Why You Should Fit a Car Wash Into Your Schedule

Let’s face it: washing your car is a chore. And that’s true even if you don’t do it yourself; even if you use a professional car wash like Metro. You still have to pull out of traffic. You still have to get out of your car, worry about collecting valuables, sort through envelopes and receipts that may or may not be garbage, and then lose 20 minutes of your life you’ll never gain back. I get it. Not as fun as a swingin’ costume party. Not as relaxing as watching the big game on your couch.

But I’d like to make a case for penciling us into your life anyway. And I think you might find it easier (and more affordable and more relaxing) than you think.

First off, then, let’s answer this question: Why should you regularly wash your car?

Here’s Metro’s answer to that question:

1. Investment protection. Here in Tucson, our vehicles are exposed to heat, acid rain, bugs, bird droppings, baked on break dust, and more than 30 other contaminants – some invisible to the naked eye. Without regular washing, these elements can cause serious, even irreparable, damage to your car’s paint, clear coat, and wheels. For most of us, our vehicles are one of our biggest investments. And washing your car means helping to keep your resale value up. You know those dull, spotted, rough-looking cars you see on the road that look like they’ve been hit by lightning? All non-washers. Every last one of them.

2. Personal Well-Being. It may sound strange, but it’s true. Just like a clean home or an organized office, a clean, uncluttered, freshly washed car will make you feel amazingly better (and you’ll probably think your car even runs better). Most of us can’t afford maid service (and it’s awfully hard to keep your office neat and organized), but swinging into a car wash on a regular basis is one cheap and easy way to sprinkle a little mojo back into your life. Since you spend so much time in the car, why not improve the quality of your life by at least having this area clean, maintained and smelling fresh. You’ll be surprised by how much better you’ll feel.

3. We’re cool guys. Regularly washing your car at Metro Car Wash means regularly hanging out with us, the Metro Team, even if it’s only for a few minutes. And let’s face it, we’re about as good for your soul as it gets.

Now that I’ve hopefully convinced you to consider washing your car regularly, I’d next like to suggest that you actually schedule us into your week (or your month).

Washing your car is like any task you don’t have to do – it’s easy to procrastinate. We all fill up with gas because if we don’t, we’ll be stranded on the side of the road. But tasks like oil changes, car washes, and trips to the dentist are areas we tend to let slide. And the best way to avoid this is to simply put Metro into your regular schedule. Pick a day of the week, for example (perhaps your least hectic), and make it a habit of visiting us on your lunch break or on your way home from work. If it becomes part of what you do, it no longer feels like a chore. Rather, it will become that one little thing you do for yourself that makes you feel good, adds a crisp organization to your life, and also makes you feel very sensible and grown up for being so responsible for taking care of your investment (we’ve studied this extensively and know it to be true).

And finally, I’d like to point how little this will actually cost you.

Let’s say you decided to visit us weekly (we would really like this). And let’s say you don’t need to get the inside of your car cleaned every week, so you decided to rotate between and Express Wash (just the outside) and a Full Service Wash (inside and outside) every other time. Additionally, let’s say you decide to join our VIP Club (a frequent washer program) that gives you $2 of credit every time you purchase a full service car wash, meaning that a full service wash will only cost you $6.99.

Quick math shows the following: Express Wash $3.99. Discounted Full Service Wash $6.99. Average weekly cost of keeping your car clean at Metro Car Wash: $5.49.

Yup. So let’s think about this. For less than $6.00 per week, you can:

• Maintain your investment and make your father proud,
• Have a shiny car in the parking lot at your place of work (which speaks volumes about how “together” you actually are,
• Keep a space in your life (where you spend a lot of time) clean and organized, which accomplishes just as much as visiting a therapist, and
• Look good as you drive down Tucson streets, the sun flashing off your shiny paint job and sparkling teeth.

I hope I’ve convinced you how important (and easy) it is to fit us into your schedule. So as you start contemplating your New Year’s Resolutions, perhaps you’ll keep Metro Car Wash in mind.

Until next time, stay clean my friends!

-DJ DripDry

Zombie Car Wash 2010

Let me start by telling you how it ended:

Metro’s Zombie Walk 2010 ended on Saturday night at 10:00 PM with about 30 volunteers dancing the Cupid (Cuban) Shuffle on the front drive of the Speedway Car Wash. It was a great (and appropriate) way to close out 5 days of an Event that seemed to have surpassed everyone’s expectations.

If you didn’t get a chance to stop by, let me say that the reviews we received were exceptional. I don’t think anyone anticipated the effort we put in, turning our car wash into a haunted-house-zombie-themed-ride. Those that did come said things like: “really amazing,” “so much more than I expected,” “too cool,” and “better than other haunted houses in town.” I’m not bragging here. I just want everyone to know that they missed out on something fun and entertaining so that they’ll be sure to come next year. After all, it’s not everyday that you get to combine the classic past-time of washing your car with a classic horror movie like George Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (it was playing on the side of the building like a drive-in theatre, incidentally).

