I have written before about how popular car washes are (LINK) but I have not gone into detail just how thorough they can be. One must keep in mind that many of the roads here are not paved so dust and dirt build up relatively quickly. Cars are still notable symbols of social standing and thus it's important for people to keep their cars clean.
I am accused of under washing our car (guilty as charged) as I've gotten quite busy lately and it's tough to find the time. You can leave your car at the car wash and pick it up hours later which is usually what I do. However, you have to give some pretty explicit instructions if you don't want the full service. You may think full service sounds great, but this means the pressure washer is used with reckless abandon. You may still be wondering, "so what, isn't that what we want?", well yes, for the exterior of my vehicle...but not the interior. The car wash guys all around Tanzania seem to think the interior of the doors need to be blasted by water. They also think the engine needs to be cleaned and eagerly pop the hood and blast the engine, wielding the pressure washer like a maniacal soldiers wielding machine guns on the front line.
I've had seals broken, electrics damaged, and unwanted moisture in my interior. One of the big issues is that the demographic that works at car washes are typically people who have never owned a motor vehicle and do not understand where sensitive parts are.
The other day I saw a guy pressure washing the interior of a trunk, with water dripping out underneath (see video). I told the guy not to wash the inside of the door but when I came back to pick it up, you better believe the inside of my door was suspiciously wet, so I took it home to dry!
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| My extremely clean interior door |
