What does a Car Washer do?
A car washer is responsible for cleaning and polishing cars, ensuring efficiency and customer satisfaction. Their tasks typically include vacuuming the interior parts such as seats and floors, discarding the trash, cleaning the windows and windshield from the inside and outside, applying soap solution to the car's exterior, scraping off dirt, and applying wax. They may also answer customer inquiries, provide cost estimates, and assist them as needed. Moreover, a car washer typically works in a team setting, which requires an active communication line for a smooth and efficient workflow.
Car washer responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real car washer resumes:
- Manage to sweep and mop floor; clean bathroom and empty trash and dryer lint traps.
- Change car oil and filters, wash and take care of the overall cleanliness of the client's cars.
- Maintain the cleanliness of the showroom floor, windows, offices, bathrooms, and other parts of the facilities.
- Operate POS register, perform opening/closing operations
- Clean and pre-soak machines before use.
Car washer skills and personality traits
We calculated that 36% of Car Washers are proficient in Clean Vehicle, Customer Satisfaction, and Cleanliness. They’re also known for soft skills such as Customer-service skills, Listening skills, and Physical strength.
We break down the percentage of Car Washers that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Clean Vehicle, 36%
Clean vehicle external area by hand, by brush and by operating washing equipment.
- Customer Satisfaction, 14%
Maintained sales and ensured customer satisfaction.
- Cleanliness, 13%
Maintain the cleanliness of staff, environment and organization/ Testing Merchandise in acids.
- Vehicle Exterior, 6%
Clean door trims and hinges wash and polish vehicle exteriors, drive vehicles through automatic car washes.
- Customer Vehicles, 5%
Moved customer vehicles and lot vehicles with care and precision.
- Rental Cars, 4%
Wash cars Drive customers to their destinations Drive rental cars to different enterprise locations
Common skills that a car washer uses to do their job include "clean vehicle," "customer satisfaction," and "cleanliness." You can find details on the most important car washer responsibilities below.
Customer-service skills. The most essential soft skill for a car washer to carry out their responsibilities is customer-service skills. This skill is important for the role because "hand laborers and material movers who work with the public, such as grocery baggers or carwash attendants, must be pleasant and courteous to customers." Additionally, a car washer resume shows how their duties depend on customer-service skills: "maintain store cleanliness provide customer service attention to the fine details work in a quick and timely manner but not sacrificing quality"
Listening skills. Another essential skill to perform car washer duties is listening skills. Car washers responsibilities require that "hand laborers and material movers follow instructions that a supervisor gives them." Car washers also use listening skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "received compliments from my manager on my work ethics skills used leadership teamwork courtesy effective communication effective listening"
Physical strength. This is an important skill for car washers to perform their duties. For an example of how car washer responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "some hand laborers and material movers must be able to lift and carry heavy objects." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a car washer: "keep buses in a great physical appearance. ".
The three companies that hire the most car washers are:
- Enterprise Holdings210 car washers jobs
- Penske Automotive Group10 car washers jobs
- Asbury Automotive Group8 car washers jobs
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Compare different car washers
Car washer vs. Service porter
Typically working in car dealerships, a service porter is in charge of performing a variety of tasks to maintain smooth operations. They maintain vehicles in good condition by conducting regular maintenance checks and repairs, refilling gas tanks, inspecting tires and batteries, and cleaning the interior and exterior of cars. There are also instances where they perform clerical support tasks such as answering calls and correspondence, preparing and processing documents, and monitoring the inventory. Moreover, a service porter may also assist potential buyers and keep them company during test drives.
There are some key differences in the responsibilities of each position. For example, car washer responsibilities require skills like "clean vehicle," "vehicle exterior," "rental cars," and "clean windows." Meanwhile a typical service porter has skills in areas such as "service drive," "general cleanup," "honda," and "tire pressure." This difference in skills reveals the differences in what each career does.
Service porters tend to make the most money working in the real estate industry, where they earn an average salary of $28,989. In contrast, car washers make the biggest average salary, $29,989, in the transportation industry.service porters tend to reach similar levels of education than car washers. In fact, service porters are 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% more likely to have a Doctoral Degree.Car washer vs. Automotive detailer
An automotive detailer typically works at car shops and dealerships, where they primarily focus on the upkeep of a car's interior and exterior. Their responsibilities revolve around understanding the clients' needs and preferences, cleaning the vehicles according to protocols and client requests, scraping off dirt, coordinating with paint technicians and mechanics, operating devices and machinery such as vacuums and buffers, and adhering to timelines and budgets. Moreover, an automotive detailer also monitors the inventory of supplies and handles calls and correspondence.
While some skills are similar in these professions, other skills aren't so similar. For example, resumes show us that car washer responsibilities requires skills like "clean vehicle," "rental cars," "punctuality," and "groceries." But an automotive detailer might use other skills in their typical duties, such as, "engine compartment," "general maintenance," "dexterity," and "manual dexterity."
Automotive detailers earn a lower average salary than car washers. But automotive detailers earn the highest pay in the retail industry, with an average salary of $31,614. Additionally, car washers earn the highest salaries in the transportation with average pay of $29,989 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Automotive detailers tend to reach similar levels of education than car washers. In fact, they're 0.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.2% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Car washer vs. Detail technician
There are many key differences between these two careers, including some of the skills required to perform responsibilities within each role. For example, a car washer is likely to be skilled in "clean vehicle," "cleanliness," "rental cars," and "work ethic," while a typical detail technician is skilled in "dexterity," "manual dexterity," "exterior surfaces," and "engine compartment."
Detail technicians earn the best pay in the manufacturing industry, where they command an average salary of $29,312. Car washers earn the highest pay from the transportation industry, with an average salary of $29,989.detail technicians typically earn similar educational levels compared to car washers. Specifically, they're 1.1% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.1% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Car washer vs. Detailer/porter
Types of car washer
Updated January 8, 2025
