Those that run fleets of vehicles (in a work sense).......

[Kiltox]

I assume there will be people on here involved in fleet management and such - and I don't mean a few PH cars on the drive at home

Company fleets - pool cars, hire cars and such.

I've been thinking about the way these vehicles tend to be treated in terms of their cleanliness - the fleet of cars in the car park at the building I'm working at now get a quick wash and hoover every week by a contractor but they've never got any kind of protection (ie wax etc) on them and as such are covered in tar and other deposits which don't shift when the guys wash them. Not just that, number plates are delaminating, black plastic trim is going a bit grey, etc. All stuff that makes the cars look scruffy and that's not great considering they're all around 12 months old.

Now for most companies the fleet is a mobile advert for your business so should be kept in good order in order to make a good impression - there's a few of these cars I feel are not doing so.

Do you think there is a market for a business that will give fleet cars a *proper* going over once every 3-6 months, applying paintwork/interior protection and ensuring that they always look their best even after just a quick jet wash every week? I'm not talking about uber detailing with £4000 wax, just sensibly priced cleaning/protection that'll cost more than your typical jet wash job but not so much that it'd hurt to get it done 2-4 times a year.

Advantages are clearly a better corporate image as well as improved residual value of the cars.

Just thinking out loud really - one of those people that should keep a notepad beside his bed

[MJK 24]

Not sure there's much of a market for such services on what are likely to be leased vehicles in the middle of a recession.

[Kiltox]

MJK 24 said:

Not sure there's much of a market for such services on what are likely to be leased vehicles in the middle of a recession.

Fair point, and the biggest obstacle without a doubt, however surely lease vehicles are good candidates for unreasonable charges at the end of term if they're returned in a state?

[stabbed rat]

Kiltox said:

Fair point, and the biggest obstacle without a doubt, however surely lease vehicles are good candidates for unreasonable charges at the end of term if they're returned in a state?

I think that it would come down to fair wear and tear, so its doubtful any charges would be incurred.

[busta]

Sounds like your standard of what 'clean' is is quite high, which is great if cleaning cars is your thing, but to most people the difference between clean and tidy (e.g. not muddy and not falling to bits) and a really shiny isn't worth the hassle. And in 18 months they'll get a shiny new car anyway.

[Kiltox]

busta said:

Sounds like your standard of what 'clean' is is quite high, which is great if cleaning cars is your thing, but to most people the difference between clean and tidy (e.g. not muddy and not falling to bits) and a really shiny isn't worth the hassle. And in 18 months they'll get a shiny new car anyway.

Most likely

• Not talking about company cars that your sales rep drives here, talking about stuff that carries a company logo and is therefore a mobile advert. Ours are on 36+ month leases.

[Kiltox]

This another idea to confine to the "that's a daft idea" book rather than the "this time next year......." one then?

[HBFS]

I saw dirt around the filler cap on a British Gas vehicle a month back, no way I'm going to use their services now.

[Kiltox]

[edc]

Remember too that most of these vehicles will be field based and the employees out doing chargeable work or meeting targets. Your proposal to charge jet wash price will bankrupt you as you won't get the volume.

[Kiltox]

I wish I knew what kind of money the guys charge that wash our cars every week at the moment....

[HBFS]

You may need to wash them offside also...

My ex works for a solicitors firm, where quite a few partners where based and provided with nice Rangies, Mercs etc.
They employed a man running a local business to wash the cars on-site, but later found out that this was slightly illegal as the contaminated water was being drained into council/ public drains!

"Control surface water run-off

Surface water run-off from car parks can cause erosion, pollution and even localised flooding. Run-off may contain pollutants such as:
oil and fuel
hydraulic fluids
suspended solids
grease
antifreeze.

You can discharge surface water run-off to surface water drains or watercourses, without a consent or agreement from your water and sewerage company or authority, as long as it is not contaminated. If you want to discharge contaminated water to watercourses you must first have permission from your environmental regulator.

If you have a small car park, and you only use it for parking cars, you can discharge surface water run-off directly. However, if you have a larger car park, you should remove oil, grease, petrol and diesel from run-off by passing it through an oil separator before you discharge it. You should also use an oil separator for any run-off from areas used for more polluting activities, such as vehicle servicing."

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/netregs/busin...

[Kiltox]

Interesting - the cars are washed on site here in the (reasonably small) car park and the water drains into the drains in the car park, so I assume that's legal?

[HBFS]

Kiltox said:

Interesting - the cars are washed on site here in the (reasonably small) car park and the water drains into the drains in the car park, so I assume that's legal?

This is the same situ my ex had at work.
I was very surprised to hear that they shouldn't have been doing it.
Apparently the valetor said he had absolutely no idea, but he didn't disagree when they let him go.

[Kiltox]

HBFS said:

This is the same situ my ex had at work.
I was very surprised to hear that they shouldn't have been doing it.
Apparently the valetor said he had absolutely no idea, but he didn't disagree when they let him go.

This being a Council site I wonder if they are aware

[bigdods]

Kiltox said:

Interesting - the cars are washed on site here in the (reasonably small) car park and the water drains into the drains in the car park, so I assume that's legal?

Probably not. The small local garage I use (unit on in estate, 2 car lifts 4 employees) used to wash cas after servicing. The council told him to stop or he would be in court as dirt from cars is toxic waste (or something like that) and washing was not allowed unles he installed a sump for the water, filters etc. IIRC he now pays a local guy who runs a mobile cleaning business to come round once a day, drive the cars 100 yds down the road to wash them then drive them back.

Im not 100% certain but I think its also technically illegal to wash your car at home.

[Kiltox]

bigdods said:

Probably not. The small local garage I use (unit on in estate, 2 car lifts 4 employees) used to wash cas after servicing. The council told him to stop or he would be in court as dirt from cars is toxic waste (or something like that) and washing was not allowed unles he installed a sump for the water, filters etc. IIRC he now pays a local guy who runs a mobile cleaning business to come round once a day, drive the cars 100 yds down the road to wash them then drive them back.

Im not 100% certain but I think its also technically illegal to wash your car at home.

Even worse that I work for a Council then?