Disinfecting car after service: COVID edition
December 10, 2020 12:31 PM Subscribe
My car is due for service in a few weeks. It will need some significant work (but probably all done in a day). My concern is about mechanics working inside the car and driving it without wearing masks (or wearing them properly). How do I disinfect my car when I pick it up, so that I'll be able to drive it home safely? (Anxiety triggers ahead...)
I've been dealing with severe anxiety around getting sick and have been extremely cautious over the past nine months, largely because of legitimate concerns around my own respiratory health. In practice, that's meant I've been inside a building other than my home only twice since March.
BUT my car has to be inspected and repaired. I don't really have a choice at this point. So I need a plan to make it as safe as possible.
I can spray the interior with Lysol and leave it for 10 minutes (without me inside, of course) before opening the windows, then driving home. Right now that seems like maybe the best solution. But what other options am I neglecting?
(Note: I'm not interested in people diminishing my concerns around transmission and infection here.)
I've been dealing with severe anxiety around getting sick and have been extremely cautious over the past nine months, largely because of legitimate concerns around my own respiratory health. In practice, that's meant I've been inside a building other than my home only twice since March.
BUT my car has to be inspected and repaired. I don't really have a choice at this point. So I need a plan to make it as safe as possible.
I can spray the interior with Lysol and leave it for 10 minutes (without me inside, of course) before opening the windows, then driving home. Right now that seems like maybe the best solution. But what other options am I neglecting?
(Note: I'm not interested in people diminishing my concerns around transmission and infection here.)
Best answer: Are you in a position where you could leave the car at the shop overnight? We've had to drop a car off a couple times at the mechanic this year and we've just come by 24-48 hours after we get the call. That plus a mask, open windows, and some hand sanitizer would probably do it.
posted by restless_nomad at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
posted by restless_nomad at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [6 favorites]
Best answer: Also, keep the windows down when you drive home.
posted by pinochiette at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
posted by pinochiette at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [7 favorites]
Best answer: Here are some suggestions published by Nissan for how to safely disinfect your car interior, and what to avoid. They seem to recommend wiping things down versus spray it and wait. It has some tips for areas to clean, too, which might maybe be helpful just to double check if there's anything you might have overlooked.
posted by MustangMamaVE at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
posted by MustangMamaVE at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Sorry for three posts in a row, but also, you may be able to find a shop that will do pickup and dropoff (this is still happening at some car places where I live). Then you can just wait hours or days for any lingering virus to die.
posted by pinochiette at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by pinochiette at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: Cars are pretty easy because of the windows. You can certainly wear gloves and a good mask after letting the interior air out for 10 minutes. Lysol in the air is not super-effective, because it needs to coat the virus and stay wet for so many minutes to actually do the job. You can use it as directed on the vinyl and hardware components - steering wheel, dash, interior/exterior handles, gearshift - if you wish, but fomite transmission just doesn't seem to be a major concern. Letting the car sit with nobody in it is probably your ideal primary line of attack, though.
You might also ask if the mechanics can park it somewhere that you can get to it (like, without them going and getting it and bringing it out) so you can just show up, get the keys from them with a mask and disinfectant wipe, and let yourself into the car. Even without the windows left down (might be a weather/security issue) your primary concern is aerosols. If the car sits for a bit, with no airflow inside to keep things aloft, you shouldn't have much traveling around in the air.
Our mechanic is still doing pick up/drop offs as well. The last work I had done, I didn't need my car again for like a week after they dropped it off.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:42 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
You might also ask if the mechanics can park it somewhere that you can get to it (like, without them going and getting it and bringing it out) so you can just show up, get the keys from them with a mask and disinfectant wipe, and let yourself into the car. Even without the windows left down (might be a weather/security issue) your primary concern is aerosols. If the car sits for a bit, with no airflow inside to keep things aloft, you shouldn't have much traveling around in the air.
