Really Expensive Car Wash

$15 car wash? I was quite surprised that car wash has become so expensive. Over the weekend, I was at the car wash at one of the SPC petrol station. The attendant informed me that the car wash price was $13, without vacuuming. I was shocked. I thought it should have been $6. Perhaps I had heard wrong. While the car was being washed, I looked at the price list put up on the wall. $7 for a saloon car, without vacuuming. Hmm, even in this period of economic difficulties, car wash services can still up their prices!

Okay, why did I hear $13 then? I read the price list in detail. SUV and “MPV Taxi” vehicles are priced at $15, inclusive of vacuuming. Then I suddenly realized… my new Honda Stream is considered an MPV. Yeah, it is a smallish MPV, but still an MPV of sorts nevertheless. This is the first time since I changed to my Honda Stream that I’ve gone to a car wash.

I’ve been washing the car myself all these while. But lately I’ve been busy, plus the fact that my domestic helper has gone back to Philippines, so there’s so much more things to do. Since this car wash place was reputed to be quite good, I thought I’d let them wash the car this time.

Usually, I don’t do the vacuuming. I never did for my last car. But since now the vacuuming “surcharge” of $2 was relatively inexpensive above the $13 for the car wash itself, I decided to just let them do the vacuuming as well.

I’m tempted to say that car wash has become so expensive. I suppose $15 isn’t a lot compared to the total cost of owning a car in Singapore, what with increasing ERP rates and gantries all over our tiny island. My cash card used to last forever on $50 of value, but nowadays, it is emptied in a week or so. (Well, of course nowadays car park and so many other things are charged into the cash card…)