Why a Seven-Seater Costs the Same as a Hatchback
Updated: 3 days ago
Ring around for a car clean on the Central Coast and you'll usually get the same answer: one price for a small car, a bit more for a sedan, more again for a 4WD or a seven-seater. Some places add a surcharge on top if the car turns up really dirty. So the number you got on the phone isn't actually the number you pay.
Mine's simpler than that. Three prices, and that's the lot.
$45 — Exterior clean
$80 — Full clean, inside and out
$120 — Premium clean
A Yaris pays the same as a Prado. A ute pays the same as a hatch. Doesn't matter if you've got seven seats, a roof rack, or three kids' worth of chip crumbs down the back — the price on the list is the price you pay.
Why I do it that way
Two reasons, and neither of them is me being generous.
The first is that size-based pricing turns a simple decision into a maths problem. You ring up wanting your car cleaned and end up trying to work out whether a Territory counts as a medium SUV or a large one, and whether that's the $150 tier or the $190 tier. Plenty of people just give up and leave the car dirty.
The second is that I'd rather you knew the number before you got here. Nothing kills trust faster than a quote going up when you arrive. If I said $80 on the phone, it's $80 when you pick it up.
Does a big 4WD take me longer than a hatch? Yeah, sometimes. That's my problem, not yours. It averages out across a week.
What no hidden costs actually means here
Worth being specific, because a lot of places say it and then hide an asterisk somewhere.
No size loading — every vehicle is the same price.
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.
$80 Full clean — 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 — everything in the full clean, plus wax on the paint, 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
Flat pricing doesn't mean 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, or just send me a message and I'll find you a time.
$45, $80 or $120. Whatever you drive.
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