Car Sparkle

No, I'm not talking about my car magnet "bling". I'm talking about car washing. I guess people can wash their own, and I actually wouldn't mind doing that. Except for the time I wanted to thoroughly take care of my "new baby"- my 1988 Nissan Sentra Hatchback. I got it my sophomore year of college I think. After my 1976 Oldsmobile Omega with some hubcaps, no air and no radio wouldn't start in the Acme parking lot by Rider, I needed a more reliable ride. I was home on break for the summer and I thought I'd wash AND wax it. Very ambitious of me. It was nice out so I figured it would be easy, cheap and a little...fun? Not so much. Because someone who shall remain nameless watched me applying wax, in the hot sun, and didn't mention that might be a problem. Some people wax on, wax off, in little sections. I thought I'd save time by putting wax on the whole thing first, THEN waxing off. Yeah, well, the wax baked on the car and if it isn't in a car graveyard by now, then that wax is probably still on there.

I go to the car wash. Admittedly, not very often. I don't want to mess with my magnets & when I had the Honda CRV there was sometimes an SUV charge, and frankly, the inside of my car was always a mess so I felt like it was a waste to get the outside done when I couldn't get the inside done too. Now, I have the Mini Countryman and there really isn't enough room for me to get messy. There aren't even nooks & crannies to cram things like I did before. So now I can get the car cleaned from top to bottom.

BUT- I was told I want a "hand wash" place. I think we went to one in Englewood when we lived there and got the first Mini. I only know of the regular kind that the car goes through brushes on some kind of conveyor system. I guess a hand wash is more gentle and thorough. B found a new place- Premier Auto Spa on Broad Street in Ridgewood. http://www.premierautospanj.com/Home_Page.html

He said he went in and met the owners- Alex and Angie. So it's a mom & pop family place like our store. We like that. We try to patronize the little guys as much as possible. And as far as I know they're the only hand wash place around. At least THAT close and convenient to us. There is another car wash down the road but it's not hand wash. He really liked Angie- said she reminded him of me. Just running the place, talking to customers, etc.

My lease was up on the Honda and it was seriously a mess. I had it since Ethan was around four months old. There was probably enough cereal pieces in there to repackage a whole box. It just got me through pretty much the first three years of my first and only child's life. Any mom, well, any mom who isn't a neat freak, knows what I'm talking about. Atrocious. Not to mention the outside wasn't looking to great either. B told me to go to Premier Auto Spa so I did.

I ended up talking to Angie for a long time. She is really nice, really happy to have left Wall St for their own business. They opened in February, which could be difficult for car washing traffic, especially with the crazy winter we had. But they're happy to be there and you can tell. But beyond that- MY CAR WASH. OH. MY. GOD. So I got the regular wash which was pretty inexpensive for handwash- I feel like it was it was a special for under $20. But the BEST part is for $4 extra, they shampoo the front and back mats! Mine were disgusting and I had very low expectations for what they'd look like washed. But when my wash was finished, the inside literally looked BRAND NEW. I was shocked. Didn't help the mess that was on the outside except now that it was pristine, every scratch and ding was more visible. But that was my own fault for having it washed in the first place.

On their price board it says $20 for a compact/mid-size and with that you get:

-Exterior w/wool mittens
-Hand drying with microfiber towels
-Wheel & Rim cleaning
-Wipe door jambs
-Professional tire dressing
-Clean windows & mirrors
-Vacuum interior & trunk
-Wipe down dash, console, door panels & steering wheel

I know they're running a "Spring Special $3 off" a wash.

Wagon/Full-size: $22
SUV/Minivan: $24
Large SUV/Pick-up: $26

They do custom packages, options, and detailing. All for really reasonable prices. I am just really impressed with their service. My car looked amazing and it was pretty quick too. It's not like I was there waiting forever. So if your car looks terrible, it's spring and it's time for your cleaning! Support small business too! They're right by the NYSC- across the street. By what used to be the Brogan car dealership.