‘A flu shot for your car’: Auto dealers offer free car sanitizing service

In an effort to do their part to slow the spread of the coronavirus, some car dealerships in Topeka are offering a sanitizing service that promises to kill a variety of germs on interior car surfaces.

"It is like a flu shot for your car," said Jolene Piper, chief financial officer for Laird Noller Auto Group.

The product is called Transform Sanitizer, and it is one Laird Noller and other dealerships have been using for a few weeks now.

"Just like everybody else, there's been some concern about (COVID-19) and trying to stop the spread," Piper said. "We had been doing sanitizing, but we had been using a product that you put on a rag and you wiped on."

Transform Sanitizer is applied differently.

According to Chris Spargo, president of Ed Bozarth Chevrolet, Transform is a liquid cleaner that is placed into hand-held sprayers for application.

"It essentially comes out in a real fine mist, almost like a fog," Spargo said. "We spray the surfaces of the car when you come in for oil changes or anything. ... It takes less than five minutes to spray and takes about 10 minutes to dry."

Spargo said the cleaner doesn't leave a residue and is safe on all surfaces, including fabric and leather.

According to the Transform website, transformsanitize.com, the cleaning solution is 99.9% pure chlorine dioxide. That compound, according to information published by the Environmental Protection Agency, is used in a variety of commercial and industrial settings as an antimicrobial disinfectant.

"There's a whole list of stuff that it kills," Piper said. "It eliminates bacteria, mold, mildew. It's just very powerful and very safe."

Piper said Laird Noller offers the cleaning service for free to all customers who bring their cars in for maintenance — and even to those who only want to come in to have their cars deep cleaned.

"We just want everybody to be safe," she said.

Spargo said Ed Bozarth is also offering the service for free to all who come in for vehicle maintenance, anyone with a General Motors automobile and hospital workers regardless of what car they own.

"It's to keep people safe," Spargo said. "We haven't had an employee get (the coronavirus) — knock on wood — but I don't want anyone else to get it, because it seems like once it starts, it goes on and on."

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