Nice clean car

As much as I like driving a clean car, I am not a fan of acutally doing the cleaning. Things weren't so bad a few years ago; I lived around the corner from a car wash and it cost me $9 once a month to run the car through it. I occasionally stuck $2 in the vaccuum cleaner thingy and gave the inside a once over as well.

But I never resorted to a pine scented dangly thing on the rear view mirror. See Repo Man.

After our recent country sojourn, it was time the Disco got a bath. After driving 2500 km through about a billion bugs, and parking it under trees populated by galahs on laxatives, the car was a mess. It was a travelling collection of bug guts and bird crap, held together by paint.

Being New Years Day, I had to drive around for the better part of half an hour before finding a place that would give the car a once over. I eventually found a place on Parramatta Road, and settled in for an hour whilst little brown people went to work in the hot sun.

I was joined in the waiting room by a bloke that drives a hire car for a living. I found out a few interesting things from him.

One it that it only costs $9000 a year for a hire car plate, and many CEO's are now getting them for their cars as it allows them to use the transit lanes in peak hour.

Another is that the best place out this way to get a car wash is a the taxi petrol station on Victoria Rd in Rozelle. The thing is that it only operates from 8pm to 5am, but the plus is that my favourite kebab man operates from that site, so next time I want a kebab, I will stop in for a cheap car clean.

Bugger. We talked about lots of other interesting things during our hour of waiting, but they are the only two that spring to mind right now. I will have to come back later when I remember more pearls of hire car wisdom.

One thing that did stick in my memory is that the price of a good car clean is half the price in Burwood as it is in Mosman (where I used to get the car cleaned) and they do a better job in Burwood. Pity they don't do coffee though.