Our mechanic is still doing pick up/drop offs as well. The last work I had done, I didn't need my car again for like a week after they dropped it off.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:42 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Best answer: We had both cars fixed recently (ugh, don't ask) and we just left them parked for a while (half a day?), and then wiped down EVERYTHING with disinfecting wipes before we headed home.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:46 PM on December 10, 2020
posted by wenestvedt at 12:46 PM on December 10, 2020
Can they do the wipedown, then leave it with the windows open for several hours? Then you could do a second wipedown, before driving home with windows open. Any one of those 4 approaches (2 wipedowns plus time plus open windows) would be sufficient, so all 4 would be usefully redundant.
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:53 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 12:53 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I've been dealing with severe anxiety around getting sick and have been extremely cautious over the past nine months, largely because of legitimate concerns around my own respiratory health. In practice, that's meant I've been inside a building other than my home only twice since March.
Same, same, same.
I’ve had three emergency car repair situations in the past few months. (Ironically not related to the last car repair question I asked on MetaFilter!) This is entirely anecdotal but I can tell you about my experiences at three different chain car service places.
First of all I think you’re right to expect at least some of the mechanics as well as other customers to be unmasked, at least for part of the time. I don’t think I would have been able to demand any better compliance, except to ask that they wear a mask while talking to me, but that was mostly outdoors so they might have said no and anyway they probably would have taken it off once I was gone and they were inside the car. What I did was: I spent as little time inside the store as possible, though I did have to go in for a couple minutes to initially let them know I was there and then to pay after. While inside, I stood as far away from other people as possible. After the work was done, I wiped all the surfaces I touch in/on the car with those little alcohol wipes. Multiple times. I drove home with the windows down. I waited outside in freezing cold parking lots while the work was being done. I wore a mask the whole time including while driving home. I never had symptoms and I got a test a week after the last of these incidents and it was negative, so I’ll assume I didn’t get Covid. My mom who is staying with me and was at one of these car places with me also presumably did not get Covid. Idk if that makes you feel any better. Oh, and at one place I was in the middle of nowhere and hours from home so I even had to use their restroom, which felt quite risky after having only used port a potties in remote state parks since March. But it was ok.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2020
Same, same, same.
I’ve had three emergency car repair situations in the past few months. (Ironically not related to the last car repair question I asked on MetaFilter!) This is entirely anecdotal but I can tell you about my experiences at three different chain car service places.
First of all I think you’re right to expect at least some of the mechanics as well as other customers to be unmasked, at least for part of the time. I don’t think I would have been able to demand any better compliance, except to ask that they wear a mask while talking to me, but that was mostly outdoors so they might have said no and anyway they probably would have taken it off once I was gone and they were inside the car. What I did was: I spent as little time inside the store as possible, though I did have to go in for a couple minutes to initially let them know I was there and then to pay after. While inside, I stood as far away from other people as possible. After the work was done, I wiped all the surfaces I touch in/on the car with those little alcohol wipes. Multiple times. I drove home with the windows down. I waited outside in freezing cold parking lots while the work was being done. I wore a mask the whole time including while driving home. I never had symptoms and I got a test a week after the last of these incidents and it was negative, so I’ll assume I didn’t get Covid. My mom who is staying with me and was at one of these car places with me also presumably did not get Covid. Idk if that makes you feel any better. Oh, and at one place I was in the middle of nowhere and hours from home so I even had to use their restroom, which felt quite risky after having only used port a potties in remote state parks since March. But it was ok.
posted by DestinationUnknown at 12:58 PM on December 10, 2020
Best answer: MustangMamaVE, is this the article you're referring to: Do’s and don’ts for disinfecting your vehicle
posted by cowlick at 1:01 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by cowlick at 1:01 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
cowlick, yes, that is it - I just used a direct link to the infographic and not the article itself which has more information so thank you for adding that.
posted by MustangMamaVE at 1:22 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by MustangMamaVE at 1:22 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Upvoting the idea of using wipes and touch/rubbing as opposed to spraying Lysol everywhere.
