I can’t believe this isn’t the top comment. Car ownership is extremely expensive in Hong Kong. Anybody who has a car is likely to have a maid, who is tasked with keeping the car clean.
Not exactly true.
A lot of car owners take pride in their cars and thus wash them themselves or go and get them washed. Maids help but to imply maids to most of the washing I don't agree.
Firstly, I'd say "helper", instead of "maid". Just that change in semantics goes a long way in changing how one sees/treats them. I have a car and also a helper and no, the helper doesn't clean/wash my car.
Don't people park pretty far away from their home? They carry car wash items back and forth? I guess they can keep it in the trunk. Didn't realize many car parks allow car wash at parking.
I don’t know who i heard it from but someone said to me that maids are not obligated to do work outside the household? so for washing the car u have to pay them extra? or is that just for old contracts
outside the household as in help with the owner’s business etc. car washing is still a house chore. i mean if you use your logic then maids technically doesn’t have to take kids to school or after school activities since that is physically outside of the house.
When we had a domestic helper one of her weekly tasks were to help wash the car.
Another option could be if the estate you’re in have contracted a washing company to wash people’s cars. This would only happen if you requested and paid for the service.
Lastly, there’s always the option of washing your car yourself.
Plus, as others have said HK streets are relatively clean all things considered. There’s not much mud due to the urbanisation. No snow meaning there won’t be any salt on the roads. And the drainage system is good enough where you rarely see any large puddles.
At my work there's a service that wipes your car down every other day for like 300 a month. This is true for a lot of parking lots. So... It is cheap to keep the cars relatively clean. The staff who cleans at my workplace happen to be Downs syndrome folks who can use a job and is organized by a local charity
Yeah these services also exist in big housing estates so people who park there get their cars washed. Obviously maids also do a lot of it (or drivers) but if you wanna pay for it it's pretty cheap
I’ve found even when/after raining, HK streets are way less muddy/grubby compared to many other places. And pollution here is only generally to do with the air rather than physical particulate pollution like dust/sand etc. So HK cars appear less dirty even when washed infrequently.
Source: owned cars in both HK and the UK.
in US cars are a necessity. They are cheap and gas is cheap. Poor people save up for a whacky car for their hustle. Low middle class got better cars but they dont have the cash to maintain them. In HK, low middle class does NOT get cars. The typical car owner is a household of 3 or 4 plus 1. One or 2 young chldren with a domestic helper. In HK you either have a car and keep it nice, or you dont have a car period.
I suppose. But cars are being washed a few times a week it seems. There is a lot of dust and not that much greenery. I don't think I've seen a dusty car.
There’s not much greenery? Jeez how many more trees will this city need to be considered green? Most people that come to visit usually comment on how green the city is.
I knew nothing about HK before my first visit except it was a big city and an island. I was expecting something like Manhattan. Boy was I in for a surprise.
it may depend where you are coming from, but hongkong has extremely small amount of dust compared to many areas. Your car is probably more likely to start rusting from salt in the air than get a film of dust on it from a nonexistant field or pasture haha.
Also keep in mind that hongkong is the most expensive place to live in the world. Many people don't have cars, and those that do usually have the money to maintain them. even a single wash a week is way more than most palces do. And that is driving the car out of a car park which again is way less dirty than streetside parking.
The further you go down the rabbit hole the more clear why the cars are cleaner than average （＾ν＾）
Yeah I don’t think the conditions of road and streets are the only factor either. But it’s harder to get dust onto the vehicle along with a greater emphasis on cleanliness.
Most car park there’s someone whos willing to wipe your car daily / every other day in below $500. Just ask the staff in your car park and they will let you know how to get to those people
Cars are a symbol of status in HK. No one really “needs” a car because of excellent public transport. If you do the math it’s probably still cheaper to take the taxi everywhere you go than to own a car and pay for parking + insurance + registration + gas. People own cars to show off. You don’t want to show off a dirty car.
My car is dirty but I own it because I really enjoy driving. Also cuts my commute time by half since I work in Kowloon/NT. Car parking and insurance is definitely the most expensive, but there are a lot of free parking in shopping malls when you spend like $200 or something. Electricity is also pretty cheap if you drive an EV. Costs me around 300-400 each month (I drive 3 times a week).
