Saving on car washes with a fuel purchase
A qualifying fuel purchase takes $2 off any of the three Fast Lane washes. The more useful effect is that it lets you move up a package for the price of the one below it.
The prices with and without fuel
Each wash has two prices on the menu. The discount is the same $2 on every package.
- Quick Wash: $12.99, or $10.99 with a qualifying fuel purchase
- Full Wash: $14.99, or $12.99 with fuel
- Luxury Wash: $16.99, or $14.99 with fuel
The move-up effect
Because each step up the menu also costs $2, the fuel discount lines the packages up neatly. A Full Wash with fuel costs exactly what a Quick Wash costs without it. A Luxury Wash with fuel costs the same as a Full Wash without.
That is the most practical way to use it. In winter, someone who would normally pay $12.99 for a Quick Wash can get the under-car spray for the same money by washing on a fill-up day. In proportion, the discount is largest on the Quick Wash, a little over 15 percent, and about 12 percent on the Luxury Wash.
What counts as qualifying
The menu says a qualifying fuel purchase, and the details of what qualifies are worth checking when you pay or on the posted signs rather than assuming. If you only need a small top-up, ask first rather than finding out at payment.
It is also worth checking the receipt before you drive round to the bay. If the wash shows at the regular price when you expected the fuel price, it is far easier to sort out when you pay than after the car has been through.
PC Optimum points
If you collect PC Optimum, you can pay for a wash with points instead: the menu lists every wash as redeemable for 10,000 points. Ask when you pay how to redeem them, so you know before the car goes through.
Tie the wash to the fill-up
The other saving is time. Most people fill up every week or two, which is close to how often the car should be washed through a London winter. Pairing the two means one stop and no separate trip to remember, which is what makes a winter wash routine actually stick.
It also helps with timing. Washing right after a storm, while the roads are still wet and salty, just puts a new coat of brine on the car within a few kilometres. Waiting until the roads dry, then washing at your next fill-up, gets you a clean car that stays clean for longer.
Fast Lane is open 24 hours, so a fill-up on the way home from a late shift or before an early drive still lines up with a wash.
A note on not overspending
A discount is only a saving if you would have bought the thing anyway. If the car only has summer dust on it, a Quick Wash with fuel at $10.99 is the right answer, and taking the Luxury Wash because it is now $14.99 is still spending $4 more than the car needed.
In short: On fill-up days in winter, use the $2 fuel discount to get the under-car spray for the same price as a basic wash.
