Auto Car Wash pointers

GSS138

This is sort of a reply to the other car wash thread from mike below. Just wanted to share some thoughts and info for people. I worked at what was generally considered one of the best car washes in the country(based on revenue) while I was in college. We were in a higher end neighborhood and from 8AM to close I can tell you that place was busy 7 days a week except when it rained.

Take it from a guy that worked at a car wash for 4 years through college. Car washes are not all the same. In fact it's almost impossible to tell without working there how much maintenance they do on their equipment. Some auto washes are "safe" and some are just junk that rob you of 10 bucks.


Some things to look for:



1. Never use one of the auto machines that are at a gas station and are not run by an actual person/people. They are all terrible. A car wash that is a business on its own that is staffed by employees can be a great experience and give you a quality wash.

2. First thing that happens in any car wash is the tires sprayed down and scrubbed. Despite people being morbidly afraid of those spinning tire brushed-they are perfectly safe on your wheels. If you still don't agree with me and don't want them, ask the operator to hold them back for your car. I did this all the time.

3. before your car is run, some sort of degreaser should be sprayed and super dirty areas will scrubbed with a bug sponge. This type of service should not be at an additional charge-it should be done as needed to remove tar and bugs.

4. Car entirely sprayed down and then coated with soap suds-excessively.

5.The next thing you want to see is the big blue octopus machine. It should go over the top of the car first, before the side spinner thingies. This helps dirt get pushed from top to bottom.

6. After the big blue octopus thing, there should be another round of water jets to rinse any dirt released by mr octopus. THEN the side spinner things should do the sides.

7. Stay away from spray on carnaubas-they are junk and not worth paying for imo.

8. There should always be a hand towel dry-in addition to the air dry machine at the end. A good car wash will use about 4-6 towels on the outside of your car and will do the door jams. Make sure you never see an employee drop a towel and pick it up-as terrible as this sounds, some car washes do it. It's a sign that their drying towels are not clean in general.

9. look for their washing machines. They should have at least one probably two washing/spin dry machines on site. if they don't then you know damn well that their drying towels are not clean.

10. Also, never pay for that cheap spray on tire gloss. It looks terrible and just ends up leaving goop on your tires. A good car wash will use a high end flat finish tire dressing and will generally charge 3-5.00 for the service. If they are using the shiny goopy stuff, stay away.

Also it is worth asking the manager/owner how often they inspect their equipment/ do routine maintenance recommended by the manufacturer that sold them the equipment. Any good car wash will have the owner present regularly, since he cares about his business he should be involved. He will be more than happy to tell you how often or show you maintenance records. He should be nothing less than thrilled to show you this information, otherwise he isn't doing it.

And just keep in mind, despite all of this, the truth is a machine or an oil line can break at any time. I didn't see it happen much, but it happens. You are always putting some risk in the equation by going there, but not much. For the 10's of thousands of cars I saw go through, I can count on one hand the number of times I saw anything go wrong.

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