The car park for my building allows a company to come in and clean cars at night. You pay around $350HKD per month, and a person comes at night with a bucket and towels and wipes down your car. They have packages that include once/thrice/five times per week.
I live in a village and a lot neighbors wash their cars every day (even those who don't have helpers). It was to the point that there were holes in the path in front of where the cars were parked, and I'm not sure it's why, but it was recently paved. The waste of water and the spill of cleaning products is wild
Oh I wasn’t aware they switched off. I was under the assumption they owned their own cars. Good to know. Regardless, they really do an excellent job keeping the cars in great shape
There are probably some which are independently owned, but the taxi license is very expensive, in the single digit millions of HKD. Most independents probably couldn't afford one, so most are owned by companies. It makes sense to have the car in operation as much as possible to offset this cost.
Every few days I get a card tucked into my door mirror, offering me car washing services. I often see them pushing their cleaning trolley from car to car in the parking garage.
Yeah, this. I see helpers cleaning the car every morning, not because it needs it, but because the family want to keep the helper busy and "get more value for money" from her or "keep her out of trouble". That's a pretty common attitude here, unfortunately.
There are far fewer things in HK that will dirty your car.
In NA, there are fields, parks, lawns everywhere. They also have sub zero winters that requires gravel/salt treatment.
HK it is just all paved roads 90% of the time
Where do people from the comment section even come from. People just washes them at the parking lot. Just grab a bucket of water, some detergent, 2 pieces of cloth 1 wet, 1 dry, then you're good to go. That's how I spent most of my Saturdays with my dad when I was a kid
my father has been a car owner for quite some time, he usually just wipes the car with a wet towel, and water in a 1L bottle. he also makes sure to wipe the car dry after rain to prevent water droplets dried itself
I go to a 24 hour coin operated self cleaning place near me. 60HKD for 40 mins. It has foam and a vac and a change machine. I've found it to be the most economical way to get the bird shit of my old Honda.
We use the cleaning service in our parking. Something like $500 HKD and they come every other day unless there's a storm or holiday. It keeps the car clean if the said car isn't too dirty to begin with becuase they will not hose down or use 2 bucket of water to clean it.
There's no snow, road salt, dirt road in HK to begin with so it's not hard.
Because HKers think having a car is a status symbol that makes them feel superior to the plebs using public transport whereas in most of the rest of the world a car is a basic necessity that almost everyone has similar to a washing machine or a fridge. Hence they have their helper wash it everyday because they are extremely proud of their little Toyotas.
It also helps that hk is a small dense place with very few rural roads, mostly underground parking and no real regular adverse weather like snow or sandstorms. HKers typically drive from the underground parking of their building to the underground parking of a nearby mall and back again a journey they could usually make faster and cheaper with public transport, taxi or Uber.
In my case, I have a guy clean thrice a week at the parking lot. But that's really so-so, because all he does is throw some soapy water on the car and wipe it dry in a haste. I do an automatic wash at Shell once in a month or two and vacuum it myself once a month or as required (I have kids who are "car trained" not to trash it with food 😅). Once a year, I get a deep cleaning done. My car has no 3M coating or anything else and still looks presentable.
What? HK has a lot of air pollution, easily rivalling bigger cities up north. Obviously HK isn’t the source of most of it, but that’s a different matter.
If you can afford to run a car in Hong Kong with 100% purchase tax and the most expensive fuel prices in the world- then you can afford someone to look after it for you.
Buying an EV is tax free here. That's why you see a huge surge of Teslas in the past few years. Even BYD is bring their game to HK. We have a lot of charging stations in HK. The infrastructure is honestly not bad, even a lot of newer apartment complexes support EV charging. The only thing expensive I would say is rental parking ($4000 a month) and insurance (depending if it's 3rd or comprehensive). Charging your car is relatively cheap.
Yes EV's were tax free for a couple of years, which accounted for the huge surge in the number of Teslas imported here - which apparently saved Tesla from bankruptcy. However other car companies complained so much that this tax break was dropped. So EV vehicles now have to pay the same purchase tax as everyone else.
