Car wash bookings: when you need them and how to organise them
Bookings are for places where a wash takes a person and queues build up: hand washing, interiors, treatments. The rule that works is to give them to subscribers as priority, always leaving room for people who turn up unannounced: booking must not become a permit to wash.
Updated on 16 September 2026
- They are for washes that take time and take someone, not for the tunnel.
- A booking is priority, not an obligation: whoever turns up washes anyway.
- Put only part of each hour's places online.
- Automatic confirmation if you have slack, manual if you decide case by case.
- The reminder the day before is what cuts the empty slots.
When it is worth opening them
If a wash takes three minutes and the queue clears itself, booking complicates things without solving anything. If it takes forty minutes and occupies a person, every gap in the diary is time paid for and not sold.
The moment bookings become useful is easy to spot: when you start telling people on the phone «come around three, it is quieter». From then on, you might as well write it in the diary.
How many places to put online
The mistake is opening everything. If you have two bays and you put two places online every half hour, whoever turns up on the forecourt always finds it full, and that customer does not come back.
The split that holds is half online and half for people who turn up, adjusted after two weeks by looking at how many bookings really come in.
| Wash type | Duration | Suggested places online |
|---|---|---|
| Full hand wash | 45 min | 1 of 2 bays |
| Interior cleaning | 30 min | 1 per slot |
| Polish and wax | 2 hours | 1 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon |
| Tunnel / high pressure | 3–5 min | None: people queue |
Automatic or manual confirmation
Automatic confirmation is convenient for the customer: they book and they are done. It works when times are standard and you know you can keep to them.
Manual confirmation is for when you decide case by case - a very dirty car, a van, a day that is already full. In that case the request has to reach you straight away, on your phone, and be answered quickly: a customer who waits two hours for an answer has already called someone else.
What changes at the till
At the till you need one thing only: to see the day at a glance, with who is coming, at what time and with which plate. If the diary is readable, bookings take care of themselves.
The two habits that make the difference are the automatic reminder the day before and the option to cancel from the app up to a few hours ahead: both cut the wasted slots, which are the real cost of bookings.
Frequently asked questions
Who can book?
It makes sense to keep it for subscribers: it is the concrete benefit that justifies the fee, and it keeps the diary filled with customers who come back.
And people who do not book?
They wash as always. A booking gives priority, not permission: a forecourt that only takes booked cars loses its passing trade.
How do you handle customers who do not turn up?
With the reminder the day before and easy cancellation from the app. Anyone who still does not show is marked as a no-show, and after two times you can consider taking online booking away from them.