Car wash service debuts at University Park March 30


Three-month pilot program will offer car wash and auto detailing services Monday through Friday in the Gold Garage.

By Karen Cochrane

It’s a multi-tasker’s dream: Beginning March 30, members of the university community can get their cars washed and waxed at University Park while they’re teaching, working or attending class.

The pilot program is the latest initiative from FIU Parking and Transportation, the entity that brought the much-talked-about valet service to University Park.

While the car wash and auto detailing service will be available in the Gold Garage only for the next three months, Parking and Transportation Executive Director Bill Foster said the university would offer the service at other university locations as demand dictates.

“We’ve got garages and other lots that are constantly full,” said Foster. “There’s lots of traffic in and out of them all day. We’re going to give it a shot and see what happens.”

It’s as simple as driving up and dropping off your keys to one of the A.C.C. Car Wash Auto Detailing attendants. Service will be available Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. For the duration of the pilot program – March 30-June 30 – the accepted form of payment will be cash.

Cars will be washed on the ground floor of the Gold Garage. Once the attendants are finished with a car, they will park in a convenient area that has been set aside for car wash customers.

Prices begin at $15 for a regular wash/vacuum for golf carts, compacts, mid-size cars and sedans and top out at $125 for full detailing of a truck, SUV or minivan. (It’s $20 for a regular wash/vacuum of trucks, SUVs and minivans.) Additional services will include full-carpet shampoos, cleaning of individual mats, a seats shampoo and an engine wash.

“Based upon the results of a focus group convened by the university,” said Foster, “I would expect this to be a popular service.”