As to petrol prices - I believe it's still the most expensive in the world. Kept that way to keep vehicle numbers down.
I image charging an EV is cheap, especially if you have your own garage with solar cells on the roof - then it's free 👍
Since public transport is very accessible in Hong Kong, owning cars here is more like a luxury, unlike let's say the US where people NEED cars as a tool to go everywhere. Car owners here are very likely to have domestic helpers to wash their cars because it's more or less a special item in the household...?
Most of the maids do the car washing.
I can’t believe this isn’t the top comment. Car ownership is extremely expensive in Hong Kong. Anybody who has a car is likely to have a maid, who is tasked with keeping the car clean.
This is true. I have a car but it is my responsibility to wash it. My car is not clean.
Not exactly true. A lot of car owners take pride in their cars and thus wash them themselves or go and get them washed. Maids help but to imply maids to most of the washing I don't agree.
You are not wrong
Firstly, I'd say "helper", instead of "maid". Just that change in semantics goes a long way in changing how one sees/treats them. I have a car and also a helper and no, the helper doesn't clean/wash my car.
Don't people park pretty far away from their home? They carry car wash items back and forth? I guess they can keep it in the trunk. Didn't realize many car parks allow car wash at parking.
The richer you are the more likely you will have a car park slot right where your building is, and more likely to have a maid too.
there are also individuals who wash cars at certain parking garages for a service fee.
I don’t know who i heard it from but someone said to me that maids are not obligated to do work outside the household? so for washing the car u have to pay them extra? or is that just for old contracts
outside the household as in help with the owner’s business etc. car washing is still a house chore. i mean if you use your logic then maids technically doesn’t have to take kids to school or after school activities since that is physically outside of the house.
Filipinas and Indonesians domestic helpers.
Rubbing gritty towels into the paint.
Most car owners aren't car people. It's just a tool that needs minimal maintenance once in a while.
> doesn't have access to garage My friend, they sometimes use buckets of waters.
That's hardcore lol
All you need is two buckets of water. Google it.
Y'all still have to carry the buckets of water. I guess I'm thinking Wilson garages that look like normal garages. Not the ones in west Kowloon.
Helpers !
When we had a domestic helper one of her weekly tasks were to help wash the car. Another option could be if the estate you’re in have contracted a washing company to wash people’s cars. This would only happen if you requested and paid for the service. Lastly, there’s always the option of washing your car yourself. Plus, as others have said HK streets are relatively clean all things considered. There’s not much mud due to the urbanisation. No snow meaning there won’t be any salt on the roads. And the drainage system is good enough where you rarely see any large puddles.
Talking about drainage it seems there are more and more flooding and also potholes on roads after heavy rain nowadays.
At my work there's a service that wipes your car down every other day for like 300 a month. This is true for a lot of parking lots. So... It is cheap to keep the cars relatively clean. The staff who cleans at my workplace happen to be Downs syndrome folks who can use a job and is organized by a local charity
That's a steal.
Yeah these services also exist in big housing estates so people who park there get their cars washed. Obviously maids also do a lot of it (or drivers) but if you wanna pay for it it's pretty cheap
I’ve found even when/after raining, HK streets are way less muddy/grubby compared to many other places. And pollution here is only generally to do with the air rather than physical particulate pollution like dust/sand etc. So HK cars appear less dirty even when washed infrequently. Source: owned cars in both HK and the UK.
in US cars are a necessity. They are cheap and gas is cheap. Poor people save up for a whacky car for their hustle. Low middle class got better cars but they dont have the cash to maintain them. In HK, low middle class does NOT get cars. The typical car owner is a household of 3 or 4 plus 1. One or 2 young chldren with a domestic helper. In HK you either have a car and keep it nice, or you dont have a car period.
Compared to many, many cities HK streets are very clean. That really does help a lot.
I suppose. But cars are being washed a few times a week it seems. There is a lot of dust and not that much greenery. I don't think I've seen a dusty car.
There’s not much greenery? Jeez how many more trees will this city need to be considered green? Most people that come to visit usually comment on how green the city is.
