By Jude Katende

We are in the rain season and that means once in a while our cars are going to get dirty. When they are dirty we have to get them washed. For some reason many motorists like visiting washing bays yet car washing done by yourself is a pretty easy thing to do. I have done it so many times, in fact, I enjoy it especially if you own a small car. I tune on my music and clean all the areas in and out but either some people don’t have this time, are lazy or just want someone else to wash their cars.

There are so many washing bays in Uganda but some don’t have honest cleaners. So when you visit a washing bay make sure that you are either going to wait nearby as your car is being washed or don’t leave items in your car. Talking about leaving items in your car may be a tall order because you may never know which item is going to tempt a cleaner to steal.

 Items such as music CDs and money are easy to carry with you but tools such as jacks or spanners are supposed to be left in the car. That means don’t stay away long unless you really trust the washing bay guys because you know them well or you are their regular client. Otherwise many people have lost spare tyres, spanners and jacks at washing bays.

You cannot predict when your tyres will run flat and when you check for the spare and the necessary tools to use and you can’t see them! Some people have lost cash others have lost their music CDs and other items left in their cars at washing bays. Some people use their cars as offices. So they have some important items such as laptops in their cars.

It is such items that tempt some washing bay guys into stealing. And not so many people want to wait at bays even if some bays have restaurants and bars where you can wait from. Some people even trust these guys to the extent of giving them keys to drive their cars to the bay and back to the owner’s work place.

The most important thing is don’t tempt these washers. Make sure your interior is empty. And if you go to pick your car, check to see whether the spare tyre, jack and spanner among other tools are still intact. The other thing you need to know is that not all bays have knowledgeable washers. Knowledgeable in the sense that some washers use jet sprays to clean engines yet some engines are so delicate.

There are a number of modern car engines that often fail to start if water gained contact with them. If the alternator is left wet, the engine won’t start. The electrical systems in these modern engines don’t need to be wet at all.

You need to use a moist piece of cloth to clean them but some washing bays just spray the engines with water and damage the engines. There have also been many incidents in which these guys locally called Kanabe do drive off the client’s car to universities to impress female students or date them pausing with these cars as theirs.

 Some who are learners at driving have end up crashing client’s cars or getting them dented. I have also heard about some Kanabes who siphon fuel from client’s cars. I don’t know how they do it, but just know that this bad behavior does happen at some washing bays.

Then there are Kanabes who in case you left them with keys, will duplicate them and then connive with thieves to steal your car. Many people have lost their cars to thieves after their keys have been duplicated with the help of the Kanabes. These are things you need to watch out for whenever you take your car at a washing bay, or wash it yourself it isn’t painstaking work.