Nick1994
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My car has washer fluid built in, it's this new-fangled technology.
Gas Station Windshield Wash Buckets Rant
- Thread starter Warstud
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I rarely see people use those things.
People with beaters do though, they never wash their car and use them to see out of the areas where their windshield wipers don't touch.
I have seen people use it on the doors as a makeshift carwash.
If you don't have a 12 year old car, or aren't Bear Grylls, I don't see a use for it. They are just nasty.
People with beaters do though, they never wash their car and use them to see out of the areas where their windshield wipers don't touch.
I have seen people use it on the doors as a makeshift carwash.
If you don't have a 12 year old car, or aren't Bear Grylls, I don't see a use for it. They are just nasty.
Huh use them almost every tank fill up. Sometimes you find the good ones sometimes they're awful. I'd rather have a clean windshield than worry about it. Yes could use the built in windshield washer but with all the bugs around here if they get baked on the wipers will not remove them. Guess if there is a little gasoline it.. awesome bug remover!
I sometimes use them to clean the facesheild of my helmet...while wearing it. They are a bit soupy, but get the bugs off.
I use these things all the time because I might have 10-20 bug splats on the windshield after driving up to the mountains, live in and drive through a lot of unspoiled areas that are bug havens in the spring and summer. Giving a spritz with the windshield wipers isn't going to do jackshoot with some bug that is now a 1" wide greasy mess on your glass. I find it funny that anybody thinks you can clean up bugs with your wipers, must live in a huge city or the desert.
Folks using the squeegees to clean up gas is a constant problem, used to do that myself when I was young because I figured it was the station's fault for not having proper shutoffs on the pumps and eff them!!! Now I have some consideration for the people using the squeegee after me and shutoffs also seem to work a lot better than they used to...can't remember the last time I had the pump shut off after gas had already poured over the side of my car. Used to happen all the time when I lived in Dallas...
Went to an Irving station a while ago because the nearby Shell wanted 30 cents a gallon more for 93 octane...Top Tier is great, but COME ON. Had a bunch of splats to clean up and the washer wells were bone dry, must not have been filled for days. Maybe that's part of being 30 cents cheaper than Shell? I assume they must have stopped providing the service, never saw any before that weren't at least damp inside.
Folks using the squeegees to clean up gas is a constant problem, used to do that myself when I was young because I figured it was the station's fault for not having proper shutoffs on the pumps and eff them!!! Now I have some consideration for the people using the squeegee after me and shutoffs also seem to work a lot better than they used to...can't remember the last time I had the pump shut off after gas had already poured over the side of my car. Used to happen all the time when I lived in Dallas...
Went to an Irving station a while ago because the nearby Shell wanted 30 cents a gallon more for 93 octane...Top Tier is great, but COME ON. Had a bunch of splats to clean up and the washer wells were bone dry, must not have been filled for days. Maybe that's part of being 30 cents cheaper than Shell? I assume they must have stopped providing the service, never saw any before that weren't at least damp inside.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
The only stations I've seen so far that have impeccably clean water are QT stores. They have free air too.
You have to pay for air?
We have a bucket and squeegee, a tap for fresh water if required, paper towels, and a separate water jug to wash away petrol spills so no cross contamination issues. Sometimes they also have a small bottle of distilled water incase you need to add some to your battery. Each pair of pumps has it's own little handy station of all this stuff for all the little jobs you need to do. Hand cleaner too sometimes.
I use them every time I fill up my car.
The only stations I've seen so far that have impeccably clean water are QT stores. They have free air too.
You have to pay for air?
We have a bucket and squeegee, a tap for fresh water if required, paper towels, and a separate water jug to wash away petrol spills so no cross contamination issues. Sometimes they also have a small bottle of distilled water incase you need to add some to your battery. Each pair of pumps has it's own little handy station of all this stuff for all the little jobs you need to do. Hand cleaner too sometimes.
I use them every time I fill up my car.
Originally Posted By: SR5
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
The only stations I've seen so far that have impeccably clean water are QT stores. They have free air too.
You have to pay for air?
We have a bucket and squeegee, a tap for fresh water if required, paper towels, and a separate water jug to wash away petrol spills so no cross contamination issues. Sometimes they also have a small bottle of distilled water incase you need to add some to your battery. Each pair of pumps has it's own little handy station of all this stuff for all the little jobs you need to do. Hand cleaner too sometimes.
I use them every time I fill up my car.
Oz sounds like a far more civilized place than the USA!
All those little conveniences are gone with the wind, if they even ever existed, in my experience.
I do remember when stations were mostly full service and guys would jog out to clean up your car, when I was a very little boy. I even remember my mom's friend hitting a pheasant on the way down to Abe Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, IL and the look of horror on the face of the gas station attendant as we pulled up with a significant portion of the carcass of a very large bird spread all over the car. I hope to heck they gave that poor man an nice tip.
Originally Posted By: aquariuscsm
The only stations I've seen so far that have impeccably clean water are QT stores. They have free air too.
You have to pay for air?