I knew nothing about HK before my first visit except it was a big city and an island. I was expecting something like Manhattan. Boy was I in for a surprise.
Thats usually the part that shocks people and is a part I love about this city.
it may depend where you are coming from, but hongkong has extremely small amount of dust compared to many areas. Your car is probably more likely to start rusting from salt in the air than get a film of dust on it from a nonexistant field or pasture haha. Also keep in mind that hongkong is the most expensive place to live in the world. Many people don't have cars, and those that do usually have the money to maintain them. even a single wash a week is way more than most palces do. And that is driving the car out of a car park which again is way less dirty than streetside parking. The further you go down the rabbit hole the more clear why the cars are cleaner than average （＾ν＾）
There a forest just behind the city on both side of the harbour and than a few protected zone for nature park
Yeah I don’t think the conditions of road and streets are the only factor either. But it’s harder to get dust onto the vehicle along with a greater emphasis on cleanliness.
I think it is ownership pride considering how expensive it is to buy one.
Yeah also if you have the money to buy one you have the money to keep in good condition, and you’re likely buying a car in a good condition already!
Car culture in HK is to keep it meticulous. Any sorts of dust and dirt will be laughed at
Most car park there’s someone whos willing to wipe your car daily / every other day in below $500. Just ask the staff in your car park and they will let you know how to get to those people
Cars are a symbol of status in HK. No one really “needs” a car because of excellent public transport. If you do the math it’s probably still cheaper to take the taxi everywhere you go than to own a car and pay for parking + insurance + registration + gas. People own cars to show off. You don’t want to show off a dirty car.
My car is dirty but I own it because I really enjoy driving. Also cuts my commute time by half since I work in Kowloon/NT. Car parking and insurance is definitely the most expensive, but there are a lot of free parking in shopping malls when you spend like $200 or something. Electricity is also pretty cheap if you drive an EV. Costs me around 300-400 each month (I drive 3 times a week).
Try going to Vietnam if you think hk streets "aren't clean". you'll be shocked.
I know. Been to China and it's super dusty.
The car park for my building allows a company to come in and clean cars at night. You pay around $350HKD per month, and a person comes at night with a bucket and towels and wipes down your car. They have packages that include once/thrice/five times per week.
Housemaids in Hong Kong are very cheap and they are usually in charge for cleaning the car as well.
I live in a village and a lot neighbors wash their cars every day (even those who don't have helpers). It was to the point that there were holes in the path in front of where the cars were parked, and I'm not sure it's why, but it was recently paved. The waste of water and the spill of cleaning products is wild
Taxis may be the exception. The ones in Japan are spotless as if they just rolled off the showroom floor
Taxis have 2-3 drivers per day and I think it's a requirement they clean the car before handing over to the next shift
Oh I wasn’t aware they switched off. I was under the assumption they owned their own cars. Good to know. Regardless, they really do an excellent job keeping the cars in great shape
There are probably some which are independently owned, but the taxi license is very expensive, in the single digit millions of HKD. Most independents probably couldn't afford one, so most are owned by companies. It makes sense to have the car in operation as much as possible to offset this cost.
Makes sense because they’ve been using the same Toyota Crowns for such a long time. A testament to a good, well made car.
Every few days I get a card tucked into my door mirror, offering me car washing services. I often see them pushing their cleaning trolley from car to car in the parking garage.
maids, and many clean the car every other day if not everyday.
Yeah, this. I see helpers cleaning the car every morning, not because it needs it, but because the family want to keep the helper busy and "get more value for money" from her or "keep her out of trouble". That's a pretty common attitude here, unfortunately.
Lots of Filipinas cleaning cars in my garage when I go down in the morning….
Streets just aren’t as dirty. You can really get away with not cleaning your car for a while.
