Car care in a Condo. Is this possible?

[DieSel]

Folks,I will be shifting to KL very soon. I would probably move into a condo. This is very new to me. Have always been staying in a landed property. As you know, while staying on a landed property, you do not have to worry about anyone playing around your ride while you are not there, no kids riding their bicycle near your ride and being able to clean / care your ride at anytime night or day. Would be grateful if those living in condos can share some tips / information on the following:a) how to achieve protection / security for your rides while parking in a common parking, without having to fear for anyone leaving behind their scratch mark on those beautiful finishes?b) can bicycles, etc. be ridden where you park your rides?c) where and how do you wash / care for your ride? (car wash might be an option, but I am still not convinced that it can substitute washing the ride myself)d) I use high pressure water jet washer and a vacuum cleaner to clean my ride. How do I use this in a condo? Can't picture all the hassle. Folks - I might be overly concerned on all of these and I know many people go through this routinely. Would appreciate your advise in making my condo living and caring for my ride enjoyable.Cheerz!

 

[seech]

Bro, if ur looking for something to wash ur car in a condo u can't go wrong with ONR. 1/4 bucket of water, no need to rinse. Just wipe and dry.

 

[racheltoh]

Folks,

I will be shifting to KL very soon. I would probably move into a condo. This is very new to me. Have always been staying in a landed property. As you know, while staying on a landed property, you do not have to worry about anyone playing around your ride while you are not there, no kids riding their bicycle near your ride and being able to clean / care your ride at anytime night or day.

Would be grateful if those living in condos can share some tips / information on the following:
a) how to achieve protection / security for your rides while parking in a common parking, without having to fear for anyone leaving behind their scratch mark on those beautiful finishes?
b) can bicycles, etc. be ridden where you park your rides?
c) where and how do you wash / care for your ride? (car wash might be an option, but I am still not convinced that it can substitute washing the ride myself)
d) I use high pressure water jet washer and a vacuum cleaner to clean my ride. How do I use this in a condo? Can't picture all the hassle.

Folks - I might be overly concerned on all of these and I know many people go through this routinely. Would appreciate your advise in making my condo living and caring for my ride enjoyable.

Cheerz!

Hi Bro
I m currently staying in a condo now AND....
1) Depending on ur condo, you will have a dedicated parking lot. To enter and exit the condo, you have the security tag. Anyway its difficult to steal ur bimmer cos it must be tow. If you found something fisy, normally you just report to the management of the condo. For me , the people there are "mature" enough not to do silly things. Not to say it wont happen, *touch wood* so far so good

2) In my condo, bicycles, bikes have a dedicated area.

3) Yes, there is a car wash area in ur condo n u hv access to electrical/power point. the inconvenience will be driving to the car wash area with ur stuff... cos u need to carry ur vacumm, pail, cloth, liquid..

Btw, i would like to second on the ONR. If you wash ur own car, consider this. I DONT, I'm LAZY. My car is wash at those malls *bad me* Seech demo and wash my entire e90 on ONR.......its really nice.

Best Wishes

 

[Jules]

condo living & car care is do-able.

my biggest tip - buy an UPMARKET condo so ur neighbours have more expensive cars to steal..

Seriously, as they say - you get what you pay for and it applies to also your neighbours as if the units are rented out, then u know they are at least a bit up scale people and dun bother with ur ride. ( of course no guarantee )

as per bicycles and kids.....these upmarket kids wun even be riding in car parks for a start. They be too busy at the pool or shopping malls or PS3 at home.

Yes washing will be a bit more hassle and you need to drive it to allocated wash bays. Another tip for you.....get a trolley to cart ur stuff - car wash thingy or even your groceries. Get your maid to push it down....or wife or gf!

Good thing about condo living - water for washing car is paid and shared by ALL. So spray kau kau also no issue and no need high pressure spray cos water pressure is good enough! ( tank up on condo roof mah, normally ). LOL

Get to know ur neighbour parking beside u.....so u know who to look for if ur car is "dinged".

Good luck, welcome to KL.

 

[Tom]

i live in a small condo and fortunately at the ground floor and car park located right in front of my door step. I can pull an extension cord and have floodlights lit and even the water hose out of the kitchen window.

Of course not everyone enjoys such convenience. in fact it was only recently i had my car park location changed.

So what i used to be able to do was only wash the car. i managed with a portable water tank with a built in pump powered by the cigarette lighter. it also comes with a hose and an adjustable nozzle.. i'm not sure if you can get it here but i bought mine in an exhibition in Singapore. it works very well, pressure is good but has limited volume.

good luck

 

[kc's]

Bro

I tend to agree with jules, a very good advise check out with the maintenance office prior committing , what are the can & cant, take a walk to confirm what they claim is true...i also belive what you pay will be what you get....i also envy Tom...who has the luxury of low destiny & convenience at his door step.....


make sure you check out your parking lot, look out for any leakages of pipes above, or ceiling crack with dripping minerals...it will certainly a pain to remove

if not, why not rent a landed property, where your ride will be always in your compound, luxury access to water & i reckon car drivers like to play water....no kids bikes, scratching.....

talk to a few real estate & let them know your budget & locations preference...

that was the reason why i like landed ....own space to do detailing....maybe later to paint correction....

dont rush...take your time ...scout around

 

[KrisMas]

Used to live in a condo...oh those horrible nightmares....

