There was a time when exterior cleaning perks at every vacuum island were a com-petitive advantage. Buckets with soap, bug brushes, long-handled scrubbers, all the tools a customer could want to prep their car before it hit the tunnel.
Operators who invested in those stations were saying something about how they ran their business: we care enough to give you the extras. For the customers being served at the time, that message landed exactly as intended.
Early adopters of express wash memberships were a different breed of customer. Many were car enthusiasts, they liked pre-washing their vehicles, working the hood and bumper before sending it through. They wanted ownership of the process, and those perks gave it to them.
Those extras weren’t unnecessary. They were part of why those customers chose a wash. That segment appreciated the hands-on involvement. Many of them had been hand-washing at home for years and viewed express membership as a faster version of what they were already doing, not a replacement.
Moving Target
The market has moved, and the meaning of those perks has moved with it. Modern membership customers wash more frequently, demand clean, dry, and shiny, and expect the wash to deliver it.
They’ve embraced the membership model because it simplifies their life, not because they want to participate in the process. The buckets didn’t change. The customer did. What once communicated care began communicating something no operator ever intended.
I’ve seen online reviews of washes still running exterior prep stations, where customers write that the only reason the soap and brushes are out there is that the wash doesn’t clean the car properly. The operators behind those washes are delivering a perfectly clean vehicle. The perks were always a bonus, never a crutch.
But if one customer with the wrong impression posts a review, that perception can spread quickly across every platform.
The perk you offered as a sign of quality becomes the evidence someone uses to question it.
A Clean Foundation
None of this matters if the wash isn’t performing. Clean, dry, shiny, every car, every time. That’s the foundation, and it’s non-negotiable. The good news is that today’s equipment and chemistry make that standard achievable for any operator willing to invest.
Advancements in technology, from smarter controls to more precise chemical application, mean the tunnel can deliver consistent results at volume without the variability that once kept owners up at night. The perks conversation only begins once that foundation is solid.
The smarter move is to migrate perks, not eliminate them. Scale exterior prep back to one station per bank of vacuum producers for the customer who still wants self-serve prep.
Shift the investment to where today’s customer notices value: after the wash, standing next to their car. Free towels in abundance. Window cleaner. All-purpose cleaner. Air fresheners. Compressed air guns. The focus moves from prepping the exterior before the wash to perfecting the interior after it.
Go The Extra Mile
Savvy operators are going even further. Tire pressure check and fill stations. Windshield wiper fluid refill stations. Multiple carpet mat cleaners. Rubber mat cleaning stations alongside them.
None of these are flashy. They’re practical. They solve problems customers care about the moment they step out of their vehicle, and they do it without requiring anyone to question whether the wash did its job.
The best operators extend the experience beyond the wash itself. I’ve seen washes offer a branded baseball cap to every ceramic membership customer, current and new. That’s not a traditional perk. It’s a belonging signal. Customers wear your brand because they’re proud of the relationship.
A cap sitting on someone’s dashboard or hanging on a hook at home keeps the wash in their life between visits. It tells you something when a customer is willing to advertise your business for free. That’s not a giveaway. That’s earned loyalty made visible.
People Matter
Amenities matter, but so does how customers feel when they’re on your property. Train your team to be attentive. Teach them how to anticipate a customer reaching for a towel or looking for a mat cleaner.
Consistency counts. Towels must be stocked, clean, folded, and organized. Spray bottles must be filled. The moment a customer finds an empty towel bin or a dry spray bottle, the perk stops being a perk. It becomes a disappointment.
The best perks fall flat if human interaction and follow-through don’t match. A vacuum island stocked with every cleaning product on the market means much less if your staff walks past a customer struggling with a floor mat.
The Competitive Ladder
“Equal to” keeps you in the game. But “better than” earns you market share.
Wash quality is one rung, and it must come first. Being the best experience, on the terms your customers find most valuable, is the rung above it. Those terms change as your market matures.
What customers valued five years ago isn’t what they value today, and operators who keep investing in yesterday’s definition of service are competing on terms that no longer apply.
The wash wins when the customer feels they’ve won. Those buckets and brushes served their era well. The operators who offered them weren’t wrong. But, the market evolved around them.
Match your experience to the expectations in your market right now, not the market you opened in, and you’re not just competing. You’re the wash people talk about for the right reasons.
Good luck and good washing.
Joining the company in 2000, Anthony Analetto serves as the president of Sonny’s CarWash Equipment Division. In this role, Anthony leads the innovation of new products to drive client success and oversees all operations, engineering, and supply chain management. Washing cars for more than 30 years, Anthony was the director of operations for a 74-location national car wash chain prior to joining the company.