cost of Washing a Car
The cost of a car wash can range from around $5 to $20 and can even reach over $200. It highly depends on what you want them to do with your car. For example, at Aqua Hand Car Wash in Texas, the cost ranges from $20 for the basic wash to $245 for supreme detail.
At Sparkle Express Carwash, with locations in Georgia and South Carolina, the cost can range from $7 to $20 depending on the package you choose. These are your choices:
- Sparkle Wash – this includes the basic cleaning and drying with a free vacuum. This costs $7 for a single wash and $12.99 for unlimited washes per month.
- Sparkle Deluxe – this includes tire shine, triple conditioner, and rim cleaning. This costs $10 for a single wash and $19.00 for unlimited washes per month.
- Sparkle Splash – this includes rain repellent, tire shine, underbody rinse, and triple conditioner. This costs $15.
- Sparkle Splash & Wax – this includes everything under Sparkle Splash with Buff & Dry plus wax and shine. This costs $20 for a single wash and $29.99 for unlimited washes per month.
On the other hand, at Autobell Car Wash, with branches in, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, and Virginia, the following packages and their corresponding prices are being offered:
Exterior Only Cleaning:
- Ride Thru – this includes exterior cleaning and robotic wheel cleaning. This costs $10.00.
- Super Exterior – this includes the same services as the Ride Thru package plus hand-drying by the team, application of polish, and application of sealer. This costs $14.99.
- Exterior Special – this includes the same services as in the Super Exterior package plus underbody wash, Double Polyprocess℠ for a spectacular clean, AUTOGLOSS℠ specially formulated for lasting shine, and application of tire gloss. This costs $19.99.
Interior and Exterior Cleaning:
- Full Service – this includes exterior cleaning, robotic wheel cleaning, interior vacuum of carpets and seats, wipe rubber mats, dash, door panel, and console wiping down, interior window cleaning, and hand-dry by the team. This costs $23.99.
- Super Polyprocess – this includes the same services as in the Full Service package plus underbody wash, Double Polyprocess℠ for a spectacular clean, application of polish, application of sealer, AUTOGLOSS℠ specially formulated for lasting shine, application of tire gloss, and fragrance of your choice. This costs $32.99.
- Rain Repellant Special – this includes exterior cleaning, robotic wheel cleaning, interior vacuum of carpets and seats, underbody wash, Double Polyprocess℠, AUTOGLOSS℠, dash, door panel, and console wiped down, interior window cleaning, application of tire gloss, fragrance of your choice, hand-dry by our team, wipe rubber mats, application of polish, application of sealer, and rain repellent. This costs $39.99.
Additional Costs
The good thing about the services of auto car wash companies is that you can mix and match according to your particular needs. Again, from the Autobell Car Wash, here are some of the other services that it has that you can either avail of individually or add on to any package:
- Interior disinfectant service – $9.95
- Master autovac service – $15
- Tire gloss – $4.75
- Autobell valet service – $3
- Rain repellant – $9 to $15
- Premium mat cleaning – $3 to $7
- Underbody wash – $3
- Armor all – $6 to $10
- Fragrance of your choice – $2.50
Factors Affecting the Cost of a Car Wash
Several factors affect the cost of car cleaning. Some of these are as follows:
- Auto shop – where you decide to go to, spells a big difference in the price you have to pay. Auto shops have different specialties, and if the shop you choose to go to is popular or has earned a good reputation due to its superb service, be prepared to pay a more expensive price than average.
- Package – carwash shops offer different services in the form of bundles as a way to entice customers due to the accompanying “package” discount.
- Add ons – apart from all the package services that you can avail of, your total expenses would also be affected by each service that you want to add that’s not included in the bundle that you have chosen.
- Type of vehicle – although the prices of car wash services that auto shops offer are somewhat standard across most car models, some vehicles are priced higher than usual. Prepare to pay a premium for bigger cars or those of luxury brands.
- Location – of course, your location’s cost of living and cost of doing business will be directly proportional to the cost you have to pay for the car wash service you avail of.
Types of Car Wash Services
Here are some of the types of car wash services that you can avail of:
1. Basic express car wash
You only get to have your car washed on the exterior. An additional fee would apply if waxing, tire cleaning, and an underbody wash were included.
What is not included in the price:
- Underbody washing
- Tire cleaning
- Basic wax or protectants
- Cleaning materials like soap, jet spray, and towels
- Exterior car body washing
2. Full auto car wash
This involves exterior and interior cleanings. Moreover, you get access to better quality products like in the case of wax and protectants.
What is not included in the price:
- All services from the basic express car wash
- Additional fragrance for the car
- UV protectant
- Wiping the car’s dashboard, doors, knobs, and windows
- Wiping and vacuuming the interiors
- Dressing the tires
- Wash and wax
3. Detailing
Its services go beyond exterior and interior cleaning. Similarly, it offers car wash, wax, tire cleaning, polishing, and dent removal. Detailing can last four to six hours.
What is included in the price:
- Basic exterior washing with vacuuming and dusting
- A deep carpet detailing
- Cleaning the upholstery fabric
- Cleaning your dashboard, console, and door panels
- Clean leather sheet with additional UV protectants
- Cleaning the trunk with vacuum and shampoo
- Waxing and polishing for enhanced protection
- Door and dents detailing
- Underbody cleaning
- Cleaning the headlights and taillights
- Removing of odor