“We are the best in Harare” – Autocare Car Wash

Sitting in between two pillars under shade where potentially between two cars, a place chosen because it was close to the power, I had an hour-long chat with an enthusiastic and infectiously positive Patience Chabvomga.

She, along with Emmanuel Musoni run Autocare Car Wash, situated within the iconic Harare Sports Club premises.

Musoni is so confident with his product he says that he would bet that it is the best.

“We are Harare’s best car wash. I can put my last dollar that no one is better than us”, he says sitting opposite me, a bit of a slouch, not from a lack of confidence but just how he communicates generally. He is a lot taller and so, perhaps it is a habit.

“We do high-end washes. We built trust to handle their vehicles with customers of high-end vehicles… We are even picky of what kind of chemicals we pick and getting the right cloth,” adds Musoni.” With more car washes coming up it means we come up with new ways to give a better product. I encourage competition because it improves the service offering for people.”

It has been five years since it started running, positioning itself as an executive car wash. Chabvonga terms it as such not because they accept only those but because of the experience.

“People keep coming here because of how we communicate”, she says.

“So it is the personal touch”, I say. She nods and utters something in agreement.

“I live for moments when people are like wow. They sometimes feel they do not recognise their car,” Musoni again.

It is Covid-19 times and Chabvonga says they are normally busier, usually opening at 6am and closing at 6pm. Some people are known to leave their cars at the spot, go off to work for the whole day and come back to collect their vehicles later. With the curfew and government-gazetted business times in enforcement, they have had to settle for a 4.30pm finish after a 9a m opening time.

Even then, a slew of vehicles come in and out of the place, some for longer than others. A man sits close by on his phone waiting for his German machine. A woman comes in and picks her ex-Jap car. Both get a personal treatment from Musoni, who from time to time comes to have a chat and then goes back to the office.

While this happens, Chabvonga occasionally issues instructions to one of the staff members. They answer in the typified ma’am. Other than her and Musoni, there are 12 others.

In the times of the pandemic they have taken to steps to make the staff safe.

“We disinfect our staff before they come through”, says Chabvonga. “When we opened we had everyone tested. And three weeks after we opened we had everyone tested again. And we are due another one next week”.

And they had to because Autocare Car Wash like any other business was affective by the restrictive measures imposed and the fear after.

“Like most people, Covid-19 affected everyone in a negative way. And people did not want to come in.

“We had to come up with ways to make people comfortable, disinfecting cars before they actually wash, social distancing and wearing masks. It took about three weeks after the hard lockdown for people to feel comfortable and come again.”

And yet since they opened on 17 Otober 2015, that has not been their biggest challenge. Zimbabwe’s phlegmatic currency situation.

Chabvonga again.

“The currency situation was the most difficult to deal with. We had to drop prices but we also realised that it did not make sense. But now because people are reintroducing the USD and so we upped our prices again. The lucky thing is that our loyal clients are still coming because they know we deliver.”

As for plans to expand, they are afoot. And it has to be out of Harare as they do not see themselves anywhere else other than their current location, Chabvonga tells me.

And you can see why. Harare Sports Club’s traffic at the best of times is high. Within the complex, there is the cricket, rugby, squash and tennis sporting facilities plus a gym for good measure. Then there are the recreational facilities which amplify traffic.

Add to that the Royal Golf Club next door and the catchment area is huge.

As a local business that evolved from an idea seen abroad and tailor-made for the local market, it can see itself as a success story.