Winter season is high season' in the car-cleaning business
MATAMORAS - For most businesses, the winter season is slow and sluggish; that time of year when businesses struggle through, longing for spring when customers are out and about and ready to shop. Not so for the Westfall Car Wash. Winter brings more cars through its bays in these cold months than other times through the year. “There are a lot of loyal customers out there in all kinds of weather they just want their cars clean,” said owner Michael Hunt. Once some snow covers the ground and the roads are sanded and salted, motorists come by the droves to get the debris off their car, Hunt said. This is especially true since these road additives may corrode and deteriorate a vehicle. Lines can stretch a half dozen or more cars in length for each of the 6 bays. In the two automated bays, the undercarriage of a car is also cleaned - a nice feature that a garden hose normally can’t compete with. “It’s nice to go through the automated bay, turn up the radio, sip the coffee, and let the machine do the work,” Hunt said. The Westfall Car Wash opened in Jan., 2001 and has been an interesting business venture ever since for Hunt, who says he definitely enjoys it. Day-to-day operations usually go smooth, he says, but then there are those times when everything is crazy. Such was the case just last month. Hunt said the car wash had boiler trouble, lines froze, and a well pump broke. Several bays closed as a result. He had to put in a second well, which was something he said he had always intended to do. “The last thing I want is to inconvenience my customers,” he said. Despite the freezing weather, all the repairs went as planned. Usually, when something breaks down in the car wash, repairs are made within 36 hours. But as he learned in the past six years, “everything comes and goes in spurts even during the busiest and coldest time of year.” Even during our interview, Hunt was watching two people in the manual bays cleaning their cars in snowy and freezing weather. On Tuesday, Sean Donlon, was one of these customers. The water nearly froze instantly when he finished washing his car. His explanation for why was he out in the 15-degree weather is a great example why the winter season, despite its obstacles, remains Hunt’s busiest time of year “My wife told me she wanted the car clean,” he said.