JJ's Express Oil Change offers a fast and friendly oil change service that removes the confusion and high-pressure sales experienced in many quick change operations.
Setting the tone with chemicals and lights
When entering, a vehicle owner has their car washed with scented and coloured soaps (soap and chemicals from Prestige Chemical) and enjoys a light show that can change depending on the season: For example, at Christmas, the lights are green and red for a festive feel; they switch things up to orange at Halloween; and for Valentine’s Day, the sisters offer a pink, red and white ambience.
“We loved travelling about the exhibitions with Mom and we liked the fun lights, the coloured and scented soaps we came across and the rides and everything,” Jacoba says. “It is something we grew up with and enjoyed, so we wanted to add something like that to a car wash, add a twist to what is too often the same boring car wash you come across. We wanted something fun and exciting.”
You can see this fun and enjoyment on their social media feeds, where employees create Tik Tok videos and other videos to give a behind-the-scenes look at how the car wash operates and what goes into an oil change.
Investing in the right equipment
One reason they can add this fun element is that the location does not use the more traditional pulley system for moving a vehicle through a wash. A pulley system uses a chain system to grab a vehicle’s wheels and pull the vehicle along. Instead, Jacoba and Jamille invested in a Duro Trac conveyor system from MCE Inc. Staff guide the vehicle owner onto the conveyor and the system uses plastic chains, which move vehicles (and a greater number of vehicles at a time) more efficiently, while eliminating the need for tire guide rails. As a bonus, all the surface area of the wheels are exposed and cleaned during a wash. And because the system uses plastic chains, they are better able to handle the environments of a car wash and operate in the kind of sub-zero temperatures experienced in Saskatchewan during the winter months.
“That was a big factor for us,” says Jacoba. “Here in Saskatchewan, we can get temperatures that dip down to minus 35 to 40 degrees, and we need to be able to operate during such cold weather.”
Jamille explains that the conveyor system also worked better with the design of their car wash, which was built using precast concrete that provides greater protection from the elements; keeps warmth inside during winter months; and allows for a larger footprint so that there’s more room for staff to work.
Protection from the cold is enhanced by the folding doors provided by Findoor, which are used at the inaugural site, as well as a second car wash and oil change location, which opened in December 2023 at 2726 Lorne Ave. These sideways opening doors provide greater protection from the cold and are more suited for work environments where there is moisture and water.