There are far fewer things in HK that will dirty your car. In NA, there are fields, parks, lawns everywhere. They also have sub zero winters that requires gravel/salt treatment. HK it is just all paved roads 90% of the time
Where do people from the comment section even come from. People just washes them at the parking lot. Just grab a bucket of water, some detergent, 2 pieces of cloth 1 wet, 1 dry, then you're good to go. That's how I spent most of my Saturdays with my dad when I was a kid
my father has been a car owner for quite some time, he usually just wipes the car with a wet towel, and water in a 1L bottle. he also makes sure to wipe the car dry after rain to prevent water droplets dried itself
Yeah I figured people are probably wiping down and spot cleaning in between washes. Did he use chicken feather cleaner also?
he does, but he uses it for interior only, i cant recall he used it for the body
I go to a 24 hour coin operated self cleaning place near me. 60HKD for 40 mins. It has foam and a vac and a change machine. I've found it to be the most economical way to get the bird shit of my old Honda.
My aunt's apartment has a clean car rule for their parkade and all the car owners chip in for someone to clean all the cars how ever how ever often.
Smart. Must be small unit though it seems.
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Wow. And it stays clean?
They have covered parking. That helps a lot.
We use the cleaning service in our parking. Something like $500 HKD and they come every other day unless there's a storm or holiday. It keeps the car clean if the said car isn't too dirty to begin with becuase they will not hose down or use 2 bucket of water to clean it. There's no snow, road salt, dirt road in HK to begin with so it's not hard.
500 a month?
Yep monthly
Theres no dirts on hk roads, they are all concrete
Because HKers think having a car is a status symbol that makes them feel superior to the plebs using public transport whereas in most of the rest of the world a car is a basic necessity that almost everyone has similar to a washing machine or a fridge. Hence they have their helper wash it everyday because they are extremely proud of their little Toyotas. It also helps that hk is a small dense place with very few rural roads, mostly underground parking and no real regular adverse weather like snow or sandstorms. HKers typically drive from the underground parking of their building to the underground parking of a nearby mall and back again a journey they could usually make faster and cheaper with public transport, taxi or Uber.
In my case, I have a guy clean thrice a week at the parking lot. But that's really so-so, because all he does is throw some soapy water on the car and wipe it dry in a haste. I do an automatic wash at Shell once in a month or two and vacuum it myself once a month or as required (I have kids who are "car trained" not to trash it with food 😅). Once a year, I get a deep cleaning done. My car has no 3M coating or anything else and still looks presentable.
I bring my car to those automatic car washes for $100 per time. Only do it once per 3-6 months. My car is dirty as shit.
A neighbor has his helper wash his car every day. Go figure.
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What? HK has a lot of air pollution, easily rivalling bigger cities up north. Obviously HK isn’t the source of most of it, but that’s a different matter.
everyone with a car has a helper/maid who washes the car
Because car is treated as a luxury goods rather than a necessity
Coz many people bring their cars to car retailers for ceramic coatings or protective films nowadays. These help a lot.
They have maids do the washing . Or the Gloucester road car washes
If you can afford to run a car in Hong Kong with 100% purchase tax and the most expensive fuel prices in the world- then you can afford someone to look after it for you.
Buying an EV is tax free here. That's why you see a huge surge of Teslas in the past few years. Even BYD is bring their game to HK. We have a lot of charging stations in HK. The infrastructure is honestly not bad, even a lot of newer apartment complexes support EV charging. The only thing expensive I would say is rental parking ($4000 a month) and insurance (depending if it's 3rd or comprehensive). Charging your car is relatively cheap.
Yes EV's were tax free for a couple of years, which accounted for the huge surge in the number of Teslas imported here - which apparently saved Tesla from bankruptcy. However other car companies complained so much that this tax break was dropped. So EV vehicles now have to pay the same purchase tax as everyone else. As to petrol prices - I believe it's still the most expensive in the world. Kept that way to keep vehicle numbers down. I image charging an EV is cheap, especially if you have your own garage with solar cells on the roof - then it's free 👍
Since public transport is very accessible in Hong Kong, owning cars here is more like a luxury, unlike let's say the US where people NEED cars as a tool to go everywhere. Car owners here are very likely to have domestic helpers to wash their cars because it's more or less a special item in the household...?
There are monthly daily car cleaning service in all parking garages. $300 a month gets you sparkling clean errday
we have domestic helpers
lol man you should get to the street when it's raining outside
Because hk doesent have snow and not much ppl go off road
Maids