PSA on Car Washes

[Jrgunn5150]

The people worried about brushes are very likely not running through the woods.

No kidding. Which is why people should just stick to worrying about their own Jeep.

You want to ceramic coat, paint correct, and store in a bubble a mass produced vehicle, more power to you.

Why bother questioning what other people are doing with theirs?

Sponsored

 

[DickensCPA]

We have 3 Take 5s in my town and one 6-7 miles down the road in another town. I can go to any of them but limited myself to the one I originally joined that was a Busy Bee and got bought by Take 5. The reason was it was touchless. What washed the front, hood, roof and back was a bar with 3 or 4 spouts that rotated and sprayed. It didn't get my Jeep super clean but I really just wanted the bulk knocked off with out having mud piles in my driveway.

If you go to one that has rollers or strips of cloth that drag across you're supposed to ask them to turn that part off if you have a Jeep, I think it's the retractor. Because a Wrangler has a spare tire on the back it can damage you there. This one was spray only. On a Jeep or Gladiator it's also a good idea to ask them to turn off the blower at the end. Watch your hood cave in when it blows and then your wipers.

When I went thru 5/26/24 I was on the conveyor and when the sprayers came down I noticed they were REALLY low, like face level. I honked the horn and they are supposed to stop the conveyor immediately, they didn't. I'm stuck and laying on the horn and the spout hit my windshield where it meets the windrow frame. Dented the window frame pretty bad and busted the windshield.

The Jeep stopped but the conveyor was still going and I was still laying on the horn. Finally the spout just scraped up and down the roof until it caught my roof rack and we stopped again and then the roof rack gave way and crashed behind me. I was laying on the horn the whole time.

Even if I didn't have any aftermarket accessories or a roof rack it would have ruined my windshield and window frame.

I joined the car wash for two reasons, I have my own pressure washer but don't like mud piles in my driveway and we no longer have car washes around where you put in quarters and spray it your self. The second reason is my job from sophomore in high school to sophomore in college was I managed 3 coin op car washes 7 days a week and also washed cars myself. The owner also owned an Amoco station with an auto car wash that I worked at as well in the summer 3 nights a week.

I doubt many know what goes into keeping a coin op car wash running but it is nasty, hard work and a 7 day a week job. I worked 3AM-6AM before school and had to be there by 4PM after school. All day Saturday and before and after Church on Sunday.

When I graduated college and started my career the last thing I wanted to do was by God wash my vehicle. LOL!

 

[ZeeJay]

There's nothing saying they do not allow Jeeps. After a full month of getting no where with them I had to go thru my insurance and an attorney and that's when they said they don't allow Jeeps. The only literature out there is they don't cover wipers, antenna and side mirrors.

Oh ok gotcha, that makes more sense now. That’s convenient timing on their part.

 

[Rob_R]

I have never been back to an automated car wash since 2005 when they damaged my then new 2005 Dodge Ram Cummins. I am lucky.....I am retired, so I have the time to hand wash and I set up my climate controlled garage to have a wash bay. It is never too hot or too cold outside to wash my cars/trucks.

 

[Harleyred66]

The amount of automated car washes in my town is crazy, with more under construction. IYKYK

Holy shit, that's a lot of car wash places

 

[Mightytalldude]

Holy shit, that's a lot of car wash places

On a separate note, the main tamale chain down here got raided by the FBI 2 days ago.

 

[Reddout99]

I've been using a touchless car wash for quite some time. My wife's JGC, my former JKU and now my JT. They use a lot of salt and brine on the roads in the winter out here. I'll run it through the car wash every couple of weeks or so since they have a good undercarriage spray.

 

[ScottBeach]

For those in the "wash it yourself camp" I lived in MN and unless you have a building. You are not washing yourself in the drive about 1/2 the year. And skipping a wash in MN winter means salt and rusting issues. I used a car wash when I lived there. When I lived at the beach in Fl. Our hoa did not allow washing in your private driveway.
Even when people have the time and willingness there are reasons it can't be done.

Happy I have a place now where I can wash it myself. But I still use a drive thru car wash when I am staying out and need to get the undercarriage cleaned up. Nothing worse than being 200 miles from home and being that guy getting on the highway flinging mud at everyone

Sponsored