For everyone who lives near BV, there is no shortage of options when it comes to getting a good car wash. With both GO Car Wash and Charlie’s Car Wash located on Metcalf, many BV students are even employed by both businesses. Junior Brett Jones and senior Kevi Dhakal are two of such people.

Dhakal, who works at Go, chose the car wash for its proximity and $16 hourly pay. One benefit of him working at Go is the opportunity to keep his car clean for no cost.

“I get a free [wash] twice every week,” Dhakal said. “If I didn’t have it [free], I wouldn’t.”

Running a car wash requires employees who each perform very different duties. Jones, a Charlie’s employee, highlights the most crucial tasks performed by the workers.

“There are multiple positions at my job, basically three main ones,” Jones said. “There’s the people who work in the bay, cashier[s] and my position, which is prep.”

Working at a car wash may pay well, but the job is often repetitive.

“They don’t let me use AirPods — I can’t talk to anybody,” Dhakal said. “I’m stuck in the tunnel. I’ve got to power wash the whole thing after the end of the day. I spray all the cars.”

Jones, whose position is similar, frames his work in an optimistic light.

“I get to stand in the tunnel with a pressure washer and spray cars for eight hours,” he said.

Despite the monotony of the job, Dhakal and Jones have had some interesting experiences at work.

“One time, a truck was trying to come through the tunnel, and we had to stop it because on the cameras, one of our managers had seen there was someone laying in the truck bed in a bathing suit,” Jones said. “We couldn’t let them do that, so we had to make them get out.”

Dhakal frequently sees one returning customer at Go with a uniquely decorated vehicle.

“This one old guy comes by with anime pictures all over his car,” he said. “I always thought that was cool.”

All kinds of cars come through the wash, and every once in a while, Dhakal sees Corvettes and Cybertrucks at Go, while Jones witnesses other expensive vehicles drive through at Charlie’s.

“I have seen a $400,000 Rolls Royce go through, and I’ve also had a limo,” Jones said. “It spent five minutes trying to get around the corner.”

With both car washes being within a mile of each other, each must find a way to retain customers.

Go provides customers with free access to supplies to clean their car’s interior on their own, and Charlie’s employees do a full interior cleaning for $25. Both businesses set a $10 price for a basic wash, so the real question is, which one will give cars the best wash?

No matter what customers are paying at other places, Dhakal knows he will “get them right” at Go.

Jones disagrees, citing the benefits of going to Charlie’s.

“Our car wash is genuinely better because I knew a guy who worked at Go, and they only have one person in prep,” Jones said. “We usually have three, and we have a lot more machines and better staff. Our team is really good at actually cleaning the car.”

Even though the work is tedious, Jones enjoys it nonetheless.

“The longer you work there, the easier the work gets. I don’t think it’s a bad place,” Jones said. “All of my managers are really nice, and my co-workers are great too.”