keithstoeckeler:

i had to get my oil changed today. pulled up google maps and saw there was a place a few lights down on the street i live on. i was confused when pulling up to the place, because it looked like a car wash. and then i noticed a sign for oil changes. i pulled in and asked the attendant where i needed to go to get my oil changed, and he told me a full service car wash was included in the price of an oil change so i needed to pull up to the car wash line and an employee would then take it to get the oil changed. i left the car to be vacuumed and then put onto the car wash rollers, and i went inside. “inside” was a full convenience store and you had to walk through it. very good thinking as the place contained probably twenty or so people, and all but two or three had some sort of food or drink in their hand. i walked around, passed the cashiers, and saw this:





they are squirt guns that shoot water out during the rinse cycle and allow you to squirt the cars on their way out. never seen anything like this before and can’t believe i haven’t because it’s very fun. as i watched my car go through the wash, and promptly be driven to the drying station where four people went over my car meticulously, i watched the shoe shine guy at work - they have a shoe shine station inside. at the end of each drying station, a large sign over head lights up the words “vehicle ready”. sure beats a guy throwing his hand up in the air to signify the vehicle being done. my car was then taken to the oil change bays, around the corner, which was on the other side of the squirt guns and had windows so i could watch them change my oil. after standing and watching them for a few minutes, i thought i might have looked overbearing, so i decided to take a seat. when i sat down, i noticed this:



live camera feeds from the oil change bays. my car was in bay 1, and you can see the engine of my car on the screen. so you can watch them do everything and erase the suspicion of car mechanics taking you for a ride by selling you things your car didn’t need. included in the oil change was all fluid top-offs and they put air in all of my tires. needless to say i was quite happy with the service, especially considering they did a great job washing my car, and it was free because i got my oil changed. as i got into my car, i noticed a copy of today’s newspaper in the passenger seat. very well done.

a lot of businesses throw around the word “full service” and have no conception of what full service really is. this place went above and beyond any car wash place i have ever been to, and i’m glad it’s close as i’ll be back. it’s the little things that count. the personality of the people, making waiting fun (squirt guns) and making an impression, if only to leave a complimentary copy of the day’s newspaper as a takeaway. a newspaper is valued at seventy-five cents, but the impression it made on me was far greater.