Also, not to downplay your fear but this should be a situation that is relatively low risk if you use wipes and masks and open windows.
posted by MadMadam at 1:27 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Also, not to downplay your fear but this should be a situation that is relatively low risk if you use wipes and masks and open windows.
posted by MadMadam at 1:27 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Okay, so is your concern about surface transmission or aerosols? Because surface transmission is not the thing we worried it was in the spring. I'm not saying that to diminish your concerns but to address aerosols. I'd call and see if they're doing this anyway, but ask them to leave the windows open after the service. It's pretty easy to air out a car. If the windows aren't open, open them and then go back later.
posted by bluedaisy at 1:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by bluedaisy at 1:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [5 favorites]
Best answer: I had to have car service last month. I'll add my data point that none of the Manly Car Men at the service desk of High End Dealership were wearing masks (eyeroll and grrr) so I wore my N95 and kept my distance. So you are correct to be concerned here.
We keep a bottle of ethanol in the car for spraying hands after being in stores. I used that to spray the wheel and shifter and things I'd touch, like the seatbelt clasp. I drove home with the mask on and windows open, then washed my hands when I got home. I left the car in the garage with the windows open and we didn't use it the next day (or week, but that's covid times for you). I think this is well within all recommendations and should provide a high degree of safety.
posted by Dashy at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2020
We keep a bottle of ethanol in the car for spraying hands after being in stores. I used that to spray the wheel and shifter and things I'd touch, like the seatbelt clasp. I drove home with the mask on and windows open, then washed my hands when I got home. I left the car in the garage with the windows open and we didn't use it the next day (or week, but that's covid times for you). I think this is well within all recommendations and should provide a high degree of safety.
posted by Dashy at 2:16 PM on December 10, 2020
I get emails from my dealership every week talking about how many precautions they are taking, and on my trip there a few months ago they were all masked, and I could see through a window to the service bay and they were all masked--just like me. (i'm such the Subaru demographic)
I could smell disinfectant in my car when I got back in, and then cleaned it again myself and did the windows down/mask on all the way home as well. These types of precautions should be more than adequate.
Also, I live out in farm country, so my car is always dusty inside and out. That made it easy for me to see what parts of the control surfaces they had cleaned--and they did a pretty good job. Even the exterior door handles.
posted by th3ph17 at 2:28 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
I could smell disinfectant in my car when I got back in, and then cleaned it again myself and did the windows down/mask on all the way home as well. These types of precautions should be more than adequate.
Also, I live out in farm country, so my car is always dusty inside and out. That made it easy for me to see what parts of the control surfaces they had cleaned--and they did a pretty good job. Even the exterior door handles.
posted by th3ph17 at 2:28 PM on December 10, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: I have no-mask mechanics, don't love it. I keep disinfectant wipes in the car and I usually pay over the phone, pick up the car in the evening without seeing or talking to people. Wipe down the spots on the car I touch (keys included) and do the best I can. You can also wear disposable gloves when you drive home. You may be able to call your mechanics on the phone and make your payment by credit card without having to go in to the shop, pick up the car in the lot and leave it for an amount of time that feels okay for you.
posted by jessamyn at 2:56 PM on December 10, 2020
posted by jessamyn at 2:56 PM on December 10, 2020
As a bit of trivia, back in May, Ford rolled out a software update to its police vehicles which allowed its AC system to "bake" the interior at over 133°F for 15 minutes and kill almost all virus lingering in the vehicle. Unfortunately this feature has not made its way into wider circulation as far as I know... it sounds like it's something that would really give people peace of mind. If you were trying to replicate something similar, you could set the vehicle to max heat and let it idle in the parking lot for about 30 minutes... it should dry it out and heat up the interior to kill a significant portion of any virus lurking in there. It also helps kill mold and other pathogens!
(car interiors are rated for much higher temperatures so it is unlikely to harm the vehicle)
posted by xdvesper at 8:21 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
(car interiors are rated for much higher temperatures so it is unlikely to harm the vehicle)
posted by xdvesper at 8:21 PM on December 10, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Just to answer a few questions people have asked:
1. I'm absolutely concerned about aerosols. I keep thinking about the car like that superspreader elevator I'm certain we all read about a few months ago, and I'm trying to avoid that situation.
2. I can spray everything with 70-80% ethanol easily. I have one of those mister bottles loaded up and ready to go. So Lysol isn't necessary.
3. Because I'm more concerned about aerosols than surfaces, asking them to do the wipedown isn't going to be much better, especially if the wiper-people are unmasked.