But same as Tom there, I was at the Ground Floor and right at the corner of a dead-end road, even my parking spaces is the last and 2nd last of the row, right in front of my unit. I was also lucky (actually, I chose that unit for this particular reason) that the sun set behind the block and I'll get shade in the afternoon. So every weekend, I pull out the hose and (sometimes) power cord from the window and start doing 'my thing', had never used the public washing bays so don't know what's the situations with it.

After a while (quite a while actually), my neighbours started to realise how fond and serious I am about keeping my ride in good conditions and, again fortunately, they understood and respect my passion and were extra careful when near and around my rides. So the nightmares ends there...

Anyway, ONR is a good substitute for a mild car wash, just remember that if you're doing it out in the open, just be extra careful with dust settling down after the wash and during the drying, same thing goes while polishing.

Just weather it out and improvise, that's all I can say.

Regards.

 

[Jules]

i live in a small condo and fortunately at the ground floor and car park located right in front of my door step. I can pull an extension cord and have floodlights lit and even the water hose out of the kitchen window.

Of course not everyone enjoys such convenience. in fact it was only recently i had my car park location changed.

So what i used to be able to do was only wash the car. i managed with a portable water tank with a built in pump powered by the cigarette lighter. it also comes with a hose and an adjustable nozzle.. i'm not sure if you can get it here but i bought mine in an exhibition in Singapore. it works very well, pressure is good but has limited volume.

good luck

Tom, u r a classic.....hosing from ur kitchen! :top:

 

[Tom]

can't beat having kitchen hoes hahah

 

[SEN5241]

Just a few points to make.

1) Try to avoid places with uncovered parking, especially if the parking spaces are near the residential towers. What might happen is people throw cigarette butts / joss sticks off the balcony and they land on your car's roof/bonnet/boot and damage the paint.

2) Check whether the car wash area is lit at night. Makes a big difference being able to take your time washing your car at night on a weekday instead of having to queue and rushing to do it along with everyone else during the day on weekends.

3) Check parking space size - wider obviously better. If narrow, you have to hope your neighbour knows how to open his car door gently.

4) Check parking space location - out of the way of pedestrian traffic is good (assuming condo security is good). If too near a pathway, people with heavy shopping bags/trolleys/prams/small children will be walking next to your car and accidents happen.

 

[jsbmw]

Been living for few years in a decent condo, everything seems good except that the parking lot just not wide enough! Car handles already scratched!! Can't blame the neighbours, open door sure kena sometimes...

 

[chenht]

i donlt mean to be rude but some cars onwers are real stupid. When they park their cars, they would leave a 2 feet gap at one side and a 2 inch gap at another. I just cannot understand why these stupid morons cannot rapk their cars at right the middle of their parking bays???? Dumb shit.

 

[jeffreychung]

Bro if u havent choose a condo yet , you can try to choose those higer end condo, there will be a washing bay for u , and dont worry about kids riding bike at the car park . . . that wont happen in high end car park . .

I've been living in a Condo in Penang for years .. my car is still beautiful haha ..

 

[jsbmw]

i donlt mean to be rude but some cars onwers are real stupid. When they park their cars, they would leave a 2 feet gap at one side and a 2 inch gap at another. I just cannot understand why these stupid morons cannot rapk their cars at right the middle of their parking bays???? Dumb shit.

Gotta agree with you, but then again, most parking bays in condos are not that wide, and fitting a 5 series right at the centre of the bay doesn't leave much space at the side either. Fortunately, my parking bays are on the right (else both sides sure kena!), while neighbour's cars (middle bays) are small saloons...but still...handle marks clearly imprinted

 

[DieSel]

Folks,

I did my first condo car wash this morning. What an experience! Bought a cart several days ago. Packed all my stuffs in it and wheeled it to the washing bay. Water pressure was good but just not strong enough. Boosted it with my high pressure water jet machine. Fantastic. Loved the jet cleaning power. I thank everyone who had spent their valuable time sharing their experience and advise. All these helped me in selecting the right condo. What an experience!

p.s No bicycles going round my ride. Got 2 parking bays. This is a sufficient buffer to protect my ride from other 'sick' drivers who bang their doors on the ones parked next to theirs. Anyway, I am sure my neighbours don't wanna do that, they have 2 Ferraris parked next to me!

 

[kc's]

congrats & enjoy yr drive