I think I'm done with drive-thru car washes

[Nick1994]

I took my grandpa and his Trailblazer through the car wash, paid the money, pulled in and put the car in neutral. The problem is, the employees put the cars too close. They wave you in so that you're really close to the car in front of you. I usually wait even though they're waving me on and leave a gap. We were almost halfway through when an old guy in a 90s Chevy truck runs into the back of us. My grandpa hit his knee on the dash and it's a little sore. They stopped the car wash while we were all still in there. Then about 15-20 seconds later they turned it back on. We pulled into a parking spot and the old man says he didn't know what happened. Those car washes lurch your car forward pretty bad sometimes, but I'm starting to think he had it in gear based on how hard he hit us.

No damage to the Trailblazer, he hit the trailer hitch. His bumper is all dented in. He brushed it off and left. I went and spoke to the manager and told him that they put the cars too close, that they need to space them out more. The manager got all defensive telling me he has a camera in there and will review the footage, then another guy that works there shows up and starts saying he saw it happen, says the guy put it in gear and drove into the back of our car. I don't think that guy saw anything. What's funny is my good friend (and neighbor/mechanic) pulled in and I told him to be careful, he has a black BMW.

Glad the car isn't damaged, also glad it has a hitch. If it were a sedan or a coupe it would have had quite a bit of damage to it. I don't know if I'll go back, if I do I'll put my receiver hitch in there.

Be careful in those car washes!

 

[Colt45ws]

I only go to unmanned touchless washes. I don't bother with the type of washes you refer too.

 

[demarpaint]

I gave up on car washes years ago, touchless, unmanned, you name it.

 

[HemiHawk]

While I prefer to wash my own cars, in the winter I'll hit up touchless washes.

 

[Bgallagher]

Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
While I prefer to wash my own cars, in the winter I'll hit up touchless washes.


+1 but I wont even do the touchless. I will use the self serve. Car washes are generally a breeding ground for scratches and car damage. No thank you. I prefer to wash my own car. I am sorry to hear about your grandfather's knee though. I hope he feels better.

 

[Nick1994]

I'm not worried about the car wash scratching the car, my mechanic takes his black BMW there 3 times a week for the past 8 months and there isn't a single scratch, the paint looks great.

I'm not going to wash the car myself, it's just too hot. It was 117 last weekend.

 

[bdcardinal]

I don't trust people guiding me. They will say you have a couple feet when you barely have inches.

 

[typ901]

It's gotten old paying $5-10 bucks and not having the soap all washed off, or half of the rear hatch on our Q5 still dirty.

I do it myself- 20 minutes...washed and dried.

 

[aquariuscsm]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
I'm not worried about the car wash scratching the car, my mechanic takes his black BMW there 3 times a week for the past 8 months and there isn't a single scratch, the paint looks great.

I'm not going to wash the car myself, it's just too hot. It was 117 last weekend.


That's my fave time to do it! Grab some coldies and catch some rays while washing my car.

 

[thr_wedge]

I wash after the sun starts to go down, and put my thermacell out to keep the mosquitoes away.

I am done with the autowashes in general just because the quality is so poor I feel like I wasted my $9.

Glad you and your grandpa are okay.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: Bgallagher
Originally Posted By: HemiHawk
While I prefer to wash my own cars, in the winter I'll hit up touchless washes.


+1 but I wont even do the touchless. I will use the self serve. Car washes are generally a breeding ground for scratches and car damage. No thank you. I prefer to wash my own car. I am sorry to hear about your grandfather's knee though. I hope he feels better.


They are a breeding ground for scratches, even touchless. I prefer washing my vehicles myself.

 

[Colt45ws]

I don't get any scratches from touch less, it just blasts my paint off completely instead.

 

[DBMaster]

Commercial car washes will also hasten the clouding of your plastic headlight lenses. The chemicals and pressure wear off the UV blocking coating much faster than hand washing does.

 

[larryinnewyork]

I hope your Grandpa is OK.
Sometimes aches & pains develop the next day.
So call him tomorrow and ask.
----------------------------------------
Not to get off Topic, but I had to add:

The self-service Car Wash (6 bays) by me burnt down.
It's the place where you put in $2.00 and use the Brush & High Pressure Hose.

A Driver was going down the road and see's that his engine is on fire.
He pulls into the Car Wash figuring he would use the water-hose to put out the fire.
Well, apparently he had no money.
The fire spread and burnt 3 bays.

And that is a true story.

 

[John_K]

Originally Posted By: Colt45ws
I don't get any scratches from touch less, it just blasts my paint off completely instead.


I gave them up 25 years ago--too much damage, and too much hassle getting it fixed (and yes even on touchless ones).

John

 

[Kira]

I have gone on like a madman here complaining about the dog's dirt meth heads who work at quick oil change places. I apologize if I've ever rubbed anyone's sensitivities the wrong way.

....now I think some of these car washes get some of their personnel from the same source.

I think I'm going to get a power washer to hit our cars everyday during the Winter months.

 

[CKN]

After having been to a few touchless-I find it's not like getting your car washed at all-UNLESS your car is just dusty and then they do a satisfactory job. However, if you have winter mud and salt and go through a touchless-you might as well give your money to a homeless person, you would get the same results.

Scratches are a risk with the car washes that use brushes or whatever material they are made of. I do use the brush car wash a couple to three times a month without issues. It's preety cheap here-it's $6.00 just for an outside wash-you vacuum your car on your own.

 

[surfstar]

Originally Posted By: Nick1994
my mechanic takes his black BMW there 3 times a week for the past 8 months and there isn't a single scratch, the paint looks great.

Is that where all our water went?

 

[Lolvoguy]

As long as I've been driving I've been going to wand washes.

About 5 years ago i moved to a place that the closest one is about a 20 minute drive away.

Since then I've started doing the two bucket method. On a black car it's pretty much mandatory, as there are always spots being missed (and at a wand wash those extra spots cost extra $$$).

I'm actually pretty impressed at the $$ I'm saving, not to mention time saved from driving to and from the car wash

 

[Triple_Se7en]

A drive-thru car wash took my antenna off and I didn't notice it was missing for almost an entire week. Even broke the mounted stem. Now a much tougher job to get it fixed.