But the customers weren’t the only ones who had their expectations exceeded; yours truly did as well. And more than this, I can honestly say that I’m speechless with gratitude and pride at the Metro Car Wash Employees, Sahuaro High School Students, and participating businesses who sacrificed their time and services to make this Event a success.

Like any new project, we really didn’t know what we were getting ourselves into. We have a scholarship; we needed to raise money for it; and a Zombie Car Wash for Halloween seemed like a good idea. But once we began planning and designing and constructing, it became apparent just how large of a task we were faced with. We needed 40 volunteers per night for 5 nights; we needed help in getting the word out about the Event; and we needed supplies and props for the sets. And wherever there was a need, people came through in a big way.

So this week’s blog is more or less a Thank You. It’s a Thank You to all of the Students at Sahauro High School who listened to their teacher, Mr. Harkin, and gave up their plans night upon night to dress up like zombie’s and scare Tucson. It’s a thanks to my employees like Adam Villalobos, Juan Arellano, Melanie Romero, Gwen Valenzuela, Chris Hopper, Steven Hopper, Jacob Bacinski, Gabbi DeJesus, Izzy Lopez, Lorenzo Tambriz, Alex Ortiz-Uribe, and many more who not only worked all day at the car wash, but stayed on into the night to deliver a great show, help clean up, get no sleep, and go back at it again the next day. It’s also a Thanks to the volunteers like Ivan Nieto, Amanda Anyaeji, Josie at the Job Corps, and Les and Sarah Henson who aren’t employees or high school students, but felt that raising money to put a deserving kid through a year of college was a worthy enough cause to give up their personal nights and dress like road kill.

It’s also a big thanks to the businesses that helped us out.

Thanks to Heat Wave Productions and Joey Velasquez for DJ-ing nightly. You kept the party going, spirits high, and got zombies to dance … not an easy task (Metro Car Wash highly recommends Heat Wave’s services for any occasion, btw; you can contact them directly at 520-519-9379).

Thanks to Gary and Judy Tenen at Alphagraphics CPS for donating the 4,000 flyers that were dropped all over Tucson. Thanks to Sue Callahan at SignAge for donating the posters. And thanks to Julie Rustad at 24-7 Creative Solutions for designing such a great marketing piece to begin with.

Thanks to Tucson Weekly, the Arizona Daily Star, and Tucson Night Out for getting the Event coverage and helping to bring in more customers. And thanks to Jo Ann Mesa for volunteering to help contacting the same (your efforts were much appreciated).

I’m sure I’ve missed a lot of people deserving of thanks. I apologize in advance.

Like anything that takes a lot of effort, this was exhausting and I’m glad to say it’s over. But more importantly, I’m glad to know we raised enough money to put our first student through a year at Pima Community College next year. And more than this, I’m glad to know there are so many people in Tucson generous enough with their time and money to make something like this a reality.

I’m all zombied out folks, so until next time … stay clean my friends.

--DJ DripDry

Happiness is a Clean Car

Here’s a quote I bet you haven’t read before. It’s from Sri Sathya Sai Baba, an Indian Spiritual leader born in 1926.

“You cannot be fresh and feeling fine, wearing a washed vest under an unwashed shirt; or, an unwashed vest over a washed shirt. Both have to be clean to provide a sense of tingling joy.”

The tingling joy part aside, it reminds me of something my uncle said to me the other day:

“Clean cars. Clean underwear. They both make you feel a whole lot better.”

And they do!

There are a lot of reasons you should wash your car (preferably at Metro Car Wash) including the maintenance of your paint and vinyl, keeping up the saleable value, and not looking like a slob to your boss in your company parking lot. But all that being said, one of the best reasons to get your car cleaned is simply to make you feel better.

A lot has been written lately about removing stress from your life by getting more organized, cleaning your house, or giving your office filing system a makeover. I think keeping a clean car does the same thing, on several levels.

First, it does feel better to walk out to a shiny car in the parking lot. You may not acquire the same confidence you would if you were walking out to a new Porsche, but it will let you hold your head up just a little bit higher. Let’s face it: it says something about you. It says you care and that you’re responsible. In an unassuming manner, it’s sort of stating that you’re cool. And feeling even a hint of cool will almost always get you feeling better.

Next, there’s that great feeling of sliding into an uncluttered surrounding. When there aren’t balled up bank receipts and tissues on the floor, when the console isn’t sticky with latte spills, when the dash isn’t sneeze-ably thick with dust, when there aren’t cracker crumbs and broken toys in the child seat … well, there’s peace. It may not remove all of your stress, or solve the mess you might have gotten yourself into last night, but it certainly can be calming—a little, sealed space in this world where things are clean and neat and you can listen to the music of your choice. Even if it’s only for a little while.

I often like to tell my employees that we are in the business of making people feel better, we just happen to do it by cleaning your car. And there is truth in this. You can see it in our customer’s faces when they drive away—they’re happier. I just wish more people knew this trick.

So the next time you’re feeling a little down, don’t go blow your diet on an ice cream sundae (which you’ll regret just a few minutes afterwards, and the mess of which will probably end up cluttering your car even more). Instead, try a car wash (again, preferably from Metro). And find out why I always say:

Stay clean my friends!

DJ DripDry