Yes, the days of the gas station attendant pumping your gas, checking your oil and other vital fluids, and offering to change your windshield wipers are long gone. The last full-service station that I saw was during my 1996 trek down to Myrtle Beach, at an old-fashioned Mobil gas station on some out-of-the-way road somewhere.
But what did I see today while driving in Taylor? A new gas station price display. There's a price for "regular with car wash" and "regular without car wash"!
Sorry if I may seem naive, but I couldn't believe this. Believe it or not, it would cost you more at the pump to NOT have a car wash. I wonder if they get you for the difference once you do enter the car wash... many of those auto-washes charge you $3.00 or more for just the basic wash: no wax, no underbody treatment, nothing.
How long will this latest breakdown in prices last? Mobil was the first station to offer cheaper gas if you paid cash, versus using a credit card (even theirs). This lasted, I believe, three years with other stations joining in. What happens three years later? Signs displayed all over the place: "Cash or credit, same low price."
Shouldn't the opposite be true at the BP gas station I'm referring to, especially with our natural resources dwindling? With lake levels at record lows, and the never-say-die rumor that our water would have to be pumped to parched areas of the nation? Communities insitute water restrictions or outright bans on summertime usage during hot weather. Why encourage car washes under these conditions just to make gas a few cents cheaper?
But you never know. With gas prices as they are, people may be tempted to see past the fine print and save a few pennies for a clean car.
I just want a car that holds itself together, clean or not.
