Car Wash and Interior Detailing, Two Popular Services for This Festive Season

Many maintenance shops have noticed an overload situation coming up to Tet holiday. Photo: Truong Hieu

As Tet Nguyen Dan (Lunar New Year) approaches, maintenance and refurbishment services are attracting the attention of consumers. From the morning of January 29 until Tet holiday, many auto maintenance and refurbishment shops are crowded with customers coming and going, with employees and shop owners constantly working from morning until late evening, unable to meet the demand for a large number of vehicles.

Car wash and interior cleaning attract customers

Mr. Hoang Thang (Ho Chi Minh City), owner of an auto maintenance shop in District 5, said that the shop started accepting scheduled appointments from 7 a.m., but it was still overwhelmed.

The shop is divided into different areas to meet the requirements of specific maintenance and refurbishment categories. According to Mr. Thang, deep interior cleaning and basic car wash services are the most chosen ones during this Tet holiday.

“The shop is divided into separate areas to ensure that all steps are meticulously completed. During this Tet season, the interior cleaning area is the busiest because most people want their cars to be clean to welcome the new year,” added Mr. Thang.

Cars from economical to luxury ones are all waiting to be serviced in front of the shops. Photo: NVCC

Due to the overload situation at the end of the year, Mr. Thang’s shop only accepts scheduled appointments at least one day in advance and refuses walk-in customers. According to Mr. Thang, auto maintenance services require a lot of time to complete, so accepting walk-in customers could affect the maintenance time for other vehicles.

“The shop will only accept maintenance and refurbishment requests from customers who have already scheduled appointments. We will not accept walk-in customers from February 2nd to 6th, equivalent to the 24th to 27th day of the lunar month. The shop will start accepting walk-in customers after the 28th day of the lunar month to assist vehicle owners who are still unable to get their vehicles maintained in the days leading up to Tet,” Mr. Thang shared with Tri Thuc – Znews.

Ms. Huyen, the owner of the BonBon car wash system (Thu Duc City), also shared the changes in the maintenance and refurbishment habits of vehicle owners this Tet holiday. The number of customers in the last days of the year still increases significantly compared to normal days. Each branch of the maintenance system receives 25-30 vehicles per day from morning until 6 p.m.

Car wash and interior cleaning services attract a large number of customers. Photo: Dan Thanh.

However, the demand for car modification and changing car colors has decreased significantly, making way for maintenance and basic cleaning services.

Ms. Huyen said that the past year, 2022, was a difficult period for many families, so many of them chose to tighten their budgets. Therefore, car maintenance services that offer relatively affordable and yet still ensure cleanliness have become more popular.

The prices for car wash packages and detailed cleaning services range from 150,000 to 200,000 VND, not including additional services. These services account for over 70% of the shop’s revenue during the Tet holiday. Interior cleaning services with additional coating cost about 1-1.5 million VND and are also popular choices for customers who are planning to travel or return to their hometown for Tet.

“This year, the number of customers choosing car beauty services such as car wrapping has decreased significantly compared to previous years. This is easy to understand because after a year of economic fluctuations, customers will choose services that are less costly and focus only on necessary services,” Ms. Huyen said.

Less popular expensive services

According to Ms. Huyen, compared to previous years, the demand for colored wrap or window tinting has also decreased significantly due to the impact of registration regulations and the economic situation. However, window tinting services still attract a separate group of customers, especially during the New Year period.

The majority of customers choosing window tinting services are regular customers of the shop, belonging to the middle class and scheduling appointments 1-2 weeks in advance.

“Customers who want full maintenance or advanced services with bills ranging from 2-3 million VND often schedule appointments a few weeks in advance and come to the shop in the last few days, around the 27th – 28th day of the lunar month, to get their cars wrapped or window tinted. However, this group of customers is not too large and usually consists of customers from previous years,” Ms. Huyen added.

Window tinting is still a popular choice during the Tet period. Photo: Vinh Phuc.

According to observations from reporters, shops specializing in decorative wrap and window tinting services are still quite crowded in the last days of the year. Instead of completely changing the color of the whole car, customers prefer decorating with decals or making small changes to certain details.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Dong (Ho Chi Minh City) recently added decorative patterns to his family’s Kia Seltos at a familiar shop on Nguyen Chi Thanh Street (District 5, Ho Chi Minh City). Unlike previous years, he chose simple patterns for Tet decorations to save costs instead of applying window tinting and new colors to the car.

“Every year, I would spend nearly 10 million VND to maintain and modify my car with various films. This year, I chose simple decorations like these to have a festive atmosphere and it’s also much cheaper,” Mr. Dong added.

The demand for window tinting also increases during the days leading up to Tet due to the strong growth in the number of customers buying new cars during this period. According to Mr. Tien Minh (Ho Chi Minh City), owner of an auto maintenance shop in Binh Thanh District, more than 80% of the customers choosing window tinting services in the days before Tet are new car owners who need to prepare their vehicles properly for the new year.

“Most new car owners during this period prefer window tinting to protect their cars for long journeys during Tet. This is also a group of customers that has sharply increased in the first month of this year,” Mr. Minh added.