I’m always on the lookout for cheap car washes with vacuum services while pumping petrol. Of course, it would be cheaper if I just spent a weekend doing it myself, but getting drenched in dirty soap water isn’t how I’d want to spend my free day.
Noticing the expensive rates of car washes around Malaysia, CuciCuci was created with the goal of making it cheaper.
It’s a car wash service that offers membership packages for their washes and detailing services at lower rates.
You may ask, “But every other car wash company has membership packages too, what makes CuciCuci different?” Well, they’re currently the only car wash app in Malaysia providing this benefit that’s applicable across different merchants, based on my findings on the Play Store and App Store.
Washing Away Receipts And Windshield Stickers
Since my car is parked outside most of the time, my dad decided to get me a CarBuddy membership from the petrol station I frequent. After paying about RM100/year for this membership, I’m entitled to discounted car washes and other detailing services of up to 25%.
Whenever I want to claim this premium, I just have to flash my receipt or point towards the sticker on my windshield. Then I’ll just have to pay RM9 for a wash and vacuum instead of RM12 for non-members with small cars.
CuciCuci’s app pretty much digitises this process for both members and merchants. For RM365 a year, members can visit CuciCuci’s merchants anytime, flash a unique QR code, and obtain the car washes and vacuums without further transactions.
That’s RM1 per day for a daily car wash plus vacuum, or RM7 on a weekly basis. Realistically though, if you’re only washing your car twice a month, it’d be about RM15 per wash for a year.
Do note that as this package is applicable to only one car plate number, you won’t be able to utilise this benefit for the rest of your family’s vehicles either.
I did a quick survey of my colleagues and found out that our average car-washing habits is once a month at approximately RM15.
It seems that if most of us were to buy CuciCuci’s membership, we’ll be paying about RM30.42 for a monthly wash. That’s a 50% increase from the average RM15 we’re used to paying.
So to me, one practical way I can see CuciCuci’s membership being worth it is if they had merchants located in an office building’s car park.
This would enable office-goers to utilise the membership weekly if they choose to, since they’ll be parked there every working day and will have their cars idle for hours on end anyway.
More Than A Digital Membership
CuciCuci’s app, though niche, also offers other practical uses on top of just digitising memberships.
On its homepage, users can see their rates and discounts for other services like Nano Misting (interior fumigations) or exterior polishing and waxing.
Their Map tab also lets you locate the nearest CuciCuci merchant that’s available to you.
In your Profile, you’ll get to view your subscriptions and past digital transactions. This mitigates the need for cash exchanges and printed or written receipts in a pandemic, especially since car washes are allowed under MCO 2.0.
Currently, the company’s got 14 merchants around Klang Valley providing their digital services. In terms of their user base, it mostly consists of those from the Chinese population, according to the CEO, CS Tan, who spoke to Vulcan Post.
The reason for this demographic could be because CuciCuci mainly uses Mandarin on their website, social media, and ads.
CS aims to make CuciCuci more available across Malaysia by working with at least 100 merchants and hitting the 50k members mark by this year.
While ambitious and certainly a welcome solution for cheapskate Malaysians who are also motorheads, one has to wonder what it’ll take for CuciCuci to hit those goals since MCO 2.0 has ensured that people aren’t using their cars as much.
Therefore, the need to wash their cars often is also reduced, lowering the value of CuciCuci’s membership at this point in time. Once MCO 2.0 is lifted and people return to their daily travelling, however, demand may surge.
Featured Image Credit: CS Tan, CEO of CuciCuci
