Dean Poling
VALDOSTA — For Eddie Fizer, his new business has brought him back to the future.
A one-time owner of a traditional Albany car-wash business, Fizer’s new Valdosta business allows him to wash cars again without placing an additional burden on Georgia’s water supply or an additional burden on his customers’ gas tanks or water bills.
His new business’ name explains it all: Mobile Dri-Wash & Auto Care.
That’s right. Eddie Fizer will come to you, whether it’s your work or home, wash your car, and not use an ounce of water.
Yes, Fizer washes cars without using water.
He uses a product called Ultra Ion. Four ounces of Ultra Ion on a pad will wash an entire vehicle, Fizer says, without water. To demonstrate Ultra Ion’s potency, Fizer writes on a car hood with a permanent marker then wipes the marker away with a rag.
Fizer is also a distributor of Ultra Ion products and sells a start kit to customers wanting to wash their own cars.
Ultra Ion served as the bridge for Fizer’s return to the car-wash business.
In 1985, he took a job at an Albany car wash, work Fizer soon realized he loved. In 1990, he turned that love into a business of his own, opening Eddie’s Hand Wash & Detail, which he operated for several years before taking a job in a different field in Valdosta. But he missed washing cars and being in business for himself.
“I started looking at getting back into the car-washing business,” Fizer says. “I knew a problem of getting back into business was water restrictions. In Atlanta, some mobile car-wash businesses had their licenses pulled because of water restrictions.”
He discovered Ultra Ion, and realized he could return to the business with this product by offering a waterless car wash. He originally planned on purchasing the product from a distributor so that he could start a dry-wash business, but soon realized he would be better served if he became a distributor, allowing him to offer his car-wash service and sell bottles of waterless car-wash.
Currently, Fizer is still employed with a local company and is conducting his Mobile Dri-Wash & Auto Care business by appointment only with clients. He has his business license, and plans to be self-employed full-time with his business by the first of the year.
In addition to offering a service that can help the economy of water and the wallet, Fizer sees the car-wash as something that will be in vogue now more than ever.
“With the economy the way it is, people who are buying new cars are keeping them longer,” he says. “So, they want to take better care of their cars.”
Q: What all do you wash?
A: “I do everything from just washing the outside to detailing the interior to cleaning the engine to shampooing. Anything.” Through the years, he has washed everything from a car to a tractor trailer, to boats and a plane.
Q: How much does it cost for you to come out and wash a car?
A: “$35 to $55, depending on the size of the car, which includes a wash and vacuum.”
Q: You also sell the waterless car wash product. How much is it?
A: “I usually start customers with a $30 kit that includes a bottle of Ultra Ion, an applicator bottle, an application pad, and a towel.”
Q: How much Ultra Ion does it take to wash a standard car?
A: “Four ounces.”
More info:
Mobile Dri-Wash & Auto Care
Owner: Eddie Fizer.
Hours, location: Car wash by appointment, will go where you want your car washed.
Contacts: Call 300-4288; or e-mail emfizer@att.net