We have a bucket and squeegee, a tap for fresh water if required, paper towels, and a separate water jug to wash away petrol spills so no cross contamination issues. Sometimes they also have a small bottle of distilled water incase you need to add some to your battery. Each pair of pumps has it's own little handy station of all this stuff for all the little jobs you need to do. Hand cleaner too sometimes.
I use them every time I fill up my car.
Oz sounds like a far more civilized place than the USA!
All those little conveniences are gone with the wind, if they even ever existed, in my experience.
I do remember when stations were mostly full service and guys would jog out to clean up your car, when I was a very little boy. I even remember my mom's friend hitting a pheasant on the way down to Abe Lincoln's hometown of Springfield, IL and the look of horror on the face of the gas station attendant as we pulled up with a significant portion of the carcass of a very large bird spread all over the car. I hope to heck they gave that poor man an nice tip.
Hi VP,
As a young guy riding my motorcycle through the mountains a long way from home, one of my exhaust pipes cracked and began to cause problems. The mechanic at the local service station in the mountain welded the pipe together for me.
He would only accept a handshake as payment.
Things are changing here too, and there is less service to the community and more user pays than there was in the old days.
As a young guy riding my motorcycle through the mountains a long way from home, one of my exhaust pipes cracked and began to cause problems. The mechanic at the local service station in the mountain welded the pipe together for me.
He would only accept a handshake as payment.
Things are changing here too, and there is less service to the community and more user pays than there was in the old days.
Originally Posted By: SR5
Hi VP,
As a young guy riding my motorcycle through the mountains a long way from home, one of my exhaust pipes cracked and began to cause problems. The mechanic at the local service station in the mountain welded the pipe together for me.
He would only accept a handshake as payment.
Things are changing here too, and there is less service to the community and more user pays than there was in the old days.
On a good note, some relatives of mine were on a long drive and their car started smoking...a shop sent a wrecker out for them, but the tow driver actually fixed their problem on the road and wouldn't accept more than the cost of the parts. This was in a very rural area in the US, maybe people are more likely to be generous with their time and effort in such places.
Hi VP,
As a young guy riding my motorcycle through the mountains a long way from home, one of my exhaust pipes cracked and began to cause problems. The mechanic at the local service station in the mountain welded the pipe together for me.
He would only accept a handshake as payment.
Things are changing here too, and there is less service to the community and more user pays than there was in the old days.
On a good note, some relatives of mine were on a long drive and their car started smoking...a shop sent a wrecker out for them, but the tow driver actually fixed their problem on the road and wouldn't accept more than the cost of the parts. This was in a very rural area in the US, maybe people are more likely to be generous with their time and effort in such places.
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Originally Posted By: daves87rs
Originally Posted By: Quest
for self-serve gas stations: their squeegees and their water buckets are known to be frequently contaminated with gasoline, as those ignorant owners overfill their gas tanks and then haphazardly grab a squeegee nearby to scrub off the gasoline on their car body.
Q.
See that happen a bunch....
Haha you just reminded me of something that had happened to me when I was in high school. Back then (mid 80s) they didn't have the clicking handles that keep the pump pumping on its own,so I'd lodged the gas cap (cars also had "loose" gas caps that were behind the rear license plates) in between the trigger and the handle so it'd pump on its own while I went inside and grabbed a snack. I came out to see the pump had come out and looked like a [censored]-off octopus flying around squirting gas everywhere! I ran over to it to stop it,slipped in the spilled gas,and got covered head to toe in the stuff. BUT,I used the paper towels to clean myself and my car off. Hauled [censored] straight home and jumped in the shower haha,then went on about my day
Originally Posted By: Quest
for self-serve gas stations: their squeegees and their water buckets are known to be frequently contaminated with gasoline, as those ignorant owners overfill their gas tanks and then haphazardly grab a squeegee nearby to scrub off the gasoline on their car body.
Q.
See that happen a bunch....
Haha you just reminded me of something that had happened to me when I was in high school. Back then (mid 80s) they didn't have the clicking handles that keep the pump pumping on its own,so I'd lodged the gas cap (cars also had "loose" gas caps that were behind the rear license plates) in between the trigger and the handle so it'd pump on its own while I went inside and grabbed a snack. I came out to see the pump had come out and looked like a [censored]-off octopus flying around squirting gas everywhere! I ran over to it to stop it,slipped in the spilled gas,and got covered head to toe in the stuff. BUT,I used the paper towels to clean myself and my car off. Hauled [censored] straight home and jumped in the shower haha,then went on about my day
Originally Posted By: Jarlaxle
I would pay a premium to NOT use full-serve. I will pass on watching a stoned HS dropout gouge the paint with the pump before he dribbles the last quart down the side of a car I just spent two hours detailing.
I'm with you, I have left stations when I figured out they were full serve only even if the price was right. At this point of my life, I want others touching my car as little as possible.
If I had half a pheasant on it, I might look at the situation in a different light...
I would pay a premium to NOT use full-serve. I will pass on watching a stoned HS dropout gouge the paint with the pump before he dribbles the last quart down the side of a car I just spent two hours detailing.
I'm with you, I have left stations when I figured out they were full serve only even if the price was right. At this point of my life, I want others touching my car as little as possible.
If I had half a pheasant on it, I might look at the situation in a different light...
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