The old, worn-out car wash machine sits outside Choppers Car Wash in Enterprise on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023. Brothers Jared and Andy Hillock are installing a new machine in the business to both improve and upgrade it.

ENTERPRISE — With spring on the horizon, it’s getting nearly time to wash the winter dirt off your car and Choppers Car Wash is nearly ready to help you do that.

Jared Hillock, who manages the family-owned business, and brother, Andy, have been installing new machinery to replace the old car-wash machine they installed before opening the business in 2010. The brothers said they hope to have the new equipment operational by mid-February.

“It was old at the time, so it’s more than 20 years old now,” Jared Hillock said. “It breaks down now and then and it’s getting to the end of its useful life.”

But the new machine is “new from the factory,” he said.

Customers just have to drive in the back of the building at 503 W. North St., insert their money, the door opens, they drive in and wait. The door closes and the machine washes their vehicle.

“It’s all automated,” he said. “We come down here once a day to check it and refill the soap. I have a high school kid to come in a couple of times a week to clean things.”

Hillock said customers can punch in various options, such as whether they want a brush to clean the top of the vehicle.

“Some people don’t want the brush and they can opt out,” he said. “You drive in, wait for it to wash and drive out.”

Hillock said the cold weather doesn’t really affect the car wash, as the facility is heated.

“We can run it all year around, but when it’s 10 below zero, it’s probably not a good idea to wash,” he said.

Hillock, who also runs Enterprise Electric, said Choppers had been charging between $8 and $10 per wash.

“We’re going to have to raise the price because of the new equipment,” he said.

The touch-free facility is the only one of its kind in town. There are other car washes, but customers must do the work themselves at those.

It also uses a highly concentrated form of detergent in the pressure wash. Just a couple of ounces of soap are needed per wash.

“With the new machine, there’s a low pH and a high pH soap,” he said.

There’s even a little entertainment, Hillock said.

“There’s a light show the kids will like,” he said.