Pune: If the growing number of car-care companies is anything to go by, cars need just as much pampering as people. These companies offer everything from car-washing to maintenance and mechanical repairs. A few ‘waterless’ car-wash facilities in fact saw their business boom during the severe water crisis this summer.
Car offering car care seems to have caught the fancy of several startups in the city, too, which cater every kind of customer from the humble small-car owner to the ultra-premium luxury-vehicle owner.
These companies offer a variety of services, including a ‘full body’ exterior cleaning using a litre of water or less; ‘wax treatments’ for shine and glow; special antibacterial treatments to remove dirt and stench, and replacement and upkeep of original parts. Another facility they offer, something that is likely to attract even more people now, is cashless repairs.
The nearly half-dozen such ventures in the city have, perhaps, benefitted from the growing disenchantment of car-owners with the existing, better-established options, whether it is poorly-trained workers making a mess of cleaning cars with dirty rags and little water, or those who wipe the car squeaky clean but scratch the body in the process.
Competitively-priced and conveniently-located around the city, offering multiple solutions right at the customer’s doorstep, these ventures now aim to organize this segment in these modern, water-scarce times.
The most recent such startup, Kar-Worx & Spa India, offers among other services, a ‘foam snow wash’ that uses less than one litre of water per wash. It also caters to the need of spares and out-of-warranty products in the vehicles.
Explaining the importance of investing in professional care for one’s car, company founder Rishab Bafna said, “Bucket wash increases the swirl marks, lowering the paint life and look of the car. With foam wash, the stubborn dust particles loosen and drip off the surface of your car making it easy to clean without damaging the paint work.”
Elaborating on the recent increase in the number of such service-providers, Rishab said, “The biggest challenge urban car-owners face today is the burgeoning repair expense at authorized service centres, lack of standardized procedures and trust deficiency with roadside garages. Local garages and even some popular multi-brand car service chains are not equipped to handle brands like Skoda, Volkswagen, Mercedes, BMW and Audi. Close to 70% of car-owners have moved to independent repair shops after the warranty period, and the number is steadily increasing.”
With severe restrictions on water usage in residential societies, most customers want an alternate – and affordable – way of cleaning their cars, points out Ninad Dhok. Ninad and his brother had founded ‘Green Salute’ in March, offering doorstep waterless car-cleaning. The startup currently operates in the western part of the city. “Thorough cleaning cars involves wasting lakhs of litres of water everyday. We have our roots in Vidharba and have seen severe water-scarcity. In our travels abroad, we saw how much people respect water. Unfortunately, most car users here don’t know that alternate, affordable and convenient ways are available now,” he says.
People are willing to pay a little extra if it means that their car is well-maintained, revealed Varun Jadhav, who Co-Founded ‘SwachhCar’ with three friends in June last year. The company not only offers multiple ‘spa’ packages for the car, but has also tied up with garages for maintenance and repairs of original parts, besides roadside assistance services. “In India, we have not even touched the tip of the market yet. Our packages range from Rs150-5,000,” he said.
Source: The Times of India