4. My god, you've all made me feel an order of magnitude less insane about my concerns. Thank you. Asking this might have been a better use of my time than therapy.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:59 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
1. I'm absolutely concerned about aerosols. I keep thinking about the car like that superspreader elevator I'm certain we all read about a few months ago, and I'm trying to avoid that situation.
2. I can spray everything with 70-80% ethanol easily. I have one of those mister bottles loaded up and ready to go. So Lysol isn't necessary.
3. Because I'm more concerned about aerosols than surfaces, asking them to do the wipedown isn't going to be much better, especially if the wiper-people are unmasked.
4. My god, you've all made me feel an order of magnitude less insane about my concerns. Thank you. Asking this might have been a better use of my time than therapy.
posted by yellowcandy at 10:59 PM on December 10, 2020 [3 favorites]
Call your shop and ask what their current procedures are.
I got some work done on my car over the summer and I'm certain they wiped down the surfaces in the car. My steering wheel was actually a much rougher texture when I picked it up than I had ever experienced before. I guess the skin oils that build up over time make it smooth. My shop also did some sort of ozone treatment both before and after the work that was done. Everything else seemed good, masks required, not allowed to use waiting room, shield at counter, sanitized pens/dirty pens, etc. I had to drop the car off very early even though the 45 minutes of work would not be completed until later, so it was a little tricky to work out a ride with someone in my pod.
Might vary based on where you live though. If they are cleaning stuff, they should be happy to tell you about their current precautions.
posted by yohko at 11:49 PM on December 10, 2020
I got some work done on my car over the summer and I'm certain they wiped down the surfaces in the car. My steering wheel was actually a much rougher texture when I picked it up than I had ever experienced before. I guess the skin oils that build up over time make it smooth. My shop also did some sort of ozone treatment both before and after the work that was done. Everything else seemed good, masks required, not allowed to use waiting room, shield at counter, sanitized pens/dirty pens, etc. I had to drop the car off very early even though the 45 minutes of work would not be completed until later, so it was a little tricky to work out a ride with someone in my pod.
Might vary based on where you live though. If they are cleaning stuff, they should be happy to tell you about their current precautions.
posted by yohko at 11:49 PM on December 10, 2020
I just spent an hour at car repair this morning (tire fixing)
There's two factors here are duration and how you space out the time after someone's been in there. (Someone who is in the car, masked, for just long enough to move it is a different equation than if they have to be in and out of the interior to do whatever they need to fix.)
The ideal would be if you could get them to do the work, ask them to park the car somewhere, and pick it up a day or more after the last time they touched it. (From the number of cars parked at my car repair place this morning, I suspect that's not uncommon.) Cracking the windows to allow for air circulation would be great if other security precautions allow.
Then there's the 'how do I drive this thing' - the advice I read (and that makes sense to me) was to bring my own wipes to wipe down everything they might have touched, then drive home with the windows down which will move aerosols pretty fast.
I waited inside while they did the repairs (it was 22 degrees F this morning, which is too chilly for me to stand outside for an hour). There were a couple of times when people were unmasked in their huge work bay, but only briefly, and never when they were at all near anyone else (by which I mean 30+ feet away).
Inside, everyone was really good about masking, they had plexiglass up at the counter, and the chairs were well spaced. Because I knew I'd have to wait inside, I did the appointment first thing in the morning so there were fewer people, I'd be in and out more quickly. and so on.
When I made the appointment, they were really glad to tell me about precautions, and when I said "I'm high risk for Covid and need to be super careful, what are my options?" they jumped right to suggesting the first thing in the morning/etc.
posted by jenettsilver at 8:00 AM on December 11, 2020
There's two factors here are duration and how you space out the time after someone's been in there. (Someone who is in the car, masked, for just long enough to move it is a different equation than if they have to be in and out of the interior to do whatever they need to fix.)
The ideal would be if you could get them to do the work, ask them to park the car somewhere, and pick it up a day or more after the last time they touched it. (From the number of cars parked at my car repair place this morning, I suspect that's not uncommon.) Cracking the windows to allow for air circulation would be great if other security precautions allow.
Then there's the 'how do I drive this thing' - the advice I read (and that makes sense to me) was to bring my own wipes to wipe down everything they might have touched, then drive home with the windows down which will move aerosols pretty fast.
