NYSCWA Venus vs. Mars - Spring 2011

I have to admit that I don’t have a statistic on who is the biggest spender on extras at the wash, but if you added up total dollars spent annually I would guess it would be the men who would win the prize.  I was always amazed at how many men would come into the wash to get their car washed and then in an hour they would be back with their wife’s car. For some reason, married couples divide household chores something like this — the wife does the food shopping, laundry and cooking and the husband takes care of the lawn, the trash and the cars (including keeping them washed and waxed).

I would think that men make more trips to the carwash then women, therefore they spend more dollars per year at the wash.

But that being said, I feel that women probably spend the most per wash on extras when they are there. Men take the car to the carwash but they will take it home to wax it and shine up the wheels and tires. Women who take care of their own cars, take their vehicle to the wash to get the “works” because they enjoy driving in a nice clean, shiny car. By getting the upgrades we feel we are taking great care of our investment by getting the additional polish wax. We also love that it is fast, as we don’t want to spend too much time or effort on our cars. When the time comes and we need to hand wax, we would rather pay to have that done instead of doing it ourselves.

I think when it comes to maintenance of any kind most people would probably think it falls under the category of a “man’s job.” But when it comes to keeping your car clean, I don’t think that gender is a big factor. I think that the desire to keep one’s vehicle clean is more of a personality trait.

There are people out there who just cannot stand to have a speck of dirt on their car and will come to wash it immediately when they see one. There are people who just never clean their cars because it’s just not important to them and it doesn’t bother them to be seen in a dirty car. I’ve washed many cars in my time and have spoken to many people. I’ve heard the same stories from both men about women and women about men when it comes to keeping the car clean. Usually, the story goes like this, “If I didn’t clean this car it would never get done.” Or, “He just doesn’t care,” or “She just doesn’t care.”

So, when it comes down to it, man or woman, I believe that it is an individual’s preference as to whether they clean their car often, rarely or not at all.