Car wash operators in the upper middle and upmarket areas of Nairobi are facing an increasingly challenge from a new penchant for luxury treatment of cars.
With the country witnessing huge demand for luxury vehicles due to an improving economy, car owners are spending a fortune to pamper their “rides”. What would otherwise be a soap and water affair is turning into spa treatment for expensive machines.
As a result, roadside manual car washes are fighting to stay alive in affluent neighbourhoods due to a surge in automated car washes. From the coverage they previously enjoyed in all sections of the capital, they are now largely confined to lower income estates. Few are still operational in the affluent areas.
Many motorists are attracted by the speed and services automation offers their cars like deodorising, shampooing, waxing, steaming and buffing. Indeed, car washes cum salons are fast becoming trendy because of the extras they offer.
From just one such service in 2012, the number has risen to close to a dozen in just three years, with more being installed. The number of cars they wash per day, despite their hefty price tags, is surprisingly high.
In Karen, Kleansway Automated Carwash says it washes over 150 cars a day on weekdays. The number doubles on weekends when many cars are brought in for extra services. The cars are cleaned at the rate of one per minute.
Geco Carwash in Lavington, 200 Degrees in South B and Eclipse Motor Salon on Koinange Street say they wash a similar number a day.
Most of these “salons” charge between Sh1,000 to Sh6,000 per wash, depending on the type of services required. This makes the average Sh200 charged for manual washes look like a drop in the ocean.
Car owners say that despite these high charges, the special treatment offered in these spas prolongs the life of their expensive cars.
“At roadside car washes, I realised that the detergents used, type of water and the manner my car was being washed were the reasons the body paint was wearing off my previous car. The scrubbing material used also left swirl marks,” said Mr Dickson Kilonzo was was waiting for his car to be finished at Eclipse Motor Salon.
“A Range Rover is a beautiful car. It would be unfair to treat it the way you would a Sh200,000 vehicle,” he said.
American car owner Aaron Devante said the automated car wash service saves him a lot of time in the morning when he is in a hurry to go to work. In addition to making the car look and feel good, automated carwash centres help conserve the environment, he said, because they use less water.
“The reason people spend a lot of money buying cars is to get recognition and admiration. Getting the car professionally detailed and cleaned keeps the admiration well stoked,” he said.
“Lots of water is wasted in manual car wash joints, which is not good for a country that is water deficient. Automated carwash centres recycle most of the water used, so in a way we are contributing to environment conservation.”
“The driver then approaches the washing area and aligns the car to a conveyer belt, engaging neutral gear. The conveyer belt takes the car through soaping, rinsing, waxing and drying processes. These take about 55 seconds,” according to Mr James Kimani, the owner of Kleansway Centre.
“If the owner wants other services, such as interior cleaning, he takes it to a designated area for about 15 minutes. The combined time taken is still less compared with a manual wash, which needs a minimum 20 minutes.”
Some customers prefer a hot water bath for their cars, saying it invigorates the vehicles.
“Hot steam technology injects moisture at 200C, and extracts 90 per cent of the moisture, hence a shorter drying time. The hot water also kills germs,” said Robert Okubo, who runs the 200 Degrees Centre that has branches on Mombasa Road and in Lavington.
A report released recently by the Kenya Motor Industry Association (KMI) shows that new vehicle dealers sold 17,499 luxury units in 2014. This is 20.3 per cent more than the previous peak of 14,542 units in 2013.
The report said dealers in luxury cars such as Porsche, Mercedes, BMW and Ranger Rover recorded the highest jump in sales, at 58.4 per cent, to move 393 units last year.
Most of those who can afford such vehicles live in upmarket areas and make up the segment that automated carwash operators are targeting.
“We have a manual car wash unit which is still operational. But after noticing a decline in customers, we opted to import an automated system to woo back customers who had started taking their cars to Lavington and other for cleaning,” Kimani said.
Owing to the high number of customers on weekends, these car spas —just like hair salons—have turned into hangout joints. A number of customers use the waiting time to socialise and network, which has led to the establishment of eateries and drinking joints nearby.
Most operators declined to say how much it cost them to import the machines that have already made their mark in Western countries.
But websites of various manufacturers put the average price at $45,000 (about Sh4.05 million).