I waited inside while they did the repairs (it was 22 degrees F this morning, which is too chilly for me to stand outside for an hour). There were a couple of times when people were unmasked in their huge work bay, but only briefly, and never when they were at all near anyone else (by which I mean 30+ feet away).
Inside, everyone was really good about masking, they had plexiglass up at the counter, and the chairs were well spaced. Because I knew I'd have to wait inside, I did the appointment first thing in the morning so there were fewer people, I'd be in and out more quickly. and so on.
When I made the appointment, they were really glad to tell me about precautions, and when I said "I'm high risk for Covid and need to be super careful, what are my options?" they jumped right to suggesting the first thing in the morning/etc.
posted by jenettsilver at 8:00 AM on December 11, 2020
Best answer: I recently had to bring my car in for an oil change and snow tire installation. I was very nervous about covid exposure. Sure enough, 2 of the 4 employees were not wearing a mask, and 4 of the 8 customers were not wearing a mask. This, in spite of the fact that there is a mask mandate in my state.
1. I left my car windows rolled down when I dropped off my car, hoping the tech would leave them rolled down. They did.
2. I wore 2 masks.
3. I used hand sanitizer on my hands upon leaving the building.
4. It was a 3 hour wait for them to do the work, so rather than waiting inside the building, I dressed appropriately for outdoor weather and walked around the neighborhood, with the occasional rest on a bus stop bench, for 3 boring (but potentially life-saving) hours.
4. When I picked up my car, I put on 2 clean masks, and during the drive home I kept my masks on, kept all the windows rolled down, and made sure not to touch my face.
5. When I arrived home, I sanitized everything the technician may have touched.
I also avoided driving my car for several days, but you might not be in a position to be able to do so.
These steps worked for me, so hopefully they would work for you, too!
posted by SageTrail at 9:21 AM on December 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
1. I left my car windows rolled down when I dropped off my car, hoping the tech would leave them rolled down. They did.
2. I wore 2 masks.
3. I used hand sanitizer on my hands upon leaving the building.
4. It was a 3 hour wait for them to do the work, so rather than waiting inside the building, I dressed appropriately for outdoor weather and walked around the neighborhood, with the occasional rest on a bus stop bench, for 3 boring (but potentially life-saving) hours.
4. When I picked up my car, I put on 2 clean masks, and during the drive home I kept my masks on, kept all the windows rolled down, and made sure not to touch my face.
5. When I arrived home, I sanitized everything the technician may have touched.
I also avoided driving my car for several days, but you might not be in a position to be able to do so.
These steps worked for me, so hopefully they would work for you, too!
posted by SageTrail at 9:21 AM on December 11, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: An update:
I took much of the advice upthread. Thank you all!
Here's what I did:
1. Called to see if the dealership would bring the car back to me--no dice.
2. Found out that they allow the car to be left overnight at the dealership the night before, with the keys placed in an envelope in their dropbox. I took this option, which made drop-off (mostly) painless.
3. Paid over the phone and told them I was at high-risk and asked them to leave the car with all the windows down. Honestly, they thought this was a weird request, but they did it both times.
4. Sprayed the car interior and left it ~20 minutes before driving home masked, with gloves.
All in all, I think it all worked out better than I anticipated, thanks to MeFi.
Thanks again everyone.
posted by yellowcandy at 4:51 PM on January 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
I took much of the advice upthread. Thank you all!
Here's what I did:
1. Called to see if the dealership would bring the car back to me--no dice.
2. Found out that they allow the car to be left overnight at the dealership the night before, with the keys placed in an envelope in their dropbox. I took this option, which made drop-off (mostly) painless.
3. Paid over the phone and told them I was at high-risk and asked them to leave the car with all the windows down. Honestly, they thought this was a weird request, but they did it both times.
4. Sprayed the car interior and left it ~20 minutes before driving home masked, with gloves.
All in all, I think it all worked out better than I anticipated, thanks to MeFi.
Thanks again everyone.
posted by yellowcandy at 4:51 PM on January 2, 2021 [3 favorites]
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by pinochiette at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2020 [4 favorites]