Why Bigger Cars Cost $20 More (and the $45 Outside Doesn't)
Updated: Oct 26
Up until October, every car cost the same with me. A little hatch and a big Prado were both $80 for the full clean. That's changed, and I'd rather explain it straight up than have you find out halfway through booking.
Here's where the prices sit now:
$45 — Exterior clean, any car
$80 — Full clean, inside and out ($100 for 7-seaters, 4WDs and utes)
$120 — Premium clean ($140 for 7-seaters, 4WDs and utes)
So the outside-only is still the same whatever you drive. It's only the full and the premium that go up $20 on the big ones.
Why the big ones cost more
It comes down to time. A seven-seater has a whole extra row of seats to move, vacuum under and wipe down. A 4WD or a ute has more carpet, more cabin and usually a fair bit more dirt in it. Inside, a big car takes me a lot longer than a hatch, and for months I was just wearing that.
The outside doesn't change nearly as much, which is why the $45 exterior clean stays the same for every car.
Which cars count as big
7- and 8-seaters — Kluger, Carnival, Tarago and the like
4WDs — Prado, LandCruiser, Patrol, Everest
Utes — Hilux, Ranger, Triton, D-Max, Navara
Mid-size SUVs like a RAV4, CX-5, Tucson, Sportage or Forester are the normal $80 or $120. Some cars like the X-Trail and Outlander come as a 5-seater or a 7-seater, so it depends which one you've got. Not sure? Message me the make and model and I'll tell you before you book.
I don't do vans though, just cars.
What no hidden costs actually means here
Worth being specific, because a lot of places say it and then hide an asterisk somewhere.
The price you see when you book is the price you pay — the big-car prices sit right next to the normal ones.
No heavy-soiling surcharge — a genuinely filthy car is still the list price.
No add-ons sprung on you at drop-off — I don't upsell.
No call-out fee — you bring the car to me at Bateau Bay, so there's nothing to charge for.
What's in each clean
$45 Exterior — hand wash, wheels and tyres, exterior windows, towel dried. About 45 minutes. Same price for any car.
$80 Full clean ($100 for 7-seaters, 4WDs and utes) — everything in the exterior clean, plus the inside: mats out, every seat moved forward and vacuumed right underneath, seats wiped down, dash and console wiped down. About an hour and a quarter.
$120 Premium ($140 for 7-seaters, 4WDs and utes) — everything in the full clean, plus Terminator degreaser through the wheels and tyres, Magic Plastiq on the door sills, trims and jambs. About an hour and three quarters.
Where the honest limit sits
A clean isn't magic. If a car's been sitting a year with mould through it, or the paint's already oxidised, a clean is a clean — it'll come up a long way better than it went in, but it isn't a full restoration and I'm not going to pretend otherwise. The price still doesn't change. I'll just be straight with you about what the result is going to look like before I start.
How to book it
Drop-off only, from Bateau Bay on the Central Coast. Most people drop the car off and walk down to Bateau Bay Square — it's about ten minutes — or you're welcome to wait here, no dramas either way. I don't run people around, so sort your way there and back before you come.
Book online at lawsonscarcleaning.com and pick the "7-seater, 4WD or ute" option if that's what you drive, or just send me a message and I'll find you a time.
$45 outside for any car. $80 or $120 inside and out, or $100 or $140 for the big ones.
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