Car Wash Shell
CONTRIBUTED BY MONETTE EAMES
When we first moved to Okinawa, our neighbors told us about a great car wash place right outside our gate at Camp McTureous. It’s at the Shell Station. The day after Typhoon Songda, we noticed that all the Japanese people were lined up all around gas stations on the island. They had to know something we didn’t. A shortage of gas maybe?
We later learned that they weren’t in line for gas but for car washes. Japanese people do not usually wash cars at home, and all the salt water from the ocean and plant material from the storm can damage the car’s finish. Of course, we all know to avoid buying gas at Japanese gas stations because of the steep prices. However, the car wash, wax, and vacuum at the Shell Station is such a deal.
Car Washed
For Y840, you get a car that’s been washed and waxed (by the machine), hand-dried, rims, dashboard, door interiors sprayed and wiped down, and your whole car vacuumed—all of this done in 10-15 minutes (yay for Japanese teamwork) while you wait in the waiting area. If you wash your car on base, you are familiar with “Do not move your car! Keep your doors and windows closed!” or know how it is doing a rush job at vacuuming just so you can do your whole car in the allotted time allowed. So… if you’re picking your husband up from a long deployment and you want to pick him up in a crumb-free, washed, waxed, and vacuumed car, try this place out. Your husband will be delightfully surprised. “Of course the car is always this clean, darling!”
Car Wash Prices
Directions: From Camp McTureous, turn right. Shell gas station will be on your left, right across from the Karate building.
Payment: Yen